Kris

Silence reigned over our booth at Ashley's declaration and all eyes turned to me. Beads of sweat formed over my brow under the weight of their questioning gazes, and as panic began to bubble in my gut, I did the only thing my anxious brain could think of.

I laughed.

A full body, chest-rumbling, shoulder-shaking laugh that would probably make the onlookers worry that I was having a seizure. I had seen my grandfather dispel many tense situations with his loud, potbelly-shaking laugh and I hoped it would help me as well.

Except, it didn't. It only made others look at me weird.

"Not yet. She meant not yet," I said, still laughing "We just started seeing each other and haven't really put any labels on our relationship yet. Right Ashley?"

"Ooh, fries!" Was Ashley's very helpful response.

I made a mental note to never let her get drunk when we were with others. Without her commandeering this whole fake dating act, I felt like a headless chicken just flapping around aimlessly until I bled out and died. Well, in my case it was more like getting caught in my lies and embarrassing myself in front of everyone. But it felt equally painful as the first one.

Just when I thought I would have to admit that Ashley and I were not really dating, Dylan came to my rescue.

"I would have been more concerned if it was the other way around to be honest," he said, snorting. "If it were up to Kris, Ashley and him would be on their honeymoon, planning their first kid's career."

Ashley chose that moment to pay attention to the conversation. "I want to go to Switzerland for the honeymoon," she said, clapping her hands excitedly.

A ripple of laughter went over our group, lightening the mood again. My shoulders slumped with relief and I leaned back in my seat, more than happy to have the attention off me. With my arm wrapped around Ashley, she collapsed into me and curled up on my lap, placing her head on my chest.

Giggling, she adjusted the plate of fries in her hands, holding it closer to her chest. It weirdly reminded me of the goblins from Dylan's video games holding treasure close to their body and a smile formed on my lips.

Ashley looked up at me, her blue eyes shining bright under the warm lights of the diner. "We should go to Switzerland. It's amazing!"

I picked up a tissue from the dispenser and wiped the corner of her mouth. "I'll make a note of it," I said.

Pleased with my answer, she snuggled more into me while munching on her fries and smearing more sauce on her lips. She was an adorable messy eater.

"You better start saving up for that trip," Dylan said when my gaze collided with his. He grinned before taking a sip of his drink. However, the look in his eyes had me worried.

Dylan liked to put up this facade of dumb jock, and hide behind his jokes and sassy quips. But I knew him well enough to not fall for it. He was smart, perceptive, and a little too good at reading people and situations. There was a good chance he saw me struggling to come up with an excuse for Ashley's words and stepped in to get the spotlight away from me.

And if that was true, it meant he had several doubts right now which he would surely dig answers for. Ashley and I would need to be more careful moving forward.

"But jokes aside, I would be careful if I were you. Don't get your hopes up," Shane said from the other side of the table. "I have known Ashley since high school and she can be flaky at times, you know what I mean?"

Shane looked at me as if we were sharing some kind of inside joke. Like he hadn't just insulted Ashley in front of everyone when she was right there. Rage coursed through my veins and I wished I could smack that annoying smirk off Shane's face.

But since I couldn't, I settled on pinning him with a glare. "Wasn't it you who immediately started dating her best friend after you broke up? That seems worse than being flaky to me. Almost like you had planned that all along."

Conversation died around the table as all eyes turned to me once again. They didn't bother me this time though. It was Shane's turn to feel discomfort. He was getting too comfy anyway.

Shane's smirk vanished, a cold mask falling in its place. Even Juliette tensed in his lap, her eyes narrowing on Ashley.

"Is that what Ashley told you happened?" Juliette asked, meeting my gaze.

I raised a brow at her. "Am I wrong?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Holden interrupted before either of them could say anything. "You dated Ashley?"

"We weren't serious and didn't date for long," Shane mumbled. "Maybe a few weeks at most."

Ashley let out a loud chuckle. "He's a liar," she said and stuffed the remaining fries in her mouth.

"Excuse me?" Shane objected before looking at the rest of us and laughing. "You guys don't believe her, do you? She's drunk and she has always had this habit of talking nonsense when drunk. Don't take her seriously."

Sad for him, no one laughed along. Instead, an awkward silence settled over the table.

"C'mon! I have known her longer and that's why I know when she's making things up. She—"

"I want more fries," Ashley announced, interjecting Shane's speech. She then tried to reach across the table for the fries plate that was in front of Atlas and nearly fell face first into the half-eaten salad.

Tightening my grip around her, I pulled her back against me and held her in place as she tried to wriggle out of my hold. "You going to eat that?" I asked Atlas, jutting my chin to the plate of fries.

