An @Altered Tundra, @NeoAJ, @TootsiePop, and @Hey Im Jordan Collaboration
Featuring! Alluring Andrea, Jealous Jade, Dashing Dax, and Zippy Zayden
And what a nice room it is.
Andrea couldn’t help herself. Between the sight of the bed to the sight of the brown beauty, she was enjoying the sights in front of her. To her surprise, when she walked closer to her, she wasn’t as tall as she appeared to be. Maybe it was the way she carried herself that gave the blonde that impression, or maybe it was Andrea was so used to everyone having at least half of a head over her that she didn’t think there could be others like her who suffered from the relentless short jokes.
“Yeah girl, it’s pretty crazy. But then again, that’s the Ashfords for you. Simplicity isn’t in their framework.” She laughed, leaning against the doorway.
Her head was somewhat angled up, though Andrea’s eyes remained on Jade. She didn’t know her that well but she knew her name at least. They had crossed paths a couple of times. Honestly, there had always been a part of her that wanted to approach Jade, but there was never a right moment. Andrea was a busy girl and every moment that wasn’t studying for exams or making trips to Palm Beach to make sure her idiot brother didn’t ruin every relationship he found himself in was spent doing her extracurriculars. But all that aside, she knew Jade and had often observed her in those free moments. So, now was kind of perfect. Their one on one with no interruptions.
At least, it would have been perfect if she didn’t hear the same song that she knew a particular boy she was quite fond of repeated way too much. Also, she was approached by another cute boy, though this one had a very mild demeanor. “That would be Zayden. Don’t mind him. He just likes to blast that music THAT’S TOO LOUD!!” She screamed directly at Zayden, knowing her voice carried despite her tiny frame. Though, for now, her attention remained on the towering blonde who spoke so softly. “Sorry, sometimes Z just needs to know that not everyone shares his love for loud music.” She laughed, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I’m Andrea and this, I believe, is Jade. She’s an athlete or something, right?” She asked, looking over to Jade.
“GET BENT, DREA!”
The music went up a notch and this time it played the next song on his list which was Wait (The Whisper Song) by the Ying Yang Twins. Awesome. His best friend was chilling in this cabana too. This summer was going to be fun. Dropping to the floor, from doing quite a few pull-ups, intentionally and obnoxiously LOUD, Zayden was fully awake and energized ready to get this party started! But first. Push ups and sit-ups. His work out wasn’t over yet. Man, music shuffle was weird sometimes. Whatever. He could get with this song. He’d smack Drea’s ass later.
“IN YOUR DREAMS, ASSPEN!” She shot back, huffing. “Again, sorry for that doofus. And ignore his inappropriate choices in music.” She said that as though she didn’t want to hum along to the Yin Yang Twins. Z knew exactly what ruffled her feathers and he did that on purpose.
Jade was enjoying the conversation. It seemed like this girl was at least chill enough that it wouldn’t be too much of a bother to share this palace with her. Even if she had no idea what her name was. Did it start with a K? She would have to subtly try and get a glimpse at her luggage or something.
She was going to answer the girl’s remark when the sounds of inescapable crunk started blaring from out of nowhere. It was so obnoxious it could easily be a sign that the bonfire party had started, but it was way too early for that. Plus it was making the cabana shake. It could only be a male doing something that stupid. Unfortunately, it appeared as though it wasn’t the one who had materialized in her doorway. Good thing I didn’t start unpacking anything yet. Jesus.
The boy looked like a skyscraper next to the other girl, and he was asking questions that Jade didn’t care to have answers to. Not that she would know. Although she could now piece together that both his and the girl’s names both started with D. Well that helps. So what is it? Diana? Denise? Destiny? Daenerys?
Apparently, the answer was none of the above as Andrea Nope. Way off. took control of things, shouting up to … Zayden? Never would have gotten that one. He was living up to being a Zayden, that was for sure. Andrea knew Jade well enough to know her name. That was a nice boost to the island ego. Once the shout fight with Zay had ended though, and the song changed to something a lot quieter, Jade decided to correct something in the newly christened Drea’s introduction.
