Once Mae released my hand, Willa jumped up, cheering, and I couldn’t help but join in. Mae laughed at our antics. “Let’s finish our meal and then go out and celebrate. I need to make the most of my freedom. The show was resembling a prison a little too much. Only that you don’t have to work as much if you’re in prison.”
We finished up and were in the back of a taxi not long after. “Can you take us to a bar that doesn’t play sports?” Mae asked the driver.
He nodded, and we were quickly on our way, pulling up outside the spot he’d chosen ten minutes later.
The Art Deco-style bar that we found ourselves in turned out to be the perfect place to celebrate. The music wasn’t too loud, the drinks tasted great, and we sat undisturbed in a booth in the back.
Mae toasted us, her lemon drop martini swaying in the glass. “How come you left LA so quickly? I thought you were staying with Grayson?”
I took a sip of my wine and debated how much I should tell her.
Ah, screw it, I decided. I needed some advice, and the three glasses of wine I’d already had encouraged me to go for it. “I was staying with him. But I’m scared that he doesn’t want anything serious.”
Willa put her margarita down and flashed her narrowed eyes at me. “He has called you every day since you came back. If that doesn’t say serious, I don’t know what will.”
She was right, but my insecurities reared their ugly heads when it came to Grayson. I’d obsessed over being with him for so long that I didn’t know how to actually be with him.
“Wynona answered his phone last time I called.”
The urge to see him was overwhelming. Even if he ended things between us, I needed to know where I stood. I couldn’t take another week of pacing my apartment, wondering what was going on. “I need to go to LA.”
“Now we’re talking.” Willa raised her glass. “To Rayna, for finally finding her lady balls and going after what she wants.”
I clinked my glass against hers. “What is it with you and balls?”
We finished our drinks and the last of the food we’d ordered, then paid our check and gathered our things.
“The hotel shouldn’t be far. Let’s walk,” Willa suggested.
I had some excess energy to burn, so I agreed. We’d found out Mae was staying at the same place we were, and it made sense for all of us to go back together. “That okay with you?” I double-checked.
She linked her arm through mine. “Of course. A walk sounds lovely.”
Exhausted groans soon replaced our initial enthusiasm. “I think we took a wrong turn somewhere,” Willa said, consulting the map on her phone.
Mae had an iron grip on my arm, leaning some of her weight against me. “My feet are killing me.”
I held my hand out for Willa’s phone. “Do you want me to have a look?” I should have known better than to let her take charge.
She waved me off, and I debated if it would be an overreaction to tackle her to the ground and pry the phone out of her hands.
“I’ve got this. Besides, we’re close. The hotel should be one block that way.”
She pointed straight ahead, and we trudged on. When we had walked two blocks, I stopped. “That’s it. No more. I’m getting in a taxi.”
Willa waved her phone in front of my face. “But the hotel isn’t far. Look, the dot says we’re almost there.”
There was a good chance we were, but I wasn’t willing to walk another step. “I don’t care.”
Pulling out my phone, I called a cab that arrived ten minutes later. Sliding into the back seat was a relief, and I leaned back with a deep sigh.
“Where to, ladies?”
“Magnolia Hotel,” a disgruntled Willa responded.
The driver looked back with a frown, then shrugged and put the car into gear. He drove a few yards, took a U-turn, and pulled up at the hotel thirty seconds later.
We all blinked at him and, after a mumbled “Thanks,” shuffled out.
