I passed over a twenty and glared at Oliver. “Fine. Let’s do it.”
He clapped his hands and rubbed them together in excitement as he stepped closer to the bar.
“Alright, now we’re going to have some fun.” He picked up his shot glass and held it in the air. “To a night full of firsts.”
I tapped my tiny glass off his, and then we both poured the golden liquid into our mouths. The second it touched my tongue, I wanted to spit it out, but I knew I couldn’t. Since I didn’t want it to spew from my mouth, I forced it down my throat. The cold liquid, somehow, burned my throat, and that fire moved down my throat, throughout my chest, and settled in my stomach.
I grabbed my beer and chugged it, needing to get rid of the awful taste the tequila left behind and to cool the burn that wasstill raging through my system. Half my beer was gone when I turned to see Oliver chuckling while watching me.
“That’s the nastiest stuff I’ve ever put into my mouth! What is wrong with you?” I smacked his bicep.
He laughed even harder. “Is it really the nastiest thing you’ve ever put in your mouth?”
I glared at him. “Why do I feel like you’re trying to turn this into something dirty?”
He wagged his brows. “Because I am.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I swear I know twelve-year-olds who are more mature than you.”
He just shrugged, not offended at all.
“Hey, buddy?” a guy called out from behind us.
We both turned around.
“You play pool?” the guy asked.
Oliver shrugged. “Yeah, on occasion.”
The guy nodded toward the pool table. “You wanna play now? All my so-called friends are too scared to lose.” He smirked.
Oliver looked at me, and when I shrugged, he nodded. “Yeah, alright.” He stood, taking his beer with him.
“You can come over too. Sit with the girls,” the guy said. “They get annoying when they drink, but they’re not too bad.”
Normally, I would have declined the offer, but this time, I got up and walked over with Oliver. The table the guy was from was the big table in the middle of the bar, and all the girls who had been on the dance floor earlier were sitting around it, with several guys. Oliver and I both stopped at the table, and the guy who had invited us over introduced everyone.
“This is Sophie, Kelly, Tiffany, Jessica, and Maddy.” He pointed to each one. “I’m Travis, and that’s Justin, Ben, and Tyler.”
“What’s your name?” one of the girls asked. I think Sophie.
I opened my mouth to reply, but Oliver grabbed my arm and tugged me several feet away.
“What’s your deal?” I asked, staring up at him.
“Do not tell them your real name.”
“What? Why?”
“Because if the police start to follow our trail, you really don’t want them bumping into people who know who you really are, do you?”
“No, I guess not,” I mumbled as I was reminded of everything the booze had been erasing. “So, what do I tell them?”
He grinned. “Tell ‘em they can call you Crash. You’re already answering to it anyway.”
“Ugh, I hate that name.” I stomped my foot. “You got to give me a stupid name. Does that mean that I get to give you one?”
His jaw flexed as his dark green eyes burned into mine. “Depends on what it is.”