“I mean, athlete is underselling it a little bit,” she said with no hint of humility in her voice. “I am kind of a big deal. Star striker for the Kraken, just missed going to the World Cup this year, I’m an elite athlete, Drea.” She reached around looking for where she had tossed her iPod. “Also, if that homeboy upstairs wants to start throwing down, I will crank some Missy at him and show him what good rap sounds like.”
“Okay, so I was mistaken,” she said, turning to the blonde giant. “This is Jade, America’s next Olympic Gold Medalist.” She shot Jade a quick smirk. “And what about you, handsome? You got a name? Obviously, it starts with a D. All the best things in life start with the letter D!”
Truth be told, somewhere between the guy upstairs (Zayden! That was good, there had to be like, what? Three Zaydens in the whole world? That one was probably his buddy!) and the other girl yelling at each other, Dax had more or less checked out of the conversation, and was instead fiddling with a fidget spinner he’d pulled out of his pocket. Sure, they went out of style like, almost a year and a half ago, but Dax didn’t spend two and a half hours watching YouTube tutorials on fidget spinner tricks to not carry one of the fuckers in his pocket to spin when things like this were happening around him.
It wasn’t until the athlete started talking, that Dax allowed himself to snap back to reality and listen to the not so good music that was blasting around him, and at least listen to what the girls had to say. Olympic Gold Medalist? Missed going to the World Cup? Elite athlete? Not just athlete, but elite athlete. That seemed important. If Dax had time, he would have written that down. It was cool! He wished he was good at sports… He was like, okay at tennis, but that was about it, and it was mostly because of Lottie.
Maybe he could ask this girl to teach him some cool tricks in her sport. Soccer, it had to be. El futbol. Or… whatever they called it in the rest of the universe. Then, Dax turned his attention to the other girl in the room, which consisted mostly of turn his head down to look at her. “Dax. My name is Dax. Well, Daxton, but you can just call me Dax. Please.”
Jade had triumphantly pulled her iPod out of her carry-on bag as Dax introduced himself. “Got it after the third time, Dax. Will do.” She was now looking around her bedroom for some sort of speaker system to combat Zay’s bad 2000’s rap with her excellent 2000s rap. There didn’t appear to be anything until she remembered the living room. There had to be a sound system out there. “What say we take this party out of my room and start hitting Zay with some education?”
Drea liked Jade the moment she saw her spread on her bed, but now she liked her even more. They shared the mutual hobby of putting Zay in his place when he became too obnoxious for his own good. Not that Drea wasn’t obnoxious herself, but Z took it to new levels she didn’t think was possible. And the fact he was playing the highly-inappropriate song just made her want to team up with Dax and Jade to give him a fight he wasn’t ready for.
“I’m so in!” Drea’s eyes shot directly to Dax. “What do you say, handsome? Wanna be on the winning team and defeat the antagonist upstairs?” She asked Dax.
Well, Dax was smart enough to not disagree with someone calling him handsome, but he didn’t think he much wanted to participate in a battle. He just wanted to unpack and get settled in his room… but if he had to pick a side, then he was going to have to be on Zayden’s side. After all, they were friends! “If you’re gonna make me choose, I gotta side with Zayden.” Dax admitted, with a sad shrug of his shoulders. Besides, Dax would never rain on someone’s parade, but… Missy sucked anyway. “Are we gonna share the D room, though? Or should I find a different room?” He asked, looking down at the short, loud, attractively angry blonde.
“‘Cuz I’m down to share.”
Andrea sighed, rolling her eyes along with Jade as Dax had not only chosen to side with Z and his lame-ass, but now the topic was back on the room, which as dull as it was, she admitted that issue needed to be resolved. “I suppose we can share but there’s only one bed in the room. And I sleep in my birthday suit.” She said as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Would that be a problem?”
Maybe Dax was already too high. This girl seemed to think he was… not interested? Or perhaps she was trying to bait him? To make him answer something she didn’t want to hear so she could start a fight? That was possible, in fact, that was maybe even likely… Dax just didn’t think of people like that. Dax only saw the positive, only saw the possibilities. The good, never the bed, and especially never the ugly.
“Uh, no, that’s definitely not a problem. Do you want me to sleep naked too? To make you like, confident. I support your uh, freedom.”
