Ariana. Where. Are. You?
Is this William Shatner?
How did you get my number?
“Luca’s texting me because he can’t find us.” Lil snorts.
“Me, too.”
“I told him to stand in the corner and count to a million,” Lil laughs.
“What else do we have in here right now?” I ask as I finish off my drink. We ignore the barrage of texts Luca’s furiously sending both our phones.
I put some coconut rum in a root beer while Lil puts some peach schnapps in a cream soda. Wrinkling my nose at her can, I say, “That one’s all yours, I have too many memories of throwing that shit up.”
“You did have some epic vomit that night.”
We continue brainstorming and adding to our list. Lil writes the book store, a concert, karaoke, the farmer’s market, a musical, and an art gallery on the page. We debate whether Luca wouldlove or hate mini golf while we each make one more drink, and put it on the list, followed by a bunch of question marks. I kind of want to go either way. It’s been a long time since we played mini golf. Lil’s handwriting gets worse as the night goes on. We avoid the Strip as much as possible, but a few of the casino attractions make it onto the list.
“Put the tattoo shop on that thing,” I say.
“What are we getting next?”
I shrug so hard I almost lose my balance. “Fuck if I know. But something.”
“I’m not getting anything pierced, Ariana Ray.” She points her pen at me.
“I know that, Lilith May.”
I talked her into getting her tongue pierced with me on my eighteenth birthday. I already had my nose and belly button done at that point, along with maybe half the hoops in my ears I have now, but Lil only had a single set of holes in her ears. I thought for sure she was going to chicken out. I’m still convinced she only went through with it to prove me wrong and get the locket back after failing for two months.
Lil hasn’t gotten a piercing since, but we caught the tattoo bug long ago.
I wonder if Luca has more tattoos than the ones on his arm. And I wonder what those are for, the stars and birds that wrap around those muscles. I haven’t seen any others, but he’s always in jeans and a t-shirt when he’s with us, which leaves a lot of possible tattoo real estate. Real estate I spend too much time thinking about. I’m thinking about it right now and getting horny.
I try to stop thinking about Luca and focus on the topic at hand, which is ‘what tattoos do we want next,’ which turns into a drunken game of ‘silly tattoos we’d pick for each other.’ We’re giggling like the drunk asses we are when the closet doors bangopen. Shrieking, Lil and I crash together and wrap our arms around each other.
Luca stands in the doorway, his eyes wild when they meet mine. “Fucking hell! You weren’t in the living room or the game room or the kitchen or anywhere! You texted me bullshit, and then you didn’t answer when I knocked, and the room was fucking empty, and I thought I was having a heart attack because you were just gone!” His eyes hold mine, his breathing heavy, his pulse visibly racing from across the room.
I have the urge to run to him. To hold him. To reassure him. An urge I fight with every horny fiber of my being.
“Jesus, Luca. We’re at home on a Saturday night, so you’re off duty. You don’t have to freak out,” Lil rolls her eyes and flips her hand around at him, smacking herself in the face with it. But I feel guilty as fuck. He’s never spoken that much at once or rambled the way he just did.
His breathing slows down, and he finally shifts his eyes away from mine, taking in the bottles of alcohol. The sigh he releases is heavy.
“That’s not ours. We’re just holding it for a friend,” I claim. Then I hiccup.
Lil gigglesnorts. Luca doesn’t seem amused. Boo, I thought that one might make him crack a little.
“Does Marco know you’re ‘holding it' for him?” He asks, and even does the air quotes motion with his fingers. Lil and I look at each other and fucking lose our shit. I laugh so hard tears run down my face.
“Luca. Did. Air. Quotes!” Lil gasps.
“I can… die happy… now,” I manage to get out between laughing fits.
“Alright, off the floor and into bed,” Luca says when we finally calm down.
Lil nods. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. If we sit here anylonger, we’ll forget that we hit our three-drink limit, and that’s never a good thing.” Lil drags herself up off the floor and reaches down to help me up, but she loses her balance and falls on top of me.
