"Is this okay?" she asked gesturing on the clothes she was wearing.
Andy had this weekly night's out with his friends and he had asked her if she could join them. Although she already met one of his friends, it was still nerve-wracking. Provenza had hated her for some reason, she was worried that his other friends would too.
"Are you comfortable with it?" Andy replied watching as she was still scrutinising her appearance. It was not always that she dolled-up but whenever she does, she was always confident with her appearance.
"I am but it's not too much is it?" It was just a sky blue floral print mini dress.
"It's not. Relax, they are going to love you," he smiled and kissed her forehead.
"I don't recall Provenza liking me," she muttered her hands playing with his jacket.
"He likes you, he just doesn't like that I'm dating a rich lady," he answered and watched as she went to get something on her closet. He smiled when he saw the familiar denim jacket.
"Stop calling me rich," she said with a pointed look. Putting the jacket on, it was big on her that it could be mistaken as her dress.
Andy nodded, "I see you still have my jacket," he acknowledged, helping her to roll the sleeves up.
"And I don't plan to return it to you soon," she grinned but her eyes were searching his for any protest, there was none.
"You can have it, I have more of it," he said stepping back.
"Okay," she took a deep breath before taking one last look of herself, "let me see if I remember everything. Mike is the smartest, Mark is taking mechanical engineering, and Louie," Andy stopped her before she could even say anything about Provenza.
"Don't call him that. He doesn't like being called by his first name," he corrected. He put a guiding hand on her back as they walked out of her condo.
"I got everything right?" she asked, biting her lip.
Andy nodded, impressed that she remembered everything he said. Although she summarised the one with Mike, he knew they were still fresh in her mind. He never doubted her, she's going to be a lawyer for a reason. He was touched that she really put an effort to at least know them beforehand.
Sharon could feel her heart beating as they got nearer to their destination. Andy glanced at her when she suddenly became quiet, he quirked his lip before reaching for her hand. Tugging it lightly, smiling reassuringly as she turned to him.
They were already there when they arrived. They were waiting for almost thirty minutes, they never had a problem like this before. Provenza was glaring at the couple as they walked towards them.
"Finally, his majesty has decided to grace us with his presence," he greeted sarcastically which Andy ignored. Mike and Mark stood to greet them.
"Didn't know you're bringing a woman with you," Mark regarded before facing Sharon, "what are you doing with this nuthead?" a charming smile grace his lips which she had seen before. She almost rolled her eyes as she recognised where she had seen it before.
She returned a polite smile but before she could answer, Andy beat her to it, "she's my girlfriend. You better back off man," he said possessively, his hand going around her waist. Sharon rolled her eyes at his action before removing his hand.
"I'm Sharon, you must be Mark," she smiled, shaking hands with him. She turned to face the other guy, "And Mike, so glad to finally meet you."
When they were done with their greetings, Sharon was lead to a chair by Mark. Andy was glad that they welcomed her except for Provenza who was glaring at the exchange.
"Why did you bring her here? This is supposed to be a guy's night out," Provenza said angrily.
"I wanted you all to meet her since you don't believe me that she's my girlfriend," Andy replied ignoring his tone. Sharon smiled at him while the other two were already chatting her head off, he returned the smile before sitting down beside her.
"Louie, it's nice to see you again," Sharon grinned.
Provenza gave her a small smile, "it's Provenza for you."
"Of course, Louie," Sharon fluttered her eyelashes at him and went back to talking with Mike. The other two resisted the urge to laugh when his face became thunderous.
"It's not too late to break this off, Andy," he gave him a pointed look.
"I'm afraid it's already too late," he replied as Sharon's hand absentmindedly made its way to his lap.
Provenza glared at them before sighing in resignation. Andy was stubborn as a woman, no one could ever make him change his mind.
"So, what do you all want to drink?" Andy asked. He was always the one who orders their drink.
"Let your girlfriend decide," Provenza challenged, flashing a not-so-innocent smile.
Andy's eyes flashed with anger before replying calmly, "she's not going to drink tonight. She still have classes tomorrow." Sharon shot him a warning look, noticing his clenched jaw.
"Why am I here for if I'm not going to drink?" She squeezed his leg before raising her eyebrow at Provenza. She knew what he was doing and she's up for the challenge.
"No, you're not going to drink," he argued. She shot him another look, he back down like a puppy whose toy was stolen from him.
"Man, she got you wrapped around her little finger," Mark laughed witnessing the exchange.
"Shut up. " Sharon didn't know how to react to that, she pretended not to have heard it.
"Are you going to order us the drinks or what?" Provenza said grumpily.
