Chapter 35
Jason sat back in his chair and took a long sip from his beer, his eyes shifting to the front of the bar, where Elizabeth was seated next to Lulu and a couple other women he'd never seen before. They were dressed just like Lulu; starched pencil skirts, white blouses, and ballet flats, looking not only out of place, but boring in comparison to Elizabeth in her jeans, lacey camisole, and heels.
He was also very biased.
"Alright," he said, getting up from the chair and doing a quick headcount. "I'm going to go get a round of shots."
"You just want to talk to Elizabeth," Ritchie replied, flashing him a grin.
"Fuck you," Jason hissed, grabbing his beer from the table.
"Be easy on the guy," Johnny said, shaking his head. "He's just jealous that you won't let him talk to her."
"That's not changing anytime soon," he muttered, starting towards the bar, his eyes narrowed when he noticed a couple of guys had crowded around the girls. Yes, crowded. Their arms draped across the back of the chairs like they belonged there.
He knew it was a natural situation – women out for a bachelorette party often got their drinks paid for, but he had been one of those men in this very bar before, and well, it was impossible to trust it.
The Metro Court would have probably been better, but then he wouldn't be able to take in every smile she tossed his way or watch the way she crossed and uncrossed her legs, her heel dangling off the end of her foot.
This really was fucking ridiculous.
"Jason?"
"Yeah, sorry, Coleman," he muttered, tossing a fifty down on the bar. "Ten shots of tequila."
"You kids are something else," the bartender laughed, lining shots up on the bar. "You can go over and talk to her, you know. It won't ruin the party."
Jason shook his head, taking the tray of shots Coleman had lined up. "It's more fun this way," he replied, giving Elizabeth a long look before heading to the back of the bar.
"This reminds me of some of the pubs back home," Lulu's brunette- haired friend said for the tenth time since they'd gotten to the bar. Elizabeth kind of wanted to punch her, but figured that was rude since she couldn't even remember the woman's name.
She was'd been relatively happy when Lulu called and said that some of her friends had flown in to surprise her, and she sounded so damn happy that people were actually supporting her that Elizabeth couldn't help butto be excited.
That was a very bad idea.
They were like Lulu, who she genuinely liked, but having three of them sitting with her was too much. Their conversations circled around how different Port Charles was from Europe and how they couldn't believe Lulu was settling here, but that Johnny was in fact a babe.
Yes, they had called Johnny O'Brien a babe.
She couldn't help but wonder if she had ever sounded as silly and stupid as these women and knew that she probably had, and she almost hated herself for it.
"So, are we going to the meet the boys?" the brunette asked, sipping her Cosmo.
Elizabeth loved the look on Coleman's face when they started ordering all their girly drinks. She understood why they liked them because she fancied one from time to time, but this bar was just not a place where you drank from a martini glass. A customer was lucky if their shot glasses were clean, but alcohol was supposed to kill germs, right?
"Kind of ruins tradition," Lulu shrugged, stirring her umbrella around in her drink as she looked over at the boys.
"Oh, come on," she pressed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "If I'm in the states, I might as well have a fling with an American man."
She rolled her eyes, taking a swig of her beer as she slid off her stool. "I'm going to get us a round of drinks," she muttered, walking down the bar to Coleman.
If she had to listen to these stupid European whores go on about how everything was so American when they had grown up here themselves but somehow forgotten about it, she was going to get good and drunk. And hopefully she could get them good and drunk in the process and make fun of them without them realizing that's what she was doing.
She bit her lip and leaned against the bar, waiting impatiently for Coleman to finish up with another customer. Craning her neck, she looked towards the back of the bar, her eye catching Jason's as he leaned across a pool table to take a shot. There was nothing sexier than Jason bent across a pool table – well, except for when he was bending over her.
God, it was going to be a long night.
"Elizabeth?"
"Sorry," she murmured, shaking herself from her thoughts and looking at Coleman, who already had the tequila bottle in hand. "I'll take seven. One for each of them and four for me."
"No, no, no," Jason said, shaking his head the second Ritchie brought up the idea of going to a strip club.
"Dude, Elizabeth won't care. I'll go ask her for you," he slurred, pushing himself up from the table.
"Or not," he replied, glaring at him as he looked over at Johnny. "Seriously? Strippers?"
"It's the last time you'll get to pay women to take their clothes off and not feel guilty about it," Ritchie said, slapping his hand on the table. "Do you want to miss out on that?"
Johnny grunted, rolling his eyes. "I don't have to pay women to take their clothes off now, and if I want to stick dollar bills in someone's underwear-"
"No way," one of the other warehouse workers chimed in, knocking over his beer bottle as he leaned towards O'Brien. "Lulu does not let you stick dollar bills in her underwear."
"I don't want to hear this," Jason moaned, grabbing one of the many shots that had appeared on the table in the last hour.
"Just because you don't like to talk about banging Elizabeth on desks and-"
"Watch it," he warned, taking a deep breath and asking himself yet again why he continued to keep Ritchie on as an employee.
