Tanner stared at me for a few seconds before he took a breath in. That’s right bucko breath in because if you tell me what I think your telling me this will be your last good one when I kick you in the balls before I leave I told myself.

“This is Angie,” he stated and I looked at her and than back at him ignoring her hand out to shake mine.

Tanner saw that and rubbed a hand over his neck as he let Angie’s hand go.

“Look Nicole I didn’t mean for this to happen I you see I work with Angie we’ve known each other for a couple years and we started hanging out with a group of people at work and things just started to happen and well I asked her to marry me,” he said watching my face glare at him harder and harder the deeper he dug himself as he spoke.

“How long,” I asked.

“Nicole, that,” he started to say till I hit the table with my fist scaring him and Angie and few others as well as I spoke, “I said How long?”

“six months,” he said softly.

I blinked we had only been going out for ten months, that’s why I was scared when the proposal came to my mind earlier, even if it did love the fucker, scratch that loved the fucker, I hated him now.

“I’m sorry,” I heard Angie’s voice speak up.

I looked at her and saw her scared, and as much as I wanted to be mad at her I couldn’t she didn’t do this to me Tanner did.

“Its not your fault,” I said with a sigh.

“Its not,” she questioned.

“No, its not its Tanner’s,” I said glaring at him and watched his eyes shoot up.

“That’s right, its all your fault, you fucking played me for six months, you lied to me you,” I stopped we had still being having sex till last month.

“When did you propose to her,” I asked him.

“Last month,” he stated and I smiled at him than at Angie.

“Right,” I said with a bite to my lower lip.

Standing up I stopped Tanner with my hand as I pushed my chair back into the table.

I smiled for a second thinking I couldn’t do it, but I did it anyways.

“First off, I just want to say Congratulations,” I said with a smile pulling politeness out of my ass.

“Your not mad,” Tanner asked.

No I was mad, but this was about getting even not about being mad.

I shook my head before I bent down to take to Angie.

“Just so you know, we were still doing it till about a month ago,” I said than pulled up when she looked at me.

“Sorry Sweetheart,” I said honestly as I squeezer her shoulder and glared and Tanner.

“What you tell her,” he asked and I just shrugged with a grin as I waved goodbye and grabbed my stuff from the coat check as I heard her start screaming at him.

“So much for being engaged,” I laughed at my own bitchiness since I had a right to it at the moment as I got my car and drove to the nearest parking garage and than walked down the street to a local bar.

“Tonight’s the night to get shit face,” I smiled to myself as I remembered locking my keys in my car and getting cash out of the ATM just inside the restaurant before I left. I might get drunk but I wasn’t stupid, I’d call triple A in the morning after getting a cab home.

--

I think it had been in hour when it started to get crowded as I sipped my beer at the bar itself and tried to not get hit by all the people moving around.

“Is it always this bad on Friday night,” I mumbled to myself.

“Only till one,” I heard a voice next to me say, looking up I saw a guy with a hat on and a beard while he looked at his own beer than at me.

“Great,” I said sarcastically.

Taking my beer which was only my second for the night since I could really stand the taste of it unless I was already drunk I chugged the last part and grimaced.

“Not a beer drinker,” the same guy asked me.

“What they hell,” I questioned him looking over at him till he raised his hands up in surrender.

“Just making a statement don’t bite my ass of women,” he said.

“Than don’t say shit to me,” I said.

“It’s a free country,” he mumbled as he took the last drink of his and placed it on the table.

“Well than here,” I said giving him a twenty.

He looked up at me with a frown not getting what I was doing, “I’m paying you to shut up,” I told him and he only chuckled before he called the bartender over.

“How bout this, you do twenty dollars worth of shots with me and I’ll leave ya alone,” he stated waving the twenty I had given him to the bar tender telling him to get the Jack down.

“Fine,” I said as our empty bottles were cleared and two shot glasses were placed in front of us with the half a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.

He poured mine first than his, grabbing the shot we clinked our glasses together and drank.

“Fuck,” I groaned as the liquor burnt its way down my throat, I hadn’t had Jack since well, ok I never had it before but damn.

“Nice huh,” he laughed as he poured us again.

“To guys who cant keep it in their pants,” I said and he looked at me werid as I rasied my glass to his.

“To ex girlfriends who cant keep their space,” he added and smiled as we toasted and drank the shot, this time it wasn’t as bad of a burn.

We continued to toast and take shots and laugh stupidly as the liquor ran in our system till the last of the Daniel’s hit our throats.

“Shit,” he breathed look at me.