"Nope. I'm done," he replied before turning to Ethan and starting a discussion about schoolwork and internships. The others joined in as well, moving on from the previous conversation.

Except for Shane, of course.

"Kris, you have to believe me. Ashley isn't all that honest when it—"

"Honestly, I don't care," I said, stopping him again. "Whatever happened between you two is none of my business. Unless you are going to come for my girl. Then we are going to have problems."

I pinned him with the same look I gave my opponents on ice right before I checked them to the boards. "Are we going to have problems Shane?"

Shane gulped and visibly shrunk back as I reached over and dragged the plate of fries toward me, giving it to Ashley. Satisfied that I had gotten my point across, I focused my attention back at Ashley who was now giggling excitedly.

"Thank you!" she said, dragging each syllable as she pressed a kiss to my jaw. "You are soo nice. I like you very much now."

I couldn't help the chuckle that left me. "I'm glad to hear that," I said and kissed her forehead.

She beamed up at me and then went back to holding the plate to her chest while she snuggled closer to me. With Ashley occupied, I tuned back into the conversation going between my friends. Shane remained quiet for the most part, only speaking when he was directly addressed. Mostly by Holden. It was nice to get a break from his pompous chatter.

We were in the middle of debating how useful our degrees were in real life when Juliette spoke for the first time in a while.

"Aren't you being a little unfair to Shane?" she asked me. "You know only one side of the story. How can you be so sure that Ashley wasn't at fault here?"

When my friends turned to me with worry etched on their faces, I signaled them to continue with their conversation and ignore us. I had already made this dinner more awkward than it needed to be by broaching the topic of Shane and Ashley's past. They deserved to have fun without witnessing more of this drama, but I suspected I'd still have some ears listening to every word being said.

Heaving a sigh, I turned to Juliette. "Like I said, I don't really care. I wouldn't have said anything if Shane hadn't said that about Ashley. I don't see how that's me being unfair."

"But you are being unfair!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"Juliette, don't—" Shane placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her but she just shrugged him off.

"You clearly have a biased opinion of him based on whatever lies Ashley has told you and are hating on him for no reason," she continued.

"If I really had a biased opinion and hated him, he wouldn't be sitting at this table right now. Neither would you," I said. "Now, can we drop this topic and not ruin others' night?"

Juliette glared at me but before she could say anything further, Ethan interrupted her.

"Uh...Kris? I think you should really stop Ashley now," he said. When I met his gaze with furrowed brows, he gestured toward Ashley.

My eyes widened as I noticed Ashley sipping beer with a straw from a tall glass in front of her. That wasn't all. Beside her glass of beer were three cocktail glasses. Empty cocktail glasses. Shit.

How did she even get these without me noticing?

"Ashley what are you—" I snatched the glass, holding it away from her. "Where did you get this from?"

"Hey!" She folded her arms across her chest and pouted. "I was drinking that. I like beer. Gimme."

She tried to reach for it and held it further away from her. "No. First tell me how you got this and the cocktails. Who ordered them for you?"

To my surprise, her lips quirked up and her eyes shone with mischief. She beckoned me forward with her index finger and once I'd leaned close enough, she slung her arm around my neck, pulling me close.

"That guy near the bar passed them to me when I asked nicely," she said in a stage whisper. I looked over her shoulder to see a server standing at the bar while looking at us. Looking at Ashley specifically.

I hummed. "How exactly did you ask?"

In Ashley's current state, she was incapable of talking without having everyone in a two meter radius looking in her direction. Surely I would have noticed her placing an order for this much alcohol.

"I-I pointed at the glass and lifted my finger to show I wanted one," she said, hiccuping at the end of the sentence. "I learned it from the man sitting alone at the table there."

I looked at the said man just in time to see him do the same gesture. Ashley was very observant even when drunk, I had to give her that. I just wished it hadn't helped her secure more alcohol.

She slung her other arm around my neck as well to hold herself up against me. "He brought me the cocktail too when I winked at him," she added with a giggle. "You should try winking at him. He even gave me a straw."

She said that with so much conviction like she had discovered the solution to end human suffering. It was so adorable and silly that despite the situation, I ended up laughing.

"I don't think me winking at him will have the same result," I replied.

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Why?" she asked, staring at me for a long beat before nodding. "Okay. I'll do it for you."

She was about to turn around to do just that when I grabbed her by her shoulder and halted her movements.

"I don't think that's necessary," I said and looked around to find something to keep her occupied. My eyes landed on the cocktail umbrellas and I immediately picked them up. "Can you shut them close for me? I want to take them home."

