Charming Hannah (Big Sky 1)

“She’s nice,” I say as I watch her walk away. “Why did Max dump her?”

“Because he’s stupid,” Jenna says, handing me a can of Coke. But I surprise her by shaking my head and reaching for the wine. “You never drink.”

“I do tonight. I’m not on call, so guess what? I can.” I take a sip and enjoy not feeling guilty about having fun. “Let’s browse, ladies.”

“Let’s spend some money,” Grace corrects me, and we begin to wander through the shop, enjoying the beautiful things Willa has for sale.

“I love living in a small town, but it’s so hard to shop,” I say and pull a summer dress off the rack. “It’s nice to have a trendy place in town.”

“You’re so right,” Jenna replies and points to the garment in my hand. “That dress is a must buy.”

I nod and drape it over my arm.

Over the next hour, we drink more glasses of wine, and make piles of clothes that we’re going to buy.

It’s fucking amazing, and so damn fun.

“This bikini is everything,” Jenna says, showing me a turquoise two-piece.

“It will look amazing with your hair,” I agree, then show her a T-shirt that says Coffee Before Talkie. “I need this.”

“Oh yes, that’s completely you,” Jenna replies with a laugh. “And look at this one!”

I Don’t Trip, I Do Random Gravity Checks.

“That’s Grace,” I say, adding it to my pile. She has to have it.

“She needs this one too,” Jenna says, showing me a T-shirt that says Rocking The Spoiled Wife Life.

“Yes, perfect.”

“Hannah,” Grace says loudly, rushing from across the store, holding something in her hand. “You have to smell this.”

But before I can, Grace trips on her feet, falling right into me, and knocking her head against my cheek, making me see stars. On my way down, she grabs my arm, trying to keep me up, but we both end up on the floor, a tangle of arms and legs, and glitter falling from the air.

“Oh shit,” she says, snorting. “I hope I didn’t ruin any clothes.”

“You just ruined me,” I reply. We’re both giggling like crazy.

“Did I hurt your face?”

“I don’t think so.” I touch around my eye with my fingertips. It’s a little sore, but not bad. “Are you hurt?”

“Nah.” She shakes her head, and glitter falls out of her hair. “That was a bath bomb, by the way.”

“It exploded.”

We look at each other and dissolve into giggles again.

“Willa’s going to be pissed,” Grace says.

“No, I’m not,” Willa says from behind us. “Just don’t touch anything else with all of that glitter all over you.”

We look at each other and laugh some more. We laugh so hard that I can’t catch my breath. My sides ache, I can barely breathe, but I can’t stop laughing.

We look ridiculous.

Finally, once we’ve all paid for our things, and left Dress It Up, we stand on the sidewalk, wiping the tears from under our eyes.

“That wine was strong,” I say, once I catch my breath.

“And you never drink, so your tolerance is low,” Jenna replies. “You probably shouldn’t drive.”

I stare at her for a moment, and realize there are two of her.

“No, definitely no driving for me. I’ll walk.”

“It’s raining,” Grace says. I glance around and then rush out from under the awning, letting the rain fall on me.

“Oh, it’s nice.”

“She’s so drunk,” Jenna says to Grace, making me laugh.

“I’m not that drunk.”

Okay. I am.

“We can take you home.”

“I’m not going home.” I shake my head and turn a circle in the rain, but then I’m dizzy so I stop and just let the water fall on me.

“Where are you going?”

“To Brad’s.” I smile at Jenna. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m going to have some seriously hot sex with him tonight.”

“Good for you,” Jenna says and then wrinkles her nose. “Ew.”

“Nope, it’s not ew. It’s wow. It’s holy shit, I didn’t even know my pussy did that.”

“Holy shit, she’s funny drunk,” Grace says, laughing. “Come on, drunk girl. We’ll drive you to Brad’s.”

“Actually, I really do want to walk,” I reply. “Don’t look at me like that. I’ll be fine. I’m really not that drunk, and it’s not cold.”

“I don’t know,” Jenna says. “Brad would kill me if he knew I let you walk to his place when you’re like this.”

“I won’t let him kill you. I swear.” I hug them both, then wave as I begin my walk to Brad’s house. It’s only about a mile from downtown. I can certainly walk a mile.

But when I get about halfway there, the sun decides to go down. So now I’m walking in the rain and the dark.

But I don’t care.

I love it here. I love my friends, and I love my boyfriend.

And I love the rain.

The rain that is currently falling even harder. So hard that it’s difficult to see in front of me, so I duck under the branches of a big maple tree and wait for a few minutes, hoping it’ll die down a bit.