“All gone,” I asked watching him nodded, I bit my lip I wasn’t too far gone but for some reason I didn’t want to stop so I slid ten bucks his way as he was checking his phone.

Looking up he smiled at me.

“What you are you paying me to do now,” he asked.

I moved my mouth laughing in my head at how I could still taste the Jack in my mouth and at the same time my body was becoming numb, I was a damn light weight.

I raised my eyes and shrugged, as he took the ten and than added a some more to it before another Jack bottle totally full was placed between us.

“You guys only get this much,” the bartender told us as he used a sharpie to put a line on the bottle right at the J of the label.

I nodded as did the guy next to me.

“Fuck I don’t even know your name,” I said as he poured our drinks from the new bottle.

“Justin,” he smiled putting his hand out as he put the liquor bottle on the table.

“Nicole,” I shook his hand and smiled back, and this time instead of toasting each other we played twenty questions.

As we got the last shot he asked me, “Would you marry me?”

I looked at him and when I saw him staring back at me I shrugged.

“Oh come on, tell the truth would ya,” he asked.

“Would you marry me,” I asked back.

Looking between us as the bottle was set on the counter as he poured the last two shots, we both said it at the same time.

“Sure,” and chugging the shot with laughed afterwards as we placed the glasses on the counter, as the bartender came over and took the glasses and bottle away since we had reached our mark.

He smiled and thanked the bartender with a slur, and I guess he was as drunk as I was but I had a feeling he had been hear drinking beers a lot longer than I had before this party began.

“You’d seriously do it,” he asked me and I saw his eyes glaze over.

“What the hell are you a sap or something,” I asked and he shrugged I guess he was an emotionally drunk.

“Seriously Justin, why do you want to know,” I asked.

“That’s how they’ve all ended,” he said waving his hand in the air than made an airplane sound the next moment making it fly through they are again.

Grabbing his hand or trying to anyways I almost slipped and fell off the bar stool till he grabbed my hand and pulled me against him.

I breathed in his scent as he held me one hand on my wrist as the other on my hip to steady me.

“We wouldn’t end,” I stated in a breath making him look up at me.

--

I heard the birds, I felt the sun, I, shit I was gonna be sick, I jumped from the bed and ran to the toliet and lost well whatever was in my stomach as I looked around I began to panic this wasn’t my house this wasn’t Tanner’s.

Tanner, I started to remember last night as I heard a knock on the door my eyes still shut tight.

“You ok,” he asked and it was than I recognized the voice, fuck I said in my head what the hell did I do.

“Really come on tell me if your ok,” I heard his voice as his hand touched my shoulder and it was than I was painfully aware I was sitting in my underware only.

“Shit,” I breathed.

“You feel like shit,” he asked and I nodded I didn’t know what else to say as I heard the water run in the sink and than wet towel was placed against my forehead and I placed my head against the wall.

“Justin,” I questioned and than something clicked in my head. The voice his name and last night.

“Yea,” he asked hand on my shoulder again.

“What, When why, and yeah,” said shaking my head as I opened my eyes slowly and blinked thanking God the light wasn’t on in here and there as only a small light coming from the light in the room

“What do you want to know first,” he asked seeing me look at him it was than I noticed he was only in his boxers.

“Why do you hold your liquor better than me,” I asked and chuckled with a shrug as he pulled me up and I smelt him again and remembered more of last night which made me turn and pray to porcelain God again.

Taking the towel that had been on my head which was in my hand I wiped my mouth, we couldn’t have we.

Shit we did I said to myself seeing the well, I scrunched my nose up ugly ass ring on my finger.

“Ya about that,” Justin said seeing where my eyes were I guess as I looked up at him looking at me as he leaned against the sink in the bathroom.

--

I was now sitting on his bed in what was as I was told his room at his house, as he called his manager and talked to him and than made me to talk to him and than his mother and a few other choice people.

“So when are we getting this annuled,” I questioned him looking up at him.

“We arent,” he said not looking at me as he played with something at his desk.

“Justin,” I shouted making him jump and look up at me.

“Look I know what I said last night, and I’m sorry that they never work out but come on now man,” I said looking at him.

“This has nothing to do with what I said last night,” he stated coming over to me as he sat down on the bed.

“Than what,” I asked.

“Our life’s will be ruined if we don’t go through with this,” He said.

“Your life, will be not mine I’m sorry Justin but your in the public eye not me and hey it blew over with Bri,” I got that part out before he placed his hand over my mouth.

“I don’t want to have anything else to be compared to her with they bring her up enough already,” Justin said and I nodded as he let his hand go.

