When Summer Ends (28 page)

Sam smiled at me, and I just looked at him curiously, trying
to drag the truth from his eyes. There had to be some other concert tickets
that Will had gotten. He wouldn’t give up a whole month of weekends for me,
would he? Sam shrugged and drank some of his drink, obviously not going to say
anything about it now; I’d just have to catch him out later when he was drunk
or something.

“Let’s dance then, girls.” Sam grinned, grabbing Amy’s hand
and pulling her into the lounge where there were already a lot of people
dancing. I sighed and chugged the rest of my drink, and grabbing another one,
before following them.

Two hours later I was already wasted. I leant against the
wall heavily as I laughed uncontrollably at something Jack had said. Amy
grinned and giggled too. Her arm was wrapped around Sam as they sang along to
the song loudly. I’d already had way too much to drink, but that didn’t stop me
from grabbing another shot of vodka jelly from the side and choking it down.
Sam was supposed to be driving tonight, but he’d decided he wanted to drink
instead, so apparently we were getting a cab to Amy’s now instead. 

Jack pulled his cell phone out of his pocket as his arm
wrapped around my waist, holding me up as I swayed on my feet. I pushed away
from him, dancing with Amy. I could hear Jack talking into the phone, but I had
no idea who he was talking to.

“Hey, it’s me. Yeah, your girl’s a little wasted. No. No
Sam’s trashed too, and she’s going to need a ride home before she pukes all
over my floor. Yeah I’ll watch her. You coming now? Okay yeah, see ya.” He eyed
me curiously as he spoke.

I frowned, flicking my eyes around the packed room, looking
for a drunken girl that he was worried about puking on his floor. But to be
honest, drunken girls were everywhere so it could have been a lot of them.

Amy grabbed my hand pulling me off a little way to dance
some more. I was having an awesome night and I was totally glad that I’d blown
Olly off to come tonight.

After another couple of drinks Amy gripped my arm tightly.
Her nails dug into my flesh making me laugh at the stinging pain that would
probably hurt when I was sober. “What?” I giggled at her wide eyes.

“You will never freaking guess who just walked in!” she
cried excitedly.

“Er, Brad Pitt?” I offered, laughing. She shook her head happily.
“Channing Tatum?” I guessed again.
Oh my days, I would die if Channing
walked in here!
I flicked my eyes to the door excitedly thinking it must be
someone gorgeous… and it was. In the doorway stood Will looking incredible in
black pants and his black club T-shirt with the little red logo on his chest.

My heart sank. He wasn’t supposed to be here tonight. Sam
had promised me that he wasn’t coming which is the only reason I agreed to
come. “For fuck sake! Are you freaking kidding me? What the hell is he doing
here?” I cried angrily. I glared at Sam. “You promised me!” I accused,
frowning.

He shrugged looking at me innocently as Will walked over to
the group where we were standing. I turned my back not wanting to talk to him.
I just wanted one night out without thinking about him, and he had to waltz in
and ruin it.

“Hey,” he greeted as he stopped next to me.

“William, how are you doing?” Jack asked, giving him the man
hug thing. They were whispering something but I didn’t even try and listen, I
wasn’t interested in anything he had to say tonight.

He pulled back and smiled at me and Amy worriedly. “Aren’t
you girls a little too young to be wasted at a party?” he joked.

Amy giggled and gripped my arm even tighter as she
practically drooled over him. “We’re not wasted,” she protested, shaking her
head and slopping some of her drink on her shirt.
Oh yeah way to prove a
point, Amy. Spilling your drink - good going!

“Not that it’s any of your business anyway,” I added under
my breath. Well, I thought it was under my breath anyway, but I’m pretty sure
he heard it because his jaw tightened a little and his shoulders hunched
slightly.

He looked at me intently, his beautiful grey eyes boring
into mine and trapping me in his intense gaze. I found myself struggling to
remember how to breathe as I literally couldn’t look away from him.
Get a
grip on yourself, Chloe, and stop looking at him like that! But jeez he looks
so damn hot tonight.
His T-shirt was fitted and just hinted at the
perfection that I knew was underneath. I longed to run my tongue down his abs
and bite the edge of his jaw so he’d moan my name.
Damn it, stop looking,
Chloe!
I forced my eyes away from his and turned back to Amy who was staring
at him like she wanted to eat him right now.

