500 Days (22 page)

Declan gave me a worried look. “You might
want to take it easy. Don’t want you knocked out before the night
is over.”

“
I’ll be fine,” I smiled
at her.

Gus came over to wish us a Happy Birthday
and told me drinks were on him. I thanked him and ordered my first
beer. There was a DJ playing until the band started so the music
was loud and pumping. The perfect kind of music you could shake
your butt to. As the night progressed we were joined by several
more people. Most of which turned out to be friends of Casper and
Colton. I only had a handful of friends that came back early for
the school year. I can’t say I minded being surrounded by men. A
few of the girls from work who had tonight off came to hang out as
well and made sure I celebrated my twenty first right.

After my third beer and fourth shot I
decided to take a break. Casper had a pitcher of water sent over. I
was surprised at how he just jumped in and took care of everything
while still having a good time. He made sure everyone had a drink
in their hand and that everyone was getting along and happy. I was
starting to believe that maybe there was a different side to him
after all, but then I quickly convinced myself it was the booze
talking.

“
Hey, having fun?” Declan
asked, falling into the seat next to me.

“
Yes, thank you for all of
this.”

“
Don’t thank me, thank
Casper. He did most of it.”

I pulled back in surprise. “Wait, Casper did
all this? Are you serious?”

“
How the hell do you think
I got us a table at Echo?” I looked at Declan and then over at
Casper who was talking to one of his friends. He looked up, his
eyes met mine and he smiled.

“
Why would he do all
this?”

Declan shrugged. “Maybe he was making up for
the black eye or maybe he just likes you,” she said, hiding her
knowing smile behind her mug.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Casper doesn’t
like me.”

“
Oh no? Then how would you
explain all this?”

I couldn’t.

He did an awesome job of setting everything
up and making sure everyone was having a great time, but I just
couldn’t get past thinking what was in it for him. I had a hard
time believing he did all this out of the kindness out of his
heart. I looked over at him and saw he was about to make his way
over to us. I grabbed Declan and yanked her out of the chair.
“Let’s dance.”

I panicked for some reason. I couldn’t
handle the reality of the real reason Casper did all this. My mind
flashed back to the kiss. My temperature started to rise and I
could feel my body over heat. I closed my eyes trying to rid my
mind of the image that was permanently planted in my head. I needed
a distraction. I found one not too far off on the dance floor. I
tugged one of the guys over to dance with me.

He put his hands on my hips as we danced.
Not caring and wanting to have a good time I leaned back. Declan
smiled at me, letting me know the guy was cute. I was about to
check out the guy I was dancing with, but when I turned around he
was gone. I shrugged it off. There was a cute guy to my right who
was checking me out. I pulled him closer and wrapped my arms around
him. I was getting parched so I told the guy I was dancing with I
would be right back. I grabbed Declan and headed to the bar. We got
two beers and another shot then headed our way back to the dance
floor. Unfortunately by the time I returned, the guy I was dancing
with disappeared. I shrugged. I knew he was one of many.

Soon Declan and I were swarmed by guys. I
was sweating from all the dancing and hot bodies surrounding me. I
was dancing with two guys. I turned around and the one behind me
was gone. I looked at Declan who had a frown on her face. I turned
back around and the other guy I was dancing with was gone too and
so were half the other guys who were dancing with us. Okay, did I
smell or something? I turned back to Declan. Her eyes were narrowed
in the direction of the table. I looked to see Jaxson was keeled
over laughing hysterically. When he saw that I had caught him, he
stopped and looked behind me. “Where are Jacob and Jasper?” Declan
jerked a thumb over her shoulder.

I stomped over to the far wall on my left. I
found Jasper and Jacob hiding in the darkest corners of the club
smiling and laughing. Jacob cleared his throat when he saw me.
“Having fun?” Jasper asked.

“
What the hell are you two
doing?”

“
We were just having some
fun,” Jasper said.

“
Having fun by scaring
away every single guy that decided to dance with me?”

