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The waitress whose name I never learned came with us—Parker covered her wages for the rest of the night since she’d left work early—and Thane ended up crying all over her, talking about Nova and how much he couldn’t believe she was getting married.
But the girl was surprisingly sympathetic; she petted his head and told him about some boyfriend she’d had who’d left her for someone else, and the two of them agreed together that love sucked ass.
Meanwhile, Alec and Keene got super hyper. They tried their turn on the two dance poles in the bus, only ending up on their asses, laughing uproariously before they begged to stop at a convenience store so they could stock up on candy.
Hudson and Parker started some philosophical discussion about the growing amount of artificial intelligence in the world.
And despite how the ear-splitting music, strobes, and neon glaring colors from the black lights were giving me a headache, Foster and I played poker that thankfully wasn’t for money because he kicked my ass every round.
It had to be well after one—or maybe three—before the bus pulled up to the front of my house.
Alec and Keene had their arms wrapped over each other’s shoulders and were trying to sing Bakar’s “Hell N Back,” but were totally butchering it. Thane and the waitress were passed out and spooning on one of the couches together, and Hudson had started talking with the bus driver, trying to convince him that he needed to take up the chef profession.
“Alright…” Parker glanced up to call from the laptop he had perched on his lap, where he’d been working for the past hour—probably making another fifty grand tonight alone. “Archer, Ivey, Dugger, Younger. Here’s your stop. Everybody off.”
“Oh, man,” Keene gushed, leaning heavily against Alec as they stumbled toward the door together. “This was a hoot. Thank you, guys. Best birfday ever.”
Alec snorted as he leaned right back against Keene. “Heh… You said birfday.”
“I did not. I said birfday.”
Shouting out a laugh, Alec pointed. “You did it again.”
“Motherfucker,” Keene muttered. “I know how to say the word birf…”
When Alec slapped his knee, unable to stop giggling, Keene scowled. “Shut up.”
Then he paused in the opened doorway of the bus, to turn back and wave. “I love you guys. Seriously.”
“Yeah, we love you too,” Parker groaned impatiently. “Now, get off the damn bus already. I can only take so much of your awful singing.”
“Roger that.” Keene saluted him and tipped backward out of the bus, bumping into Alec as he went, until they both stumbled and lost their balance, tumbling into the night with a howl of curses.
Foster glanced at me with a wince. “You sure you got them okay?”
“Hey, he has me to help,” Hudson assured, waving everyone off as he stepped from the bus next, only for his curses to echo back inside as well. “Dammit, you two. Why haven’t you picked yourselves up off the goddamn ground yet?”
Foster slapped a hand to my shoulder. “Yeah… Good luck with that.”
I sighed and sent him a glance before waving a farewell to Parker and thanking him for funding the night. Outside, my three roommates were littering the front yard like drunken yard ornaments, but at least they were all sitting upright and attempting to stand again.
Setting my hands on my hips, I shook my head. “It’s literally fifty feet to the front door, guys. Come on. You can do this.”
They grumbled and groaned but finally managed to stand and make it to the door that I already had unlocked and opened for them.
“Oh, hey,” Alec cheered as he crossed the threshold and pulled a handful of candy from his pocket. “Look what I found.”
“Score!” Keene agreed, stealing one from his palm. And they both began to chew as I escorted them down the stairs to their rooms.
“Mmm. These crabby patties are delicious,” Keene announced, glancing seriously at Alec.
And Alec nodded back with an equally grave expression as if nothing was as important as what they were currently discussing, “The green parts are the best.”
“What is that, anyway? Lettuce?”
“Or sweet pickles.” Alec popped the green part into his mouth and chewed before his eyes lit up. “Yeah, I think it’s sweet pickles.”
Keene frowned at first before he brightened. “Itissweet pickles.”
