Alex’s POV:

“Why won’t you just let me get another drink!” Jack whined, slouching over the table we had claimed earlier that evening.

“Because Mickey and Rian aren’t here yet,” I told him for the hundredth time. “You’ll be drunk before they even arrive. You know I’m down to get a little wasted, but it’s only nine.”

“It’s not my fault they’re fucking late!” he groaned, eyeing the bar in desperation. “Maybe they’re having pre-drinks! Why can’t we do the same?! Huh?!”

“It’s Rian, he’d refuse.”

I really didn’t mind having a few drinks, getting into some trouble, having a lot of fun. That was the whole reason we were back at The Depot. It was the place to unwind and get a taste of the carefree vibe of alcohol coursing through your bloodstream. I was here with yet the same goal, get drunk and hook up with a hot girl; the hot girl being my girlfriend this time, of course. But how was I going to achieve that without said girl being here? I couldn’t just get shitfaced with Jack and risk hooking up with the wrong girl. I did not desire to cheat on my own birthday, no matter how great this stranger’s body was.

“Please!” Jack begged yet again, pulling on my arm.

I ignored him and looked past Zack who was coming back with his own drink. Jack pouted even more now that somebody else had a drink and I was still telling him he couldn’t have one. But, you see, Jack had already downed two beers in the short time we were here while this was only the first drink Zack had gotten. I was still working on my first beer, waiting for Mickey to arrive.

Lucky for Jack, it didn’t take much longer until she and Rian finally entered the bar. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. While she usually liked her dark jeans and her leather jackets, she had gone in a completely different direction this time. It was like she knew exactly what I usually went after in this bar and was trying to give me the experience I always much enjoyed. She was wearing a super short red plaid skirt along with a tight white tank top that showed off a strip of her stomach. Just from that alone, I could tell it was going to be a fun night. Exactly what I wanted for my birthday.

“Happy birthday, dude,” Rian greeted, sliding onto the couch Jack quickly ran off of when he noticed they had finally arrived.

“Happy birthday,” Mickey smirked and kissed me before climbing over me to sit in the booth, the view making the lower half of my body tingle. “Rian’s been pissy the entire evening, it’s why we’re late.”

“I’m not pissy!” Rian argued, proving Mickey’s point. “And I wasn’t the reason we were late.”

“Yes, you were,” Mickey retorted and sneaked her arms around my waist, looking up at me. “He said what I was wearing wasn’t a good outfit for a club. I think it’s the perfect outfit!”

I was about to agree, wanting to pull her close and take her right there on the table, when Rian had to counter yet again. “You’re the one that keeps freaking out when guys look at you or touch you, I was just trying to help you out.”

“It’s not my fault. They should learn not to touch something that isn’t theirs.”

"Mine," I whispered and gave into the temptation, planting my lips against hers.

Just like always, I already knew exactly which girl I wanted to hook up with, and I immediately started putting my moves on her. This time I didn’t even need the alcohol to make me take the steps. All I needed was Mickey and the bare minimum she was wearing. I loved it.

“Ugh, are they always like this?” I heard Zack question with disgust, probably scrunching up his nose.

“Whenever there’s a party or booze involved, pretty much,” Rian answered in a similar tone to Zack’s.

Although they were obviously judging us, I couldn’t say anything back. Rian was absolutely right. It all started at my Halloween party, and it was how it went down every single time. We’d have some drinks, get a little drunk, and then we’d be a little touchy-feely with each other. It was just the kind of people we were.

“Let me get you a drink,” I whispered to Mickey before pulling away from her.

“It’s your birthday, though,” she pointed out before I could get away completely.

“So, what?” I winked.

Ever since she and Rian had arrived, the place had gotten a little busier. I now had to push my way through the crowd on the dance floor to get to the bar. My main goal was to get to the other side without getting beer spilled on me and without anybody grabbing my junk. It was quite the challenge with the crowd consisting of only drunk kids. Limbs were flying everywhere.

Jack was just leaving the bar when I arrived, but didn’t wait for me until he went back to our table. Instead, I took the last few steps to the bar and was pleasantly surprised to see our usual bartender just starting his shift.

“What’s up, Ray?” I greeted as I always did.

His eyes snapped in my direction and a grin spread across his face, going to serve me first despite other people already waiting longer. “Hey, Alex! How’re you doing? I heard it was your birthday!”

“That it is,” I replied with a smile, ignoring the glares I was getting from other customers while Ray started making my drink without asking what I wanted.

“You scoping out for a girl to take home tonight?” He asked as he pulled out two shot glasses and the bottle of alcohol.

