Page 97 of Dream On, Liar

“Okay. Slowly.”

Oliver adjusted his grip.

I leaned more heavily against him than I meant to.

The world had become pleasantly soft around the edges. Sounds were muffled. The lights were too bright. My shoulder was a dull, pulsing ache beneath everything else, but even that felt strangely distant.

I looked at Oliver. “Did you drive?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“I had a beer.”

He glanced at Raina, and I followed his gaze. Slower this time.

“Did you?”

She shook her head too. “I don’t have a license, remember?”

I nodded solemnly, then paused.

“How did we get here then?”

Oliver laughed.

“We took a cab, left the rental at the pub. I’ll pick it up in the morning.” He replied as he helped me settle into my bed.

Finally.

Oh, I could lie down right now.

My stomach lurched again.

Maybe not right now.

“Smart,” I finally managed to blurt out. “How come you drank? You’re usually pretty good about finding ways to skip the peer pressure.”

“The guys were offering Rai a drink, and she told them she was the designated driver—for obvious reasons, so I couldn’t use that excuse.”

I nodded, before pausing midway. I was pretty sure if I did it again, it would’ve made myself more dizzy.

I pointed vaguely at him. “You're a good best friend.”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

“Your kid’s lucky.” His smile softened.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I hope so.”

Something in the answer made my chest ache.

I didn't know why.

Maybe because each one of my sibling seemed to have something ahead of them. Something they wanted. Something they’d been excited about.

A wedding.