What If

“Last minute party at my house. It’s kind of a going away party,” he slurred into the phone.

“You’re already drunk? How am I supposed to get there? I don’t have a car.”

“Shit, I didn’t think about that. Can you borrow your mom’s car?” he asked.

“You know she won’t let me do that,” I huffed.

“I can try to find someone to come and get you,” he offered.

I thought about the guy I’d gone on a few dates with last week. His name was Killian, and we’d had a great time together. Normally, I’d want to have time with Arrow without anyone else in the way, but Arrow was already drunk which meant Arrow was going to be the life of the party. He’d be making rounds with everyone there.

“Do you care if I bring someone with me?” I question.

He didn’t speak. The only way I knew the line hadn’t gone dead was all the loud shenanigans going on in the background.

“Some guy?” he finally asked.

“Uh, yeah,” I stuttered.

“Sure,” he bit out. “Why not.”

“Okay, I’ll have him pick me up,” I said it quietly and more like a question than a statement.

“Okay.”





I knew the second Briar arrived at my house. I can’t explain how I knew, I just did. The atmosphere in the room didn’t change, the mood was the same, and I didn’t hear her voice or see her. I looked around the busy living room searching for her familiar, angular face. I caught sight of her holding hands with some douche-looking bastard who I immediately wanted to pummel into the ground. I wanted to see him bleeding out on the floor. I wanted his face purple and swollen from my fists. If he kissed her in front of me, I had every intention to make those ideas come to fruition.

Her brown eyes met mine. I still had a glare in my eyes and a furrow in my eyebrows. She looked at me with confusion, her head quirked to the side questioningly. I gestured for her to come join me in the kitchen and turned away, not wanting to watch as the blonde haired guy she was with followed her towards me.

“Hey,” she said when she got close enough for me to hear her.

The kitchen was less busy than the living room because there was more alcohol out there. The kitchen had some beer and some cheap Boone’s Farm for girls that couldn’t stand the taste of other spirits, and maybe because I knew Briar liked the strawberry Boone’s. I had that one hidden in the freezer so it would have more of a slushy consistency, the way she liked it.

I gave her a sarcastic smile, like the jackass I intended to be. “What’s up; who is this asshole?”

The guy frowned at me and looked like he was about to confront me for talking to Briar like I did. I had to give him kudos for that because, I’m not trying to brag, but I’m bigger, more muscular, and definitely more pissed off than this dude was.

“Calm down Mike Tyson, I’m just messing around.” I said and patted his shoulder. I wasn’t messing around. I’d be willing to have a knockdown, drag out fight with him, but I wanted to get to know him first. I wanted to feel him out, see what his feelings were for Briar, and see what her feelings were for him.

“Why don’t we all sit down?” I said to the both of them.

Briar looked back and forth between “no name” and me anxiously. She was getting really nervous about the two of us sitting down and talking.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Killian,” he said in a short, quipped manner.

Killian. KILLian. Kill him.

I eyed the man up and down noting the way he leaned towards Briar’s body. A threatening grumble vibrated in my throat.

“Arrow,” Briar scolded.

“What?” I asked innocently.

She gripped my hand and moved me about six feet away from Killhim, over to the kitchen countertop.

“What has gotten into you? You said I could bring him.” Her tiny finger poked into my chest as she seethed.

“I think I was being welcoming,” I said.

“Yeah, about as welcoming as a rattlesnake.” She narrowed her eyes at me. Her eyes were especially green under the bright kitchen lights.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Briar. Why don’t you go sit down with your boy toy over there, and I’ll grab your Boone’s. Does he drink beer or does he need a frou-frou mix drink?” I laughed in a way that I knew would get to Briar. She hated when I got like this. It was rare, but it’s happened a couple times. Each time was when she brought another guy around me. Even Kai brought it out in me once or twice. I became this asshole who was overly sarcastic and sometimes downright hurtful. With whiskey in my system, it got worse.

“See! That right there! Why would you say that? You’re intentionally saying shit just to piss Killian and me off. Why?”

“Take a seat, Briar. It’s about time I get to know this new fixture in your life, isn’t it? Kind of funny that you haven’t mentioned him until this evening,” I said with blame.

Briar threw her hands up. “This is going to be a wonderful freakin’ night isn’t it? Just great. Great. Yeah, thanks for inviting me, Arrow.” Her sarcasm and frustration nearly matched my own. She turned with a huff and a roll of her eyes and made her way to the table. Killian was looking at her like he was falling for her. Hell, he was probably already in love. I couldn’t blame him for that, but I sure as hell didn’t like it.

I grabbed her cheap ass wine from the freezer, poured whiskey into a glass, and grabbed a can of the cheapest, most skunked beer available for Killian. I chuckled to myself, imagining him trying to swallow it down.

When I got back to the table, there was an awkward silence. Briar was fidgeting in the wooden chair. She was fuming, her hands wringing one another in her lap. She wouldn’t even look up at me when I sat down. However, Killian wouldn’t take his eyes off of me. Admitting it sucked, but I respected that. He was analyzing me just like I was analyzing him.

He cracked open the beer, his throat moving as he took more than one swig. Briar poured a healthy amount of her wine into the glass cup I brought her. There were small chunks of ice riddled through the liquid. She took a swig, which seemed to relax her.

The cup of whiskey in my hand was empty before any words were spoken between the three of us. I filled my cup to the brim, finished off another half of it. The whiskey burned down my throat, lighting my mouth and then stomach on fire. The inferno burning within my body mirrored the thoughts going through my mind. I couldn’t believe Briar brought Killian, a guy I’d never even heard of, to my going away party.

“How did you two meet?” My words seeped out without my knowledge, but there it was, out in the open. I didn’t say it kindly, either. “Another party? You two drink together? Did she let you fuck her?” My teeth were bared.

“That’s enough!” Briar bellowed. A small foot kicked me hard in the shin under the table.

I tried to make eye contact with her, but I was past the point of no return. Her face was blurred, becoming a liquid-like mosaic in my vision. All the colors of her skin, eyes, lips, and hair blended together.

“What? Did I get it wrong?” I asked.

“Do we have a problem?” Killian asked. I chuckled humorlessly. His eyes narrowed and chest puffed up. “If you want to talk to me, we can talk,” Killian began. “You can say whatever you want to say to me, but don’t talk about Briar like that.” He pushed his seat back, ready to stand and what? Fight me? Was he really planning on fighting me? He was big, but I was bigger. He looked furious, but I was beyond that. He wanted to defend Briars honor? Yeah, well, I wanted to keep her from making a mistake with a dickhead she didn’t even know. Why did she want to be with someone like him, when I’ve been there since day one?