Fully Automatic (Bullet) (12 page)

Chapter Thirteen

HE HAD ONE shot.  He knew that.  So while the rest of the guys started drinking in Zane and Ethan’s room, Brad asked them to point him in the direction of the shower.  No way was he going to subject Val to his sweaty self.  He wanted to be ready for her when she showed.

More time passed than should have, though, and he started to doubt she was coming.  He cracked open his bottle of rum and Ethan said, “Why don’t we play quarters?”  Ethan looked at the girl sitting beside him, and Brad knew then that his friend was wanting to loosen her up a little.  Hell, they could all stand a little loosening up.
  He knew he could.  He’d been a little nervous at first, and now as the minutes ticked on, he was starting to feel down.  He was afraid he was probably going to be stood up.  So he took a long swig.

Yeah, why would Val want him when she was pining over his good-looking friend?  Well, seeing Ethan whisper into the ear of the girl beside him told Brad why Val should want him
instead, but she wasn’t having any of it.  For some reason, she was drawn to Ethan, much like a comet to the sun, and she was going to be lucky if she didn’t get burned.  He took another drink.

Zane said, “Give me some.”  Brad handed him the bottle.  At least they could get drunk together.  Zane took a swig.

“I have some vodka around here somewhere.  And I need to find a glass for quarters.”

Ethan was kissing the girl beside him
, and Nick had slumped onto the floor.  The gorgeous girl he’d brought was shaking his arm, trying to get his attention.  Brad took another swig.  This was beginning to feel like a lot of the other band parties they’d had in the past, and it didn’t exactly make him thrilled.

And then there was a knock on the door.  He tried not to get too excited.
  He made an attempt to look relaxed.  Zane was walking to the door and whispered loudly, “Hide the bottle under the desk.”

Brad was confused at first but then realized his friends lived in a dorm room.  Not only were they all underage drinkers, but he imagined they’d get in even bigger trouble if they were drinking on campus.
  Brad screwed the cap back on the rum and tucked it under the desk, turning his chair so his leg could also block the bottle from view should anyone walk in the room.

It made his night to see Val walk in the door, followed by her roommate who paused in the doorway to kiss Zane.  He picked up the bottle of rum and hugged Val when she walked into the room.  Her hair smelled nice—sweet smelling, like coconut, and he tried to emblazon in his mind how she felt up against him, because he didn’t know the next time he’d get to hold her.  If he had his way, it would be the first of many, but he still wasn’t too sure.

He wrapped his arm over her shoulder and led her inside the room.  “We’re getting ready to play some quarters.  I know you don’t drink, but will you hang with me?”

“Yeah.”

They set up the game.  They all sat on the floor between the two beds in a tight circle.  Brad almost put his arm around Val’s shoulder again, but he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.  They started playing quarters—well, at least three couples did.  Nick’s date wound up resting her head on his chest and dozing off.  Brad wanted to try to keep Val’s mind off Ethan, so he tried to keep her engaged in conversation.  He started by asking her about her classes, but she didn’t have much to say about them, and he saw her eyes continuing to drift over to his friend.  She never made eye contact with him, but Brad could tell her attention was there.  He moved the conversation to the show then, and she became more engaged then, enough that he felt like he could get away with putting his arm around her again.  She didn’t seem to mind.  They moved on to talking about the band itself, and while everyone was there playing quarters, it was as though there were three different games going on, simply because couples were only communicating amongst themselves.  He knew why Val didn’t want to talk to Ethan, but that didn’t explain why no one else was talking.  It was like they were all intent upon getting hammered.

No, he looked around the room and knew what everyone else had in mind.  It was weighing on his mind too, but he didn’t know how Val felt.
  He looked over and saw the discomfort on her face.  If she’d been any other girl, he would have offered her a drink of his rum.  Instead, he asked, “Wanna get out of here?”

She nodded without hesitation, so Brad stood and held his hand out to her.  She took it and stood.  It was then that he could feel just how much he’d had to drink, and when he looked at the bottle, he knew too.  Yeah, Zane had helped, but the bottle only had an inch of liquid left.  Holy shit.  His head was light and he felt swimmy.