Andy slid out of his chair and waited for sharon before they both walk towards the bar. Unbeknownst to them the other three followed them with their eyes as Andy wrapped his hand around Sharon's waist, dropping a kiss on her forehead.
"Well, who would've known," Provenza grumbled under his breath. He had never seen Andy so besotted to someone before.
"Who would've thought we would be drinking with Judge O'Dwyer's daughter," Mike said airily. Provenza face palmed feeling all the problems coming their way.
"Which poison will you choose?" Andy asked.
Sharon squinted at the bottles before pinching the bridge of her nose. "Give me two bottles of Tennessee Whiskey," she ordered.
Andy slowly turned to her in surprise, his eyebrows neary reached his hairline. Sharon raised her eyebrows in question, "they don't drink these?" she said gesturing at the alcohol.
"No, I'm just surprised that you'll order a hard bottle that's all," he shrugged.
"I'm full of surprises, just because I'm a woman doesn't mean that I don't like hard bottles. What worries me right now is how do we get home with all of us drinking alcohol."
Andy took the bucket, guiding Sharon back to their table. "I will drive all of us home."
"Are you not going to drink?" Andy didn't meet her inquiring eyes. He knew she wouldn't approve of it.
Sharon kept her eyes on him but he was still not meeting her eyes then it struck her.
"Andy!" She pinched his arm, the bucket nearly flew out his hand. "You are not going to drive drunk," she pointed her finger in warning.
"We'll see." Andy laughed, he was going to drive drunk whether she likes it or not. He left her standing with her eyes blazing with fire.
"I like her one percent now," Provenza announced when he saw the drinks she had chosen.
"Better make that five, she paid for it," Andy grinned widely but it fell when he saw Sharon exchanging seat with Mark.
She smiled evilly at him as she sat beside Provenza. He stared intensely at her as he opened the bottle.
"Why are you sitting here? Go sit beside your boyfriend," Provenza shooed, poking at her upper arms.
"I like the spot here, I could see the other occupants very well," she stated. She pretended to look around before her eyes stop at Andy's clenched jaw.
Provenza was following her gaze when he saw Andy with his clenched jaw, his eyes burning hole in Sharon's. "Fine, sit there but don't talk to me."
As the night goes by, they didn't seem to notice the way the two meet each other's eyes and glared at each other. No one wanted to back down from their stand and somehow, meeting a male acquaintance didn't make it better for Sharon. It only made Andy more jealous. When she stood up to exchange pleasantries, she could see on her peripheral vision the way he was glaring at the man. If she wasn't talking to someone, she would have rolled her eyes. Although she knew Andy wouldn't admit about being jealous whenever she's speaking to a man who was not his or friend, she knew it.
The first bottle was almost gone when Sharon stood up to talk to her acquaintance. Andy nudged Mark and told him to go back to his seat. He had noticed that Sharon was only taking sips of her drink as if she was determined to make it last through the night. Andy sighed defeatedly as he knew what she was doing.
Sharon rolled her eyes as the man went away, they all chuckled as they saw her expression. Relief was written all over face even Andy couldn't help but chuckle. He might get jealous easily but he knew his girl and her view of men. It's one of the reasons why he hadn't acted on his jealousy and the other was because she didn't like it.
Sharon raised her eyebrow in question when she saw Mark back at his seat and Andy looking hopefully at her. She had a hard time hiding a smile of victory while taking her seat.
"Fine, I'll let you drive. You're so stubborn," he whispered as she scooted a little closer to him. His hand automatically went to the back of her shoulder.
"I may be stubborn but with good reason," she replied squeezing his leg.
"You know I already drove home drunk before," he started.
"No is no Andy," she said firmly. Andy sighed dropping his head on her shoulder. She smiled warmly at him, pressing a kiss on his head.
"You sounded like my mother," he stated, chuckling as he grabbed his drink.
"Dear God! Can you both stop all this lovey dovey stuff? I'm not drunk enough to tolerate it yet," Provenza exclaimed. That made the group laugh loudly.
They were halfway through the second bottle when she started the tell-tale sign of being drunk on Andy and his friends. Andy was getting clingy, he had his elbow propped on the table, staring at her while she spoke with Provenza. Provenza who surprisingly started talking to her. Mark wobbled away from their table to find a girl. Mike became more quiet than he already is.
"I'm telling you, Andy, if you hurt this girl I might as well make you as my punching bag," Provenza slurred. Sharon bit her cheek to keep herself from laughing.
"Why don't we take a picture? You wouldn't believe me that you've accepted me as your friend's girlfriend when I say it to you tomorrow," she chuckled, fishing out her phone.
She handed Andy the phone and walked to Provenza's side. Andy winked at her as Provenza drape his arm on her shoulder and smiled at the camera. He could almost see the mortification in Provenza's face tomorrow.
