“What is it?” I ask, looking down at the vibrant blue concoction.
“Blue Hawaiian. You’ll love it.”
I take a tentative sip. Oh. Yum. “That’s really good.” I take another drink and decide maybe this whole alcohol thing isn’t so bad after all. Shots though, I don’t need to try those again.
We follow the sound of music to a makeshift dance floor in the middle of the living room and, cups in hand, start dancing to some early two-thousands reggaetón. My hips sway to the beat and I relax a bit.
“So, what’s going on with you and Emilio? Are you guys official now?” Kasey asks and Allie smacks her arm.
I take another drink and consider her words. “I mean, I’m not sure. He does this whole caveman thing saying I’m his, but I don’t think we have labels or anything. He’s never called me his girlfriend or anything like that.”
“Do you want to be?” Allie asks, waving a boy off who tries to dance with her.
I shrug and drink a little more. “I don’t want to rush into anything. I don’t want to mess things up. You know?”
She nods. “Yeah. You have Luis to think about.”
Exactly.
“You do realize you’re past the whole girlfriend bit, right?” Kasey says. I stare at her and she huffs out a breath. “You have a kid. You can’t really date like normal teenagers, so you’ve basically skipped that part, but you’re notnota thing. And you’re definitely past the whole, this is my boyfriend-girlfriend bit.”
“You think so?” I ask, genuinely curious because if I can’t figure out what we are exactly, maybe Kasey can shed some light on things for me.
“Absolutely.”
The three of us are quick to finish off our drinks and after a second trip to the bar for another blue drink, I’m feeling great. The lights aren’t giving me a headache anymore and my body tingles, my cheeks slightly numb.
“You’re buzzed,” Kasey says, dragging Allie and I back to the dance floor, and I don’t deny it. I’ve never been intoxicated before, but I definitely understand the appeal now. This is pretty fantastic.
twenty-eight
“She’s trying to get a rise out of you,” Dominique says as I stare down at my phone, my jaw tight.
“She’s succeeding,” I tell him with a shake of my head. Why does Kasey always have to pull this shit? And fuck, why does Bibiana have to look so damn good? I love that dress on her, but I’d love it even more if no one else but me saw her in it. And I’d really like it if it were on the floor and she were naked beside me right now.
I save the picture to my albums because ima need that later, and then I shove my shit in my locker. “Let’s roll out,” I tell him and he’s quick to nod.
“I’m ready.” Dominique shoves his gear in the locker and pulls on a clean shirt.
“Shower?” Roman questions with a quirk of his brow.
I send Kasey a text. It’s been maybe an hour since she sent the first picture, but knowing Kasey, she’ll have her phone on her and respond right away.
Me: Send Roman Allie.
She replies almost instantly with a winking emoji.
Seconds later Roman’s phone buzzes and he looks down at the screen. A switch flips and he goes from tired and worn out from our game—which we won, by the way—to tense and ready to throw the fuck down. “What the hell were they thinking?” he bites out and I smirk. He’s not too keen on that shower now is he?
“Really? You thought they were what, going to go out to a party in sweats?Estúpido.” Stupid. I shake my head. “Don’t act surprised. But hey, if you wanna take the time to shower…” I trail off as his nostrils flare. “I mean, we could wait. Right, Dom?”
“Fuck that. Let’s go get our girls,” Rome bites out.
Like I thought.
We roll out in Dominique’s Escalade. Roman rides shotgun while I sprawl out in the back seat. Kasey gives me a fucking play by play of their evening with a series of photos, now that she knows she’s got our attention, and it’s easy to see Bibiana is having a good time. Her smile is bright when Kasey catches her unaware as she dances beside Allie, red Solo cup in hand. Shit. She’s drinking. Does she do that? Hell if I know. What if she can’t handle her liquor? What if some asshole tries to take advantage of her?
“Should we call Aaron to get his sister?” I ask with feigned innocence, curious to see what Dominique thinks about the idea.
