[Scott Vincent's photo above!]

A/N: This came out so late... sorry 😖🙏

C h a p t e r      0 5

Nikki's POV

The guy lightly chuckled while shaking his head down before facing me. "You're Nikki, right? We work in the same company."

Wait...

He grinned while extending his hand which I gave a glance into. "Matthew Wells, but you can call me Matt."

Wait!

"Red Line Company?"

Matt nodded, retrieving his free hand and doing a slight gesture to accompany his words, "Yeah, at the HR department when you submitted your requirements, I was there!"

Right!-- the guy who opened the door for me!

I snapped my finger and blurted, "Doorman!"

"I prefer the term gentleman..."

I extended my hand and shook it with his, muttering an apology, "Sorry, that was spontaneous. Didn't really mean to say it that way.

"It's okay, not everyday someone calls me a doorman." He smiled and looked up front as he took a drink from his cup.

"So how'd you know my name?"

"I was beginning to think that you wouldn't want to know." He released a soft chuckle and spoke with pride, "Checked your files."

I furrowed my eyebrows with question. "Is that something to be proud of?"

"Why not? I'm pretty sure you were surprised."

I let a chuckle escape my lips while lightly shaking my head to disapprove, "Mystery boxes. Those are the real surprises."

"I have no idea." He laughed. "Anyway, who are you here with?"

"I'm here with my best friend and..."

"Me." Chase's voice suddenly interjected.

"Uh, yeah, uhm..." I cleared my throat and ran my hands on my lap, pulling my skirt down before standing beside him. "Matt, this is Chase, my boyfriend." I motioned my hand to him as I felt his hand around my waist. "Chase, this is Matt. We work in the same company."

Matt stood up and placed his cup on the seat as he extended a hand to Chase, "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." He responded, shaking Matt's hand before tucking it in his pocket. "So, you're friends with Scott, or Nathan?"

"Uhh neither actually, not me, but my cousin is a friend of Nathan's. He just asked me to come along and be his 'chauffeur' for the night." He slipped out a short laugh as he casted a glance on me. "Anyway, I should probably go and look for him. Nice to meet you Chase."

Chase nodded to him and gave him a faint okay as Matt took a second to turn to me with a smile, "Nikki-- I'll see you at work." He said before leaving.

"I think you scared him off." I intoned, gradually looking up to him.

"I don't see that a problem. Come on." Chase took me with him to where he was a second ago together with the others, and motioned me to sit on the wooden bench. "The guys wanted to play beer pong later and I told them that you'll be my partner. You're welcome."

I was taken aback with his insistence and said, "Wow. Nice of you to tell me, but, no. I'd rather watch whatever ping pong you do."

"Playing is way more fun than killing yourself while yawning, trust me." He sat down beside me and grabbed a cup from a small wooden round table on his side.

I contracted my shoulder and crooked a small smile, "Watching is much safer than killing myself while slugging down a cup of beers, I guess."

"Sure it is, but I'm talking about fun." Chase emphasized as he chugged from his cup and then suddenly questioned, "So, that punk works with you?"

I nudged him on the side of his abdomen which made him scruched a bit with my brows furrowed, "Don't speak like that. You don't even know the guy."

"Which is why I'm asking..." He intoned and then took another sip in his drink. "Anyway, I didn't mean like he's some petty gangster or anything, I just meant his style. You know, punk rock?"

I let my eyes roll, slightly shaking my head and murmured, "Still."

"I'm getting another drink. You all good?"

"Yes, thank you. Hailey already grabbed me something to eat."

"Okay." He smiled as he leaned over to place a gentle kiss on my lips.

"Eww, I tasted alcohol." I faked a cough.

He chuckled, "It's strawberry."

"Yuck."

"That yuck actually helps with the digestion of food..." He looked at me with the edge of his lips slanted upward while I let my eyes roll. "You know what, I think I'll get you a wine as well, okay?"

"If you want me to gag all over your car, fine. And please don't drink too much. You're still driving."

"Last shot, I promise." He stood up on his feet and said. "I'll be right back."

I nodded my head, "Okay."

My eyes roamed around the crowded yard for Hailey but she was nowhere to be seen. If I had my phone with me I would've already sent her a text but it was in my bag because it couldn't fit in my front pocket, although I don't see any reason of her getting lost around.

"Kill it champ, I'll sit this one out!" Nathan exclaimed as he astonishingly turned his back from the guys doing billiards to accompany and sit beside me. "Sup Nikki? Where's your Romeo?"

"Went on the table to get some drink." I answered while I casted a glance on him from everyone in the middle who were dancing.

"Again? Oh men, that guy's planning another trouble." He released a chuckle as he reclined on the bench and tossed his one leg up on the other.

"Trouble?"

He eyed me with a slight thought in mind flickering through his eyes before letting out a small nod, "He looks like he just got out in prison and is intending to get soaked."

"Excuse me?" I furrowed my eyebrows on his offensive assessment.

In prison?

"Whoa chill," He held his hands up in surrender and then clarified, "I'm just saying that he had a long break on alcohols..."

"Whatever that means," I swatted my hand in the air and averted my gaze from him. "At least he has control and knows when to stop, unlike Scott."

"Scott is a juicehead alright--" He pointed out his index and continued, "But Chase could be the same when he wanted to."

I disagreed and uttered, "I know Chase."

"Yeah? Well I've been with him through thick and thin since kindergarten so..." He aired as he met my eyes with his one brow raised while I had mine in a notch. "You'll see what I mean. And you'll be more than surprised to compare him with Scott."

"You're kidding."

"You don't know how much I want to."

"Uuggghhhh, care to remind me why we should be the one doing this?? This is unbelievable!!" Hailey cried out with a grunt.

"Oh I have plenty of reasons why, and one of them is because you insisted to play pong pong together with Chase after I said no!" I rolled my eyes from her.

She tsked to disapprove and said, "But admit it, you felt relieved having to only drink once but your boyfriend."

"You made it sound like I did an air ball or something and Chase just happens to steal my cups."

"Of course not! You were magnificent! It's like Chase's soul and yours switched for a quick moment while in the game."

As something I was least expecting, Chase did hoist a quite number of cups while missing shots, which resulted to a real damage.

Yhup. He's dead drunk.

Hailey took in an amount of air to her lungs as she heaved Chase's right arm hanging across her shoulder. "Can't we just stay here for the night?"

"Scott's parents house is fully booked, unless you want to spend the rest of the night sleeping in the kitchen."

"Bummer."

With a few grunts, Hailey and I managed to place Chase at the backseat. We both just stood on the ground, looking at the sleeping beauty with his lips parted and his one hand hanging low.

I held the door handle and was about to close it until I noticed his feet. "Wait, Hailey, where's the other pair of his shoe?"