Marlee smiled like she was reliving the show. Sadie had rocked it. That’s what she’d done. And they’d all kept their clothes on, so it wasn’tthatbad.
“Here’s what I propose.” Becca stuck her finger in the air like she’d had ten too many of her own cleavage shots. “You get that heart tat.”
Marlee tried to understand her. Wasn’t that what they’d just decided?
“On my arm,” Eli clarified.
“On your penis for all I care.” Becca wobbled a tad.
Eli flinched.
“Then we’ll put a pin in the idea of the Blue Man orgy until after another round of drinks,” she finished, pausing while they all stared at her.
“Done,” Eli said.
All right then, Eli was going to get inked after all.
Chapter Six
Nearly Midnight
“I can’t believe they crashed.” Marlee’s friends had all passed out while they binge-watched the newGilmore Girls—Marlee’s favorite. Despite Becca’s insistence that they head over to the Luxor, the pit stop at their penthouse had turned out to be just what they needed—her friends, not her. She was still ready to play. They were definitely not.
Kellie snored softly from where she’d stretched out on the floor, Lothario under her arm.
“They were pretty drunk.” Eli stretched on the sofa, his body long enough for his toes to touch one end while his head rested on the opposite pillowed armrest.
“Then why aren’t we?” Marlee asked. This wasn’t fair at all. She was practically sober. And it’s not like she hadn’t given it her best effort.
Eli winked at her. The dimples in his cheeks, which she rarely saw, peeked from beside his lips. “Because we are the responsible ones.”
That was unacceptable. Marlee stood, dropping her blanket to the floor.
“C’mon.” She grabbed her phone and little wallet, shoving them in her bra.
“Mar?” Eli’s eyes grew bigger.
She mimicked his expression. “Eli?”
“It’s late.” He didn’t stand.
“It’s, like, midnight. We cannot be those people who are in bed, in Vegas, by midnight.”
“You mean like these people?” He gestured around the room. “Aren’t they your people?”
“Totally not the point.” She scrawled a note next to the phone.Went out with Eli. Be back later.
“You’re going out with or without me, aren’t you?” He ran a hand over his henna-tattooed face.
She lifted her eyebrows in response. “I think I’m going to go figure out what step four is in my life plan.”
“Shit.” He tossed his feet over the side of the couch and snagged Lothario. “Let’s go, then.”
* * *
The red bricksmaking up the wall outside of the one-story motel were more than a little wobbly. Marlee would bet if she pushed on them with her fingertip, they’d ripple. She tried it.
They didn’t ripple.
