How To Win His Heart

The bachelor party & old feelings

Isaac’s POV

My phone rang, breaking me from reading the book I took an interest in earlier. I ran through the rest of the pages, seeing I had around fifty pages left. I shut the book and put it on the desk.

Sighing loudly as I answered the call. I put it on speaker, expecting the caller to be my father. But I was wrong.

“Isaac? Where the hell are you?” I pressed my lips together as I heard Pete shout over the music.

Words stuck in my throat, and I didn’t know what to say.

“Isaac, did you forget the bachelor party?” Pete said with a little anger in his voice.

I slapped my forehead. How could I forget his bachelor party?

“No… I’m so sorry Pete, I had a lot of work an-“

I failed to complete my sentence as he cut me off, “you promised me to show up. Isaac, if Allison wasn’t at the wedding you wouldn’t even come and blame it on work as usual,”

I felt embarrassed as he said those words. Allison wasn’t the reason, of course, I wouldn’t ditch my best friend’s wedding at any cost.

But I just wasn’t the party type.

And I was avoiding Scott, my annoying cousin who was one of Pete’s friends.

“Of course I would go to your wedding, and not just for a girl,” I reassured, only hearing him chuckle. Slowly his chuckles turned to laughter.

“But she’s not any girl,” he teased, and I rolled my eyes, I relaxed my back on the black leather chair, then turned to face the huge glass window, drifting to my thoughts.

Allison Miller, the fierce CEO of Miller’s enterprises, was and still is my crush. We attended college together; I was a year older than her and attended for a year only.

Despite being a Winston, I was the invisible guy in college. Social gatherings weren’t mine, and most parties I attended were because of Pete, and the rest of my friends.

I never spoke to her, and she was already dating. Then she became single after her father’s death. Sadly, I returned to London and missed my chances with her, but she locked her place in my heart and mind.

Pete was one of her closest friends and he kept persuading me to talk to her, but I was too shy.

“Hello? Isaac, where did you go?” I blinked, returning to reality.

“Sorry, I zoned out.” I turned around, facing my desk. I grabbed my phone, and the screen lit up, showing me the time.

“Thinking about her, aren’t you?” I could literally feel Pete wiggling his eyebrows at me.

“I’m on my way,” I said as I got up from the chair.

“That’s the spirit!” He shouted, and I chuckled.

“Chill down, Pete, it’s just your bachelor party,” I retorted, knowing he only went out for drinks.

“Just bring your ass here,” he snapped and hung up on me.

I chuckled to myself, picking up my black jacket from the couch, then I left my office.

My secretary was sitting behind his desk, eating his dinner, and once he saw me he dropped everything on the desk.

“Is there something wrong, sir?” He was about to move, but I raised my hand, and he stopped.

“Rogers, you can take the rest of the night off,” I told him and made my way to the elevator.

“Thanks, sir.” I heard him shout as I got inside the elevator.

I pushed the zero button, and the doors shut gradually. The numbers decreased as I went down each floor.

I didn’t want to break my promise to Pete, just to avoid seeing Scott.

So, here I was going to a bar.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. I broke so many rules of my own.

The elevator stopped at the ground level. I got out of the elevator and headed outside the company, finding the valet waiting for me by the car. I thanked him and hopped in the driver’s seat; I pulled away and drove away.

As I stopped at a red light, my phone rang. I glanced at the glowing screen and it was my father this time. I ignored his call, and the lights turned green.

I wasn’t ruining my night.

After thirty minutes, I reached the bar. My eyes roamed outside, seeing drunk people coming out, laughing loudly. I parked the car outside the bar, rethinking my decision about coming here.

I sat in the car for a couple of minutes, watching people as they entered the bar or left with their friends drunk.

I was already considering leaving, then I saw Pete coming out of there, he was talking on the phone and then his eyes fell on my car. He narrowed his eyes and smiled when he noticed me.

I sighed and got out of the car. Pete slid his phone into his pocket and approached me with open arms.

“Well, well, who do we have here?” I chuckled and scratched the back of my neck nervously.

He pulled me into a hug, and I hugged him back. “Isaac Winston showed up finally.” He backed away, patting my shoulder. “I missed you, Hermano.”

“Yeah, sorry for going away for too long,” I apologized, and he smiled, sliding his arm around my shoulder.

“Anyway, here I am in the flesh,” I said sarcastically as we walked towards the bar. He deadpanned at me and I chuckled.

“Isaac, I barely saw you in those couple of years. You are very impossible to reach, playing hard to get, huh?” He nudged me.

I bit my lip, feeling guilty for not calling him for a long time. “You know how my life is, a complete mess.”

“And I was the one who thought you finally got a girl,” he joked, and I raised my eyebrows.