“
Jake and I just made it
clear they needed to keep their hands to themselves.” I pressed my
palm to my head feeling a headache coming on. “Alex they were all
douchebags and just looking to get in your pants.”

“
So what! I hate to break
it to you two
,
but I haven’t been a virgin for a while.” Jacob looked
absolutely disgusted, like he was going to throw up and Jasper
looked ready to kill everyone. I knew they did not want to hear
this about their sister but I didn’t know how else to get through
to them. “And if I decide to take someone home tonight that’s my
business and not your choice.”

“
None of them are good
enough for you,” Jasper growled.

“
Again that’s my decision.
I get that you want to protect me, but I need some breathing room.”
I punched them both in the arm and then left them there without
another word. I was not going to let these two buttheads ruin my
night. I marched over to Declan and tugged on her arm. She put her
two fingers up to her eyes and then pointed them at Jacob and
Jasper angrily letting them know she will be watching
them.

Back at the table, I
walked past Jaxson and smacked him on the back of the head before I
took a seat. Declan did the same and Jaxson gave us both a,
‘what the hell?’
look. I
pointed in the direction of Jasper and Jacob. Jaxson rolled his
eyes. “Alex, we were just messin’ around.”

“
I’m not amused Jax.” I
grabbed the unopened bottle of Patron out of the bucket. I was
ready to wiggle off the cap and pour myself a shot when I felt a
hand come over mine. I flinched slightly from the touch.

“
Whoa, hold off there a
second. I’m saving that for a little later.” I looked up to see
Casper standing over my shoulder, his hand still on mine. Our eyes
connected and I fell into a trance. He flashed his cocky smile and
then it all fell away. I let go of the bottle and he replaced it in
the bucket. “You okay?” he asked, taking a seat next to
me.

“
Yeah, just my brothers
being assholes.” He chuckled lightly to himself. I whipped my head
in his direction and glared at him. “Don’t tell me you were in on
it too?”

He put his hands up in surrender. “I swear I
had nothing to do with it, but you have to admit it was kind of
funny.”

“
Hardly,” I
spat.

“
Oh come on, they’re just
looking out for ya. If you were my sister I would have done the
same thing.” I let out a breath, deciding I wasn’t going to let my
brothers destroy my good mood. “Besides, none of those guys were
worth your time.”

“
Jealous?” I
asked.

He smiled but didn’t answer me. “Declan, can
you get everyone and tell them we’re ready?”

She nodded excitedly and hopped out of her
chair. “Ready for what?” I asked nervously.

“
You’ll see,” he winked
and handed me another beer. I took it to calm my nerves.

“
It’s time.”

“
Time for what?” I asked.
Casper spun me around and escorted me to the stage with Jaxson. He
looked just as confused as I was.

Casper jumped up and stood in front of the
microphone. “Before we start we have a special surprise.” Casper
looked down at me and gestured for me to join him on stage. Eyes
wide, I turned to Declan. She shrugged her shoulders, pretending to
be clueless. Jaxson nudged me, curious to find out what was going
on. When I didn’t take his hand Casper jumped down off the stage.
Then, as if I weighed nothing, he lifted me up while Colton offered
me a hand to help pull me up. Jaxson and Casper both climbed the
stage with ease. I stood there in front of everyone, feeling
self-conscious with all eyes on me. Casper positioned Jaxson and me
next to him. The lights above us dimmed and the music stopped. I
spotted a small glow out of the corner of my eye. I looked to the
left to see Jasper, Jacob, and Declan carrying out a large cake
from the side of the stage.

Casper started singing Happy Birthday and
soon the crowd joined in.

Best surprise ever.

The entire crowd continued to sing happy
birthday while Jacob and Jasper carried over a giant square cake.
Declan came up beside me and hugged my waist while I threw my other
arm around Jaxson.

“
Make a wish,” Jacob
said.

I looked around at my brothers and all the
people who came out to celebrate tonight, my eyes stopping on
Casper for a split second. “I already have everything I want.”

