"To nights we won't remember and friends we'll never forget," Cate Cassidy said, holding up her glass.
"Nights you won't remember, Drunk," Ryan teased.
"OK. OK. Save it for when you're on air," Alice said, knowing once the two co-hosts started bantering she would never hear the end of it.
"If Cate's not too hungover tomorrow morning," Ryan said lightly, grinning.
"You're just embarrassed 'cause I can drink you under the table," Cate shot back.
Alice rolled her eyes and gestured impatiently to her drink.
Cate, Ryan and Alice clinked glasses and drank deeply.
"Who wants to do shots?" Cate asked when they were all about done with their first drinks.
Ryan and Alice exchanged a glance. Cate lived up to her reputation as a zany, slutty single and once alcohol entered the equation she had a tendency to get out of control.
Cate ordered three tequila shots.
Alice raised her eyebrows. "Do you remember what happened last time you drank tequila?"
Cate stared at Alice blankly.
"Allow me," Ryan said, smirking. "The corporate retreat. The ice sculpture."
Cate blushed. "It was one ice sculpture! And it really shouldn't have been there."
"I don't think the hotel knew you'd be too drunk to walk straight," Ryan teased.
"Oh! Says the guy who threw up in the hotel lobby! At least I can hold my liquor," Cate retorted.
"And that's why we're never going back to that hotel," Alice said dryly.
Jaime had been checking Alice out. He waited until she downed her shot and then approached. "Hey." He grinned cockily. "What are you drinking?"
Alice scanned Jaime's lean frame and smiled approvingly. "Vodka and tonic."
Jaime mixed the drink and handed it to her.
Alice nodded. "Thanks." She drank deeply.
Jaime continued to flirt with her. Alice smiled, enjoying the attention.
Ryan leaned toward Cate. "See your next victim?"
"OK. If I were a guy, you'd ask if I saw my next conquest or one-night-stand, but because I'm a girl my dates are victims?" Cate demanded, feigning insult.
"When you get through with them they are," Ryan muttered.
Cate rolled her eyes. "What about you? See anyone you like?"
Ryan glanced around before shaking his head. "No. The crowd's dying down. It's almost closing time."
"Looks like you'll be spending another night alone," Cate teased.
Alice grabbed Cate's arm. "Come on. That bartender I've been talking to lives above the bar. He invited us to play beer pong. His friend is totally your type."
"You guys go ahead. I'm gonna call it a night," Ryan said, not wanting to be the fifth wheel.
"Weak sauce," Cate said as she hugged Ryan goodbye.
Cate allowed Alice to drag her upstairs. She stared in shock when she saw Nate Bazile filling cups with beer and arranging them on the beer pong table.
Alice was right. Jaime's friend was definitely Cate's type. Unfortunately Cate knew she wasn't Baze's type.
"Come on. What's wrong with you?" Alice asked when Cate stopped dead in her tracks.
Alice turned around when Cate wouldn't budge. The color had drained from Cate's face.
"You know what, I changed my mind. I'm tired. I'm gonna go home now, too," Cate managed, trying to free herself from Alice's grip.
Alice tightened her grip on Cate's arm. "I already told them we'd play."
"There's my partner," Jaime said, putting his hand on Alice's lower back and leading her toward the beer pong table.
Cate could not believe this was happening. She never wanted to see Baze again. And her boss was forcing her to play beer pong with him.
Jaime nodded toward Baze. "This is Baze."
Alice looked at Cate expectantly. When Cate didn't introduce herself, Alice said, "This is Cate."
Baze looked up. His grin disappeared when he saw Cate Cassidy.
Jaime gave Baze a weird look. Normally Baze was a smooth-talker. Now his roommate just stood there staring at Cate open-mouthed.
"You haven't changed a bit. Except your hairline," Cate said.
Baze made a face and ran a hand through his wavy brown hair self-consciously.
"You two know each other?" Jaime asked, frowning.
"Yeah. Cate and I, we went to high school together," Baze mumbled, shifting uncomfortably.