“Yeah, never, my heart calls only for Allison,” I answered, getting away from his grasp.

“As her friend, she’s a very dark person in real life, and I already told you that, but who cares.” He shrugged.

“On top of that, you never spoke to her, and she only knows of your existence as a European billionaire,” he added.

“Let’s just go inside, you are starting to annoy me with your facts,” I grumbled, and he smirked, grabbing me by my arm.

We entered the bar; it was more of a nightclub. The smell of the booze entered my nostrils, and loud music filled the place, making my heart beat faster. I looked at Pete, who had a wide smile on his lips.

“I’m only here for you, so I hope you’re having fun,” I shouted over the loud music.

“This is probably the first party you ever went to after college,” he remarked.

And he wasn’t wrong. This was actually the first party for me in a while, aside from boring business parties.

I followed him, bumping into a few bodies. We entered the VIP section, and I noticed a few familiar faces, including my relative, Scott.

Pretend he’s not there. I kept repeating in my brain as we approached the table.

Pete slid his arm around my shoulder and introduced me. “Everyone this is Isaac,”

I only knew one or two out of the four guys around the table.

“Where have you been, man!” Tyler exclaimed. He fist-bumped me and chuckled.

Right next to Tyler were Scott and Blake. I knew Tyler and Blake from college; we were in the same classes.

Back then Pete, Tyler, Blake, and I were inseparable. Despite nothing tying us together, the four of us had different personalities and yet we stuck together.

Pete was very sociable, he threw parties every weekend, and knew every single person in college. When I came to New York, I had no friends except Pete, then I met Tyler and Blake as they were my roommates.

“Unfortunately, Isaac came late and missed half of the group. But that’s fine,” He said, taking a seat beside two guys I didn’t recognize.

I sat between Scott and Tyler as it was the only empty spot.

Blake pushed Tyler to the back to talk to me. “How could you disappear like this without telling us you were leaving?”

Tyler pushed him back and pointed at him. “What he said.”

I sent them apologetic looks. “You two know how the business is, time absorbing.” They nodded their heads.

“Your friend is Isaac Winston?” The guy next to Pete asked.

“He’s goofier in actual life, not that beast in office.” He bumped his friend’s shoulder playfully.

“Yeah, I don’t bite,” I chimed in.

“Anyway, Isaac, this is Monty.” He pointed at the blonde guy on his right, then he pointed at the redhead on his left. “and that’s Hunter.”

Hunter and Monty smiled, and I smiled back.

My gaze drifted to the boring setting around me. My phone buzzed, and I grabbed it out of my pocket, seeing an invitation to a party from a friend of mine.

I cleared my throat, earning their attention. “Since this is Pete’s party, I predicted things to be more exciting, Pete.” I looked at him, challenging him.

Tyler took the hint and continued, “seriously what happened to your party animal spirit?” I high-fived Tyler and chuckled.

Pete was staring at us with a straight face, and his friends watched us with amusement.

His lips quivered in a wide smile, and he slammed his hands on the table. “Okay, all of us are drunk, except me, but you’ll drive.”

Blake took a shot of the rest of his drink. “Impress us, Winston.”

“Alright.” I clapped my hands together.

Pete got up, rushing outside the nightclub. I chuckled at him, then the rest of us followed him.

A grasp on my arm pulled me back away from them. They didn’t notice me stopping and continued walking. All of them got out while I stayed with the person who grabbed me.

“So, how are you doing Isaac, long time no see huh?” Scott whispered in my ear.

“Scott.” I spat his name out with a tight smile. I turned my head in his direction.

He licked his lips and let go of my arm while I deadpanned at him. “So, what do you want?”

Remember that guy in the lobby that flipped his finger at me? Well, that was Scott.

There were some secrets hidden from Scott, only me, my father and my uncle knew the truth.

And I wanted to avoid him as much as I could.

He grazed his finger on his lips, and a smile plastered on his face. “Your dad just wants a close eye on you.”

I knew why dad wanted a close eye on me and why he chose Scott only.

I ignored him and followed the guys outside the nightclub.

Pete was laughing with Blake, and when Pete saw me, he laughed even more.

“Just get in the car, Pete,” I ordered him and he nodded, barely catching his breath as he was laughing.

After all of us got in the car, Blake and Tyler burst into laughter. Thank god I wasn’t driving one of my sports cars, none of us could’ve fit it.

Since I got a lot of visits from my sister, I had to have a family car where all of them could fit in.

Hunter and Monty were sitting at the back while Tyler, Blake, and Scott were sitting ahead of them. Leaving the seat next to me for Pete.

I started the car and drove to the location. “Where are we going and why are they laughing?” Hunter asked after a while filled with these three idiots’ laughter.