There was a collective awe from the crowd.
“Fuck that, I want a Lamborghini,” Jaxson said. I couldn’t help but
laugh. Together we blew out the candles. Everyone clapped as the
lights brightened and the music returned. “Let’s party!”

Before I could walk away, Casper grabbed me
by the waist and pulled me back. “Not done with you yet.” I felt a
sudden rush when his body hit mine, like I couldn’t breathe. With
him this close it was hard to control my emotions. My head was
telling me how wrong this was, but all my body wanted to do was
lean into him more, inhale his scent, and have his hands roam every
inch of my body. I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding.
Casper gestured to the unopened bottle of Patron. “You and Jaxson
get to do the first shots.” We made our way off the stage and back
over to the table. Declan handed me a hot pink glass she got me
just for tonight. Casper poured us each a shot. Jaxson and I
clinked glasses and then sucked down the shots slamming the empty
glasses on the table earning us another round of cheers.

“
Happy Birthday sis,”
Jaxson said, giving me a hug.

“
Happy Birthday Jax.”
Declan hugged me from behind before I could let go and then so did
Jacob and Jasper. “Thank you guys.”

“
You’re
welcome.”

When it was time for Leverage to perform,
Declan dragged Jaxson and me to the front of the stage. As the boys
took their positions I found myself unable to take my eyes off of
Casper. There was something about the way he walked out on that
stage. He carried himself with confidence. Not the normal cockiness
I’d seen him use on me or other girls. He was a different person
the moment he stepped onto that stage. I could see it in his eyes.
He loved the rush of performing in front of a large crowd.

Casper spotted me in the front and smiled a
real, genuine smile. I felt my insides tingle and I had to grab on
to Declan to keep my legs from giving in. I looked down at the
floor, confused. What was that?

“
You okay?” Declan asked,
a little worried.

“
Yeah, I just think that
last shot finally hit me.” Declan reached over and grabbed Jaxson’s
bottle of water and made me drink some. I smiled at her to reassure
her that I was fine. I pushed aside the weird feeling I got from
Casper and cheered wildly with Declan as they started to play. We
danced to every song, swaying our hips and singing along with the
lyrics. By the end of their first set I was sweating and ready for
another drink. I dragged Jaxson and Declan to the table while we
waited for the boys to join us. After our small reprieve from the
swarm of bodies packed close to the stage, I pulled Jasper on to
the dance floor, and made him dance.

For the most part he just stood there. I
laughed when Jacob joined us on the dance floor and put Jasper to
shame. Gus had let Jacob in only because he was driving us. He had
to wear a wristband to show he wasn’t twenty-one yet. Sometimes the
club did eighteen plus shows, but tonight was over twenty-one only
so Gus made an exception because Jacob was my brother.

After Jacob and Jaxson made fun of Jasper
for his lack of dancing skills, he blew us off and went to the bar.
Declan joined us on the dance floor with Colton in tow. He wasn’t
much better than Jasper, but he made a solid effort. I was having a
really good time when I noticed Casper sitting at the table
watching us. I waved for him to come down but he just shrugged it
off. Not wanting to take no for an answer I walked over to the
table, grabbed his arm, and pulled him out to the dance floor. He
hesitated at first when I put his hands on my hips. “Relax Casper,
I’m not trying to take you home,” I teased.

He smiled back at me, relaxing his arms.
“Good to know, Katherine.” I elbowed him playfully. He smiled
sweetly and rested his hands on my hips as I turned around to face
my friends. Casper and I moved rhythmically to the music. His
fingertips pressed lightly into my sides as I swayed my hips back
and forth. I was having a good time until some half-dressed skank
tried to dance with my little brother. Jaxson encouraged him. I
stepped away from Casper and then smacked Jaxson before I stood in
front of the skank with my arms crossed. I pointed to the underage
wristband on his arm. She rolled her eyes and walked away.

“
What the hell, Alex?”
Jacob complained.

“
Jacob, I am not letting
my little brother get molested by some whore.” He left the dance
floor annoyed. Declan and Jaxson just shook their heads at me.
“What?” I snapped.