Jade just shook her head. “This is a conversation that is best had in a place that is not MY room. You two want to be naked under the covers, do it in a different bed. For now, however…” She hopped off her own bed and moved towards the door. “It’s time to make Zay lose control.”
The striker made her way out to the living room and quickly spotted her target, a giant sound system in a bamboo cabinet off to the side. There were all sorts of cords neatly draped to the side of the machine, and Jade quickly tossed them all aside to find the one that would hook up to her music. Flipping the switches on the board until she heard a familiar hum, she smiled. “Showtime.”
The lyrics were swift and merciless, proclaiming “MUSIC MAKE YOU LOSE CONTROL” twice before descending into the xylophone that heralded Missy Elliot’s 2005 hit. Jade turned the speakers up loud enough to drown out Zay’s music and make sure he heard it clear enough in the upstairs.
There was no retaliation. Instead, the music upstairs cutoff and before they knew it, the devil himself approached them with the confidence of a lion. Speaking of birthday suits, Zay was dripping wet, with a towel wrapped around his waist, having taken a five-minute shower, striding his way downstairs to see Drea, Dax, and a girl he sorta knew but not really, Jade. “Yeah, you know what this means?” He mischievously and widely grinned, eyeing Drea from head to toe, before entering their kitchenette, opening the cabinets and seeing if his bae, Rach, gave them the hookup.
She did.
“It’s pregaming time!”
After pulling out four shot glasses, clink, clink, clink, clink, he displayed their options, “Crown Royal Whiskey, Absolut Vodka, or PATRON! Choose your poison.” They should know better than to think Zayden, of all people, would let them get away with no alcohol in their system. They were going to a party thrown by RACHEL. She didn’t tolerate pussies. And since they were cribbing with him, he was going to make sure they got to his level or higher.
“Like you even have to ask.” Drea said as she walked up, trying her best to reach for the Vodka but goddamn it, it was just too damn high!
Jade shook her head at the brash display from the semi-naked Zay. Wasn't terrible to look at, and at least she had control of the pre-game music now. All in all, it was a win, and now apparently it was time to claim her reward. Might as well. This was her vacation after all.
"Well, everyone knows that the queen needs her Crown," she stated, grabbing a nearby chair since if Drea was having problems reaching the booze, she would as well. The chair did its job and the soccer star grabbed the vodka for her fellow female and the whiskey for herself. While there she tossed the tequila to Zay, figuring that was his choice. As she hopped back down, she uncorked the bottle of Crown. "And she fears no poison."
Jade was not sexy at all and even though Zayden was literally right by the cabinets, she went out of her way to bring a chair and get it all herself. What a power-play move. Shrugging to himself, graciously taking the tequila, though he preferred whiskey he didn’t mind Parton, Z poured his shot and waited for everyone else to join him so they could shoot it up together. With a smug grin on his face, he peered down at his tiny friend. “You did your best.”
The only reaction Zayden got from Drea was an exasperated expression as she took the vodka from Jade and her arm wrapped around Jade’s neck. “Thanks for being so great.” She innocently kissed Jade on the cheek. It was short and sweet and by the time it ended, she had a wide smirk on her face, looking at Z.
“Gayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Okay, y'all bitches ready?” Rolling his eyes at his friend, paying no mind to her antics, he lifted his shot glass, “Cheers to the summer and having unforgettable memories.” He turned his head and beckoned the other boy toward them, “Dax, get your ass in here. Here. Take this.” He poured another patron shot.
“Hey, man, I don’t wanna throw off your vibe, but could you… could you put some drawers on?” Dax asked while looking at the shot that was offered to him, before an idea clicked in his head. He looked down at the shirt he was wearing, and then pulled it off and held it out to Zayden, trading it for the shot. “You can wear this like a sumo wrestler thing. It’s cool, I don’t even like this shirt.”
“...thanks, but I’ll go put some clothes on upstairs. Okay. 1-2-3.” Since Dax wanted him to cover up, he had to rush the shot process. Swiftly and with experienced ease, he drank the shot and placed it back on the counter. “I’ll be back, then we should head out. Don’t want to waste time to mix and mingle. Ain’t that right, ladies?”
