Chapter 4

Claire’s POV

I arrived earlier than Arlo at the bar. I ordered a few drinks before he even arrived.

“Look who’s here,” a guy I didn’t know said. I rolled my eyes at him. Who the hell was he? He wasn’t my type, so I hoped he wouldn’t hit on me.

“Back off,” a man said, and I was so happy that finally Arlo was here, but he was with another guy.

“Who is he?” I asked, looking at the man behind him.

“Oh! Meet my friend, Luke,” he smiled, but Luke never smiled at me.

“I’m sorry about that. He’s not in the mood,” Arlo chuckled, referring to Luke. Luke whispered something to Arlo and walked away like he hadn’t just met someone like me. I scoffed at how he reacted toward me. If I wasn’t his type, well, he wasn’t my type either.

We enjoyed the night dancing. I met some other cool girls, which made my night special. I just laughed at how Arlo tried to flirt with some other girls but failed because the girls thought he was with me.

I had so much fun, partying like there was no tomorrow and dancing like I had no problems to deal with the next day. I saw Luke from my peripheral vision staring at me, and it made me conscious. Why the hell did he stare like that? As if I had done something wrong to him when I had just met him tonight.

As I sat beside Arlo, he noticed the annoyed gaze I gave Luke. He chuckled before asking me what that was for.

“I’m sorry for my friend, Luke. He just got cheated on by his girlfriend. That’s why he acts like that, as if he hated every woman,” he chuckled.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe because he’s weird,” I said.

“No, he’s not weird at all. He just fell in love with a problematic woman,” Arlo chuckled again.

“Tell me what happened,” I asked Arlo curiously.

Arlo shared that Luke had dated this woman for almost a year, only to find out she was dating another man for three years already. It turned out that Luke was the other man. Gosh, I knew it hurt his ego. He probably loved the girl to be hurt like this, but I didn’t know why I couldn’t stop laughing at his situation right now—maybe because I was drunk. I also learned that Luke was an attorney. It was a nice profession.

Being drunk reminded me of what I had told Caleb: “I don’t drink.” That’s what I said to him. I knew he’d be really pissed and disappointed in me if he found out I actually partied and drank, especially since I had lied to him. Gosh, Caleb acted like a father. I felt like I had two dads because of the way he treated me.

“Caleb might get angry at me too when he finds out you drank tonight,” Arlo said, laughing.

“Trust me. He’ll probably get mad at me but not at you. You know he trusts you more than he trusts Cole, as if he wasn’t our sibling,” we laughed again.

I went to the dance floor again and felt the rhythm of the music. I knew Arlo would take care of me, so I didn’t need to worry about how to get home.

I kept dancing and dancing until I got dizzy. I looked for Arlo, but he was not at our table anymore.

“He left. There’s an emergency at their home. He told me to drive you home,” Luke suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“What? Gosh! I can drive alone,” I said, being hard-headed.

“I can’t let you drive in that state. My conscience would haunt me if something bad happened to you,” he said, and I smirked, which made him frown.

This was not a good first meeting with you, Luke.

We went to his car quietly. I knew I was really drunk because I kept laughing at him, which annoyed him so much.

“You got dumped, huh?” I said.

“What?” he asked, annoyed. “No. I broke up with her. Gosh, why would Arlo tell you that?” he added.

“He’s my best friend. Of course, he’ll tell me everything,” I chuckled.

“Why do you keep laughing? It’s annoying,” he said.

“I’m just drunk,” I laughed once again. I didn’t know why, but seeing him annoyed at me made me laugh even more.

“I’m driving you home, and I don’t even know your name,” Luke said.

“I’m Claire. Claire Young,” I smiled at him.

“Young? You’re the daughter of Mr. Chris Young?” he asked.

“I am. How’d you know my dad?” I chuckled, but Luke didn’t answer me, so I rolled my eyes at him.

“I want to vomit,” I said, and Luke panicked, but before he could park the car on the side, I had already opened the door on my side and vomited. I saw Luke’s expression when he realized I hadn’t vomited inside his car.

“Why would you drink if you can’t handle yourself?” Luke said angrily.

“Arlo can handle me. It’s just you who can’t handle me,” I answered him back.

He scoffed when I said that.

When we arrived at the front door of my house, I waited for him to open the car door for me, but he stayed in his seat, waiting for me to leave his car. “Wow! You’re such a gentleman!” I said.

“A thank you for driving you home will do,” he said, smiling annoyingly.

As soon as I left his car, I immediately went inside the house without looking back or checking if he was gone. He was so rude, and I definitely knew I looked like a spoiled brat based on my actions toward him. I didn’t like his vibe or his aura. He was definitely not my type, and I would never like a guy with such an attitude. Being a gentleman was a plus for me, but unfortunately, he was not.

I wondered what emergency had happened at Arlo’s. I hoped everything was fine, but it still wasn’t nice of him to leave me with someone I had just met—someone who didn’t even know my name from the start.