Hot Whiskey Eyes

Jesse didn’t know why he was at his best friend Brian’s apartment, at Brian’s housewarming party, sitting on Brian’s couch, drinking Brian’s really, really shitty beer, drinking himself into an oblivion.

For one thing, he really didn’t like parties. Thought they were too loud, too warm, too crowded. There was just something about being surrounded by sweaty, writhing bodies that made him shudder with unease.

And he could have very easily just been at his own apartment, sipping at his own shitty beer, drinking himself into oblivion, then at Brian’s.

So again, he was back to the reason why was he sitting on Brian’s dilapidated couch, listening to overly loud rap music, surrounded by people he didn’t know, and didn’t care to. He just didn’t really like people. They made him uncomfortable.

The music switched to an even louder rap song that he didn’t know and Jesse groaned. And that was when Brian decided to stumble drunkenly in front of him, a girl in a barely-there dress hanging on his arm.

“Jesse, my man!” He exclaimed, the dark, amber liquid in his glass spilling over the rim as he tried to straighten himself. “Glad you could make it.”

Jesse grumbled some non-committal noise in way of agreement. He forgot how unbelievably annoying Brian could be when he was hammered.

“Oh, you’re still not brooding over your ex, are you?” Brian dropped down on the couch next to him, the girl still attached to his arm tumbling down with him. “Get the fuck over it, man. It’s been like, a week.”

Oh, right. Jesse was at this pointless party because Brian believed that he ‘needed to get back in the sack.’ Like that was going to happen at any point soon.

“I was with her for almost two years, Bri. Give me a break.”

Brian threw his arm over Jesse’s shoulders and pulled him close.

“You see, what you need to do is you need to get with one of these fine honeys up in here. That’ll help you get your mind off that old bitch you finally unloaded.”

“Hey, man. Fucking watch your mouth,” Jesse grumbled. “Lexi may have cheated on me but I still love her.”

“Love?” Brian laughed. “Yeah, you definitely need to get over her. And the best way to do that is to get on someone else. Here, you can have her.”

He gestured to the girl next to him, mentioning her for the first time. The drunken gaze in her eyes seemed to clear and she looked over Jesse, scrutinizing the tousled black curls, bright green eyes, and the strong jaw roughened by stubble. When her eyes took on an appreciative gleam and the corners of her lips tilted up into a smirk, Jesse almost groaned.

Obviously she was okay with being handed off like an unwanted toy.

“No thanks, Bri,” Jesse sighed. “I just want to be left alone.”

“Fine man, your loss.” Brian lumbered up from the couch, pulling the girl still staring hungrily at Jesse with him. “Come on, babe.”

He tugged her away and with one last longing glance at Jesse, she followed, giggling slightly.

Jesse stared at the now warm beer in his hand with distain before dropping it onto the scratched surface of the coffee table in front of him. If he was going to get through the rest of the party, he’d need something a hell of a lot stronger.

He got up from the couch and pushed pass the mess of dancing people in the living room to go to the kitchen. On the way there a drunken couple bumped into him, the girl’s drink spilling down the front of Jesse’s light blue button down shirt. Fuck. He knew wearing something so nice was a mistake.

The kitchen was emptier than the living room, but a few people were here and there, either imbibing in some form of alcohol or talking animatedly. The tile was scuffed and a dull gray color and the walls had flowered wallpaper that might have once been blue but was now faded and sad.

Jesse tiptoed around a brownish, sticky puddle that he hoped wasn’t vomit, side-stepped around a girl passed out against the refrigerator and went to the far counter littered with glass bottles. He looked through the bottles, hoping for something better than cheap vodka and warm, crappy beer. Pushed in the back was a half empty bottle of José Cuervo tequila and he snatched it up before someone else did.

He slightly stumbled over to the round, plastic kitchen table and fell onto a seat. The legs scrapped loudly against the scarred linoleum. He unscrewed the cap and took a long swig from the bottle. It slid down his throat in a slow burn that was as comforting as it was jarring.

Two years he had given her, two years. And she had gone and thrown it all away for some blonde douchebag, with washboard abs that worked as an Abercrombie and Fitch model. He grimaced and took another drink of tequila. Jesse didn’t have washboard abs, and the only models he worked with were the various cars he repaired at his father’s rundown auto body shop.

He went to take another drink, but nothing came out and he realized it was all gone. He couldn’t even remember drinking it all but must have while staring at the faded wallpaper. He blinked his eyes, the flower pattern going blurry.

Two fucking years. And it had meant nothing.

“What had?”

Jesse didn’t’ even realize he had said it out loud until Brian plunked down into a chair next to him, a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand, and an Absolut Vodka in the other.

“Lexi,” Jesse grumbled.

“Oh, my god. You need to get over her.”

“I can’t, man. She was like, my fucking picket fence, my fucking future and my dirtiest dreams all rolled into one. She was perfect.”

Jesse felt a sharp burn in the back of his throat that had nothing to do with alcohol and he swallowed. If he started crying now Brian would never let him live it down.

“Here. You need this more than I do.”

Brian handed him the bottle of whiskey and Jesse gulped some down. It didn’t help to alleviate the sadness since it had always been Lexi’s favorite drink. She said that fruity cocktails were for pussy girls who couldn’t hold their own. And it matched the color of her eyes, a toasty amber color that went with her honey-toned hair. She had always looked so warm.

God, he missed her.

The music drifting in from the other room switched to a poppy-sounding punk rock song he didn’t know, but it was a welcome change from the previous loud rap.

“What song is this?” he asked Brian.

“Hmm. Fall Out Boy, I think. New roommate hooked up his iPod and he loves that shit. I haven’t really listened to them since Dance, Dance myself.”

“Didn’t they break up or some shit?”

Brian just shrugged and plucked the bottle of whiskey away from Jesse, but he didn’t even notice. He was listening to the words then started to pull out his phone.

He was going to regret this in the morning, but the lyrics were so perfect and just fit so well that he couldn’t resist. He typed out the lines but it ended up looking something more like baby yu were my pickt fence. i miss missing yo now nd then.

He sent it to Lexi with a feeling of pure victory because he knew it was going to piss her off. But before he could share his genius idea with Brian, he needed another drink because the bottle of Jack Daniels was empty.

“Hey, Jess. Isn’t that her?”

He looked up to where Brian was pointing across the hallway and saw Lexi grinding against the same Abercrombie and Fitch model that had ripped away his future. Jesse watched her pull her phone out from her tight, tight jeans that hung low on her hips. He knew the exact moment she read the text, could practically see her hot whiskey eyes widen from where he was sitting, see her lush mouth tilting down into a frown. She looked around for a second before shoving the phone back into her pocket.

Lexi practically ran away from the dance floor, dragging the blonde guy with her. The music was too loud for Jesse to hear the front door slam, but he knew that it did.

Yeah, he definitely needed another drink.