Free Switching Lanes by Renea Porter Page A

me later.”
    “We’ll have to do this again. I had fun, and I appreciate you as a friend. I would even hug you if I weren’t such a phobic about it.” She opens the car door and waves me off. I watch and make sure she makes it inside before pulling away.
    I make my way to Layne’s place and just the thought cause s the butterflies to flutter in my stomach. I get to his place in no time, and the driveway is jammed packed so I park along the street. Walking inside, it’s your typical college party. I don’t even have to describe the scene, that’s how typical it is. I walk through the living room and into the kitchen and I find Layne throwing back shots with a few of the guys. He is going to be so wasted, and he’ll regret it in the morning. Of course I’ll have to get some greasy food in his stomach tomorrow afternoon.
    “The man of the hour,” I shout over the music blaring through the house.
    He passes a shot my way, and I down it followed by two more. We don’t even speak as I let the liquid flow down my throat, and it burns sliding down. Dylan comes into the kitchen and tries to be friendly, so I just excuse myself to the restroom. I take my time, reapply some of the makeup that has worn off, and straighten myself up. Once I open the door, I’m confronted by the green eyes of Dylan.
    “What do you want?” I ask, as his gaze lingers over me. The curves of his mouth turn up into a mischievous grin.
    His arms trap me against the wall of the hallway, one hand on each side of me, pressing his hands against the wall. “I thought maybe we could make a go of it again.” He leans in and nuzzles my neck, causing me to put my hands on his chest to push him away, but he’s not budging. I start to panic.
    “Get off of me , Dylan. I’m serious.” My heart kicks up with the adrenaline pumping through my body as I panic.
    “I was hoping to get off later.” H e smirks, and I smell the alcohol on his breath. He’s drunk. “Come on, Baby.” He snakes his hand around my waist, bringing my body against his.
    “Get away from me right fucking now,” I say sternly and as calmly as possible. I don’t want him to know I’m dying inside. Suddenly , all I see if a fist flying into Dylan’s jaw, knocking him down, and I jump away from him.
    Layne bends down to face Dylan. “That was your one and only warning. If she says no, walk the fuck away. Now you just gave me an excuse to finally kick your fucking ass out of this house. Be gone by morning or I will throw you out myself.”
    “Are you okay?” he says, turning from Dylan.
    I nod yes, feeling embarrassed by the scene that just unfolded in front of me. The crowd moved in quick when they heard the commotion. Dylan gets up and walks past us. “Bitch,” he mumbles under his breath, but loud enough for Layne and I to hear him. Layne starts to charge him and I pull back on his arm.
    “Don’t ; he’s not worth it,” I plead with him.
    “Fine, but if he so much as looks at you the wrong way, I will fucking kill him,” he barks, before heading back to the kitchen. I follow behind him and I don’t say anything.
    “Hey, M an, calm down. We are celebrating your win tonight,” one of the guys say.
    “You’re right .” Layne smiles and passes a shot my way.
    “This should probably be my last one,” I tell him.
    “Don’t matter now, because you’ve already had a few and you aren’t driving home tonight,” he says sternly.
    “Okay then.” I throw the next shot back and it burns my throat.
    My head is spinning and I’m feeling tipsy. The party only gets crazier. Imagine my surprise when Layne pulls on my arm to dance with him. Once I get over the initial shock of it, we dance to some fast heart pumping songs. When a slow song comes on, he moves toward the kitchen, I follow and he hands me a beer. I watch as some of the couple’s slow dance and I fondly envy them.
    “ Are you wanting to dance?” He motions toward the others.
    “ No, it’s okay.” I