AUTHOR'S NOTE: SURPRISED I UPDATED SO QUICKLY? YA'LLS RESPONSE JUST AMAZED ME! HOW COULD I KEEP YA'LL WAITING ANY LONGER? HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS! - KRISTINE. P.S. I'M GLAD YA'LL ARE LIKING LESLIE!
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: UH, NO.
CHAPTER SIX: BEER PONG ON GAMEDAY
- W - & - Z -
"Damn you look good," Wade murmured appreciatively the moment he laid eyes on Zoe. She had pulled her hair back in a messy ponytail and had paired the dress Leslie had given her with a chunky orange bracelet. If he hadn't known better he would have guessed that she was a KD from Auburn and not a doctor with an insatiable passion to be a surgeon. He already could hear his brothers asking how he managed to score a girl as classy and beautiful as Zoe.
Zoe smiled and tried her best to keep from blushing. Wade had this intense way of complimenting her that always made her feel like she was still an awkward 16-year-old who was desperately trying to compete with beautiful socialite friends. "It was all Leslie," she admitted. In less than a weeks time Leslie had quickly become her best girl friend since moving to Bluebell.
"I can already hear the way she's going to gloat when she lays eyes on you," Wade said as he pulled on his well-worn baseball cap. His grandfather had given it to him the day he decided to forgo playing college athletics in favor of getting a good education as a normal college student at Auburn. If his house had been on fire, it would have been one of the very first things he grabbed. "You know she threatened me the other day because of you. I swear you'd think you two had been friends longer than her and I have."
Zoe giggled softly taking a moment to simply appreciate just how handsome Wade even though he never seemed to put much effort into his appearance. He was wearing a pair of dark blue slacks and a white button down. She'd never been a fan of baseball caps but the one he was wearing seemed to perfectly compliment his outfit. If she weren't so damn pleased that he was her man, she would have been jealous about how easy it was for him to look good. She'd woken up at nearly the crack of dawn to start getting ready for today.
Leslie had told her that she was going to meet all of Wade's college buddies. According to her it was important that Zoe make a good impression. If they didn't like Zoe not only would they let Wade know, but they'd also encourage him to move on to someone new. Even though Leslie swore up and down that she couldn't see that happening Zoe couldn't help but still be a little nervous.
"You sure I look okay?" She asked glancing down at her outfit one more time. She was terrified that she looked like she was trying too hard. When Leslie had told her this outfit would be for the game not some sort of mixer afterwards she'd been shocked. Apparently football was a reason to dress up in the Deep South. When she'd gone to Giants games with her father growing up she'd always worn a jersey and a pair of jeans. It had never occurred to her that a football game would be an appropriate place to show off a cute new outfit.
"Zoe Hart you're so fine it is taking more self-control than you can possibly imagine for me to keep from ravaging you," Wade whispered before leaning down and giving her a gentle kiss. "Lemon is going to go nuts when she lays eyes on you."
"Lemon's going to be there?" Zoe asked, the shock evident on her face and in the tone of her voice. "I thought you and Leslie said that she was an Alabama fan."
"She is, but this is Founder's weekend for mine and George's fraternity. It'd be in bad taste for her not to show up." Wade explained. He'd intentionally kept this little detail to himself knowing that it might make Zoe think twice about joining him. He couldn't blame her after all. "It'll be fine though because the girls can't stand Lemon."
"Are you sure?" She could already hear the snide remarks Lemon would make in that nauseatingly sweet voice of hers. "I would prefer our second date not consist mostly of people awkwardly watching as Lemon suggested that I was fashionably challenged in addition to anything she can come up with to point out."
"You're forgetting that Leslie is going to be there. Believe me Leslie and Lemon would get into an all-out catfight before she'd let Lemon cut you down." Wade reminded her. "Now let's go so I can show you off to all my frat brothers."
She hesitated for one more minute before smiling and taking his outstretched his hand. Silently she hoped that he was right about Leslie. She was really not looking forward to walking into a Southern ambush. Plus while Lemon was able to mask her crude remarks in a pleasant tone Zoe was bound to tell her to shove a pastel cardigan somewhere the sun didn't shine.
"You know Zoe after today I think you just might consider not heading back up to New York to be a fancy cardiothoracic surgeon after all," Wade mused as he cranked up the car. When he glanced at her it was obvious that she had a hard time believing that would eve happen. Still he couldn't help but think otherwise when she gently placed her hand on top of his.
- W - & - Z -
"Zoe! Wade! You're here!" Leslie exclaimed when she laid eyes on the two of them walking towards the white tent that they tailgated under. She stumbled up from her chair to greet them at the entrance, throwing her arms around both of them to wrap them up in a sloppy, but tight hug.