Jade was in a tiny bit of a daze after that kiss from Drea, but she still had the presence of mind to pour her shot of whiskey and down it in time with the party lead. She was still thinking about the action. She had kisses before, teammates in the throes of victory, jackasses at the campus bar who thought they could sneak a quick one. That one was more than hell to the conquering hero type though. It felt good.
"Yeah for sure. Can't deny Rachel her star attraction now, can we?" she agreed. "Although I should probably get changed out of these boat clothes too." She looked at Drea. "I can rock island formal just as well as I can causal." She then winked at Zay. "Give me 15 minutes and I'll be ready."
“Word, and sorry for earlier. I’m not the most observant when I’m tired as fuck so I thought I had this place to myself. Then finding out Drea was here… she just has a way of really pushing my buttons.” Hey, even Zayden knew there were times he could be an asshole and he wasn’t too prideful to not say sorry if his music did upset anyone. Maybe later they’ll set ground rules, but for now. It was time to get ready. “Yeah, fifteen minutes everyone meets back here and then we’ll head over to wherever everyone else is. Probably the bar.” With that, the hype man walked away, towel and all, back to his room.
“And thank god he’s gone!” She sighed, taking a hefty swig of vodka. As she did, the blonde couldn’t help but linger at the sight of Zayden walking away. He only remained in view for a few moments after but it was enough for her to start ...thinking things and these were thoughts she rather not have at the moment, thank you!
Shaking her head, it quickly went away. “Well, to our rooms it is.” It was only a moment after those words left her lips did Drea remember. “Oh damn that’s right.” Her eyes went to Dax. “We never did figure out who was taking the room next to Jade’s, did we? But, ya know, I think you should take one upstairs. You and Z seem to have bonded.” She nudged Jade. “Isn’t that right, Jade?”
Dax raised an eyebrow. There was some confusion here, from the taller, shirtless man — he’d thought they’d reached an agreement? “I thought we were sharing? Were you joking? I wasn’t.” He explained with a tilt of his head. If that’s what she wanted to do, that was fine, but he’d thought they’d made a call!
He was serious? “The bed is certainly large enough for two people.” She scratched her head. What was her intention to trick Dax into taking a room upstairs so she could be alone next to Jade turned into one of the best reversals on her since high school. She respected Dax’s genius strategy. And if it was unintentional, then that just meant he would only get more diabolical as the summer went on.
“Yeah, I suppose we can. Nothing wrong with that.” Was all she had to say. She genuinely had nothing to clap back with.
“Cool.” There was no diabolical scheme behind Dax’s words, and the bright little smile on his face spoke in favor of that. The simple reality was… Dax had already put his stuff in that room — he didn’t wanna carry it upstairs. He’d shared beds with people before, in a totally non-sexual, non-gay way (it was totally Zay), and this was no 0different. “I can wear pants when I sleep if you want. Or even, like, crash on the floor. Not everything is about sex! Appreciate each other for the company, man.”
Jade looked over at the woman now sharing a bed with a man on day one of this excursion. "See, this is why I prefer the subtle 'Get your ass upstairs' approach," she whispered to Drea. "Less chance they actually get bold enough to think they have a shot at something." She pulled back slightly. "Does he… actually have a shot at something?"
Drea looked at Dax for a moment, her eyes quickly scanning him up and down. Tall, fit, and not entirely repulsive personality-wise: everything that Drea wanted in a man if she ever saw herself settling for one. She didn’t like limiting her options, but if Dax ended up being the guy who she got with in the end, then she wouldn’t be a complaining woman. Still, she had to explore what else the summer had to offer before making those decisions.
As she smiled at Dax, she leaned to Jade. “I don’t know. But he is interesting.” She found herself admitting.
Jade stared at Dax for a moment, trying to take in every part of the man who stared down a challenge from a girl who was very attractive and not only didn't blink but also managed to hit her back with the laser reflection and score a win. He was bold. Interesting? That remained to be seen. All she knew about him was that he was tall and had no problems being all up in the personal space.
"Well," she said, clasping her hand on Drea's shoulder. "I am gonna leave that whole finding out how interesting he is to you. Instead, I am gonna go put on this little number that I picked up in Malé and get set to rock this party." She turned off her iPod and gave Drea a wink as she headed off to her room, which she had all to herself, and prepared to prepare for tonight.
