“Were you worried then?” I ask her.
“Mostly that we’ll be caught and go back to prison.”
“I don’t think they’re sending us back to prison. It’s okay, I promise.”
She nods, but her posture tells me she’s still anxious. Fallon arrives back with a tray full of shots, pretty colored drinks, and a big smile on her face. “I hope you ladies are ready, things are about to get messy around here.”
Oh, messy indeed.
Very, very messy.
“SO, WHERE ARE YOU FROM then?”
I stare through slightly blurring vision at the man I’ve been chatting to for the last ten minutes. He’s handsome enough, with messy brown hair, blue eyes, and an athletic build. His name is Travis, and he’s a local who works at some business I already forget the name of. I’m about to take the second drink he has purchased for me, even though I should probably stop and go home.
Ember and Fallon are dancing, waving their arms around on the floor with all the other people they’re mixing with. I was sweating up a storm and needed a break, so I sat down, and that’s when Travis decided to join me. He’s not bad, and I certainly wouldn’t mind if he felt the need to suddenly start making out with me.
“I’m just from ... you know, that direction,” I murmur, shoving my finger out to my left.
He looks at me, a small grin on his face. “So you’re not going to be in town for long then?”
“No, she isn’t.”
It takes me a moment to realize that the voice answering isn’t my own and it’s coming from behind me. I turn slowly to see Lake standing, his eyes narrowed, his arms crossed, his expression hard.
“Uh oh,” I say.
“Uh oh alright,” he growls. “Get up.”
“Yo, Lake, how’s it going, bro?” Travis says, all jovial and happy.
Lake looks to him. “It’s going to be fuckin’ chaos if you keep talkin’ to this girl. Get out of here, Travis.”
Travis looks to him, then to me. “You’re with Lake?”
I snort. “No.”
“Now, Travis,” Lake barks.
Travis puts his hands up. “Chill, man, we were just chatting.”
Travis disappears into the crowd, and I look back to Lake. “On a scale of one to ten, how much trouble are we in because I swear we just wanted a drink.”
“One-fuckin’-hundred. Get up.”
I get up and glance around, but I can no longer see Fallon or Ember.
“Dante already has them in the car. Move it.”
Lake takes my arm and pulls me through the crowd and out the front door. As soon as the fresh air hits my face I feel the effects of the alcohol we have been drinking for the last three hours. I sway and Lake’s hand tightens on me, the only thing stopping me from falling over.
“Oh boy.” I grip him as my head spins. “This is bad.”
“How much did you fuckin’ drink?”
I squint my eyes, pressing a hand over them when the path in front of me starts moving. “Ah, like four shots, three pretty drinks, two beers, oh, and whatever Travis was buying me.”
“Jesus Christ.”
Lake hangs onto me, or maybe it’s me hanging onto him. Either way I’m not in a hurry to let go. We make it to the truck and he opens the door, hauling me up and planting me down onto the backseat next to Ember.
“Well hey there, fancy seeing you here,” I slur when I notice her.
She giggles. Fallon stares out the window, face pale, like she’s fighting off vomit. Dante is in the driver’s seat and when Lake gets in, he takes off without question. Lake turns to face us. “What the fuck were you ladies thinking?”
“How did you even know we were gone?” I mutter, my stomach becoming queasy really quick.
“We were checking security before bed and saw you sneaking out.”
“Security?” I raise my brows. “You have cameras?”
Lake looks like he’s going to flip if I keep talking. “Yes we have fuckin’ cameras, we’re a retreat. We have to make sure nobody is getting in without our knowledge.”
Oops. We didn’t consider that when we were sneaking out—I thought we had all angles covered.
“Well, your system works well, congratulations,” I mutter, placing my cheek on the window.
“You’re lucky we don’t report you and have you sent right back where you came from.”
I snort. “Go ahead.”
I don’t know if he answers me after that, because everything starts spinning and goes dark.
“Hey.”
It seems like only seconds after I close my eyes that I hear Lake’s voice and feel his warm hand slapping at my cheek. I blink, very very slowly, and look up to see him standing in front of me, one hand holding my face up, the other tapping it to wake me up. I’m still in the truck, still strapped in, but the door is now open and the cool air is rushing in and reminding me just how drunk I truly am.