"Nice to see you too Leslie," Wade replied before jokingly asking, "When did you start drinking?"
"Early enough that the brightness of Lemon's cardigan is starting to give me a headache," she admitted in what was supposed to be a whisper but wasn't. Luckily for her neither Lemon nor George were within sight. "Zoe you look so damn good. You just look perfect." She said as she admired her new friend.
"I couldn't have done it without you," Zoe reminded her. She silently mused that it must be normal to start drinking early on game day because nobody seemed the least bit fazed by the way Leslie was practically swaying side to side. "You look amazing too."
"I do?" Leslie asked, her voice bordering on weepy. She'd at this point had enough to drink that it didn't take much to make her emotional. Hell she was pretty sure that someone could show her a picture of a puppy and she'd almost start to tear up.
Zoe nodded.
"Well aren't you just the sweetest," Leslie said grinning. "Let's get you something to drink and introduce you to everybody." She grabbed her arm and dragged her in the direction of all the other women and the cooler. "What do you want to drink? All we've got is whiskey and beer."
"I think I'll go with a beer." She couldn't imagine drinking hard liquor this early in the day. Well not without ending up being Leslie's doppelganger.
"Good choice. I went whiskey and now I'm regretting it." Leslie motioned to a guy in a navy blue polo. "Baby please hand Zoe a beer."
"You got a preference Zoe?" The guy asked as he opened the cooler.
"Miller or Budweiser is fine," she answered wondering silently when it was the last time she'd had a beer. Normally she stuck with wine. If she was feeling particularly crazy she might venture out to include liquor drinks in her diet. Still beer was the kind of that she'd never developed a real appreciation for her. Her ex-boyfriend had always said she was snob for that.
He nodded and dug into the cooler before pulling out a Miller Lite. He put it in a koozie and twisted the cap off beginning bringing it to her. "I'm Nick. You must be the doctor that Wade's dating. Leslie hasn't been able to stop talking about you."
"He's my boyfriend," Leslie added before taking another swig of whatever concoction she had in her red solo cup.
"Oh so you're the reason Leslie came up here Wednesday," Zoe replied. Up close she noticed that he was impossibly cute. He had curly brown hair and a lopsided grin. She could see exactly how he caught Leslie's eye.
He nodded and grinned. "I'm a pharmaceutical sales rep. I've been in Texas for the last month."
"Still pushing Viagra?" Wade asked, suddenly joining them, holding a Heineken.
"And Zoloft," Nick admitted. "It isn't glamorous but it pays the bills. I've got to save up if I'm going to buy a ring big enough to convince Leslie to actually marry me."
"I don't need a big ring," Leslie corrected. "It just needs to be shiny enough that Lemon can't miss it no matter how hard she tries."
"Oh is that all?" He teased before leaning down and giving her a sloppy kiss that made her giggle. Nick sat down in the chair beside her, holding Leslie's hand with his right one and motioning for Zoe to sit with his left. "Anyway Zoe tell me how'd Wade bag a good-looking doctor like yourself?"
"I resent that question," Wade said before Zoe could formulate a reply. "You act like I'm a slouch or something. We both know I'm the most eligible single man in Bluebell."
Leslie snorted loudly. "That isn't saying anything."
"Let the girl answer the question Wade," Nick said before turning his attention back to Zoe.
"I guess you could say he wore me down." Zoe answered, not sure how exactly to explain how it was she came to start dating Wade Kinsella.
"You know your answer doesn't help my case any darlin'," Wade pointed out with a pained sigh. "And we both know I didn't have to work that hard to wear you down."
She smiled. It was true. He really didn't. In fact between how good looking he looked during the heat wave and the way his kisses left her weak in the knees it honestly took almost no work to convince her that Wade deserved a chance. Well that and the way he laid it all out there when he asked her on their first date.
"Well Dr. Hart I didn't expect to see you here!" Lemon said in her fake sugary sweet voice. She was indeed wearing an impossibly bright yellow cardigan and mismatched George in his orange button down completely.
"Lemon," Zoe said, trying her best to sound polite. "George," she added a moment later.
"I didn't know you were an Auburn fan," Lemon replied. She was smiling so tightly it looked like she might crack at any moment.
"She's not," Leslie interjected. "She's here with Wade."
"Oh." Lemon was obviously at a loss for words.
"She did at least make a point to wear the right colors though," Leslie added a moment later. She only smirked a little when she what little color Lemon had drain from her face.
"Be nice," Nick whispered softly even though he was glad that Leslie had seemed to shut Lemon up. When that girl got going on her frivolous projects it made him contemplate overdosing on his samples.
"Who's up for a game of beer pong?" George asked obviously trying hard to ease the tension.
"What do you say Hart? You want to play?" Wade suggested.
