“Sounds good to me.”
Nick nods before unscrewing the bottle of vodka, and then he tilts it, depositing what’s probably half its contents into a highball glass.
I scoff. “Bro, are you trying to kill me?”
“Nah, I’m only helping you catch up,” Nick says, adding anextra little splash of vodka for good measure. He fills the rest of the glass with juice, tosses in some ice, and hands the drink to me.
I take a sip, and it isn’t half-bad.
After a gulp, it tastes even better. I might have another.
The two of us are half-drunk by the time Sabrina and Laura knock on Nick’s door half an hour later, and I stumble over to let them in, making sure not to spill my drink on Nick’s carpet.
“Is it cowboy night at The Barrel or something?” Sabrina asks as she walks in, clapping my shoulder. “If it is, you’re missing a hat.”
I chuckle and wave her off. “Nah, I thought I’d try something different tonight.” After a pause, I decide to make a Nick-level joke. “But I wouldn’t say no if I found someone to save a horse with me later.”
Laura groans, smoothing her dark, snow-dampened hair down. “Ugh, that’s awful. Why’d you have to say that?”
Nick coughs. “Our guy here is in love with a flannel-wearing country boy.”
Jesus fuck. I give Nick the finger and deflect by helping Laura and Sabrina bring their drinks to his fridge.
Sabrina unscrews a bottle of white wine. “Is anyone else coming with us?” she asks me and Nick, who shakes his head.
“Nah, I invited Callum,who’s my friend and nothing more, but he’s working,” I say.
“Aw, that’s too bad.” She takes a large drink from the bottle before passing it to Laura, who does the same. “Anyway, shots?”
Again, I won’t turn those down.
“I love you guys so much,” I slur, wrapping an arm around Sabrina and leaning into Nick.
He rolls his gray eyes and snorts, flicking my forehead and draining the rest of his beer. Laura comes back from the bathroomand snickers, passing a glass of water to Sabrina and opting out of our chaotic jumble of limbs by sitting at the far end of the couch.
“Yo, loverboy,” Nick says, scruffing up my hair, “are you ready to head out?”
“Oh, yeah.” I sit upright and unhook myself from Sabrina. “We should check how long the line is.”
“I’m on it,” Sabrina says, pulling her phone out and checking The Barrel’s social media. After a few seconds, she frowns. “Guys, The Barrel got their license revoked for a month.”
“Fuck, what happened?” Nick yells. “That’s the only place in town that doesn’t ask for ID.”
Sabrina furrows her eyebrows. “That’s…probably why they got shut down. Fuckin’ sucks. I was so looking forward to going out tonight.”
My response comes automatically. “You guys all have fakes, so you can?—”
“No, Ian.” Sabrina cuts me off. “We aren’t gonna ditch you.”
I wave her off. “Don't worry about me. I'm good.”
Three heads turn toward me, intensifying the unease that’s settling in my stomach. They’re my friends. They should be able to do what they want without me holding them back.
“Ian, come on. We aren’t going to leave you out,” Laura says, narrowing her brown eyes.
“No, it’s fine. I really don’t mind,” I lie, hoping I’m convincing enough.
Sabrina shifts between her feet. “It’s not a huge deal. We’d just end up going to that Turbo club to pay through the nose for watery shots.”