It was the stupidest thing I could say, but I was hoping that with the amount of alcohol in her system she'd be too far gone to realize that and would get distracted by the tiny decorations.

Her gaze flitted from the umbrellas in my hand to my face and then back at the umbrellas. "Okay," she said slowly, emphasizing each syllable. "But I want the pink one."

I smiled and ruffled her hair. "You can have the pink one."

She nodded and slumped against my chest as she got to work. Leaving Ashley with her tiny umbrellas, I turned to my friends. "Guys, I need to leave. Ashley's drunk and I have to drop her back to the dorms."

"Let's just leave together. Everyone is pretty much done," Atlas said as he looked over to the other booth. "And you are not driving. Hand your keys to Ethan."

Atlas had this rule of not letting anyone drink and drive, no matter how much alcohol they'd consumed. And I wholeheartedly agreed with it. So without a second thought, I took out my keys and threw them toward Ethan.

Ethan caught them with ease, holding them in his fist. "Let's go. Same crew we came here with?"

He eyed Shane and Juliette, making me wince. I drove them here so if they needed a ride home, I should be the one dropping them off technically. It was the right thing to do. And yet, I couldn't imagine being stuck with them any longer. It would be a helluva lot awkward than the ride to Joana's.

Whether Juliette had similar thoughts on the situation I wasn't sure, but she stood up to leave. "Shane and I will take the cab," she said and turned to Shane. "Let's go."

Shane wordlessly stood up and followed after his girlfriend. I watched them walk out of the diner and my shoulders relaxed as if a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. My friends seemed to share the sentiment because everyone at the table heaved a collective sigh of relief.

"That was one hell of a stressful dinner," Ethan remarked. "How did they even end up joining us?"

"Because of this bigmouth here," I said and clapped Holden on his back with more force than necessary.

Holden winced. "I was just trying to be nice. And I didn't know there was history between them and Ashley."

"Well, refrain from being nice next time. You suck at it," Atlas said, getting up from his seat and facing me, his brows knitted in concern. "Did you already know about them?"

"I did," I replied. "I don't know all the nitty-gritty details of it, but I have a decent idea of what went down."

Atlas looked like he wanted to inquire more, but he settled for a nod. I wouldn't fault him for worrying. This would have put me on edge too if Ashley and I were in a real relationship. Thankfully, we weren't.

On our way out, Ashley enthusiastically waved everyone in the diner goodbye while also asking anyone holding a cocktail glass if they were going to take their tiny umbrellas home and if she could get them instead. By the time we were seated in the car, she had amassed a decent collection of them.

"I'm sleepy," Ashley mumbled as she slumped against me in the backseat of my car.

"We're almost there," I said against the crown of her head. "Do you have your keys? Can you call April to check if she's awake to let you in?"

She whined and snuggled closer. "I don't wanna go! I wanna stay with you. You're so warm."

I pursed my lips when I saw Dylan looking at us through the rear-view mirror. He had decided to come with us on the way back and I couldn't help but think that it was because of everything that happened at the diner.

"But didn't you text April that I'd drop you after dinner?" I said, hoping she would agree.

Ashley shook her head and wrapped her arms around my torso. "No. I'm staying with you."

"Ashley I—"

"Just let her stay over tonight. What's the big deal?" Dylan asked, turning around to face us.

It was a big deal. Ashley and I had set clear rules about what we could do and what we could not. And while the topic of sleepovers had never popped up, I was sure it fell in the category of don'ts.

But I also knew if I didn't handle this situation well, it would only cement Dylan's assumptions. Whatever they might be.

As a last ditch attempt to avoid the sleepover, I tried to use the roommate card. "But Ethan—"

"Ethan can sleep in the Bunker tonight," Dylan countered and I knew I couldn't argue anymore without making him suspicious.

The 'Bunker' was the makeshift bedroom we had created in the attic for this very reason. Whenever anyone had someone over and needed the room to themselves, the other roommate could go sleep in the attic for the night. I was the one who had proposed this idea two years ago and now I was regretting ever opening my mouth.

"I'm sure Ethan wouldn't mind. Would you, Ethan?" Dylan added.

"Not at all," Ethan quipped, sealing my fate. "I'll just grab my pillow and blanket real quick and then you can have the room to yourself."

"There. That's settled then," Dylan said, a devilish grin on his face. "Ashley's first sleepover at the hockey house."

"Yay!" Ashley cheered while clapping her hands.

I let out a sigh, accepting defeat. It was going to be a long night.