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The four of us ended up tucked in a booth, sharing a pitcher of margaritas. I was sipping mine slowly since two drinks was my limit. No one wanted to deal with a hangover while chasing around a three-year-old.
Natalie was sharing my life story with Marissa and Adelaide while I listened, wondering how she knew so much about me. “So, Wren over here has a son. She’s a single mommy, y’all. The dad’s out of the picture, which, good riddance, I say. If he didn’t scoop you up when he knocked you up, he obviously has a brain the size of a shriveled walnut.”
Marissa, a production assistant in engineering I’d only said hi to in passing up until tonight, rolled her eyes. “My god, men are stupid. Does he at least pay support?”
I held my oversized glass up so it covered half my face. This wasn’t my favorite topic. “A little, but I’m fine doing it on my own.”
She flipped her long black hair. “Honestly, better to be on your own than putting up with an idiot for the rest of your kid’s life.” Her eyes widened. “Did I tell you I caught David texting his ex even though he’d promised he’d blocked her? That motherfucker.”
Marissa and Natalie started going off on David, who I gleaned through context clues was Marissa’s boyfriend, not that either of them bothered to tell me. The girl across from me, Adelaide, seemed just as lost. Her eyes widened, and she flashed me a cheeky sort of grin that put me at ease instantly.
She tapped my hand. “Want to go play darts? I’m absolutely terrible at it.”
“Sure.” Relief swept through me. A break from Natalie and Marissa was exactly what I needed. “I might be worse, though.”
“That sounds like a challenge.”
We took our drinks to the back of the bar where there was a free dartboard. Adelaide probably had the advantage since she was about a foot taller than me, with long, graceful arms, but I wasn’t much for competition anyway.
“Are you good friends with Natalie?” she asked.
“Friends? Um…I wouldn’t call us that. You?”
She snorted as she lined up her shot. “She accosted me in the hall and insisted I come tonight. She said you were lonely and needed friends.” Her dart landed in the wall next to the board.
My face flamed. “Me? What?” That was...not entirely inaccurate. But fuck Natalie. Jeez, where did that woman get off?
Her hazel eyes slid to mine. “Yeah, dude. I only came because you seem nice when I pass you every day and I didn’t want to leave you alone with her and Marissa.”
I laughed even though I was still a little confused. “Thanks? I feel like I owe you a life debt.”
She shrugged. “It’s cool. I didn’t have anything better to do. Natalie’s daddy is loaded, so she always pays for drinks.”
“Oh. Is her dad in the music business?”
Adelaide burst out laughing. It was deep and throaty, unapologetically turning heads. “Oh no, dude. Not her dad. Herdaddy. As in, she’s taken care of by an older gentleman. She’s a kept woman. You know?”
“Uh, yeah. I think I do. That’s…” My picture of Natalie was becoming more and more clear, yet even more confusing. That was just Natalie in a nutshell.
Adelaide threw another wild shot, then raised her eyebrow. “Not surprising, right? Don’t worry, I’m not gossiping. Everyone knows, which is why I thought you knew too. Nat is proud of her crusty old man lover.”
I choked on my margarita. This girl was something else. She was tall, thin, and stunning, with the mouth of a frat boy. She seemed genuine too. Like she gave no fucks what people thought of her.
My attention was pulled from her when, out the corner of my eye, a light overhead caught on a diamond earring. I turned, dread pooling in my stomach. Edwin Cruz had just sat down at a table full of his buddies, and I seemed to have caught his eye too, gauging by his slow, oily smirk.
“Oh god,” I groaned and shuffled so I was behind Adelaide. “Hide me please.”
“What? Who are we hiding from?”
“This awful guy from my neighborhood who thinks no means try harder. He’s the one with the sharp edges and big, gaudy diamond in his ear at the table near the bathroom.” Describing him made me shudder and get a creepy-crawly feeling down my back.
Adelaide subtly pretended to stretch so she could peer over her shoulder to check him out. “Oh, gag. He’s way too pretty. You know he takes more time getting ready than any woman. Bleh.” She looped her arm through mine. “Let’s go to the bar so he can’t see you because mister mans is about to break his neck trying to check out your tits right now.”
There was more of a crowd around the bar area than there had been when I first got here. The pair of us tucked ourselves in between two groups. Adelaide’s head peeked out over the top of almost everyone else, but I was pretty well hidden.
We stayed there for a while, yelling in each other’s ears to be heard over the conversations flowing around us. Natalie swung by with another round of margaritas for us, then told us not to come back to the table because she and Marissa had invited some ‘cute boys’ to sit with them.
Adelaide held up her drink. “Once I finish this, I’m out. You too?”