She stepped closer to me, leaning in close so she could
whisper conspiratorially. “He looks even hotter outside of school,” she hissed
a little too loud in my ear.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” I shrugged casually, ignoring
her disbelieving expression.
Yeah she doesn’t believe that any more than I
do! Wow, I suck at lying, I need to practice some more!

“Oh you noticed,” she teased, grinning at me knowingly.

Sam stepped forward and smiled. “So what are you doing
here?” he asked Will, offering him his drink.

Will’s eyes flicked to me for a second and I rolled my eyes
in exasperation.
That’s who Jack was talking to? He called Will to tell him
I was wasted and he needed to come and look after me?
I shot Jack a dirty
look and got a smirk in return which I wanted to smack right off of his face
for him for interfering.

“Just finished early that’s all. Thought I’d drop in.” Will
shrugged looking at his brother a little annoyed. “I thought you were driving
tonight, Sam.” He nodded to the bottle of beer in his hand.

Sam shrugged easily, obviously not catching the icy tone to
Will’s voice. “I was, but then I just decided we could share a cab. No big
deal.”

“It’s a pretty big deal if you’re supposed to be looking
after two underage, drunken girls,” Will replied, smiling a fake smile although
his voice was hard and annoyed.

I couldn’t listen to this anymore. He was ruining my night
for me, I didn’t need him to come here and start something with Sam, we were
fine without him here. Jack had no right to call him.

“Will, just leave him alone for goodness sake. Go get a
drink and chill out,” I ordered, trying not sound stern but it lost some of its
authority when I hiccupped in the middle of my sentence.

“I don’t want a drink. Maybe I should get you two home.” He
nodded his head towards Amy but his eyes never left mine.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. He didn’t
even flinch, just glared back at me clearly annoyed. “I’m not ready to leave
yet,” I stated confidently.

He sighed and nodded. “Fine, I’ll wait until you are. Maybe
you should stop drinking now though.”

He actually looked really tired, and I felt a little guilty.
He probably just wanted to go home to bed or something. He worked Saturday
afternoons at the ski slope and then he’d had to go into work at the club
tonight too. My heart throbbed at the thought of him working at the club again
to pay for the concert tickets.
That reminds me… I haven’t asked Sam about
it yet. Maybe I could ask Will about it. Would he tell me the truth though?
What on earth reason would he come up with to explain why he was doing that for
me? Giving up his time like that just so Amy and I could to go to a concert.
Damn sweet boy.
But that damn sweet boy was now frowning at the drink I had
in my hand as if it was poison or something. He clearly disapproved by the look
on his face. He hadn’t seemed to mind me drinking when he brought me to a party
just like this one when we were dating, but then again at the time he thought I
was old enough to drink.

I frowned and raised my glass in cheers as I downed the
contents. Instantly I wished I hadn’t done it. I was just trying to prove a
point and win a small battle, but I wasn’t a big drinker and I’d already had
more than enough to make me sick in the morning. Will laughed and shook his
head as I winced and screwed my face up probably looking like a moron or something.
I frowned and swallowed a couple of times as he just looked at me with a big
smile on his face. I suddenly found myself smiling too just because it was one
of his warm smiles and not a smirk.

“Nice try going for the ‘in your face’ kind of thing, but
the alcohol after burn kind of ruined the effect I think you were going for,”
Will teased, grinning at me.

I laughed and shook my head, slapping him on the shoulder
playfully. “Yeah well it was worth a try,” I joked, sticking out my tongue at
him.

Amy gripped my hand and I turned in her direction to see her
looking from me to Will and back again. She had a bewildered expression on her
face.

“What’s up?” I asked worriedly.

“What’s up with you?” she countered looking at me like I was
crazy. Suddenly I realised I just had a whole conversation with Will like I
knew him and he was supposed to be nothing more than a teacher.
Oh no, I
even called him Will right in front of her!

“Er, nothing… um, want to dance some more?” I asked
nervously.

She nodded, still looking from me to Will as if she was
trying to work out one of his stupid math problems. I followed her to the
middle of the room where people were dancing. She frowned, pulling me closer so
she didn’t have to shout over the music.

