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The dark interior had been transformed into something that resembled the inside of a disco ball. Bright lights reflected off curtains of shiny fringe hung over the walls, and each table had a different colored sparkly tablecloth. People were packed in every bit of free space, most dressed in normal clothes like us, but I spotted a full three-piece suit and someone in Houston Stallions pajama pants.
Too bad I couldn’t get a picture. Soren would get a kick out of someone repping his team at Sunday karaoke.
I stood on my tiptoes and scanned the faces for a group of tall, stupidly attractive guys. My gaze landed on Mac almost immediately, talking violently with his hands next to a large booth in the center of the room.
With so many people standing between me and the booth, I could only see glimpses of the occupants.
Blue still looked shell-shocked, but Eva was smiling. I nudged my self-proclaimed best friend and nodded toward Mac’s booth.
“They’re over there.”
“I know,” she said, then pointed to the bar. “But I see a soccer player in that direction who deserves to buy me a drink.”
She sauntered away, and within seconds, a sandy-haired guy in blessedly normal clothes smiled down at her. I shook my head. Eva had a strict rule about never buying her own drinks. I hooked my arm through Blue’s and led her into the chaos.
“Is it always like this?” she hissed at me.
I shrugged. “No idea. This is my first time, but knowing my luck, something will go horribly wrong, and we’ll end up drenched and eating tacos for disaster brunch.”
Blue’s brows scrunched together. “I like tacos. Brunch tacos sound great, so that doesn’t qualify as a disaster. Why do you think a disaster would be tied to you?”
A sigh escaped, louder than I meant it to be. “I make decisions, often bad, that lead to worse consequences.”
“Like what?”
“Like waking Noah up to come remove a naked, passed out teammate from my bed.”
She scoffed. “Eva told me he got drunk at her birthday party, which you cleaned up after. You didn’t make him drink or invite him into your bed. The only decision you made was asking Noah for help to take care of someone else’s problem. Those consequences weren’t yours, but you’re taking ownership of them. Have you considered your strength lies in cleaning up messes rather than making them?”
I opened my mouth and shut it again. I’d spent so much time focusing on navigating the challenges in my life—from asshole classmates to belligerent ducks to handsy strangers in a hotel—that I hadn’t spent much time analyzing the cause of the challenges and how I reacted to them.
It wasn’t in me to back down, but was I adopting other people’s messes? A pattern of trouble meant I had to be involved though, right?
Blue didn’t say anything she didn’t believe to be one hundred percent true, but I’d had years of practice seeing myself as a troublemaker. Had Vince fucked with my self-perception that badly?
I set aside the thought to be examined later, when I wasn’t steps away from Noah and the rest of the crew.
Blue scanned the room, and I could see the calculations happening in her head. “What do you think is the max capacity in here?”
I laughed, relieved to change the subject. “I’m sure Mac will be happy to answer your questions.”
She stiffened, nearly pulling me to a stop, then relaxed as we rounded the last group of people. As expected, we were the last to arrive. Shaw and Riley took up the middle of the booth with Noah sitting on the side closest to us and an empty spot opposite him big enough for my two friends. Mac had already moved on to his next verbal conquest.
Noah’s lips twitched as his gaze raked over me, taking in my jeans and white cropped sweater. “No danger of duck-related mud shenanigans?”
I shoved him over, claiming the sliver of booth next to him and digging my elbow into his side. “Not funny. I’m still trying to get those stains out of my green sweater. We’ve been ordering a lot of Peking duck from China House in retribution.”
Blue grimaced and slid into the open spot across from us, tugging at her dress. “Do they have actual food here? I’m starving.”
She reached for one of the plastic-covered menus sitting in the middle of the table, and I spotted Mac weaving his way back to us. People stopped him every few feet, but he gave each of them his full attention. Noah shifted, immediately yanking my focus away from the room and narrowing it to the quiet giant next to me.
Eva beat Mac to the table. She didn’t have a drink with her, but she flashed a smile over her shoulder as she waited for Blue to move—our new friend had a preference for always sitting on the end of booths. Something about statistically being the safest in case of emergency.
I followed Eva’s gaze to the soccer player, who nodded toward us while talking to the bartender. Blue reclaimed her seat as Eva slid in next to Riley, and Eva’s smile turned feline.
“He’s here with his friends.”
Blue snorted and lifted the menu again. “Our table is full.”