Sharon briefly glanced at the time, it was almost eleven. They should be getting home.
"Okay?" her hand going to his cheek, making him focus on her. Andy turned his head to kiss her palm.
"Yeah, we should go home," he stated sitting up straight. He could see the world around him spinning.
Sharon smiled when she saw him trying to sober up. "This is the first time you got drunk in my presence."
"'Cause he's a cheater. You probably never noticed it because this idiot is really good at pouring the alcohol to the floor in secret," Provenza grumbled.
"Well, in my defense, getting drunk means missing out on the fun when all of you gets drunk," Andy chuckled, leaning back on his chair. His hand playing with the ends of Sharon's hair.
"I knew it, don't worry babe I've accepted that you have a low alcohol intolerance," Sharon bit her lower lip as her statement didn't seem to register to Andy.
"You called me babe, that's nice to hear," Andy said to himself with a wide smile on his face. Sharon throw her head back and laugh loudly.
"You're so precious," she kissed his cheek and rolled her eyes when she heard a gagging noise. "What's up best friend, jealous?" she chuckled.
"Flynn's rubbing off on you, you should keep your distance," he warned pointing his finger on her.
"Stop hitting on my girlfriend," Andy covered Provenza's eyes.
"I can't deny that she's beautiful but she's not my type and you know that," he shrugged.
"You don't have a type, Provenza. You like all women, especially those who are younger than you."
"Be quiet, Flynn. You're irritating your girlfriend." It was far from the truth, Sharon was enjoying the banter between them.
"Ready to go?" Andy asked as he caught her looking at the time again.
"Yes."
Once everyone was ready, they all head to Andy's car except from Mark who disappeared out of thin air. Provenza and Mike was both staggering as they walked towards the car. Andy kept his tight grip on Sharon's hand, she knew he was trying very hard to walk straight.
When they were in the light, he caught sight of a fallen eyelash. They all stopped walking when he halted, he looked at it before removing carefully. Sharon stared at his, her heart fluttered at the gesture.
When he got it, he saw Provenza and Mike staring at him with laughing eyes. "I can't take it off?" He rolled his eyes.
Provenza moved forward and tried to reach her nose. Andy slapped his hand hard, warning him off. Sharon and Mike burst out laughing at the action.
"Don't touch her," he said stepping in front of Sharon who was laughing hard.
They dropped off Provenza and Mike at their dorm before heading to her condo but not without fighting. She could see the alcohol wearing off when she parked the car outside of his condo.
"You don't have to walk me to my unit," she said, worried that he might fall while walking.
"When did I ever let you walked alone to your condo every time we're together?" Andy replied. Sharon rolled her eyes, she didn't know how he can still speak straight.
Andy held her hand when they walked inside, she gave a little wave to the guard when she noticed his raised eyebrow before they got into the elevator. As soon as the door closed, Andy embraced her tightly, his head buried in her neck. She stood rigid for a moment before kissing his head, she noticed his closed eyes and the way he seems to drank her smell.
"Thank you for today, I know they are not easy to deal with," he whispered. His hand running up and down on her back.
"Well, they all have a lot to say like you but if I get to see you drunk, I would endure it again," she chuckled.
"You're weird, most women didn't want to see their men drunk."
"You're different. Most men get violent when they are drunk and then there's you, who became clingy all of a sudden." As she finished her statement, she felt him dropped a kiss on her neck, she felt tingles run her spine.
"I'm always clingy with you," he mumbled. Sharon smiled and ran her hands through his hair.
The elevator stops and as much it pains her to ruin the moment, they needed to get out. She held his hand, pulling at it as they walked towards her unit.
"You're so pretty," he said, tugging at her hand to make her stop. He raised their linked hands before making her twirl.
Sharon giggled loudly, "You're such a goofball." She wrapped her hands around his neck, they stared at each other for a few seconds before their lips met in a soft kiss.
"Send me your picture with Provenza. I wanted to be the one who will torture her about," he chuckled.
"Don't be too harsh on him." She kissed him again before they continued their walk to her unit.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Andy stared at her with his still unfocused eyes.
"Of course," she kissed his cheek.
They said their goodbyes, Sharon waited until he disappeared from her sight. She's getting Andy more, his circle of friends and maybe his family too. She loves every minute of this night, she had seen different Andy. He was always so reserved when he's with her friends but tonight he was carefree. Everyone was interesting and they engaged her in every, she wasn't left out. It was way too different from her previous relationship and she was happy about it. There was really something inside of Andy and that something she hadn't thought of finding in her twenties. And yet, he was just right on time.
Sharon took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart beat. She put her hand on her chest feeling very beat. Is she really in love?