"You won't let me have any fun. I mean, months ago you were all but letting me take her on your pool table."
"Rtichie, I swear to fucking God, I'll kill you," Jason threatened, flinging a handful of peanuts in at him. "And I didn't let you do anything."
Sighing heavily, he ran a hand over his face and grabbed another shot, his eyes swinging towards the bar where Elizabeth was doing the same as him – tossing back shot after shot. She looked as if she was having about as much fun as he was, and he wondered if they were already one of those pathetic couples that would rather sit at home and watch Jeopardy while eating TV dinners.
Fuck, they were pretty damn close.
"Alright," Jason said, getting up from the table. "Let's go, but we're not going to those shitty places you fuckers like. We're going to one of the nice ones."
"Ooo, Morgan's busting out the classy shit," Ritchie laughed, finishing off his beer.
Shaking his head, he started towards the bar to pay off their tab, stopping long enough to admire how expertly Elizabeth took her shot – the whole lick it, slam it, suck it bit she loved so much. If he wanted to stuff dollar bills into anyone's underwear it was hers, and part of him was pretty sure he could get away with it.
"Jason?"
"Oh, here," he replied, tossing a wad of cash down on the bar. "We're heading out. Johnny wants to go pay women to take their clothes off."
The bartender laughed, counting the money. "You clear that with your woman yet?"
"What?"
Coleman shook his head and nodded towards Elizabeth. "Tell her you're going to a strip club before you go. That way when she gets mad later you can tell her you asked permission."
Not only were they one of those pathetic couples who'd rather sit at home, but now they were one of those couples who had to clear things with each other.
Son of a bitch.
What the fuck was he going to do if she told him not to go? He'd never hear the end of it from the guys.
"Yeah, I guess," he sighed, starting towards her and ignoring the catcalls from the men behind him.
"Oh, here comes one of them now," the brunette muttered, looking Jason up and down as he approached. Thankfully Elizabeth had finally figured out that her name was Sam, which meant that if she continued to look at Jason like that, she was going to slug her.
Ah, shit. She was being all jealous and stupid. Swearing under her breath, she grabbed another shot, wondering how many it would take to forget that she was acting like such a fucking girl.
"Mmm," Sam purred, tapping her finger on a shot glass as if she knew what the hell to do with it. Elizabeth had to educate them all on how to take a shot, and seeing as Sam was so incompetent, she'd be happy to shove it down her throat. "He is-"
"Mine," Elizabeth hissed, sliding off her stool and hurrying over to Jason, who grinned as she approached. Taking his hand in hers, she pulled him past the women, glaring at Sam as they passed, and didn't stop until they were in the hallway to the bathroom. "I'm going to kill that bitch."
"Too many Lulu's at once?" he asked, leaning towards her as she pressed her back against the wall and slid her arms around his neck.
"Lulu, I can handle, but it's her stupid friends, especially the one who is determined to take one of you to bed tonight."
"One of us?" he asked, arching an eyebrow, picking up on her jealously.
"Fine, you, and I swear to Ggod-" She stopped, burying her face in his chest as she slid her arms around him. "I'm being stupid."
"Nah, it's cute," he slurred, kissing her on the top of her head.
"Don't patronize me," she moaned, feeling like a complete idiot.
She was not the jealous girlfriend – ever. Even when she was dating stupid, cheating bastards, she never acted like this.
"I'm not," he muttered, pulling her away from him so he could look at her. "Hey, I got jealous earlier and…well, you remember what happened."
"Jason," she sighed, her cheeks flushing when she thought about the way she'd let him drop her pants in the hallway outside his apartment and just go at her right there. "We're disgusting."
"What?" he laughed, his eyes snapping to the doorway when he saw Ritchie and a couple of the other guys looking at him. One glare and they disappeared instantly.
"Remember how we used to always sit around and look at tacky, PDA couples, and mock them?"
"Yeah," he grunted, knowing where this was headed.
"We are them now."
"Is that so bad?" he asked, leaning down to kiss her as he backed her up against the wall.
"I don't get jealous," she replied.
"Me either," he muttered, moving his lips to her neck.
"I don't do PDAs."
"This isn't public."
"Jason," she cried, smacking his hands away when they slipped beneath her shirt. "You're drunk."
"So are you."
"Yeah, but being with those women is sobering." He laughed against her neck, his hands tugging on the material of her shirt again. "Jason…"
"What?"
"They're watching you," she laughed, her eyes on the doorway.
"Fuck," he muttered, tearing himself away from her and glaring at his friends. He scrubbed a hand over his face and glanced back at Elizabeth. "Sorry."
Her lips hitched into a crooked smile. "You know I don't always mind an audience."
"You're awful," he said, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her towards him. "Hey."
"Jas-"
"They wanna go to some stupid strip club."
"Okay," she shrugged, looking at him confused.
His brow furrowed as he stared at her, waiting for something more. "That's it?"
"Jason, I figured that's where you would end up…I mean – wait, did you think I was going to be mad?" she asked, laughing to herself. "You were asking if you could go?"