Andrea couldn’t help herself. Between the sight of the bed to the sight of the brown beauty, she was enjoying the sights in front of her. To her surprise, when she walked closer to her, she wasn’t as tall as she appeared to be. Maybe it was the way she carried herself that gave the blonde that impression, or maybe it was Andrea was so used to everyone having at least half of a head over her that she didn’t think there could be others like her who suffered from the relentless short jokes.
“Yeah girl, it’s pretty crazy. But then again, that’s the Ashfords for you. Simplicity isn’t in their framework.” She laughed, leaning against the doorway.
Her head was somewhat angled up, though Andrea’s eyes remained on Jade. She didn’t know her that well but she knew her name at least. They had crossed paths a couple of times. Honestly, there had always been a part of her that wanted to approach Jade, but there was never a right moment. Andrea was a busy girl and every moment that wasn’t studying for exams or making trips to Palm Beach to make sure her idiot brother didn’t ruin every relationship he found himself in was spent doing her extracurriculars. But all that aside, she knew Jade and had often observed her in those free moments. So, now was kind of perfect. Their one on one with no interruptions.
At least, it would have been perfect if she didn’t hear the same song that she knew a particular boy she was quite fond of repeated way too much. Also, she was approached by another cute boy, though this one had a very mild demeanor. “That would be Zayden. Don’t mind him. He just likes to blast that music THAT’S TOO LOUD!!” She screamed directly at Zayden, knowing her voice carried despite her tiny frame. Though, for now, her attention remained on the towering blonde who spoke so softly. “Sorry, sometimes Z just needs to know that not everyone shares his love for loud music.” She laughed, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I’m Andrea and this, I believe, is Jade. She’s an athlete or something, right?” She asked, looking over to Jade.
“GET BENT, DREA!”
The music went up a notch and this time it played the next song on his list which was Wait (The Whisper Song) by the Ying Yang Twins. Awesome. His best friend was chilling in this cabana too. This summer was going to be fun. Dropping to the floor, from doing quite a few pull-ups, intentionally and obnoxiously LOUD, Zayden was fully awake and energized ready to get this party started! But first. Push ups and sit-ups. His work out wasn’t over yet. Man, music shuffle was weird sometimes. Whatever. He could get with this song. He’d smack Drea’s ass later.
“IN YOUR DREAMS, ASSPEN!” She shot back, huffing. “Again, sorry for that doofus. And ignore his inappropriate choices in music.” She said that as though she didn’t want to hum along to the Yin Yang Twins. Z knew exactly what ruffled her feathers and he did that on purpose.
Jade was enjoying the conversation. It seemed like this girl was at least chill enough that it wouldn’t be too much of a bother to share this palace with her. Even if she had no idea what her name was. Did it start with a K? She would have to subtly try and get a glimpse at her luggage or something.
She was going to answer the girl’s remark when the sounds of inescapable crunk started blaring from out of nowhere. It was so obnoxious it could easily be a sign that the bonfire party had started, but it was way too early for that. Plus it was making the cabana shake. It could only be a male doing something that stupid. Unfortunately, it appeared as though it wasn’t the one who had materialized in her doorway. Good thing I didn’t start unpacking anything yet. Jesus.
The boy looked like a skyscraper next to the other girl, and he was asking questions that Jade didn’t care to have answers to. Not that she would know. Although she could now piece together that both his and the girl’s names both started with D. Well that helps. So what is it? Diana? Denise? Destiny? Daenerys?
Apparently, the answer was none of the above as Andrea Nope. Way off. took control of things, shouting up to … Zayden? Never would have gotten that one. He was living up to being a Zayden, that was for sure. Andrea knew Jade well enough to know her name. That was a nice boost to the island ego. Once the shout fight with Zay had ended though, and the song changed to something a lot quieter, Jade decided to correct something in the newly christened Drea’s introduction.
“I mean, athlete is underselling it a little bit,” she said with no hint of humility in her voice. “I am kind of a big deal. Star striker for the Kraken, just missed going to the World Cup this year, I’m an elite athlete, Drea.” She reached around looking for where she had tossed her iPod. “Also, if that homeboy upstairs wants to start throwing down, I will crank some Missy at him and show him what good rap sounds like.”
