Blindside

Oh Dang

Cleo

Looking past Kaden, our eyes connected.

Holy s**t balls

I felt like the air was sucked out of my lungs. I don't know if it has to do with the alcohol or what he was wearing, but I swear the way that Osiris looks right now could make me swallow my damn tongue.

"I don't remember asking you Osiris. Last time I checked, Cleo and I were speaking, so please feel free to leave the conversation"

"Nah, I'm good. Seeing as it's my house, feel free to leave whenever you want"

"Jesus. What the f**k is your problem man?"

"My problem is that Cleo has clearly had enough to drink. If you even gave two shits, the first thing you would be offering is some god damn water, not push more liquor down her throat"

"Holy f**k, I don't need this s**t" Turning toward me, Kaden added "I'll see you around Cleo. Maybe we can hangout sometime" then he turned to walk away.

Before he could get far, Osiris reached out and grabbed Kaden by the arm, not too gently from what I could tell, and pulled him in close.

"I'm warning you now Kaden. She is not the one for your f**king games. Stay the f**k away from her and do not make me repeat myself" he growled at him. Although he did try to say it quietly so that I couldn't hear, I heard every word he said.

Oh dang. Please do NOT fight.

Kaden shrugged off Osiris' hold, not too easily either, and walked away.

"Well. That was interesting" I said awkwardly. Not knowing what to do with myself now after that altercation, I decided to look down at my feet.

Hmm, I think I'm due for another pedi. I wonder what colour I should get this time?

Stepping closer to me, Osiris asked gently "You okay?" 

"Yeah. I just don't like causing a scene" I replied 

"Hey now. Don't worry about it. The music is loud and look, nobody even has a clue what just happened. You're good, I promise" He answered.

Lifting my head and scanning the people around me, sure enough everyone seemed to be minding their own business.

Well that's a relief!

"Where did Oliver go anyway? Weren't you two hanging out for the most part?" he asked.

That's odd... how did he know that?

"Uhh... good question" I said "He was supposed to be getting me water I think, but he hasn't come back yet"

Just then Oliver came barreling around the corner and into the kitchen.

"Spitfire! I'm so sorry! I promise I didn't forget about you!" He said anxiously, handing me a bottle of water with worry etched into his features.

"It's okay big man, stop fussing. Did something happen?"

"Yeah actually, I ran into Izzy and Corbin on the way to the garage. Izzy was puking her face off, so I ended up getting her a bottle first while Corbin held her hair" he explained.

"Oh s**t, is she okay?"

"Yeah, Corbin is helping her into the Jeep. I told them I would come find you and let you know in case you wanted to stay"

"s**t, well I should probably go. She's supposed to crash at my place and I'm the one with the key" I answered.

I started to make my move to climb down from the counter when Osiris reached out a hand to help. Looking up at him, I smiled.

"Thanks" I said shyly.

What the hell is wrong with me. Cut it out Cleo!

"No problem" He replied "I'll walk her out man, I think your partner over there is waiting on your return to the game" he turned to say to Oliver.

"Uhh.. oh, okay then. Bye Cleo" he said then made his way over to the beer pong table where he was met with slaps on the back.

Never taking his attention from me, Osiris helped me lower down from the counter. As soon as my feet hit the floor was the exact moment I realized how drunk I really was. Before I could grasp what was happening, I was tipping forward, and fast. Thankfully, Osiris seems to have pretty damn good reflexes.

Snapping his arms out to catch me, Osiris gently propped me back against the counter.

"Woah now, we can't have you falling and hurting yourself. Especially with that pretty face" he said with a smile. Insert fire face as blood rushed to my cheeks.

"Here, let's have you climb on my back. I'll carry you out so you don't have to worry about walking and potentially falling" he explained as he turned around, kneeled to the floor and pulled my arms over his shoulders. "Hang on. Going up!" He warned.

Linking my arms around his neck with a firm grip, he hooked his arms under my knees and made way toward the front door. The trip out to the Jeep seemed to be going well, as if he was aware to make sure, sound steps to avoid having my head go into a tailspin.

"You're being awfully nice" I blurted.

"Of course. You made me cookies, so now we're friends. I look out for my friends" he answered matter-of-factly.

"Oh yeah! Did you like them? Which ones were your favourite? I can make more!" I rambled on. He then let out a deep rumbling laugh, to which I could only assume he was laughing at me.

"What's so funny?" I said with a pout and smacked him on the shoulder.By now, we had reached the Jeep, so he began to slowly kneel down to let me slide off his back. Turning to face me, he answered "Nothing. I'm not so much laughing at you as I'm laughing at how cute you're being right now"

"You think I'm cute?" I replied, voice laced with shock.

~~~

Osiris

"You think I'm cute?"

Shit. In less than 5 minutes I had already let slip that I think she's pretty, and now admitting she's being cute. I need to learn to shut the f**k up sometimes.

Before I could answer her, pointing to herself and her outfit, she started rambling again "Who are we kidding anyway, just look at me, of COURSE I'm cute. Who wouldn't think so?" 

"Haha, I'm not sure, but I won't put up any fights" I replied, turning and opening the door for her. As I looked back to her, she gave me a smile and nod of the head to signal she was happy with my response. Taking hold of her hand, I helped her climb up into the Jeep, then pulled the seatbelt so that she could clip in.

"Hey, you may not remember this after tonight, but please try and stay away from Kaden"

"Why?" she asked, her brow wrinkled in question.

"He's just... he's not a good guy okay? You don't need to get mixed up in his s**t. Just don't give him a reason to think that he can mess with you" I answered.

For a moment, she looked like she wanted to argue and dig for more, but the look on my face must have told her I was being serious.

"Okay. I will" she said, nodding her head in agreement.

"Good. Goodnight Cleo" 

"Goodnight Osiris"

I closed the door to the Jeep then rounded the vehicle to say goodbye to Corbin.

"Everything all good?"

"Yeah, she's all buckled in"

"That's not what I meant. What's going on with Kaden?"

"Right now? Nothing, and that's how I'm trying to keep it. Asshole was trying to chat her up and give her more alcohol, but I stepped in to shut it down before it could even start"

"F**k, alright. Going to have to keep an eye on that. Thanks man, I appreciate you watching out for her when I wasn't around"

"Of course, that guy is a piece of s**t and she's innocent" Peeking into the backseat, I asked "You okay with the two of them? You can always go to the pool house around back, you know where the key is"

"It's cool man, my aunt is expecting us back at the house. I do NOT need auntie on my case, that woman scares the s**t out of me" I replied, shivering at the thought of his aunt lighting him up.

"Haha, okay no problem. Drive safe man"

"Thanks, talk later" At that, he put the Jeep in drive and followed the drive back down to the road. Once the tail lights disappeared, I finally turned to head back inside.

Crisis averted.... but damn those eyes for pulling me back in...