Hayden leaned in to whisper in my ear, “You don’t want the punch.”
“I guess I’ll just take a Twisted Tea?” I wasn’t much of a drinker. I didn’t like the way my dad got when he drank, and my parents never had any good alcohol anyway. It was all too strong and bitter for my taste.
I’d had a Twisted Tea once after a rodeo when a bunch of us drove out on the backroads and got drunk. Hayden was the only one sober by the end of the night so he drove us all home. If underage drinking wasn’t breaking the law, then the amount of people we had packed in the cab and bed of the truck was. That was a fun night, though.
“Coming right up. Hazey?” Keenan pointed at Hayden as he started to head up the stairs.
“I’ll get something later. I wanna watch this.” He winked at me.
A few minutes later, Keenan came back down with a Twisted Tea and a Solo cup with some mixture that smelled like literal death.
I coughed, holding back a gag, when he thrust it under my nose. “What the hell is in this?”
He shrugged. “Bunch of stuff. Tito’s, some kind of tequila, Everclear”—he tilted his head like he was trying to recall what was in the concoction—“Malibu, pineapple juice, and a little bit of Sprite. It’s punch! Want some?”
I pushed the cup away, wrinkling my nose. “I’m good. I value my life tonight.”
“Your loss. It’s fun.” He sat down on the couch and handed me a controller, moving on from the topic like the conversation about the punch never happened. “Okay, here’s how this works. It’s the same rules as regularMario Kartbut with a few additions. Firstly, you have to finish your drink before you finish the race. The whole thing. But you also can’t drink and drive. So, you can’t be moving if you’re drinking. First person to finish their drinkandthe racewins. You don’t have to win the whole race and beat all the CPUs, by the way. That won’t happen. You just have to beat me.”
I blinked my eyes slowly, trying to comprehend this so-calledfungame Keenan was trying to get me to play. “This sounds like a death trap.”
Hayden snorted. “It is for Keenan. That punch is dangerous.”
After choosing our characters—Yoshi for me, Bowser for Keenan—and our racecars, he handed me his remote. “You’re a beginner, so I’ll let you choose which racetrack we do.”
I selected Coconut Mall, and Keenan nodded his approval.
“I’m so glad you didn’t choose Rainbow Road. We’d never finish the race.”
I handed his controller back after starting the game. The countdown reached zero, and Keenan immediately started chugging his drink.
I cracked my can and took a small sip, grimacing at the taste.
Keenan glanced over at me between swigs of punch. “Come on, Skippy, you’re never gonna catch up to me like that.”
Hayden whispered in my ear, “Give it a few minutes and he won’t be paying attention to us. He won’t even be able to stay on the road in the game. Drink half of it, and I’ll drink the rest.”
“Isn’t that cheating?” I hissed, quiet enough that Keenan wouldn’t hear.
“I mean, it’s a stupid drinking game. Who cares if you cheat? It’s not like he’s going to ban you from his house. You’re my girl, you know?”
I pulled my lip between my teeth, my cheeks heating, and not from the alcohol. Nodding, I did my best to drink half of the can then discreetly handed it to Hayden. He finished the drink, save for a little sip. He was right about Keenan. He wasn’t paying attention to anything, much less the road. He’d been driving backward the last couple minutes.
Hayden handed me the can, and I drank the last bit of it before making a big show of crushing the can.
“I’m coming for you, Kee. Better get to driving!” I giggled, the small amount of alcohol already going to my head.
I passed by Keenan on the second lap after he ran into a wall. I leaned forward, sitting on the edge of the couch as I devoted all my focus to the race.
When I crossed the finish line, I let out a whoop of victory before jumping up off the couch. Hayden jumped up with me and wrapped his arms around me, lifting my feet off the ground.
“Damn, Skippy, you’re really good at this,” Keenan slurred, a drunken smile on his face. He wiggled his finger at me. “Giving me a run for my money.”
Hayden and I exchanged a knowing look then burst into laughter. I had to clutch my stomach from laughing so hard.
“So, I got into SGU.” A couple hours later after sobering up from Beerio Kart, Hayden—who was carrying a bright-red Solo cup with some kind of dark-brown liquid sloshing around in it—plopped down on the couch next to me,throwing his free arm over my shoulder and squeezing. “They want me on the rodeo team.”
I leaned into his side, resting my head on his shoulder. “I knew you were going to make it. They’d be fools not to have you on the team.”
