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PROLOGUE
KIRSTEN
Past—Two Years Ago
Skylar slidesanother shot glass in front of me and Delilah, and I groan as I stare down at the clear liquid filled to the rim. A silent promise to make the night fun and the morning hell.
By no means am I a lightweight. I’ve done my fair share of partying before legally allowed. But I tend to stick with beer, the occasional fruity cocktail, and Long Island Iced Tea. Undiluted hard liquor, though… not really my thing. I learned that lesson the hard way at my first high school party and vowed to never do shots again.
Yet here I am, reaching for the saltshaker and contradicting the one drinking rule I carved in stone.
One time, Kirsten. For Skylar.
My best friend owes me after this. Big time. And I’ll be sure to remind her tomorrow, when our heads are clear and the world wobbles less.
Making a loose fist, I lift my hand to my mouth and lick the web near my thumb. Salt in my other hand, I shake it over the damp skin a couple times before passing it down the line. Skylar and Delilah mirror the action with a touch more enthusiasm. Their eagerness to liven the evening further is the ass kick I didn’t know I needed.
Tonight isn’t about me and whatIwant. Tonight is about Skylar and whatshewants.
No way in hell will I ruin her night.
Skylar lays a lime wedge on a napkin and slides it in my direction, then does the same for Delilah. Lifting her shot glass high, she announces loud enough for half of Dalton’s to hear, “Happy twenty-first birthday to the hottest bitch in Stone Bay. Me.”
My eyes widen as the bar patrons hoot and holler. Skylar licks the salt from her hand, shoots back the tequila, then brings the lime to her lips and sucks. Meanwhile, Delilah and I sit shell-shocked on our stools. It’s not until Skylar elbows us that we take our shots.
Skylar isn’t the most outgoing person in public. Hell, the level of peer pressure it took to get her in my favorite little black dress tonight was excruciating. Behind closed doors and in the company of friends and family is where she tends to dominate the room. But her commanding the attention of a bar full of people… she would never do that sober.
And here I thought I was the only drunk one in our group.
Wrong.
“I’m tapping out,” I tell them, slashing a hand across the front of my throat for emphasis.
“No,” Skylar whines.
“Drinks, Sky. I’m tapping out on drinks.” I pat her thigh beneath the bar top. “Not with the night. It’s too early to go home.”
A lazy smile lifts the corners of her mouth as she leans into me and rests her head on my shoulder. “I love you, K. You’re the bestest.”
“Hey,” Delilah complains, her voice a touch playful.
Skylar bolts up and reaches for Delilah. “You’re the bestest, too. You know I love you, Dee Dee.” She constricts Delilah in a fierce hug. “I can love you and her.” A finger jabs in my direction. “You can both be my bestest friends, forever and ever.”
With a shake of my head, I laugh and take Skylar’s hand, lowering it. “Love you, Sky.” I squeeze her hand, then release it. “We should probably switch to something non-alcoholic for a bit.”
On a huff, she tips her head back and gives a stiff nod. “Yeah. Probably a good idea.
The bartender stops in front of us, takes our empty glasses, and wipes down the bar. “How’s it going, ladies?” Her eyes roam over Skylar, a smirk tipping up one corner of her mouth as she tries and fails to hide her amusement.
“A round of water, please.”
The bartender nods, grabs three large glasses, loads them with ice, and fills them with water.
“And one Coke,” I add as she sets each water glass on a coaster in front of us.
“You got it.” She repeats the process, pressing a different button on the drink gun, filling the glass with Coke. “Anything else?” she asks as she places a new coaster down, then my drink.
I glance at Skylar as she drinks water through way too many cocktail straws and shake my head. “Think we’re good for now.”
