Take a Chance on Me

Forty-four

"Oh my- what the- Leah?" Alex's eyes are wide in shock and he's stiff as a board, staring out at all of his friends in his house. 

I stand on my tip toes to kiss him on the cheek and he wraps his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. I lift my head to meet his gaze. "You did this all for me?"

I place a quick kiss on his lips. "Well it wasn't just me. It was Chase and Gabby and Emily too. And everyone else for not ruining the surprise. Happy birthday, Alex."

He squeezes me as hard as he can, lifting me off the ground and placing kisses throughout my hair. "I love you so much. I love you I love you I love you."

I laugh and when he sets me back down I take a deep breath, finally getting some oxygen into my system after being released from his tight grip. "You might love me more if I'm alive!" He rolls his eyes and I grab his hand, leading him to the backyard, where everyone else has already migrated. 

"Happy birthday man!" Bennett says, handing Alex a cup of beer from the keg. Luke, Ryan, Haley, and Jen follow Bennett to join the group. 

"Did you really not have any idea about this party?" Luke chimes in. 

"Did you see the look on his face? Of course he didn't know. I thought we were going to have to call an ambulance to bring him back to life," Jen says, giving me a wink and causing me to laugh.  

Ryan shoves a pile of pasta into his mouth as he comments, "Leah right here sure does know how to throw a party." Haley hits his arm for talking with his mouth full and the group laughs as he rolls his eyes. 

The night is exactly what I expected it to be and more. Some of his friends revert back to their college days when they see a keg so, of course, there was a keg stand competition. The pasta Gabby and Emily ordered was completely devoured by the drunk party guests, and the hot tub that would normally comfortable fit eight people has been maxed out at twenty, some people with one limb in and some sitting on each other's laps to make room. 

I'm sitting on Alex's lap and to my left is Chase and my right is Jen. Everyone is well past tipsy, verging more on the side of wasted and about to blackout. 

"Okay, okay let's play a game," booms through my right ear, from the mouth of Jen. 

"I'm not playing truth or dare," Luke shouts from across the jacuzzi, not realizing that we can all hear him if he used a normal tone of voice. "That game is LAMEEEE."

"No shit, Luke. We are playing charades, aka act like the biggest dumbass here and we have to guess who you are." Jen beams with glee when she explains her game and the rest of the jacuzzi laughs and nods in approval. 

"Me first!" Gabby shouts, shooting her arm in the air like a 5th grader trying to get their teacher's attention. 

"Go for it Gabs," Jen says. 

Gabby tilts her head to the side, makes her eyes go as wide as possible, and lets her mouth hang open. Then for dramatic effect she starts to roll her eyes back and puts her arms straight out. 

"That's Alex!" a voice announces. "He looked like a zombie when he walked into the big surprise." Everyone breaks out into a fit of laughter and Alex joins in, knowing that he was thrown off by the party. 

"I may have looked like a zombie, but at least I have a girlfriend who can throw the best parties." He puts both hands on the side of my face and turns me to face him so he can give me a messy kiss in front of all of his friends. 

"Get a room!" Bennett yells and everyone laughs, making me blush and playful push Alex away.

A few others make impressions, including Haley taking a stab at Ryan talking with his mouth full. Throughout the game, everyone is consuming more alcohol, breaking the drunk scale and sending themselves over the edge. Ryan has no self control when he takes it upon himself to make the next impression. 

"Who am I?" Ryan crosses his arms over his chest and sticks his bottom lip out, pouting like a kid who didn't get their way. No one has any idea who it is, throwing out random guesses here and there. "Come on guys, it's so obvious." Everyone is dumbfounded when he reveals his answer. "It's Chase whenever he's around Leah and Alex." The laughter comes to a still, leaving everyone speechless. "Chase is jealous! Come on, we can all tell. Right guys?" 

Haley gives Ryan a look that clearly means, "What the hell is wrong with you?" What follows is a bout of awkward silence. The worst kind. The kind that there is no escaping. And at that, Chase gets out of the hot tub and walks into the house, bringing a cup of beer with him. 

I turn to Alex. "I'm going to go see if he's okay." I hop out of the water and grab my towel, wrapping it around my body and follow Chase inside. I walk up the stairs and knock on his room door. "Chase, it's me, Leah. Can I come in?"

There's no response, so I slowly open his door and find him sprawled on his bed with the cup to his lips. "Chase, can I talk to you?" He doesn't respond so I sit on the edge of his bed and talk anyways. 

"It was just a joke. Ryan was being an idiot. No one actually thinks that because it's not true." He slowly starts to sit up, finishing the rest of his drink and throwing the cup on the ground. 

He finally speaks. "How do you know it's not true? How do you know I don't like you?"

My stomach tightens at the thought. What does he mean? "Because I'm dating Alex, your best friend. You would never like your best friend's girlfriend." The alcohol talks before I can. "You would never like me." 

Chase looks down at his bed and shakes his head. His voice slurs on the next sentence. "Maybe that's not true." He moves closer to me, lifting his head to make eye contact with me. "Maybe I saw you first." "Maybe..." His head moves towards mine and I let it. I don't move closer, I don't move further away. I stay still. I let his lips move within millimeters of mine. Until the door swings open and Alex's face shows the same zombie shock expression it did a few hours ago.