It didn’t change the gravity of the situation, however.  The other couples in the room (save sleeping Nick and his date) were no longer interested in the game, and he didn’t want to make Val uncomfortable…not that he would feel exactly at ease in the midst of that either, but having had plenty to drink (that was now hitting him with full force), he could have managed.  Val, though—he wasn’t going to do that to her.

Once in the hallway, he took a deep breath and got his bearings.  He had no idea what time it was, and he felt a little disoriented.  That aside, he felt quite happy that he was now alone with Val, even if
it really wasn’t a big deal.  It made him feel braver, though.  He slipped his arm around her waist and asked, “Where are we going?”

“Let’s go to my room.”

He couldn’t help but smile.  That wasn’t a bad sign.  They started walking.  “So…that shithead Ethan’s not even writing his own lyrics anymore?  That right?”

Val nodded and glanced at him but she looked shy.  “Yeah…a lot of those words were mine.”  Then she slid her arm under his and wrapped her arm around him at the waistband too.  Inside, he thought,
Score!
  But he knew he had to keep his cool.

So, back to the subject at hand.  “Goddamn, girl.  Pretty impressive.  That one song—‘Metal Forever.’  You write that?”

“Yeah…and ‘Coming Down,’ ‘Intended Punishment,’ and ‘Fates Aligned.’  Also, the basis for ‘Scythe’ was one of my poems too.”

He’d thought Ethan had written “Coming Down,” because the words felt like something Ethan might have come up with.  It was similar to some of his previous work.  All that knowledge did was impress Brad further.  “No shit.”  They were quiet for a little while as Brad wrapped his mind around the fact that Val was like a fringe member of Fully Automatic, considering she was writing most of their words.  He was only half kidding when he said, “Maybe we need to hire you as our full-time songwriter.”

She laughed.  “I just like writing.”

“I’m not fuckin’ with you, Val.  You’re writing shit the likes of which we’ve never seen.”  She leaned her head into him.  Oh, fuck.  She had no idea what that did to him.  He forced air into his lungs as they reached the stairs and started walking.  Again, he could feel just how fucked up he was.  He had to focus, but he couldn’t help it.  When she did that, it made him feel
protective of her, and that response made him think of something else.  “Zane told me about some fight you got into.  Your ex-roommate just tried to beat hell out of you?”

“Something like that.”

They reached Val’s room and she unlocked the door and turned on the light.  Brad stepped in, closing the door behind him.  He couldn’t lose his momentum at this point.  He slid his thumb over her forehead.  “I’m glad she didn’t leave any scars on that pretty little head of yours.”

“Yeah.  And I wouldn’t want to have to sue her ass.”  For some reason, in his drunken state, her words set him off.  He started laughing and couldn’t stop.  Val led him in the room and then walked back to the door, locking it.  “Come on in.”  Brad had to sit down.  The room was starting to spin, thanks to his gales of laughter, and he moved over to the nearest bed to sit down.  “No, not there.  The other bed.”

He stood up, wondering why she wanted him in a specific bed.  It didn’t matter.  He couldn’t drop the ball now.  He walked over to the other bed and sat down.  “Oh…you gonna come curl up with me?”

“I think I need to put you to bed.”

That
hit him hard, and he could feel his blood starting to speed through his veins.  Was that an invitation?  “I’d like that.  Want me to tell you where to start?”

She started walking over, a smile on her face that he couldn’t quite interpret.
  “Oh, Brad.  You are such a bad, bad boy.”

“You like bad boys?”

“I like
you
.”

That’s what he needed to hear.  It meant he had a chance. 
“Did you know I turned twenty in March?”

“Yeah?  So now you’re an older bad boy?”