“Okay, so I was mistaken,” she said, turning to the blonde giant. “This is Jade, America’s next Olympic Gold Medalist.” She shot Jade a quick smirk. “And what about you, handsome? You got a name? Obviously, it starts with a D. All the best things in life start with the letter D!”
Truth be told, somewhere between the guy upstairs (Zayden! That was good, there had to be like, what? Three Zaydens in the whole world? That one was probably his buddy!) and the other girl yelling at each other, Dax had more or less checked out of the conversation, and was instead fiddling with a fidget spinner he’d pulled out of his pocket. Sure, they went out of style like, almost a year and a half ago, but Dax didn’t spend two and a half hours watching YouTube tutorials on fidget spinner tricks to not carry one of the fuckers in his pocket to spin when things like this were happening around him.
It wasn’t until the athlete started talking, that Dax allowed himself to snap back to reality and listen to the not so good music that was blasting around him, and at least listen to what the girls had to say. Olympic Gold Medalist? Missed going to the World Cup? Elite athlete? Not just athlete, but elite athlete. That seemed important. If Dax had time, he would have written that down. It was cool! He wished he was good at sports… He was like, okay at tennis, but that was about it, and it was mostly because of Lottie.
Maybe he could ask this girl to teach him some cool tricks in her sport. Soccer, it had to be. El futbol. Or… whatever they called it in the rest of the universe. Then, Dax turned his attention to the other girl in the room, which consisted mostly of turn his head down to look at her. “Dax. My name is Dax. Well, Daxton, but you can just call me Dax. Please.”
Jade had triumphantly pulled her iPod out of her carry-on bag as Dax introduced himself. “Got it after the third time, Dax. Will do.” She was now looking around her bedroom for some sort of speaker system to combat Zay’s bad 2000’s rap with her excellent 2000s rap. There didn’t appear to be anything until she remembered the living room. There had to be a sound system out there. “What say we take this party out of my room and start hitting Zay with some education?”
Drea liked Jade the moment she saw her spread on her bed, but now she liked her even more. They shared the mutual hobby of putting Zay in his place when he became too obnoxious for his own good. Not that Drea wasn’t obnoxious herself, but Z took it to new levels she didn’t think was possible. And the fact he was playing the highly-inappropriate song just made her want to team up with Dax and Jade to give him a fight he wasn’t ready for.
“I’m so in!” Drea’s eyes shot directly to Dax. “What do you say, handsome? Wanna be on the winning team and defeat the antagonist upstairs?” She asked Dax.
Well, Dax was smart enough to not disagree with someone calling him handsome, but he didn’t think he much wanted to participate in a battle. He just wanted to unpack and get settled in his room… but if he had to pick a side, then he was going to have to be on Zayden’s side. After all, they were friends! “If you’re gonna make me choose, I gotta side with Zayden.” Dax admitted, with a sad shrug of his shoulders. Besides, Dax would never rain on someone’s parade, but… Missy sucked anyway. “Are we gonna share the D room, though? Or should I find a different room?” He asked, looking down at the short, loud, attractively angry blonde.
“‘Cuz I’m down to share.”
Andrea sighed, rolling her eyes along with Jade as Dax had not only chosen to side with Z and his lame-ass, but now the topic was back on the room, which as dull as it was, she admitted that issue needed to be resolved. “I suppose we can share but there’s only one bed in the room. And I sleep in my birthday suit.” She said as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Would that be a problem?”
Maybe Dax was already too high. This girl seemed to think he was… not interested? Or perhaps she was trying to bait him? To make him answer something she didn’t want to hear so she could start a fight? That was possible, in fact, that was maybe even likely… Dax just didn’t think of people like that. Dax only saw the positive, only saw the possibilities. The good, never the bed, and especially never the ugly.
“Uh, no, that’s definitely not a problem. Do you want me to sleep naked too? To make you like, confident. I support your uh, freedom.”
Jade just shook her head. “This is a conversation that is best had in a place that is not MY room. You two want to be naked under the covers, do it in a different bed. For now, however…” She hopped off her own bed and moved towards the door. “It’s time to make Zay lose control.”
