I do my fair share of drinking and even take a hit—and I do mean just one hit—of a community blunt before Asher snatches it right out of my hand.
“Do you think that’s wise?” he asks, handing it to Charlie and plopping down on the leather couch beside me, putting an arm around the back. Dani glances over at us from the other couch, where she sits with Charlie.
I roll my eyes. “What are you, my keeper?”
Asher leans in. “I came on this stupid trip to your shantytown—now tell me what Wes said.”
I sit with my arms crossed. If I turned my head toward him we’d be nose to nose. “It’s not a shantytown, you jackass.”
He breathes a laugh in my ear. “Just tell me what I want to know.”
I turn to face him, thinking he’ll back away, but he doesn’t. “He doesn’t want the resort. I’m sure if something better came along, he would take it. There, happy?” I can feel Dani’s and Charlie’s eyes on us, because I’m sure from where they’re sitting it looks like we might kiss.
Asher smiles. “Ecstatic.”
I turn my gaze back and watch Dani and Charlie quickly look away, pretending like they’re watching the game of flip cup going on behind us.
“Now you have your answer and I did my part, so you can leave me alone,” I say. He only leans in closer, lightly pressing his mouth to my neck, and I nearly jump out of my skin. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“My part,” he says.
“He’s not even here.”
“Once again, he’s not the only one we need to convince,” he says, his eyes darting toward our friends.
I scoot away from him. “I changed my mind. I don’t think I want to do this.” I think about how I felt probing Wes for answers about his future. How wrong it felt knowing I was only asking for Asher.
“That’s not what happened at Euros, Miss ‘Ugh, I suck at this.’” He mimics me messing up the pool shot.
“Sloane, let’s get next game!” Dani says, grabbing my hands and pulling me away from Asher. “Is he bothering you?” she asks when we’re away from the couches.
“No,” I say. “It’s fine.”
The weed and the vodka start to mix together in my system, and I pass out senseless on Dalton’s tiny black couch. The party roars on around me as I doze off.
The smell of smoke wakes me from my cross-faded sleep. Not weed or cigarette smoke, but something heavier, like a bonfire. It’s still dark, aside from the glow of something orange that lights up the room. Dani is curled up on the recliner next to me, Charlie and Asher are on the floor, and everyone else is gone. I slowly peel myself from the leather to peer out the window, only to find Marco’s restaurant up in flames.
I blink a few times, thinking maybe I smoked a laced blunt. Maybe it was some synthetic weed that makes you hallucinate. But when the fire still blazes bright before me I start to really panic.
I run over to Dani, shaking her furiously. “Dani, wake up, there’s a fire.” I nudge the boys with my feet. “There’s a fire!” I say a little louder.
She startles awake. “What? A fire?” The boys both stir on the ground. Charlie only groans at the disturbance.
“Marco’s restaurant, it’s on fire!” She gets up this time, almost toppling over the boys, who are groggily propping themselves up and rubbing their eyes. I drag her by the hand to the window. “We need to call 911 or something!”
The boys come to the window, and I run over to Dalton’s room, banging on the locked door. Annica opens it, wearing an oversized Wildcats T-shirt, my high school mascot. “What’s wrong?” She squints at me through sleepy eyes.
“The restaurant is on fire. Wake up Dalton—we’re going down there.”
It seems someone already called 911 as two fire trucks and police arrive on the scene. Other nosy bystanders begin to crowd around the blaze at nearly four in the morning. The police start to roll caution tape around the perimeter, keeping everyone at a safe distance. We all just stand there in silence watching it burn. I’m waiting for the moment that Marco shows up with a devastated look on his face seeing his life’s work up in flames, though I know his dad has enough money to build him five more restaurants by tomorrow. But Marco never arrives.
“Fuck, now I need to find a new job,” Dalton mumbles.
“At least it burned down after your shift,” I say. “Or you’d need more than a new job.”
We watch them put out the rest of the fire. Marco must not know. He’ll come to work in the morning and find nothing but the charred remains.
A firefighter comes from the rubble. “We got a body!”
