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Azriel wasn’t mad at Lucien—he was fuming. He’d gotten randomly paired as roommates with this guy for junior year, and he’d thought everything would be fine. Now, the first time Lucien had invited him out for roommate bonding, he’d ditched him within the first ten minutes for a cute redhead from his linguistics class.
Azriel wasn’t even a fan of social gatherings, but he’d thought it would be a good opportunity to get to know the guy he was supposed to be living amicably with for at least the next nine months without wanting to throttle him.
He supposed he could leave, but he had nothing better to do, so he settled for grabbing himself a glass of punch and people-watching from the couch. He could stumble home after a few free drinks and figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his evening.
He got his fair share of strange looks, but it wasn’t long before a cute brunette with chocolate eyes in a crop top and jeans ran through the room and locked eyes on him, as if his loneliness had somehow singled him out to her.
“Hey, ummm, my name’s Elain, and …” She giggled. “I really, really need a partner, so if you could just come with me—” She grabbed his hand and was already in the act of trying to pull him off the couch before he could get anything out.
“A partner. Like to date? What the—”
“No. For beer pong!” Her face, already rosy-cheeked, flushed even more. “You know how to play?”
“Sure, but—”
“Just come on. My sisters are super competitive, and they’re trying to set me up on this blind date. They told me that if I could win a match of beer pong against them, they’d drop it, but for that I need a second.”
“So you picked me?”
“Come on! You were all by yourself just like I was, and well, I don’t know, you looked like you knew how to play?” Her voice lilted, and for the first time since she’d pulled him off that couch, she looked wary that he might say no.
“And if we win?”
“Drinks on me this week.” Was she flirting with him? She was indeed beautiful and seemed sweet so far, so who was he to say no to this opportunity?
“It’s a deal.”
“Great! Let’s go.” She grabbed his arm, and leaning into him, began pulling him towards the patio where he’d seen a few tables set up through the window.
“What’s with this blind date?” Azriel asked, trying to catch up on the story.
“They both have boyfriends from out of town, and they’re convinced that next weekend when they come down to visit, I should hook up with one of their single friends so we can all go out together. They need to get over themselves and realize I do not need to be set up with someone. I’m perfectly happy—”
But her next words were cut off as their destination came into view and Azriel saw a familiar sight staring him down. Holy shit. This had to be Elain Archeron because grinning like fiends at the other end of the table were Feyre and Nesta, ganging up on their sister. Which could only mean that the date his best friends Rhys and Cassian had been trying to convince him to go on next weekend was with …
“I need to tell you something,” he muttered under his breath to Elain, but she had already picked up a ball and was lining up with Nesta for eye-to-eye.
“Later. Now, we crush them.” She smiled sweetly, but there was a soft malice in her voice as she sank the ball into a cup without taking her eyes off her sister. Feyre and Nesta each shot him knowing looks but kept quiet, omissively denying the fact that they’d ever met.
The game was a well-fought back and forth. True to Elain’s words, her sisters were relentless—going far too hard on both offense and defense in pursuit of setting their sister up with him. It was kind of ironic—one way or another, it seemed like Azriel would be going on a date with Elain soon. He just kept fighting for it to be the one on her terms.
When both sides had re-racked and whittled the game down until there was only one cup remaining on either side, he could tell Elain was sweating it. She missed her first shot, far too wide, perhaps distracted by the elaborate drunken victory dances her sisters were performing to great effect.
Too bad that Azriel seemed to have just as much to lose as Elain here, and he was immune to their antics and seemingly not nearly as drunk. He sank the last cup with a swish, causing Elain to cheer and give him a huge hug.
“Redemption!” Feyre and Nesta cried in unison as they gathered their balls and prepared to try to save their asses. Nesta’s shot flew over the rim of the cup, causing her to purse her lips in dismay. Feyre’s on the other hand bounced off the rim and began its descent, but Azriel deftly scooped it up with his fingers before it could hit the water.
“Hey, no fair!” Nesta shot from across the table.
“Ball’s dry, ladies. Read it and weep.” He tossed the ball over to their side so they could confirm with matching scowls. He even saw Feyre open her mouth to undoubtedly spill his identity to her sister, but Azriel waived them off with a glare. The two settled for sullenly going to refill their drinks, muttering under their breath to each other.
“Oh my god! That was amazing!” Elain was beaming as she leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“All in a day’s work.” Azriel offered her a congratulatory hug. “So … about getting a drink this week …”
“You still want to, right?” Elain was looking up at him with doe eyes. “I mean I owe you and everything, and I thought it’d be fun.” She was now fidgeting with a ring on her finger.
“It sounds wonderful, as long as you’re still willing to go with the guy who was supposed to be your blind date?” He raked a hand through his hair nervously.
“What?”
“I tried to tell you as soon as I recognized your sisters, but you seemed more interested in ‘crushing them.’” His fingers hooked into air quotes.
“Oh.” Elain went up like a torch in a fit of laughter. “Of course.” That probably wasn’t a good sign.
“Umm … So I’ll just leave you alone now.”
He turned to leave, but Elain grabbed his arm. “I think I could make an exception for you just this once.” She beamed at him. “As long as you promise to be my partner whenever I need to call on you.”
Azriel’s entire chest lightened as he grinned back. “It’s a deal.”