“Alec, you came.” She leans in and cuddles him with one arm while the other still holds firmly onto me.
Alec hands me a water which I take and then I look at the time. We’ve been here for ages. Way too long, and I have drunk far too much.
“We need to talk, squirt.”
I wave him off. “I’m drunk.”
He smiles and I grin up at him.
“I know. Where is he?”
He looks around and I lean in close. “It’s just us two.” I wave between myself and May and drop to a whisper, “Oh, and her skanky friends.”
“I heard that,” Penny yells out, smiling. I flip her off without looking back at her. I don’t like her, at all. Just because May has to be nice doesn’t mean I have to.
Alec laughs at my words and shakes his head. “Squirt, were you planning to tell me about him?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. Honestly, I didn’t know what we were.”
“You’re marrying him.”
“I am.”
“Do you want to?”
“I think so,” I answer truthfully.
His head drops and he bites his lip. “I can get you out of it if you want me to, squirt. Just say the word.”
I throw my arms around him and he hugs me back. May stands behind me and when I pull back, she sidesteps me and throws her arms around him. His smile drops as she grips on for dear life, and she’s most likely smelling him too. I can’t tell her that he isn’t interested, it will break her heart. He has to follow family traditions too, so he will have an arranged marriage at some stage.
My phone starts buzzing in my hand and a picture of a sleeping Gunner, a picture I snapped of him, comes up on my phone. I reject the call and look up as May is pulled away from Alec.
“Squirt, I’m gonna go.”
I nod, reaching for the drink that I had before Alec pulled me from the table I was dancing on.
“Bye.”
I climb back up as my phone starts ringing again. I throw it to May who’s watching Alec walk away, and it hits the back of her head. She cries out, swinging around.
“Stop watching him like you want to eat him.”
She throws her hands up in the air. “But I do want to eat him. Why won’t he let me eat him?” she whines climbing up to the table with my phone in her hand.
“Just leave him be.” I smile while shaking my head at her. She puts my phone to her ear as I speak, “We can always find someone delicious to eat. I’m sure there are plenty of penises here for you.” She giggles loudly dropping the phone back to the table.
“You said penis.”
“Penis. Penis. Penis.”
May reaches down and grabs two glasses from the bartender. “It’s time to get completely fucked up.”
We clink glasses and dance. Dancing until the club is starting to close and the bouncers come over and tell us it’s time we leave.
“Okay, best night ever. Does it have to end?” I ask hanging off May as we manage to stumble out of the club.
“Ummm… no. Let’s go back to mine and drink until we fall asleep.”
The fresh air hits me. Everything hits me. My head becomes dizzy and I lean over, letting go of May and bringing up the contents of my stomach everywhere.
“Ev.” I brush her off, but she doesn’t touch me. “Ev,” she says again.
Everything comes back up again and again. My belly hurts and my mouth tastes like shit.
“In a second,” I manage to gasp out between the grossness that is happening to me right now.
“Ev…,” she says again making me turn my head to her. Next to her is Gunner, he’s standing tall watching me as I lay everything I’ve drunk all night on the road.
I wave him off. “Fuck off.”
May laughs loudly next to him, covering her mouth with her hand when she sees he doesn’t look at all impressed.
“Samuel, take Everly’s friend home.” Samuel, Gunner’s driver, opens the door for May and she gets in with just a wave for me. Gunner waits until I stand then walks over to me, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and passing it to me. I wipe my mouth and step away from my cocktails now running along the street.
“You didn’t answer.” I shrug. “That won’t happen when we’re married, Everly. At all.”
“Please, just shut up.” I grip my head with my hands and hang it between my legs.
“I’ve been standing out here since you spoke about penises, which I might mention, the only penis you will ever be getting in this and the next life will be mine.”
“Stalker much?”
He reaches for my hand, sees the ring then drops it. “I know where you are all the time, Everly. You are one of my main focuses.”