The striker made her way out to the living room and quickly spotted her target, a giant sound system in a bamboo cabinet off to the side. There were all sorts of cords neatly draped to the side of the machine, and Jade quickly tossed them all aside to find the one that would hook up to her music. Flipping the switches on the board until she heard a familiar hum, she smiled. “Showtime.”
The lyrics were swift and merciless, proclaiming “MUSIC MAKE YOU LOSE CONTROL” twice before descending into the xylophone that heralded Missy Elliot’s 2005 hit. Jade turned the speakers up loud enough to drown out Zay’s music and make sure he heard it clear enough in the upstairs.
There was no retaliation. Instead, the music upstairs cutoff and before they knew it, the devil himself approached them with the confidence of a lion. Speaking of birthday suits, Zay was dripping wet, with a towel wrapped around his waist, having taken a five-minute shower, striding his way downstairs to see Drea, Dax, and a girl he sorta knew but not really, Jade. “Yeah, you know what this means?” He mischievously and widely grinned, eyeing Drea from head to toe, before entering their kitchenette, opening the cabinets and seeing if his bae, Rach, gave them the hookup.
She did.
“It’s pregaming time!”
After pulling out four shot glasses, clink, clink, clink, clink, he displayed their options, “Crown Royal Whiskey, Absolut Vodka, or PATRON! Choose your poison.” They should know better than to think Zayden, of all people, would let them get away with no alcohol in their system. They were going to a party thrown by RACHEL. She didn’t tolerate pussies. And since they were cribbing with him, he was going to make sure they got to his level or higher.
“Like you even have to ask.” Drea said as she walked up, trying her best to reach for the Vodka but goddamn it, it was just too damn high!
Jade shook her head at the brash display from the semi-naked Zay. Wasn't terrible to look at, and at least she had control of the pre-game music now. All in all, it was a win, and now apparently it was time to claim her reward. Might as well. This was her vacation after all.
"Well, everyone knows that the queen needs her Crown," she stated, grabbing a nearby chair since if Drea was having problems reaching the booze, she would as well. The chair did its job and the soccer star grabbed the vodka for her fellow female and the whiskey for herself. While there she tossed the tequila to Zay, figuring that was his choice. As she hopped back down, she uncorked the bottle of Crown. "And she fears no poison."
Jade was not sexy at all and even though Zayden was literally right by the cabinets, she went out of her way to bring a chair and get it all herself. What a power-play move. Shrugging to himself, graciously taking the tequila, though he preferred whiskey he didn’t mind Parton, Z poured his shot and waited for everyone else to join him so they could shoot it up together. With a smug grin on his face, he peered down at his tiny friend. “You did your best.”
The only reaction Zayden got from Drea was an exasperated expression as she took the vodka from Jade and her arm wrapped around Jade’s neck. “Thanks for being so great.” She innocently kissed Jade on the cheek. It was short and sweet and by the time it ended, she had a wide smirk on her face, looking at Z.
“Gayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Okay, y'all bitches ready?” Rolling his eyes at his friend, paying no mind to her antics, he lifted his shot glass, “Cheers to the summer and having unforgettable memories.” He turned his head and beckoned the other boy toward them, “Dax, get your ass in here. Here. Take this.” He poured another patron shot.
“Hey, man, I don’t wanna throw off your vibe, but could you… could you put some drawers on?” Dax asked while looking at the shot that was offered to him, before an idea clicked in his head. He looked down at the shirt he was wearing, and then pulled it off and held it out to Zayden, trading it for the shot. “You can wear this like a sumo wrestler thing. It’s cool, I don’t even like this shirt.”
“...thanks, but I’ll go put some clothes on upstairs. Okay. 1-2-3.” Since Dax wanted him to cover up, he had to rush the shot process. Swiftly and with experienced ease, he drank the shot and placed it back on the counter. “I’ll be back, then we should head out. Don’t want to waste time to mix and mingle. Ain’t that right, ladies?”