“What the heck was that? Were you two flirting? And how did
you know his first name? I didn’t know his first name!” She frowned, looking at
me questionably.

I shrugged and tried desperately to keep my face neutral.
“Jack called him William; I didn’t know it until then. And no, I wasn’t
flirting. As if,” I lied, waving my hand dismissively and praying she would
believe me and let this go. I loved my best friend to death, but I didn’t want
her to know about Will. I didn’t want to take any risks with him being in
trouble for what we did, none of it was his fault, and although I was hurting
over it now, at the time it was worth it. The time that I’d had with him was
actually well worth any pain or heartache that I felt now that we weren’t
together. I wouldn’t change a thing. Actually that was a lie; maybe I’d protect
my heart from him a little more, but I’d never regret spending time with him.

Amy nodded, still looking thoughtful. “O.M.G, I love this
song!” she cried suddenly, dancing to a song I’d never even heard before. It was
some kind of dance beat that she loves but wasn’t really my thing. At least it
got us off the subject off of Will for a little while.

After another couple of songs I’d had enough. My feet were
hurting in my shoes. If I hadn’t had so much alcohol I would probably be crying
with pain, but the drink was numbing it a little, thank goodness.

Out of nowhere a sleazy looking, greasy haired guy walked
over to us and smiled. “Well hello there, girls, can I dance too?” he purred,
raking his eyes over us both slowly.

“Actually I need the bathroom,” Amy said apologetically. She
looked at me and nodded towards the back of the house where the bathroom was. I
opened my mouth to agree to go with her and tell the guy I couldn’t dance with
him, but Will appeared at my side.

“They’re with me,” he stated, looking at the guy warningly.

Whoa, what is that tone about?
Will looked really
annoyed as he stepped closer to me, well actually he stepped half in front of
me to be exact.

The guy held his hands up innocently. “Easy there, buddy. I
didn’t realise. No harm done.” He turned to walk off and I got more than a
little angry about it.
What on earth is Will’s problem being all possessive
like that? I wasn’t with him so I could do whatever the hell I wanted and he
wasn’t going to tell me what to do.

I turned to glare at Will. “What on earth is your problem?”
I asked angrily.

He rolled his eyes and looked at me a little bored. “He’s
too old for you and you shouldn’t be dancing with guys that you don’t know.” He
crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

Oh my days, he is so freaking annoying sometimes!
“Will, seriously, have you forgotten the conversation we had yesterday in the
car where you said that it was wrong for people to tell others what to do? Or
does that only work when it suits you?” I asked sarcastically.

He laughed humourlessly. “This situation is a little
different, Chloe, I’m doing that for your safety. You don’t know that guy, I
don’t know that guy, he could be anyone. So I say again; he’s too old for you. Besides,
did you see the way he was looking at you?”

“For goodness sake, Will, just leave me alone. I’ll dance
with whoever the hell I want to okay?” I growled as I pushed my way through the
crowd in the direction of where that guy went, ignoring Amy who was watching
with her mouth open in shock. I decided to dance with that guy just to spite
Will and show him he couldn’t order me around. I could definitely shove that in
his face better than downing that drink earlier!

I spotted the guy leaning against the wall scanning the
room. I smiled and he grinned. “Got rid of your keeper?” he asked as I stopped
at his side.

“He’s not my keeper, he’s my damn teacher,” I muttered.
Anger was still burning through my system at the cheek of him telling me what
to do. The guy laughed and looked at me like I was joking, but I wasn’t in the
mood for playing around. I didn’t want to dance with this guy, but I knew Will
would be watching so I had a point to prove. “Are we dancing or what?” I asked.

He nodded and smirked at me. As he pulled me a little closer
to him I instantly regretted doing this. I really didn’t want to be anywhere
near this guy. He was probably in his mid-twenties, and Will was right, he was
looking at me like I was a piece of meat or something.
Oh well, it’s too
late now. One dance should show Will not to order me around again.
I
purposefully stayed at a safe distance and didn’t really let myself go and
dance properly; this was only for Will’s benefit after all. The song was almost
over. I smiled gratefully. I needed to go sit down, take my shoes off and rub
my feet. When the song finally finished I smiled a small satisfied smile
knowing that I’d won for once.
Take that, Will!