"Um okay," Zoe agreed as she let him help her up from her chair. "But I should tell you that I've never actually played before. I had this roommate when I was a junior who was good but I never made time for it." She admitted as she followed him to where George and Lemon were already arranging cups. She never imagined that Lemon would play such an obviously undignified game.
"Let me guess you were studying," Wade teased.
Zoe didn't bother to reply.
Wade smiled. "Well it helps that I just happen to be pretty damn good."
- W - & - Z -
"I thought you said you'd never played before," Wade said in awe as he watched another one of her shots sink in the cup. He smirked when he saw Lemon begin to drain the cup in disdain.
"I haven't, but I was really good at Physics which is all this really is."
"And somehow you become an even big nerd while still kicking ass in a sport. That's an accomplishment." Wade joked, pecking her cheek in a way that was somehow both innocent and romantic.
She grinned thinking just how weird it was that here was this man who was proud of her for being good at something that would not further her career in any way. It was funny how willing she was to let her hair down when it was with the right person. Of all the men she'd met before none of them had made her feel this free to be herself.
She looked across the table and wasn't surprised to see that George was attempting to talk Lemon down. Lemon was practically snarling while never removing her eyes from Zoe's. Instead of feeling like she was going to be attacked Zoe took a play from Leslie's playbook and actually smiled back. "It's your shot Lemon," she said in a tone that was akin to saying something like "come at me bro".
- W - & - Z -
Her voice was shot. Her ears were ringing. Her entire face was flushed and tinged pink from the cold. And yet she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this alive.
Auburn had won. Wade had kissed her senseless at least ten times. Lemon had managed to actually be civil or at least ignore Zoe's existence. Leslie and Nick had assured her that everyone thought Zoe was the perfect girl for Wade.
"Have I mentioned how much fun I had tonight?" Zoe murmured into his shoulder.
"I think you maybe had too much whiskey," Wade whispered as he helped her into their hotel room. Brock had actually been the one to reserve it for him. He'd done it the moment that he realized Founder's Day was going to the same weekend as a football game. Despite being irresponsible when it came to most of his life choices he was actually pretty good at scheduling. At the time Wade had actually been dating another girl named Tia or was it Tammy. It didn't really matter. What did matter was that because of a clutch decision by Brock he was about to at least literally spend the night with Zoe Hart even if that didn't mean that he was going to actually get to spend the night with her the way any red-blooded male would want to.
"I think you might be right." She admitted as she laid down on the plush king sized bed. "Leslie kept insisting we take a drink whenever something went Auburn's way."
He chuckled. He'd learned long ago that Leslie's plans had a tendency to leading to her needing to basically be carried out of places. Luckily tonight she'd been able to at least make it out of the stadium before Nick had to scoop her up and carry her to his car.
"Are we going to sleep together tonight?"
His eyebrows rose in surprise at both her bluntness and question. He knew full well that if she remembered her bluntness tomorrow morning she'd be embarrassed. "Well I was thinking that we would unless you want me to crash on the couch."
"Not that kind of sleep together."
"Oh." He paused and watched as her chest slowly rose and fell. He frowned because even though he wanted nothing more than to sleep with her he knew it wouldn't be right. He sighed softly, "I was thinking tonight maybe we'd just share the bed."
"Are you sure?" She asked, her voice soft and sleepy. She struggled for moment to kick both of her shoes off.
"I think so." He said as he slipped out of his pants and shirt. "You want me to help you out of your dress?"
"If only you knew," she admitted as she got up from the bed.
Within two minutes she was back wearing an oversized Mets t-shirt.
"You know Wade, George might have caught my eye first, but you really are the better man." Zoe told him. "In fact you're the best guy I've ever met."
He smiled and whispered in her ear. "You just happened to be the best girl I've ever met too."
- W - & - Z -
AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS WAS LONG! WHOO! HAHA. SO I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR WHAT YA'LL HAVE TO SAY AFTER THIS CHAPTER. THAT MOMENT BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM TONIGHT TOTALLY PULLED AT MY HEARTSTRINGS! I HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER. I MEAN A BIG AND GREAT IDEA. I THINK THAT I MIGHT BE ABLE TO CHURN OUT ANOTHER CHAPTER BEFORE THURSDAY IF YA'LL CAN CONVINCE ME THAT IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY ETHICS FINAL. I HAVE FAITH THAT YA'LL CAN BE PRETTY PERSUASIVE. I'M GOING TO INTRODUCE ANOTHER CHARACTER NEXT CHAPTER THAT IS GOING TO HAVE A LOT TO DO WITH WADE! ANYONE WANT TO GUESS WHO THAT'LL BE? THANKS FOR READING! I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE REVIEWS! - KRISTINE.