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“Let’s get over there. He doesn’t need to be getting drunk right now,” I said.

We got to the bar right as Mike was taking a shot.

“Okay, no more,” I said.

“Fuck you,” he muttered.

“Hey…” Xavier said, giving him a disapproving look.

Mike ignored it. “Give me another one,” he said, tapping the counter.

“NO,” all three of us said collectively.

“You’re not my fucking babysitters,” Mike said. “Another one.”

The bartender looked at us, then back at Mike. Then he filled the shot glass again. Mike pounded it and got up.

“I want to play darts,” he said, shoving off the bar. “Who wants to play darts with me?” he asked, raising his voice to the room full of strangers. Nobody answered, so he went over and started playing by himself.

“Why am I thinking he shouldn’t be throwing sharp things right now?” Jesse asked.

“We need to get him back to the cabin,” Xavier said, his voice low.

“With Larissa there?” Jesse asked. “Nah.”

“Maybe I should take her home?” I said.

“That’s probably not a bad idea,” Xavier said.

But getting Mike out of the bar was not in the cards. He refused to leave. We spent the next two hours wrangling him like an unruly toddler. He bounced from darts to the pool table to inserting himself loudly in strangers’ conversations until all three of us were exhausted.

He ordered shots despite our protests until he got obnoxious enough that the bartender cut him off, which made him worse. When he told the bartender to go fuck himself, we finally got kicked out. Then we had to figure out how to get him home.

We were deep in rural Minnesota at a hole-in-the-wall bar on Christmas. It was an hour drive for one of the women to come pick us up in a car, but all of them had been drinking when we left—except Larissa, who wasn’t an option for obvious reasons. So the snowmobile it was. The three of us had to dress Mike in his gear like a child to make sure he didn’t get frostbite on the way back and we put him on Jesse’s rig, thankful he was at least coherent enough to hang on.

I hoped the two hours and frequent water and pee breaks on the trail would sober him up enough to be manageable by the time we got to the cabin.

It wasn’t.

He stumbled into the house, shouting for Larissa. Xavier and Jesse got him into his room and stood sentry outside, while I went straight to tell Larissa and Heather to pack their things. I found them in the hot tub.

“Hey,” I said, sliding open the back door. “We need to head back early. Can you guys pack your things and head to the car?”

The four women looked at me like I’d lost it.

“Uh, it’s Christmas Day?” Becca said. “We’re staying until the first.”

“What’s wrong?” Larissa asked.

I could hear Mike arguing with Xavier down the hall.

“Mike’s a little agitated. I just think it’s better if we go.”

Larissa was already getting out.

“Is everything okay?” Heather asked, following her.

The shouting got louder.