Falling For The Playboy

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His warm, brown eyes darted between mine in surprise, roving over my body and then climbing back up to ogle my face. “It’s really you? ”

He couldn’t believe I was here. The feeling was mutual.

I nodded, my throat clogged with emotions. The need to blink was strong, but I fought it because I feared that if I did, he would disappear.

His brows dove down. “You look different. ”

His words seemed to slur slightly. And now that I took note of it, my surprise on seeing him was quickly replaced by worry.

I ignored his comment, wanting to ask him if he was okay instead, but before I could get the words out, he lunged at me and engulfed me in a tight hug. Almost immediately, my hands came up to wrap around him. I’d missed him. I closed my eyes, inhaling his familiar scent…… but it was all wrong. He smelled of beer and a cologne too strong to be associated with him.

A minute went by, then two, three, four and just when I started to think he had fallen asleep on me, he pulled away abruptly, staring at me with an odd look.

I frowned. “What-”

Omar threw up directly in front of me, missing my heels by mere centimeters.

I gaped.

People standing near us shifted, yelling at us to take our ‘drunkenness’ outside. How rich that was, coming from equally drunk people. I think some of the vomit must have splashed on a girl who had been dancing beside him because she glared at us for a long minute before storming off. Thankfully, she wasn’t an Ivacy High student.

“Omar! ” I whisper yelled.

He lifted his index finger in a ‘one-moment’ gesture, then braced his hands on his knees, and proceeded to empty the remaining contents of his stomach on the floor, earning more glares from people.

What was the possibility of the ground opening up and swallowing me right now?

I wanted to walk away, but at the same time, I couldn’t leave him. I couldn’t even if I wanted to and definitely not like this.

I took a step back -because the vomit was starting to spread, and glanced around warily.

“Uh…. What happened between now and five minutes ago? ”

Axel!

I spun around sharply at the sound of his voice, my shoulders sagging with relief. I couldn’t deal with the mess that was Omar alone right now.

“Thank God you’re here. ” I placed my hand on his chest without giving much thought to what I was doing. “I need your help. ”

His eyes flared as he gazed from me to Omar. Back, forth, back, forth, as if he couldn’t decide on who he wanted to look at. Eventually, when his eyes must have started to cross, he gave up and fixed me with a questioning glance, his left brow cocked.

Holding two bottles of drinks in his hands, standing a head taller than a considerable number of people in the crowd, with a sexy scowl etched on his face, I believed that it was understandable -and yes, quite shameful- why I felt moderately flattered that I was the one he was standing with, even with prettier girls that were more his style here, tonight.

“Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on? ” he snapped.

“He threw up. I think he’s had too much to drink. ”

“Correction, ” Omar forced out brokenly, his breath coming in short gasps. “I didn’t. I know my limit just fine. ”

“Shut up, Omar. ”

“Who is he? ” Axel asked.

“That’s not important at the moment. What I-”

“I saw him hug you. ” he bit out.

I tried not to take offense at his tone. His anger was completely unwarranted and unsolicited and a huge part of me wanted to snap right back at him, but I bit my tongue. What were a few words compared to the trouble he was about to go through?

The song ended and a slow one came up. People paired on the dance floor, grinding against each other sultrily with their eyes closed, absorbed in their own little world, losing themselves completely in the moment. That was when I realized I still had my hands on Axel’s chest and I was horrified to find that they were clutching his shirt. I dropped them quickly like his skin burned. And somehow, they did.

I glanced up at him; he hadn’t even seemed to notice.

“He’s my best friend. ” I answered his previous question. Glancing back at an obviously flushed Omar, he didn’t look a lot like my best friend in that moment. My chest tightened. What could he possibly be going through that had made him drink to this extent?

“How? ” his brows seemed to climb even more. “He doesn’t school with us. I would recognize him. ”

I shook my head. “I met him a long time ago. ”

“You’re going to have to do a lot more explaining than that. ” he seemed to take in the state of the floor and the looks we were garnering just then. “But not here. Come. ”

He shoved both drinks in his hands into a passing guy’s chest and I watched as the guy desperately tried to catch them before they hit the ground. With his hand now free, he snagged mine, attempting to pull me with him, but I dug my heels into the ground rather futilely. I wasn’t leaving. Not without Omar.

“What? ” he frowned down at me, yes, even in my heels I was still inches shorter than him.

“I can’t leave him. ”

“I wasn’t saying you should. ”

“You just tried to drag me away. ”

“And he should know to follow. ” his eyes blazed. “The fuck do you want me to do? Write it out in the sky that he should come with us? He’s not a baby. ”

“Right now, he might as well be. ” my anger started to surface.

“Not my fault he can’t drink responsibly. ”

“What do you know about responsibility? ” I snapped. It was a cheap shot, but I threw it at him regardless. He just did not have the right to talk about Omar like that. He didn’t even know him.

“Enough to be able to take care of myself even when I get drunk. ” he shot back.

“Jesus. You’re so annoying. ”

“You’re no fucking picnic either. ” he stormed off, shouldering past the throng of people, pushing the front door open and slamming it shut as he passed.