Bonus Book 1 : FLOOD
FLOOD
Chapter 1
EMMA
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“You guys, seriously, we're going to get kicked out of here! They're going to ask us to leave,” I whined, trying to pull Lindsey away from grinding on one of the smooth wooden beams that went from the floor to the ceiling. And judging by the way Cassidy’s skirt was hiked up dangerously high, I suspected we’d get the boot sooner rather than later.
I quickly grabbed the hem of her skirt, trying to get her to pull it down, but she wasn't having any of it. My best friends all looked at me with the same glazed-over more-than-just-tipsy looks on their faces. I might as well have sprouted a unicorn horn in the middle of my head and started speaking Mandarin—they were neither seeing nor listening to my pleas. With everyone else at the wine tasting bar starting to stare, my sorority sisters and I stuck out like a sore thumb. A very drunk sore thumb.
Cassidy playfully shoved my shoulder, leaning against the bar to help her seem like she could stand with no problem. "C'mon, Em. This is supposed to be your birthday, after all."
Others, some of them clearly dressed up for the occasion, whispered to one another, "Can you believe them?"
"Young ladies acting like a bunch of frat boys…"
"Clearly thought this was some kind of dance club…"
"Completely tasteless," a woman who worked at the winery murmured to another employee.
The older woman closest to us caught my eye as the man she was with didn't even bother to whisper, "Perhaps instead of more wine, they should go eat a heavy meal. And take a nap."
I felt myself slumping against the bar, not from being intoxicated but out of humiliation. Happy birthday to me, I guess.
"Yeah, and you only turn twenty-one once!" Lindsey added, a few of the other girls swaying and cheering in agreement. Even without the wine coursing through my veins, I knew my face must have been rosy red. To say I was embarrassed was an understatement.
I mean… It wasn't that I didn't want to have fun. I'd been looking forward to my birthday since what felt like forever ago, but even more than that, our upcoming graduation from college. We only had two more weeks left to go, and after that? Freedom. Of course, first we had to worry about our finals on Monday, but it was Saturday, and as everyone in Pi Beta Phi knew—Saturday meant party time.
We'd all been talking about wine tasting for months now, and as much as I loved to have fun with my friends, the one person was right about them acting like they were at a frat party. Shire Hills Vineyard & Winery was supposed to be a swanky, well-known winery with a reputable tasting room—one of the most renowned in Texas hill country, in fact. So my girls being loud and drunk in the middle of the place didn't exactly go over well with the rest of occupants.
I glanced around at my friends, unable to stop shaking my head at each of their giggling faces. One would think skipping a grade when I was younger would leave me a little behind my peers and maybe more well, juvenile, but at the moment I officially wanted to get my drunken sisters out of here.
Served them right, though. Being plastered at 1:00 in the afternoon… that's what being a carb and dairy-ditcher will do to you when you add in the alcohol. I don't remember who started it first, but everyone in the house ended up dieting in preparation for our fabulous summer graduation trip.
Translation—the only thing in the house to eat were shakes for breakfast and lunch. Also a translation—shakes don't fare the best with wine tasting, apparently.
There was a weird grunt of effort behind me, and when I turned I saw Lindsey picking up a huge bottle of wine that must have weighed fifty pounds, easy. For a moment, I thought it was simply just a prop, but when I really paid attention to the look on her face, and the way her arms seemed to be buckling as she held it up, I gasped. It was one of those huge novelty wine bottles that legit held a whole case of wine inside. "Linds!"
"Hey ladies," she said, giggling as though it were nothing. "What do you think? How about this for our next party? Alpha Phi would be so jealous."
Cassidy and a few of the other girls roared with laughter, egging her on.
"Lindsey, put it down," I said, straining to keep the smile on my face. I almost felt like one of those moms who have a bunch of kids running around their ankles. Which reminds me, I'm never having kids.
Lindsey sashayed a few steps away from us, pretending to hold up the bottle to drink it. "Forget a keg. This is what the classy people chug."
Around us, the whispering was only getting louder. All eyes seemed to be on us, and as I continually glanced around, my chest tightened. Even the man who was standing by the end of the bar talking with the bartender turned to see what was going on. When our eyes met, I quickly looked away, surprised by the thump in my chest as it loosened up a bit. The man's cowboy hat was now ti
lted up and I could see his face, the stubble, the dimple in his chin.
He must have been in his late twenties, standing there swilling his glass of dark wine and studying us. It was like he'd walked right off the set of the latest action movie, with the rugged jeans and matching jacket. Usually all that denim would be a turn-off, but this guy made it look good, like he genuinely just finished roping some cattle. I managed to glance down and see the roughed-up brown boots on his feet, and felt a small smile spread across my face.
He didn't look like he fit in with all the upper-class sophisticates, yet that didn't seem to bother him one bit. Hell, he even looked like he enjoyed standing out from everyone else.
"Ooh, look at hot cowboy dude over there," Cassidy drunkenly pointed out, a little too loudly.
Holly snorted, covering her mouth as she leaned against Cassidy. "I think he likes looking at us," she said, her voice raspy. "Doesn't he look like an older version of Liam Hemsworth?"
"Guys, please," I tried to beg again, but they just kept going, even Lindsey joining in while still holding the insanely large wine bottle.
"You know how the song goes—save a horse, ride a cowboy!"
God, my face burned. There wasn't a hole deep enough for me to fall into, it seemed.
"Girl, I would rope him up so good…"
I chanced another look in his direction. The corner of his mouth tipped upward as he caught me staring back at him, and just as I was wondering whether it would be at all appropriate to leave my friends and go apologize to him, something loud and heavy crashed to the tile floor, startling me.
Knowing in an instant what happened, I rushed to Lindsey's side, careful not to step on the huge chunks of dark glass littered all over the place. "Oh my God, Linds, are you okay?"
But she just laughed hysterically and all our sisters pointed to the mess, giggling along too. I didn't know whether to be furious or even more embarrassed, especially since now everyone was really looking, and no one else seemed to be amused in the least.