“But,” I started to say till he stopped me with his words.

“You know how they are if you know how they were with her, they’ll dig you in this too, and I don’t want to see your company go under,” He said making me look up at him.

“My, how did you know,” I asked him.

“I checked it out with Jessica before well,” he waved his hand and I nodded as he continued.

“But I had someone make a bag for my mom for her birthday a month ago,” he said.

“You don’t know who designed it,” I asked him.

He shook his head, making me laugh.

“She loved it though,” I asked him and he nodded.

“Good,” I said as looked at the ring on my hand again and made the same face.

“You don’t like that ring do you,” he asked me making my head shoot up and look at him.

“Its pretty, but I’m not a big rock kind of girl,” I said taking off and looking at it.

“It was my great grandmothers,” he said soflty.

“Oh, sorry ,” I said.

“Don’t be I mean its not my taste to give to someone either,” he said watching me finger it.

“Than why,” I asked.

“She said to give to someone I loved,” he shrugged and it was than I stopped playing with and put it on his leg.

“I cant wear that than,” I said softly

“Come at Nicole its,” he started to say till I shook my head at him and crossed my arms on my chest.

“I don’t even want to do this Justin, and I don’t, I cant lie to people,” I said to him.

“But that’s what were gonna have to do,” he said.

“Shit,” I said realizing he was right, at least people outside the family and real close friends since hey kinda already knew.

“Shoot, hold on,” I said going towards my bag and going to my cell phone I totally forgot to call Zoe last night.

“Its dead,” I said and than thought well I guess that’s what I get for playing Tetris on my phone at the bar for an hour.

“I need to make a call,” I said looking at him as he handed me his cordless phone and I blushed.

“I’ll leave you to that I’m gonna go shower,” he said as he placed the ring on the table he had been sitting at when he made his phone calls earlier.

Calling our aparemtnet number I heard I ring twice before someone came on the line.

“NICOLE,” I heard her question.

“Yeah Z, its me,” I said.

“Fuck where are you I was worried sick, I tired your cell, I called Tanner,” she said.

“Did he tell you,” I asked.

“Tell me what,” she asked.

As I went to tell her about Tanner and Angie I heard a click in the background but didn’t think anything of it as I contiued my story till I got to the bar.

“Fuck he’s an asshole,” Zoey said.

“Yeah, I know that’s why I had to tell Angie that he wasn’t as innconet as he seemed ya know,” I told her and as she asked me what happened next.

I told her about the bar I told her bout the Jack Daniels and than I stopped, I had gotten to the last question when I took and breath and picked up the ring that had been on my finger and looked at it again.

“What else,” she asked.

“What do you mean what else,” I asked trying to play dumb.

“Nicole, there has got to be some reason why your at his house and not at our apartment, and it better be cause got some good loving last night,” she said with a laugh.

“I think we passed out before that even happened,” I said with a chuckle.

“Why do you say that,” she asked.

“Well I woke up in my underware and him in his and,” I said taking a breath.

“And what,” she said.

“We both had rings on our left hands,” I said and cringed a little as I heard my voice go up as I said it the same way I had told my mom this morning when Justin told me to call my family after he did his.

“Nicole Lane,” She said using my First and last name.

I shrugged even though she could see me as I heard her take all this in.

“Are you getting it annuled,” she asked me.

I shook my head before I answered her, “ No,” I said soflty.

“Why,” she questioned me.

“He says it would look bad that he doenst want something to compare him to britney he doesn’t want to risk me losing my business because people being judgemental,” I said in a breath.

“Did you at least get a good ring out of it,” she asked me.

“ZOE,” I said making her laugh.

“Well did you,” she asked.

“Well, it’s his great grandmother’s ring but you know me I had a ring in mind already when I was like in high school even before I dated anyone.

“Well you’ve only dated and been with Tanner,” Zoe said.

“Don’t remind me,” I sighed as I picked at my nails.

“So your’s compared to the one you got,” She asked.

“You wont rest till I tell you will you,” I asked her.

“Nope,” she said.

“Well you know how mine was a sliver band, this is gold, mine had three small cut stones in the band this as two medium ones and a gaint ass one in the middle,” I shad with a chuckle.

“Its all dimonds huh,” she asked.

“yes,” I said with a gross tone to my voice.

“What did you want again,” she asked.

“One stone my birthstone, one dimonad since its tradition to have it and than the other his brithstone,” I said playing with the ring again and using the back side to imagine my ring I had in mind since I was a girl.