“What can I say? I really like tea,” I tease, keeping my tone light. The last thing I want to do is bring the mood down. After all, we are on vacation.
“I’m going to need more alcohol for this conversation.” Kayla raises her empty glass, catching the bartender’s attention.
Alejandro makes a beeline for us—no surprise there, he’s been flirting with Kayla all week—and rests his open palms on the edge of the bar. “Another round of margaritas?”
“We’re going to need something stronger,” Lexie informs him. “How about a round of shots?”
Alejandro nods, but his attention remains fixed on Kayla. “Tequila?”
“Better make them doubles.” She bats her lashes, ever the flirt. “It’s our last night.”
“Sí, señorita.” He grabs a bottle of tequila and begins pouring with expert precision. “I hope you have enjoyed your time in México.”
Kayla winks at him. “The trip isn’t over yet.”
Alejandro laughs and slides three shot glasses across the bar before moving on to another patron.
I pass one of the glasses to Lexie. “That’s a lot of tequila.”
“It’s the perfect amount, actually.” Kayla flashes me a wicked grin, and my stomach drops.
I rarely do shots, and never doubles. “The perfect amount for what?”
To her credit, Kayla doesn’t hesitate. She charges ahead; consequences be damned. “For getting you wasted and actually having some freaking fun tonight.”
Lexie high-fives her behind my back, and they giggle like teenagers.
“I don’t need to be wasted to have fun, thank you very much.” I roll the shot glass between my palms. I’ve never been a big drinker, and I don’t plan to start now. Not when it means giving up control and possibly making a fool of myself. “Besides, I came on this trip to relax, not hook up.”
Kayla arches a brow. “The two are not mutually exclusive. Hell, you don’t even have to have sex. Just…let your inhibitions go for one night. God knows you deserve it.”
She’s not wrong.
For the last two years, I’ve been grinding to earn my master’s degree in sport psychology, but with graduation behind us, there’s nothing holding me back.
Heck, the whole point of this trip was to have one last hurrah before we go our separate ways and get bogged down with jobs and whatever else life throws at us.
Still…. Someone has to be responsible, and for as long as I can remember, it’s been me. I always follow the rules. I never swear. I was on the middle school safety patrol, for crying out loud. There is absolutely nothing in my history to suggest I’m the kind of person who goes wild on vacation and indulges in a meaningless fling.
I’m far too proper for something like that, which, now that I think about it, is rather depressing.
So much for keeping things breezy.
It doesn’t have to be about sex.
True, but—No. No buts. I’ve been the perfect daughter. The perfect student. The perfect friend. Or at least I’ve tried to be. Why shouldn’t I throw caution to the wind and enjoy a night out? Don’t I deserve to make a few wild memories of my own?
Just this once.
No rules. No shame.No impossible expectations.
No one back home will ever find out.
“Come on,” Lexie wheedles, grabbing my hand. “It’s our last night. Let’s go big. No regrets. Just balls to the wall fun.”
Anticipation bubbles in my chest, and I exhale slowly, focusing on the sound of the rolling tide as it crashes on the beach. It’s barely audible beneath the happy hour din, but it’s there, steady and soothing, a quiet reminder that, no matter my choice, the earth will keep on spinning.
I can do this. Iamdoing this.
