made me cringe. I extended my hand and was surprised when Jason reached out to shake it. Up until that point I had already written him off as a douche.
“Guess this means we’re brothers? Bro?” His eyes hardened. Something in the way he looked at me made my skin feel as if it were on fire.
Not wanting to show my discomfort, I lifted my chin and threw him a fake smile. “Guess so, bro.”
His lips twitched in amusement. “Welcome to the family.”
***
Open bar almost always spells catastrophe. It’s even worse when the bartenders are completely lax about checking IDs. I’m not sure exactly how Jason pulled it off, but somehow our bartender had been shoveling top shelf liquor to Jason and his friends all night long. It wasn’t even an hour into the reception before everyone in his entourage was completely hammered.
Choosing to sit out, I remained seated in a far table near the exit. I watched enviously as my father danced with his new bride. They looked…
“Perfect,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Hey, you!” A glass of amber looking liquid was slammed down on the table in front of me, splattering the brew against my face. The familiar stench of alcohol was both disgusting and comforting. Feeling uneasy, I pushed the glass away from me.
“Really? I’m stuck with a pussy for a stepbrother?” Jason slid the drink back toward me. “Don’t tell me you’ve never drank before.”
I could have told him that I grew up with an alcoholic mother and had my first drink at seven when I mistook her beer for apple juice. I could have told him a lot of things, but the meathead standing in front of me wasn’t worth my time.
“Really? You mute now too?” His colossal body loomed over me, permeating a nausea inducing stench of whiskey, body odor and cheap aftershave.
BZZZ.
Fighting an urge to dry heave, I ignored Jason’s drunken bewilderment and grabbed my phone.
Haven’t heard from you in a while…are you okay?
“Rocky?” Jason swiped for my phone, but I was too quick for his drunken ass. He lurched forward a bit and slurred, “Are you gay?”
“Seriously?” I grunted, slipping the phone back into the front pocket of my blazer.
“Hey, nothing against your orientation. It’s cool, man.”
“It’s a nickname for Raquel, dipshit.”
Jason broke out into laughter. “Oh, okay. I mean I have no problem if you swung that way, but geez, what a way to get to know your new brother, you know?”
“We’re not brothers.”
“Not yet.” Jason narrowed his eyes and once again nudged the glass toward me. He nodded toward my pocket. “Are you whipped? Is that why you don’t drink?”
Rocky’s face flashed in my mind, and once again I was reminded of all the reasons why I could never be whipped with her. The familiar weight in my stomach returned, churning at my intestines, further souring my already bad mood. “Just leave me the fuck alone, man.”
Jason stared at me quietly for a few moments and finally broke out into a shrug. “See you around.”
I snorted and flicked against the cool glass, watching a bead of condensation roll down its surface. I glanced up and spotted my dad looking as if he were having the time of his life. As happy as I was for him, I couldn’t help but feel a bit irritated. Why did he have the right to start his life over and win whereas I felt as if I were still in a losing race? He told me Charleston would make me into a better person, but why did I feel as if something was still missing?
It’s because you’re losing Rocky. You’ve already lost her.
“But it’s for the better, right? It’s the best for both of us,” I whispered to no one in particular. I eyed the fizzing glass of beer, tempted to chug it down, but thought better of it. Plucking it from the table, I held it out to a red-faced man dancing with a tie wrapped around his head. “Here. I don’t want it.”
Grinning, he scooped it right out of my hand and tipped it down his throat. I shook my head in disgust and continued to watch my dad and his new wife with both jealousy and sadness.
The reception carried on painfully, and just when I thought I couldn’t take the bullshit any longer, I heard a soft, “You alone?” in my ear. Startled to find a Rocky look-alike smiling down at me, I immediately pushed away.
“Whoa, I didn’t mean to scare you.” She