“Not exactly…” I shook my head and watched him pour the liquid. “I have a girlfriend now. Who, speaking of which, I also need a drink for. So if you could make it four shots, that would be great.”

“A girlfriend, huh?” he chuckled deeply and poured two more shots. “She must be good in the sack if she can tie you down.”

“Hey! She is a great person!” I defended although I couldn’t deny that she was indeed great in bed. If we never had that one-night-stand together, none of this would have ever happened.

“Right, right.” He nodded with a laugh.

I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket so I could pay for the drinks straight away. Based on what I usually paid, I now took out the double. However, Ray just pushed the money back to me instead of taking it like he usually did.

“It’s your birthday, this one’s on me,” he said, drumming his hands against the bar.

“Thanks, dude,” I thanked and raised one shot at him before downing it.

And then I had to make my way back to the table. At least I only had to take three shot glasses. Four would have been too much to carry with people dancing wildly around me, let alone multiple larger drinks. Mickey and the guys were all still sitting at the table, none of them having gone on their own conquests just yet.

I put the shots on the table and slid into the booth, making Mickey shuffle in further. “Here you go.”

“Shots?” She laughed, although accepted both small glasses. “Are you trying to get me drunk, Gaskarth?”

“Umm… of course I am?” I snorted and waited to drink my second one.

“You’re going to have to give me a lot more than two shots to do that,” she commented and poured one of the shots down her throat without flinching.

“We’re going to need a lot more than two shots to get you drunk. I think we might need your ‘everything’ concoction for that.”

“True, true, but they’re super cheap to make at home, not so much at bars.”

“Well, I got these shots for free, so for the money I saved, we can mix four shots together,” I told her and downed my second shot.

She did her last one as well and a smirk appeared on her face. “Wanna bet that I can get more drinks for free?”

“I’ve heard of girls getting the occasional drink for free before, but drinks?” Zack commented with one eyebrow raised.

“Is that a challenge?”

“I think we all want to see it happening!” Jack answered despite not being the challenger.

“Oh, it will happen,” Mickey exaggerated and climbed over me while we all cheered her on.

Her outfit already did things to me, but now getting to see the super short skirt at eye level again was a whole new thing. If I hadn’t been sold before, I definitely was now. It was only going to be a matter of time until either of us dragged the other into the bathroom or we went back to one of our places. I didn’t even care if it meant leaving my own friends behind on my own birthday.

I watched her with lust, my eyes flickering up and down her body. She was the only birthday gift I needed. And I got to watch her from a distance without being classified as a creep. I watched as she reached the bar after squeezing through the crowd like I had done before. What I didn’t think about, however, was that this probably included flirting and that Ray was the bartender. Lucky for me, it was getting so busy that another bartender started helping out.

Mickey leaned against the bar and started talking to the other bartender. What I thought would be amazing to see was actually making me uncomfortable. She was leaning further over the bar and laughing obnoxiously. But I had no right to get mad at her. I had been encouraging her to do it. I should have known the method included her flirting with another guy. But, either way, she was going to come home with me.

Still, when she came back over with a tray with multiple drinks, not just one or two--enough for us all to have at least two--I wondered how far she had gone. She didn’t exactly know how far she could go until she crossed a line. It wasn’t that she crossed a line with me (I didn’t know what she had said or done), but I was afraid one of us was going to get into deep shit with that bartender.

“I hope there’s something you guys like,” she grinned when she finally came back to the table and put the tray with drinks down.

“How the fuck did you do this?” Zack asked, looking at the glasses and beer bottles in amazement.

“It’s called having boobs,” she commented and pulled up her shirt a little so it wasn’t as low cut anymore.

I now understood why Rian had told her before that it wasn’t the best outfit for a club. It wasn’t that I was slightly annoyed about what happened, but I knew others were going to try to get with her. I trusted her as long as she didn’t get drunk, but I didn’t trust other people. If a bartender gave away a shitload of alcohol for free, what else were guys going to do?

She nudged me, gesturing for me to move up so she could sit, just like I had done when I arrived with drinks.

“But I like having you climb over me,” I pouted and looked up at her.

She rolled her eyes but didn’t argue against it. So, I got to enjoy the view once more. That skirt barely covered anything, and if it was just for me, I couldn’t help but be so happy.

“Okay, who wants what?” Mickey asked, gesturing largely to the tray to so we could just take something.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, hang on.” I stopped everybody from reaching out for anything. “We need to mix everything together for that drink of yours.”

“Mix everything? Boy, that will taste terrible,” Mickey shook her head disapprovingly and reached out for a glass filled with beer. “Only a couple of things, and we need a glass to mix it in.”

Everybody watched her in confusion and in wonder as she started chugging the beer, pulling it away once to check how much was still inside. After seeing the level, she took a few more gulps until she was satisfied with the amount left.