Alice studied Baze interestedly. "What was Cate like in high school?"
Cate shot Baze a warning look. "Let's not talk about high school."
Alice ignored Cate. "Was she as crazy back then as she is now?" She asked with a laugh.
Cate stiffened. She glared at Alice. "Everyone knows I hated high school. Can we-"
"Who hates high school?" Alice said lightly, smirking slightly. "What? Were you one of those girls who got knocked up on prom night or something?"
Baze choked on his beer. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.
Cate's expression hardened. Her cheeks burned.
"Oh my gosh! You got knocked up on prom night?" Alice said, glancing back and forth between Cate and Baze.
Alice had never imagined that Cate actually was pregnant in high school. She'd been teasing. She knew from Cate's expression that Cate didn't think it was funny. At all. Alice cringed.
"More like winter formal," Baze mumbled.
Cate glared at Baze. She should've known he wouldn't keep his mouth shut. He may have kept quiet in high school, but he always seemed to do the opposite of what she wanted. It was like he went out of his way to make her life miserable.
Alice and Jaime exchanged a glance.
"We're just gonna go…" Alice said, wanting to give Cate and Baze privacy.
Jaime nodded and followed Alice back down to the bar.
Cate turned to Baze. "What is wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry," Baze said dully.
"Oh, you're sorry? You humiliated me in front of my boss!" Cate said angrily.
"I didn't mean to," Baze said truthfully.
"You didn't mean to?" Cate repeated, her tone deadly "Just like you didn't mean to impregnate me in the back of your mom's minivan! You never mean to do anything!"
"It takes two, Cate. I don't think you meant to get pregnant at sixteen either. Sometimes things just happen," Baze muttered.
"Only when you're around," Cate said, her tone accusatory.
"How did we end up in the back of my mom's minivan anyway?" Baze asked, wondering why she'd slept with him in the first place if she hated him so much.
"You lured me in," Cate said. "With Zima…and the Spin Doctors."
Baze grinned. "I thought it was my mad skills and my rockin' tape deck."
"Your mad skills?" Cate raised her eyebrows. "You didn't make it through Two Princes."
"I'm sorry," Baze said softly.
Cate tried to laugh it off. "Please, that song was, like, five minutes long."
"Not for that. I mean, I should be." Baze said lightly. His expression sobered when he met Cate's gaze. "Back then I was in over my head. Afraid I was gonna mess up my life."
Cate looked down.
"We can't all be as smart, successful and beautiful as you, you know," Baze said. "Some of us peak in high school."
Cate looked up in surprise. Baze's ocean blue eyes bored into her chocolate eyes. She'd always really liked his eyes. He held her gaze. He looked like he was being sincere.
Cate smiled at the compliment. She wasn't in high school anymore, but she still desperately wanted the popular quarterback to like her.
Cate instinctively leaned in and before she knew it Baze's lips were on hers. He kissed her hard.
They ended up in Baze's bedroom, hastily stripping. Their discarded clothes formed a pile on the already messy floor of Baze's bedroom.
Cate had never gotten over her crush on the popular jock. If anything, his rejection had only made her want him more. Knowing that he wanted her, too, made her feel more beautiful than ever.
Baze pulled Cate down on top of him. Cate wanted him to be inside her. She needed him to be inside her.
He teased her with his tongue until she could hardly stand it. When Cate didn't think she could take it anymore, she felt him inside her. He made her toes curl.
Baze watched Cate sleep, her head nestled against his chest. She felt good there. Like she belonged there.
He didn't know what it was about her, but there was something about her that made him want her.
She'd been such a dork in high school. She'd worn this ridiculous headgear for the first two years. Even when it was gone, she hadn't exactly been Baze's type.
Baze didn't know what had possessed him to invite Cate into his mom's minivan on the night of winter formal. He'd told himself he just wanted to get some, but he knew there was more to it than that. He was inexplicably drawn to Cate. He always had been.