She walked over to the bed, and he held out his hands.  She took them, and that was when he knew tonight was his lucky night.  “I think you’re probably the best birthday present I’ve had.”  She sat down next to him and he touched her cheek, then kissed her.  It was an innocent kiss, no tongue yet, simply testing the waters.  But he was beyond fucked up, and he knew there was no way in hell, not the way he was feeling, not right now anyway.  He opened his eyes, happy that at least Val hadn’t spurned him.  Anything else could wait until he was more in control.  “I’m way fuckin’ drunker than I thought.  I need to rest my head.  The room is spinning.”

Brad’s world grew black as his head sunk into the pillow.

* * *

It didn’t feel like much time had passed when Brad started to stir, hearing raised voices, but what pulled him completely out of his slumber was
Ethan’s hands digging into his shoulders while the guy shouted in his face.  “Wake up, you motherfucker.”  Brad forced his eyes open while his friend wrapped a fist around Brad’s t-shirt, trying to pull him out of the bed.  “Did you fuck her?”

He was having a hell of a time getting his bearings.  He was completely disoriented.
“What the hell are you talking about?  Where am I?”  It all came rushing into his head…the night before, sitting on Valerie’s bed, then nothing.  He couldn’t remember anything after that—and it was gonna piss him off if something happened and he didn’t remember.  But he didn’t think so.  Still…he had to be sure.  “Valerie…Did I?  Did we…?”  Fuck.  It was driving him crazy.  He couldn’t remember anything past the time when he was flirting with Val on the bed, and he was pretty sure he had only been sleeping, but he couldn’t be sure.  His shoes were off but his clothes were on, and Val was wearing a t-shirt and pajama pants, so he thought it was safe to assume nothing had happened between them.  He was glad, because he’d be pissed if they
had
done something and he couldn’t remember it.

Jesus.  Ethan was blitzed out of his mind.  The alcohol on the guy’s breath was fresh and heavy.  Brad wondered if he’d slept at all.  The only reason Brad knew it was early morning was because of the sunlight shining through the curtains on the window.  But he knew that much—it
was
morning.

Val had been tugging on Ethan’s shirt, trying to get him to let go of Brad.  As Brad began to awaken, he realized his friend was seriously considering beating the shit out of him.  He probably should have been scared—but he wasn’t.  Val yelled at Ethan, “
What are you doing?”

Ethan let go of Brad and turned to Val, putting his hands on her shoulders.  “You mean…you invited him here?  Did he force himself on you?”

“Force himself on me?  Whatever gave you that idea?  Brad is a gentleman.”

Brad was starting to awaken more and he sat up, taking
in a deep breath.  He was beginning to find the scene hilarious but said nothing as Ethan continued his rant.  “Gentleman?  Then he seduced you.”

Val sounded angry.  “Get out.”

“He did. 
You
did.”

“Get the hell out of here, Ethan.  I’ve had it with you.”

“But Valerie…”

Val was pushing against Ethan’s chest, and Brad sensed that he might have to help her.  He didn’t want to fight his friend, but he knew he’d have to consider getting a little physical with him to get him out of the room.  Val persevered, though.  “For your information, we did not have sex.  But if we had, I can assure you that we both would have been willing.”

Ethan sounded hurt.  “You mean…you would have slept with my best friend?”

Her words had just sunk in with
Brad as well, and he couldn’t ignore the implication.  “Really?”

“And not with me?”

“You asshole.  After the way you’ve treated me, you think I’d
want
to sleep with you?  You never even
tried
, Ethan Richards.  And neither did Brad.  But that’s unimportant.  Nothing happened.  Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d really like to get some sleep.  Good night, Ethan.”

This time, when Val pushed against Ethan, he let her guide him out the door to the hallway.  She’d no sooner gotten the door closed, though, that he was opening it again.  Brad heard his friend ask, “You sure you didn’t sleep with him and just forgot?”

“Positive.”  Val slammed the door and locked it, walking back in the room with an exasperated look on her face.  She might have been tired, but she looked gorgeous to Brad, and he could have kicked himself for not taking advantage of the situation the night before.  No wonder she’d called him a
gentleman
.  He’d been too far gone to try a goddamned thing.