"Get what?"
"How you could drink too many of these way too fast. How many will it take to get me drunk?"
"Probably one," I admit. Her face flattens like I'm teasing her. "No really. You've never had a drink, so one will for sure get you buzzed. But I have a feeling you're gonna be drinking way more than one tonight."
"You bet your ass I am," she says, smiling and holding eye contact when she takes another sip.
I catch a glimpse of my future and pray it's not me who will end up with regrets.
CHAPTER 8
THE FIZZY FLOATIES
MOLLY
I'm having the best night of my life.
Never have I been so happy as I am tonight, floaty and spinny and effervescent. I want to marry lemon drops. Currently, I'm working on number five. Well, sorta. It's back at the table with Grey while I line dance with Shelby, Jessa, and Cass to "Achy Breaky Heart." I tried to get Carlin to join us, but he just laughed, said he had two left feet, and headed home for the night.
How did my old friends and I not do this? Or did they and they just didn't tell me they tried it? They're lucky I didn't know how much fun it would be--I'd have been an insufferable lush.
I'm sweating my ass off, the four of us laughing when I turn the wrong wayagain. I should ask Grey if I've hit peaches level. He wouldn't lie to me--I feel completely and utterly safe in his care, more than I think I even would have with Cass, probably because she's as hammered as I am. So far, I've learned how to line dance, made a ton of new friends, and forged a new bond with the friends I have. Cass tried to teach me how to two step,but we're both too drunk. We just kept stomping each other's toes and bumping thighs and laughing too hard to be productive, so we decided to save it for another night.
When the song ends, Cass hooks her arm in mine and we walk back to the table, but she stops short and points at the bar's neon logo on the wall.
"Molly. Molly, look."
I look. I look really hard.
She holds up her hand and closes one eye, listing into me a little. "HORSESHOE? HORSES, HOE."
My jaw drops when I see it. "HORSES, HOE!"
She shrieks it back and we collapse into each other, cackling, yellinggiddyupandyeehawand throwing invisible lassos over our heads.
"How in the ever-loving hell did I never see that before?" she asks. "I'm deeply disturbed by this miss."
When we get to the table, the guys are all there, giving us confused, amused looks. They're sitting together at one end of the table with their coordinating partner's purse and drink in front of them. Remy's playing with the strap of Jessa's designer bag absently. But Grey is on the end. Despite being a part of the group and the conversation, he feels separate, alone. Lonely. The thought weighs on my heart.
Not tonight. I'll make sure of it.
I brush the sads away and climb into my seat next to Grey, slipping on the rung, but catching myself before I bust my rear. When I'm seated, I pick up a coaster and slap it on the table in front of him.
"Grey. Look.HORSES, HOE."
He stares at it, then at me. And then, he laughs. "Welp, now it's ruined."
"You're welcome." I make a show of sitting up properly, saying with my best British accent, "My drink please, good sir."
That one little corner of his mouth rises. "For you, my lady." He spins his chair just a hair, just enough that he can see me better. But when he hooks one big hand on my knee and turns me a little, I feel the contact all the way up to my eyebrows. His boot rests on one of the rungs of my chair. Something about it issuper-duperhot.
"Having fun?" he asks as I take a sip to cover my reaction.
"Somuch fun! I made so many new friends, Grey. See that guy?" I point in the direction of the bar. "That's Hal. He owns the hardware store, and his favorite book isThe Firm. And that's Sheila. Her favorite book isTo Kill a Mockingbird, which, same. My cat's name is even Scout." I flush. "Oh, you probably know everyone, don't you?"
"Yup. But I don't know their favorite books. Keep going. What else?"
And then I'm floating again. "I line danced and tried to two step and laughed so much. This has been the best night, Grey. Thanks again." I pick up my necklace to nibble on a pretzel. "Seriously, this is the smartest thing. Where'd you learn it?"
