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“You know another Rhys?” Erin waved her hand in the air and shook her hips. It was supposed to look sassy but she was too drunk to make it work.
“Why do I need to know you called Rhys?” Hunter tilted his head at me, his face turning red.
“You don't like him.”
“You don’t know anything about me, Keller. Why would you assume I don’t like Rhys?”
“Because you have been Mr. Mood Swing since he arrived.” Every time Erin answered a question or spoke, she stood up from her stool. Eventually, she was going to tumble over and I had to be the responsible one and calm her down.
“Hey,” I patted her hand. “I got this.”
“Keller,” Hunter leaned in and got close to my face, closer than I wanted him to, making me lean back a little for space. “Stop assuming you know me or anything about what has changed my mood. It sure as hell isn’t Rhys.”
“Oh,” I smiled. “Then we are all good.”
“No, we aren’t. You’re drunk and I’m responsible for you two.”
“No, you aren't,” I mimicked his tone. “We are responsible for we.”
“Hunter?” I heard a soft feminine voice, and Hunter backed away so I could see her behind him. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Hunter snapped. “These are two of my players and they’re fucking drunk.”
“Geez,” the girl said with a laugh. “They’re having fun. Leave them alone Coach Crazy.”
“Oh that’s a good one!” Erin laughed.
Hunter backed away without introducing us to his friend, but his eyes stayed on us with a warning until he grabbed her hand and turned around.
Once we were sure they were far enough away, Erin and I started laughing again. “Coach Crazy!”
“That is now his new name,” Erin confirmed. “Oh, let's drink to that!”
She disappeared from the stool and shimmied toward the bar. I knew it was my job to watch our table so I stayed put and pulled my phone back out from under my dress. I had three missed calls from Rhys and two text messages asking me where I was. I knew I should have answered him, maybe even apologize, but I also knew the rum was doing the talking for me. It was safer if I called him in the morning.
Nearly twenty minutes later, Erin returned holding four shot glasses in her fingers. She set them down and took her seat, then wiped the sweat from her brow. “The line is long so I ordered double to keep us occupied.”
“Good thinking!” I slurred again. I lifted one of the shot glasses and nodded at her to get one as well. “To us. May we not remember tomorrow that I drunk-dialed Rhys.”
Erin’s head flew back laughing while I took the shot. When she stopped laughing, she took her own shot then raised the other glass in the air. I took my second glass and waited as Erin made her own toast.
“To us. May we go home with strangers!” Her words had me giggling, because going home with a stranger was Erin’s method of operation. She refused to date, but loved sex, so our evenings out always involved her finding someone to fuck.
I envied that side of her. She was carefree and strong enough to know what she wanted. Sometimes she would joke around that she was a slut, but I would give anything to feel that sexually empowered.
Until Rhys, sex wasn’t even that fun for me. It was just a connection between two people that was supposed to lead to long standing relationships. But I had only managed one relationship that lasted six months and he did the bare minimum in the bedroom.
Maybe going home with a stranger was exactly what I needed. No names, no expectations. Just sex. The kind of sex that would make menotwant to call Rhys.
“I’m gonna drink to that,” I finally slurred, then downed another shot. “I need to fuck Rhys away.”
“I thought you two just fucked. Why do you need to fuck him away?”
“Because he was a goooood fuck,” I laughed quietly. “So goooood.”
Erin nodded knowingly, like she had no doubt Rhys was good in bed, or the pool, or the couch. Thankfully, she changed the subject and we spent the next hour letting the rum settle as we recounted our days at Miami University. The nights we had together were few, and as we carried on, I started to get emotional about how different our goals in life were.
“Hey,” Erin took my hand and held it, then shoved a napkin in my other hand. “We will always stay close.”