Jade was in a tiny bit of a daze after that kiss from Drea, but she still had the presence of mind to pour her shot of whiskey and down it in time with the party lead. She was still thinking about the action. She had kisses before, teammates in the throes of victory, jackasses at the campus bar who thought they could sneak a quick one. That one was more than hell to the conquering hero type though. It felt good.
"Yeah for sure. Can't deny Rachel her star attraction now, can we?" she agreed. "Although I should probably get changed out of these boat clothes too." She looked at Drea. "I can rock island formal just as well as I can causal." She then winked at Zay. "Give me 15 minutes and I'll be ready."
“Word, and sorry for earlier. I’m not the most observant when I’m tired as fuck so I thought I had this place to myself. Then finding out Drea was here… she just has a way of really pushing my buttons.” Hey, even Zayden knew there were times he could be an asshole and he wasn’t too prideful to not say sorry if his music did upset anyone. Maybe later they’ll set ground rules, but for now. It was time to get ready. “Yeah, fifteen minutes everyone meets back here and then we’ll head over to wherever everyone else is. Probably the bar.” With that, the hype man walked away, towel and all, back to his room.
“And thank god he’s gone!” She sighed, taking a hefty swig of vodka. As she did, the blonde couldn’t help but linger at the sight of Zayden walking away. He only remained in view for a few moments after but it was enough for her to start ...thinking things and these were thoughts she rather not have at the moment, thank you!
Shaking her head, it quickly went away. “Well, to our rooms it is.” It was only a moment after those words left her lips did Drea remember. “Oh damn that’s right.” Her eyes went to Dax. “We never did figure out who was taking the room next to Jade’s, did we? But, ya know, I think you should take one upstairs. You and Z seem to have bonded.” She nudged Jade. “Isn’t that right, Jade?”
Dax raised an eyebrow. There was some confusion here, from the taller, shirtless man — he’d thought they’d reached an agreement? “I thought we were sharing? Were you joking? I wasn’t.” He explained with a tilt of his head. If that’s what she wanted to do, that was fine, but he’d thought they’d made a call!
He was serious? “The bed is certainly large enough for two people.” She scratched her head. What was her intention to trick Dax into taking a room upstairs so she could be alone next to Jade turned into one of the best reversals on her since high school. She respected Dax’s genius strategy. And if it was unintentional, then that just meant he would only get more diabolical as the summer went on.
“Yeah, I suppose we can. Nothing wrong with that.” Was all she had to say. She genuinely had nothing to clap back with.
“Cool.” There was no diabolical scheme behind Dax’s words, and the bright little smile on his face spoke in favor of that. The simple reality was… Dax had already put his stuff in that room — he didn’t wanna carry it upstairs. He’d shared beds with people before, in a totally non-sexual, non-gay way (it was totally Zay), and this was no 0different. “I can wear pants when I sleep if you want. Or even, like, crash on the floor. Not everything is about sex! Appreciate each other for the company, man.”
Jade looked over at the woman now sharing a bed with a man on day one of this excursion. "See, this is why I prefer the subtle 'Get your ass upstairs' approach," she whispered to Drea. "Less chance they actually get bold enough to think they have a shot at something." She pulled back slightly. "Does he… actually have a shot at something?"
Drea looked at Dax for a moment, her eyes quickly scanning him up and down. Tall, fit, and not entirely repulsive personality-wise: everything that Drea wanted in a man if she ever saw herself settling for one. She didn’t like limiting her options, but if Dax ended up being the guy who she got with in the end, then she wouldn’t be a complaining woman. Still, she had to explore what else the summer had to offer before making those decisions.
As she smiled at Dax, she leaned to Jade. “I don’t know. But he is interesting.” She found herself admitting.
Jade stared at Dax for a moment, trying to take in every part of the man who stared down a challenge from a girl who was very attractive and not only didn't blink but also managed to hit her back with the laser reflection and score a win. He was bold. Interesting? That remained to be seen. All she knew about him was that he was tall and had no problems being all up in the personal space.
"Well," she said, clasping her hand on Drea's shoulder. "I am gonna leave that whole finding out how interesting he is to you. Instead, I am gonna go put on this little number that I picked up in Malé and get set to rock this party." She turned off her iPod and gave Drea a wink as she headed off to her room, which she had all to herself, and prepared to prepare for tonight.