“You’re leaving next week for who knows how long. Don’t you want to spend it with your friends?” Danny asked.
I wondered where Devin was going that would keep him away. I doubted the rich people sent their kids into the military.
“Not tonight, I don’t.” Devin looked up at me again. “You willing to give me a tour?”
I stared at him, wondering if I was being punked or something. “You look old and smart enough to figure it out on your own.”
His eyes narrowed slightly and his lips quirked up as if he was amused by me. “I’ve been sheltered all my life. I need someone to guide me through the real world.”
I smirked, but found that I was amused by him too. Even so, I didn’t want to commit too much. I took out a pen from my pocket and wrote the name of the bar Kim and I would be at tonight to start the party.
“I’ll be there at seven. Lauren and Evie are invited too.”
Devin laughed again.
Danny shook his head. “They’ll never go for that.”
I shrugged. “Regular folk don’t have cooties.”
“Rena! Table eight,” my manager yelled.
“Gotta go, boys.”
“I’ll see you
at seven,” Devin said as I walked off.
I didn’t believe it for a minute that he’d be there, and so I was shocked when he stepped up beside me as I waited for my first shot of whiskey.
“So this is how the real world parties, huh?”
Kim blinked as Devin slung his arm over my shoulder.
“You came,” I managed around my shock.
“Yep.”
I narrowed my eyes. “It’s not like you’ve never been clubbing. You can’t tell me you’ve never been bar hopping.”
“I have, but with the plastic people.”
“Who are plastic people?” Kim asked.
“The people I normally hang out with,” he said waving to the bartender and calling out for a shot of whiskey.
“Rich people,” I clarified for Kim. “He wants to slum it tonight.”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “I’m looking for real. Like you.”
“Where is your friend?”
“With the plastic people. I didn’t catch your name before.”
“Serena and this is Kim.” To my thinking, Kim was more his type. She wasn’t rich or fake, but she was thin, tall, and more classically pretty.
“I’m Devin.” He grabbed the three drinks and handed one to each of us. “Sláinte.”
And then we were off, making our way through New York, visiting bars on the pub crawl route, drinking and laughing. Laughing a lot. He didn’t come off as rich and pompous, although I suppose that was why he was with us instead of his usual crew; he was bored of rich and pompous.