“A hard seltzer then,” she insists. “The lemon one has under a hundred calories and no sugar.”
“I’ll take a diet soda,” I say, and she sighs.
“Fine,” she says, giving up and reaching for another tray. “I miss you. It’s not the same since you left.”
“I miss you too,” I tell her, my heart swelling into a knot in my chest.
“Seriously. It’s just me and Brynn’s group of witches. Spelled with a capital B,”
I smile at that, and so does she, but then her smile fades.
“Ugh. Speak of the devil…”
“Mila!” Brynn suddenly appears next to me, wrapping her arms around me in a tight, plumeria-scented hug. “What are you doing here? I thought you weren’tallowed…”
“I think you guys have a misconception of my relationship with Dom,” I say with a smile.
“Because it’s not arelationship…” she says quietly, but not quietly enough, and I swat at her. Meanwhile, I can’t help but notice the look on Lainey’s face. But I decide to play along with the banter.
“Don’t remind me,” I say. “And also don’t be so loud!”
Brynn just smiles devilishly. “Listen,” she says, her eyes lighting up. “My friends and I are going out tonight. You should come!”
“Seriously?” Lainey asks, making no attempt to hide her tone. Brynn just ignores her.
“Yes. Seriously. We have wanted to hang out with you ever since you danced in the ring the other night. It’s all anyone ever talks about now. How cool the new girl is.”
“You mean the night you almost fell off the stage?” Lainey says with a fake smile, and Brynn shoots her a look to kill. “How is your ankle, by the way?”
“Perfectly fine,” she says. “It was just a bruise.”
Lainey makes a judgmentalMmsound, and Brynn turns her full attention to me.
“So what do you say, Mila? We’re going to The Blue Olive and maybe Club One O’ One after.”
“I don’t know,” I say, checking my phone, though I’m not sure what I’m checking for. Usually my excuse would be that I have to work, but now that I’m not waitressing anymore, I literally have no excuse. It’s an odd feeling having nowhere to be and not being stressed about money. It’s almost unsettling, to be honest. I’ve never been without those stresses, not since I was about sixteen.
“Girl, you need to loosen up,” she says. “Come with us. That’s not a suggestion. You need to get out, and you know it.”
“I mean, I haven’t been out in a long time,” I admit.
“Neither have I,” Lainey says.
“You should come too,” I say, and she frowns.
“I’m working the bar all night,” she says flatly.
“Oh, right,” I nod. Then I bite my lip as Brynn does a little shoulder shimmy with a smile. “Alright. What the hell. I’ll go,” I say, and she squeals.
“Yes! Meet us at the Blue Olive at 10:30,” she says before bouncing off.
I turn to Lainey, but before I can say anything, she is taking a tray of beers to a table on the other side of the room. I feel bad. But it’s not like she’s my only friend.
“So then I told him that unless he gets the Chanel, not the Kate Spade, there was no way I was going out with him,” Rachel says, and the rest of us laugh.
I am only laughing because the idea of using a man for his money sounds insane to me. At least in the way she’s talking. I suppose it could appear to some people that I’m using Dom for his money, but it’s a contract. He’s getting something out of it, and I’m getting something out of it. If the thing I am getting out of it happens to be money, well, that’s just a detail.
Also, I feel like we both know I am getting more out of it than that. Multiple orgasms are a real thing, and they don’t suck.