"Well, it's naked women and dollar bills and-"
"You're asking permission," she interrupted, sliding her arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. "That is the sweetest thing ever."
"You're drunk."
"No, I wish I was," she said, kissing him again before pulling away.
"You're not mad?"
"No."
"Really? Cause if you're going to be mad later, I think you should just yell now or something. I don't want to come home and find you all-"
"Oh, Ggod," she interrupted, pushing him towards the doorway. "We're really disgusting with this whole jealous, PDA, permission stuff." She knew then and there she had no choice but to go drown her independent sorrows – well, what little she had left. By morning, she'd have to deal with being a silly girl who was completely enamored with her boyfriend, thus becoming everything she hated.
Oh, hell no.
They were like Johnny and Lulu.
Jason yawned, lifting his head from his pillow when he heard the sound of his door slamming, followed by hushed voices. Too confused as to whether or not it was just his drunken stupor or someonething actually breaking and entering, her rolled back over and tugged his pillow over his head.
Damn, he was thirsty.
The strip club had been a bust. Had he been single he might have actually enjoyed it, but the entire time all he could do was think about Elizabeth saying the couple aspect of their relationship freaked her out. That in turn caused him to drink – a lot, and before long…yeah, he was obliterated.
Johnny had barely drank at all, and practically carried him to bed, saying he'd call Elizabeth to come by and check on him, but Jason wasn't sure if that was a good idea. They kept telling one another how so much had happened so fast, and he wondered if it was too much. They'd never been so serious about their past relationships, so maybe they were just caught up in the fun, and when all that died down, what would be left?
Hell, he couldn't think about it.
He wanted a drink just to forget the possibility of this not working out because he suddenly envisioned himself ending up like Johnny and having to be shipped off to rehab with a Lulu-like presence being the only thing that could save him. And all the while he'd want Elizabeth to be the person who saved him, and – this was just not a good fantasy at all.
"Shit," came Elizabeth's tired and slurring voice as she fell against the doorway and laughed.
"Elizabeth?"
"Yeah."
"You okay?" he asked, sliding his pillow off his head.
"I am drunk," she answered light-heartedly, bracing one hand on the bed as she kicked off her shoes and climbed into bed beside him. "You know…once you get shots into Lulu's friends and you get past the fact that one of them is just a tramp, those girls are so much fun."
"Yeah," he said again, rubbing his eyes as he looked at her. He could only make out her shadow as she slipped beneath the covers, her body scooting over beside his. Her bare body. "Where are you clothes?"
"Around," she muttered, tugging the blanket back and sliding her leg over his waist as she moved to straddle him.
"Where are yours?" she asked, skimming her hands over his waist.
"Around," he grunted, groaning as she presseding her lips to his chest, her tongue tracing a blazing, wet trail across his skin. "Elizabeth?"
"What?" she asked, her tongue tracing a path up to his neck, where she nibbled gently before sucking his skin between her teeth.
"Mmmm," he moaned in reply, swallowing hard as she forcefully raked her fingers through his hair. "What are you doing?"
"I've been thinking about this all night," she confessed, her mouth hovering over his. "All night, Jason."
"Elizabeth," he hissed, tugging her hands away and hurrying to pull himself up so that he was leaning against the headboard.
"What? Did I do something?" she asked, wiggling her hips as she settled into his lip, pressing against him in just the right way.
"I, uh, I'm drunk."
"Me too," she laughed.
"Yeah."
He felt her stiffen, her hands tensing against his chest. "Okay," she murmured, confused. "How was the strip-"
"Stupid," he muttered, taking her hands and linking their fingers together. "Look, I – you know at the bar, you – the couple stuff – I just…" He swallowed hard, suddenly wishing he'd just let her have her way with him. "I'm drunk."
"What about it?" she asked, sucking in a nervous breath. "I mean – I know I said things – but I just – it's weird, you know. I've never been so – so like this before and – and I…" She leaned forward, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm drunk too."
"I – I like the couple stuff, you know," he said hesitantly, sliding his hand up and down her back.
"Aw, Jason," she sighed, tipping her head back and pressing a kiss to his chin. "I do too. Did you think – oh, I messed things up."
"No, you didn't," he muttered, regretting ever bringing any of it up. He felt secure in his feelings for her and what she felt for him, but he knew that if Elizabeth got scared, she'd cower away and he didn't want that to happen.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'm just drunk."
She laughed, snuggling against him as he slipped his arms around her. "Good. I thought about it – us a lot tonight," she replied quietly. "And I know it's going to sound dumb…"
"What?"
"It's going to sound really dumb."
"Say it, Webber."
"Well," she started, sitting so she could somewhat look at him in the dark, "I was thinking about Johnny and Lulu. Remember how annoying and gross we thought they were when they first came to town?"
"Yeah."
"I just – I realized that they're sort of disgustingly cute," she continued, laughing at herself as she rubbed her hand over her face. "And I think – I know that there's no one else I'd rather be disgustingly cute with…except you."