I only had the one shot when we first arrived, but since then I’ve been drinking club soda with lime. Tori, on the other hand, is on her way to the bar for her eighth shot. “Why don’t you slow it down, Tor? You’re not going to feel good tomorrow as it is.” I urge her, knowing the further down the rabbit hole she goes the worse it will be for her in the morning.
She laughs. “Why don’t you stop acting like an old lady? You know,” she slurs, “you were more fun when you were single.” The bartender arrives and hands her another shot of whiskey. I roll my eyes as she takes the shot and goes back to the dance floor, drunk and oblivious to everyone that’s staring at her drunk ass, making a fool of herself.
Is she right? Have I been a shitty friend to her for the last few weeks? A few minutes later the DJ puts on Happier by Marshmello and Bastille and Tori’s eyes fly to mine, this is our song! She screams for me to come out there and I can’t tell her no. Laughing, I set my drink down and find her in the crowd. As soon as I get to her it’s like the past couple of weeks haven’t happened, and it’s just Tori, and me like it’s been since we were younger living in a group home. We dance the entire song, singing the lyrics and dancing with each other. The songs start to blur together, and we dance for a while, both of us pushing the guys who try and dance with us away.
Eventually, a guy who’s well over six feet and built like a bull grabs me and pulls me against his front. I try my best to move his hand, but he holds me tighter, squeezing my middle, and hurting me. I try and find Tori, but she’s having her own issues with two guys ganging up on her. She’s trying to push them away but isn’t having any better luck than I am. I elbow the asshole at my back, but it does nothing. Fear creeps in, and I start freaking out. It’s dark, and the music is loud. There are so many people on the dance floor that nobody would be able to tell if we were getting hurt or enjoying the attention. We’re so fucking screwed, and Drake doesn’t even know where I am. The asshole behind me grabs my throat. “Chill the fuck out.” Then he starts dragging me away from the crowd. My fight or flight kicks in, and I refuse to be a statistic. My nails don’t do much damage since I keep them short. At this point, I’m doing the best I can to get out of his reach and only pray that someone notices that I’m not in on this kind of action.
“Get down,” someone yells, and a hand flies out of nowhere straight into the guys face. Thank you, god! Drake is standing in front of me looking sexy as ever but pissed. He grabs my hand and starts pulling me away.
“Find your own pussy for tonight man, this one’s mine.” The fucker says, grabbing my other hand and yanks me to him.
Drake punches him in the nose, and the dumb asshole releases me.
“Fuck you, man, she isn’t worth this shit.”
Drake grabs him up by the shirt and marches him back, pushing him against the wall. The guy is about the same height, but with the anger and adrenaline pulsing through Drake, he’s no match. “Watch your fucking mouth! That woman is mine.”
When the guy laughs, Drake pulls him forward then pushes him back, so his head bangs against the wall.
“If she were yours, she wouldn’t be out here dressed like that.” The guy taunts Drake, and he grabs onto the bait. Drake punches him in the stomach twice before the guy gets in a good shot to Drake’s right eye. I wince and hate that I’m the reason he’s getting hurt right now. Drake would never stoop this low, normally.
“We calling the cops, or are you guys getting the fuck out?” A guy even bigger than Drake asks, pulling Drake away from the guy he was fighting with, who also as a bouncer pulling him in the opposite direction.
Drake shakes him off and grabs my arm and starts pulling me toward the exit. “Let’s go.”
“Wait! I need to get Tori.”
“It’s already handled.”
“What do you mean it’s handled? I’m not letting her get into an Uber on her own. She’s drunk, god knows what will happen to her.”
Drake grabs me and turns me, then points off about a hundred feet away and I see Chase carrying Tori out over his shoulder. “Oh.” The loon has a giant smile on her face and is playing his ass like a set of bongos. Drake turns us back toward the exit and grabs my wrist. The fact that he won’t even hold my hand tells me how pissed he is. Tonight is such a fucking disaster.