Another Night on Mars

AJ was plastered, so drunk that she could hardly stand up straight without almost falling to the ground. She knew going out with the boys was going to lead to some heavy drinking but she wasn’t expecting Pat and Tim to throw a late night bonfire to drink even more. She would have paced herself but she was screwed now. It didn’t matter if she slowed down now but she did. AJ had been nursing the same Dos Equis for the last hour while the friends around her littered the area with empty beer cans and various types of bottles.

John had no idea the two brothers were planning a bonfire until last minute or else he would have warned his drunken brunette friend. Even though it had been a long while since he had talked to her, he knew that she was accustomed to drinking beer and only beer. Her bandmates practically lived off the hoppy beverage on tours, hardly drinking water unless right before going on stage and immediately after.

Since they had reached the bonfire, AJ had gone off and mingled with his friends. She knew some of them and the others she had heard of. He had hardly been able to keep track of the girl, slightly worried that Austin would take advantage of her drunken state. John knew Austin was a good guy but even while slightly impaired, Austin had made some terrible decisions in the past.

“So, this AJ girl, is she a possible girlfriend?” Dirk asked as he placed himself next to John who was watching the singer carefully through the raging fire.

John chuckled, shaking his head. “Nah, just a good friend.”

He quirked a brow at his friend, “You sure? I know you, man. Girls usually don’t just stay friends with you.” Sipping on his dark beer, he smirked behind the can, “You end up sleeping with them and then say some words and then they get heartbroken and pissed off and never talk to you again.”

“Oh yeah?” John responded. He rolled his eyes, “That happened one time.”

Dirk laughed, “Yeah, okay. Let’s see,” he placed a finger on his chin as he worked out the list in his head. “There was Emma, Victoria, Hannah, and let’s not forget about that cute southern belle Faye.” Snapping his fingers, he chuckled out, “And those two girls that were best friends, what were their names again? I remember an Alice but what was the other girls name?”

John smacked his head, his hand covering his eyes in shame. “Lana.”

“Lana, that’s right. Yeah, I was worried that she was going to kill you.”

He let out some air and nodded as he relived that night, shuddering in his place, he shook his head. “Yeah no. AJ and I are seriously really good friends. We flirt a little but it’s all harmless.”

Dirk snorted, “Is it now?” He nonchalantly pointed a finger towards the girl who was dancing among some friends. “You call that harmless? Man, just look at her.” He took a second to watch her playfully move along to the shitty music blaring from Pat’s old radio. “I talked to her for only ten minutes and I know she’s dangerous. She’s the kind of girl that’ll make you eat out of the palm of your hands whether she’s meaning to or not. She has the power to bring every single one of us down on our knees.”

John sucked in air, trying to understand what Dirk meant by his words. “Yeah, but she’s not like that. She’s not a seductress, Dirk.”

“I’m not calling her a seductress, man.” Turning his head to face his friend, he cracked a small grin. “I’m saying that she’s the kind of girl who is worth keeping around for the rest of your life.” Looking back over towards the girl, he sighed. “You’re not her kind of guy that’s for sure. She needs someone who’s going to worship her day in and day out.”

John squinted his eyes as he watched her laugh and cling to his friends. Taking the last bit of his beer, he chucked it into the wooded tree line. Wiping his mouth with his hand, he lightly punched Dirk, “I’ll catch you later, man. Thursday?”

He nodded, “You know I’ll be there.”

“Sweet, drive safe, my man.” Walking around the fire, he smiled as his friends called out for him. Giving them all a quick side hug, he made light and quick conversation with each of them. He loved being around his friends, people that he had known since high school and people that he had made recently. All of them in one place, at one time, was great. “Guys, sadly, I gotta take Miss. Life of the Party back to the pad. I think she’s had enough for one night, she’ll be around for the next few weeks.”

Joel who John had become great friends with over the years since his band had joined the 8123 bandwagon, spoke up, smiling. “She’s a funny one. Glad she got to come out. I’ve been dying to meet her since she joined Aimless.”

“Yeah, she’s a hoot. You ready, Ash?”

AJ nodded, throwing back the rest of her beer, she tossed it into the nearest trashcan. Hiccupping, she saluted the group she had gotten to know in the thirty minutes. “I’ll see you cool cats later.” She accepted John’s invitation to hold his hand while he helped her back through the wooded trail to the cars. She was beginning to feel dizzy and she was immediately regretting the decision to drink as much as she had. Tomorrow as going to be brutal and she was only hoping that John was going to give her enough time to recover from the night she had. “I’m so drunk.” She mumbled out as she tripped over twigs.

John chuckled, keeping a firm grip around her waist. “Yes, yes you are.”

Taking a deep breath, she sighed out. “I’m never drinking again. I’m going to live above the influence.”

“You said that last time we drank together.”

She squinted her eyes, “Did I?”

He nodded, grinning at her inability to remember. “Yup. The next day after our game of Truth or Dare.”

AJ groaned as she remembered that night. Granted, she felt empowered to have kissed so many people back to back, it was still slightly humiliating to recall. At least with John and his mates she didn’t have to see them almost every second of every hour for the remainder of the tour. It was long forgotten with them but not with her bandmates, it was brought up at least five or six times a day. “Oh yeah. God, why did I ever agree to that?”

“Because if you didn’t, you would have had to lose your shirt.”

“Right, that was the stipulation. If you couldn’t perform the dare, you had to lose an item of clothing.” AJ hiccupped, her lips pressing together as the violent jerk caused her stomach to hurt. “You know, that’s kind of fucked up in a way because guys can strut naked if they wanted with not a care in the world but girls, we’ve got a lot more to show than a ding dong.”

John snorted, laughing at her choice of words. He reached into his back pocket for his keys when his car came into sight. Shaking his head, he wasn’t sure how to respond to her remark. She did have a point, the guys wouldn’t think twice losing their clothing but the girls would have had a little more hesitation. Reaching the car, he let go of her body and let her lean against the car for support. “We’ve seen you in a bathing suit before, it wouldn’t be any different than sitting there in your bra.”

AJ chuckled, “A bathing suit is a bathing suit, some guys get a kick out of seeing a girl in a bikini but being dressed in a bra is more seductive.” Running her hands through her hair, she smirked, “And what was it that you said, ‘seduction leads to destruction’? If Nina and I got undressed, it would have started something even more awkward and weird.”

John rose a brow, “Are you implying that an orgy would have broken out?”

“Probably.” She sighed, laughing as she shrugged. “No, I don’t know. Maybe? We were drinking that night and shit happens. I’m sure Nina would hopped on you like white on rice.”

John cringed a little, “Yeah and none of you fuckers would have helped me.”

AJ threw back her head and laughed, “I mean I would have for the right price.” She met his stare, her eyes glazing over.

John smirked, “Oh yeah?”

She nodded, her fingers reaching to scratch down his chest. “Most definitely. I’m not that hard to please.”

He licked his lips, taking a step forward. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” AJ purred.

“I don’t believe you,” John breathed.

AJ smiled, reaching up and giving him a quick peck on the cheek, she reached for his hand and pressed the unlock button on his keys. “Guess that’s just for me to know and for you to never find out then, huh?” She gave him wink and hopped into his car, leaving him shaking his head with a smile on his face.