“How charming,” Rian commented when she was done downing that beer like it was nothing.

“Oh, deal with it,” she snarled back.

She then started picking and choosing from the drinks to add to the glass of beer. The shots went in fully, while cocktails and other larger drinks were only allowed to fill it a little. It was all about keeping the proportions right. When she finished pouring everything in, she pulled out a stick from one of the cocktails and mixed together the concoction into a weird color.

“Okay, try.” She pushed the glass towards my direction and everybody stared at me expectantly.

I decided not to give a fuck and picked up the drink, taking a big gulp without even trying a small sip before. Mixing alcohol had to be done in specific ways to taste good, Mickey’s way was more along the lines of throwing together anything that seemed right. You could definitely taste it.

“Oh, yes,” I nodded and put down the glass, giving it back to her, “tastes just like the horrible mixture I’m used to.”

Mickey drank some as well, and corrected me, “but a better version. It’s all yours, though, you’re the one that asked for it.”

“No, we should all drink it!” I argued, feeling like my stomach would hate me for drinking an entire glass of that stuff. It wasn’t that I couldn't take the alcohol, I culd do that just fine, it just stung. I could feel it trying to burn my stomach.

And so, the glass started to be passed around. Zack was the only one who had never even tried it, so he was a little too enthusiastic about drinking some of it. He nearly choked and started coughing, quickly forcing the glass in Rian’s direction.

“The fuck do you guys drink?!” He spoke with a raspy voice, rushing to grab a beer bottle and drank that to wash away the taste.

“I’m immune to it all now,” Mickey smirked with satisfaction, leaning into her seat.

Rian probably drank the most minuscule amount. We had already forced him to have some before, and he absolutely hated it. But he knew he’d get a lot of shit from Mickey if he didn’t at least act like he drank some. I could tell that Mickey noticed what he was doing, but she stayed quiet. However, when the glass arrived at Jack, she had something to say again.

Jack was staring out in the distance. Mickey frowned and followed his gaze to something that was behind us. As much as I wanted to know what he was staring at, I didn’t feel like turning around and taking a look was the right thing to do with two other people already looking in that direction.

Mickey sighed in frustration and slapped Jack’s arm. “What did I tell you before? Stop being such a fucking creep!”

“It’s not that easy!” Jack defended, making us all wonder what they were talking about.

“Oh my god--” Mickey groaned again before getting up and climbing over me again before apologizing to me, “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, I do not mind,” I laughed, getting another good look.

She then pulled Jack up from his seat and started dragging him into the direction they were looking before. This time, however, I did allow myself to look at whatever they were talking about. They walked up to two girls and Mickey started chatting yet again, trying to bring Jack into the conversation. After multiple failed attempts, she elbowed him and got him to start talking as well. Every single time I turned around to check up on them, I saw Jack more and more invested in a conversation with this one girl while Mickey was keeping the other busy. She was the perfect wingman.

Eventually, Mickey returned to the table, but with the other girl coming along with her.

“Hey, guys. This is Alysha,” Mickey introduced before climbing over me yet again to sit down in her original spot, not even bothering to ask me to scootch in.

Alysha sat next to Zack, who had switched places with Rian just minutes before. Something told me that Mickey promised that she could hook her up with one of us, because she was giving me the major ‘fuck me’ gaze. While I used to be all in, I couldn’t be more than out this time. When Alysha’s foot started trailing up my leg before we had even started a conversation, I knew I had to do something to reject her without calling her out.

The ‘everything’ mixture was still in its glass on the table, so I grabbed it and gave it to Mickey. “We all decided you have to finish this.”

“But you all drank from this glass,” she sighed in annoyance, “I’ll get cooties.”

And that’s when I saw my opportunity. I quickly planted my lips against hers to start a kiss. It seemed like I was just trying to prove that she already had ‘cooties’, but at the same time, it was making the stranger’s foot drop from my leg before she got up too high. It was a win-win situation for me. I also got to have a hot makeout session with Mickey now.

For the others, however, it wasn’t exactly a win situation.

“Oh my god, can’t you guys just stop for once?” Rian groaned.

“I’m not staying here to witness them going to second--maybe even third--base,” Zack shook his head and started pushing Alysha out of the booth. “We’re going to the dance floor.”

Who knew that it would start a relationship between Zack and Alysha?

And me? Well, I brought Mickey back to my place and we had quite some fun.

Notes

I'm not going to be writing for at least a month after this chapter. I'm going to be on vacation and won't be bringing my laptop with me, so I can't exactly write at all. However, when I come back, all my stories will be started up again! Don't worry.