You take it easy

It's been a little while since you've all seen each other, so you make small talk and get caught up with everyone. Your boys are all doing well, as is Marissa, but it turns out Lauren has just recently broken up with her boyfriend and is in the mood to "celebrate her new-found freedom". It isn't long before she starts ordering shots for the group and you can see things can get out of control pretty quickly tonight if this keeps up. You decide to switch to water to pace yourself, not wanting to wake tomorrow morning with the type of hangover her "Red Snapper" shots are sure to bring. The night wears on with you all laughing, reminiscing, and sharing stories when, before you know it, "Last call!" is announced. As a group, you all decide you've had enough for the night and finish up your drinks. Saying goodbye to each other, you happen to notice Lauren fumbling through her purse, looking for her keys.

"Ah fuck, I can never find my keys in this thing. I really need to clean out my purse one of these days."

"Lauren, you're not gonna drive home, right?" you ask.

"I was actually just about to ask you if you'd drive me home. I think I've had a few too many tonight." she tells you.

"Yeah, no problem. I took an Uber here. I'll bring you home with your car, then just Uber home from your place instead."

Plans settled, the two of you say goodbye to your friends and hop in her car. On the car ride to her place Lauren starts rubbing your arm and shoulder, obviously feeling a pretty strong buzz. "Thank you for bringing me home David. You're always there for me. You're such a good guy. How come we never dated?"

"Hahaha" you laugh, "you don't date good guys, that's why!" You tell her.

"I date good guys sometimes" she says, playfully hitting your arm. "I just stop dating them when I find out they're boring. I know you're not boring. We'd make a great couple!"

"You know the timing's never been right, Lauren. One of us has always been dating someone else when the other person was single. Kind of like me dating Tia right now. I think we just missed the boat on the whole "us dating thing"."

"Hmph. I don't know about that." she says running a finger along your jaw line.

You're used to Lauren's teasing and flirting so you think nothing of the conversation and are soon at her apartment. Walking with her to her door you begin pulling out your phone for your Uber ride when she stops you.

"I was thinking, why don't you just spend the night here? You can sleep on the couch and then I'll just bring you home tomorrow. It'll save you money and you'd be doing me a favor. I'm kinda feeling a little lonely, to tell you the truth, and it'd be nice to have you here. I'll make us a nice breakfast in the morning?"

"Wow" you say to yourself. "Lauren must be taking this breakup worse than I thought. She never says she's lonely after a breakup, just moves on to the next guy." You figure it's probably a good idea to keep an eye on her for the night and agree to staying.

"That's great!" she says going up onto her tip-toes to kiss you on the cheek. Lauren unlocks the door then excuses herself to get you a pillow and some sheets. While she's gone, you take off your shoes and sit down on the couch, turning on the TV, looking for something to watch.