Pete gasped for air and wiped his tears. “I haven’t laughed like this for a quiet time,”

“Anyway, when we were in college, we kept up with this tradition, we always crashed random parties and this dude right here.” He pointed at me and continued, “he always got invited to celebrity parties, so we would crash them. They were the best days.” He shook his head with a smile across his face.

I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Hunter knitting his eyebrows, probably confused about why we would crash a stranger’s party.

He pointed at me and asked, “and he’s going with a suit?”

“Not to mention he’s the Winstons’ heir. You will pass, but we won’t,” Monty added, which made Scott glance at me.

I frowned at their words. “Nothing is wrong with my suit… and you would pass as my guests, so it’s not really breaking in a party as we did in the past.”

“We can change that,” Pete said from beside me. I looked at him with slight fear. He stretched his arm out and turned on the radio.

I didn’t like what he was thinking of.

A ringtone broke the soft music coming out of the radio. Pete shushed us and answered the call. “Hey, babe.”

“Wasn’t Allison your ride home?” He asked, and I glanced at him. He wiggled his eyebrows, and I looked back at the road.

“Fine, I’ll text Jordan to pick you all up, it’s safer than Uber, anyway.” I looked at the rearview and we had eye contact.

“Love you too.” He mumbled.

I didn’t know Jordan was still around. I reminded myself to ask Pete about him when we are alone.

“So, where exactly are we going?” Blake asked.

“It’s a party on the roof, a friend of mine, and she only invited VIPs.”

“so, she’s a female?” Tyler repeated, then continued, “well, that’s interesting. Isaac finally got a female friend.”

“From work,” I added, and he snorted.

I might regret taking them to that party. The host was Roxy Reynolds, a fellow designer, also my friend. We met a while ago, and she became a business partner of the company. Whenever she hosted a party, she would invite me even if I didn’t show up.

Only a few minutes passed and Scott spoke, asking, “Are We There Yet?” I glanced at him in the rearview mirror, then focused back on the road.

“We will be there in 15,” I answered.

“I can’t wait to get out of here,” he mumbled.

Me too, Scott. Me too.

I tightened my grip around the wheel, then breathed in, calming myself down. My mind drifted to the only girl I set my eyes on, Allison Miller.

We went to the same college, had a few classes together, and she hardly showed up.

Also, her father had some business with mine.

She was a popular kid, and I was the loner, even though we came from the same society.

After leaving college, I thought I would never see her again. Three years later, I saw Allison again at a huge conference in Singapore. I thought now that I grew up, I could’ve talked to her, but I was very shy.

She changed a lot, that little glint of joy in her eyes disappeared. It was like she lost her passion. I guess after losing her father she became lonelier.

I watched her throughout the night, socializing and talking to people. She was easy to talk to.

And I was such an introvert.

After half an hour, we finally reached the fancy building where the party was held. I looked at my phone as I received a new message.

I parked the car in the building’s garage and picked up my phone.

“Are we waiting for someone?” Tyler asked, and I nodded.

We all got out of the car and I opened the message I received. He should be here any second. I shut my phone off and glanced at the garage entrance.

A black Mercedes slowed down and flashed us as it entered, I waved at the driver.

He parked the car across from ours.

I smiled as the driver came out of the black car. He approached me with a smile. “Isaac, my man, I knew you had that party spirit in you. Not to mention you finally accepted Roxy’s invite.” He winked.

“Roxy Reynolds?” Tyler questioned while I glared at Miles, who slipped that information.

“Yes, Tyler. The host is Roxy Reynolds, so you better behave.” I pointed at him, trying to look serious.

I was serious though; she was a very important investor in the company, and I didn’t want my friends to ruin her party. She may have important guests.

“... ugh, who’s he?” Pete asked.

“You don’t remember Miles?” I asked him. He gaped his mouth open, pointing at him.

“No way, this is little Miles? He was in middle school.” Miles chuckled and gave Pete a bro hug.

Miles was my cousin from my mother’s side. When I was in college, he was in middle school and he almost tagged everywhere I went as he looked older.

We were kinda close.

“Okay, now that we are here. How’s Isaac supposed to blend in?” Blake asked, quoting with his fingers on ‘blend in’.

Knowing Roxy too well, I wasn’t really matching with the party’s dress code either.

“That’s why I brought this bag.” Miles threw a duffle bag he had been holding and Tyler caught it. He pulled the zipper down and smiled.

“I like this guy.” He commented.

And I didn’t like what was about to happen, but it was for Pete.

“Let’s get the party started.” Miles cheered. Tyler slid his arm around my shoulder and shook it playfully.

I will regret this tomorrow.