Forever Lucy (Lucy & Harris 5)
Even as drunk as I was, I was telling them the God’s honest truth. Cash didn’t understand that, though. He didn’t know what it meant to love someone the way I loved Lucy.
“We playing poker or gossiping like little girls?” I drained the last of my beer. “Whose turn is it to get refills?”
Kale groaned as he got to his feet unsteadily. “Fuck, I’m a lightweight these days. Haven’t drunk this much since I met Santana.”
“Whipped,” Sin laughed. “She’s got you so pussified.”
“Damn right,” Kale barked out a laugh. “That girl is worth it too.”
As he placed fresh beers in front of us all, my phone vibrated with an incoming test. Opening it, I found a picture of Lucy in a tiara that read “Bride.” Kin was kissing one cheek, with Jenna kissing the other. Lu’s lips were puckered up, blowing the camera a kiss. Another text popped up.
Miss you! Hope you’re having as much fun as I am. Can’t wait to see you soon.
--
The next morning I woke up with the mother of all hangovers. Groaning, I turned over in the bed and searched blindly for the bottle of water and the two aspirin I had put there before falling on my face into bed. Drunk me had been smart and considerate of hangover me, at least.
Once I had the aspirin down and swallowed the entire bottle of water, I half crawled to the bathroom and into a steaming shower. I debated staying there for the next few hours, just letting the limitless hot water wash away the toxins I’d ingested the night before, but Jace pounded on the bathroom door, forcing me out.
“We ordered breakfast. Hurry the fuck up in there before it gets cold. We’ve got plans for the rest of the day, you lazy fucker.”
Not even bothering to hide my curses at him, I turned off the water and toweled myself dry. I threw on a pair of basketball shorts and walked out into the living room where an entire buffet of food was set up. My stomach growled hungrily, and I grabbed a plate, piling it high with French toast, sausage, and scrambled eggs. I smothered the entire plate in fresh, hot syrup and parked my ass on one of the couches where the others were already eating and watching a basketball game.
It was only when I was halfway through my meal that I even noticed Caleb’s huge body on the other side of the room sitting beside Gray. “When did you get here?”
“About two hours ago,” he said with a shrug of his massive shoulders. “Gray picked me up from the airport.”
“What, did you drive?” Jace asked his roommate.
“Yeah, missed my plane,” was all Gray said as he stuffed his mouth full of food.
“What’s on the agenda for the day?” Cash asked, rubbing his hands together. “We seeing any shows?”
“Today is going to be kick-ass.” Jace pulled out his phone. “First up, we’re going to a paintball park and having a war. Losers pay for the first drinks tonight. Then tonight, we’re going to zip-line Superman-style down Fremont Street. After that, we’re doing a whiskey tasting at this sick-ass bar I found online.”
&nb
sp; “Sounds fun,” Caleb agreed. “What’s going on after that? I saw this club I want to try out, if you guys are up for it.”
“Is it a strip club?” Cash and Sin asked, practically in unison.
“Yeah, but it’s a classy joint. Not sleazy like some of those places can be.”
Jace hesitated, shooting me a look. “I don’t know…”
“Ah, come on.” Gray groaned. “I get not wanting to upset the girls, but they know we’ll be going. It’s tradition. We gotta at least go for a little while.”
“Fine,” I muttered, giving in because, apparently, I was still susceptible to peer pressure. “But if Lucy gets pissed at me, you’re the ones who’re going to get kicked in the balls. Not me.”
“Agreed.”
--
After the adrenaline rush of zip-lining down Fremont Street, we were all in need of drinks. And because my team of Jace, Caleb, and Cash had lost at paintball, we were paying for the other three’s first drinks of the night. That Gray, Kale, and Sin had won didn’t surprise me. They had been playing wars together like the one we’d fought earlier that day for most of their lives. Even though we’d had the most people, they had still kicked our asses, but not before I’d gotten Kale and Caleb had shot up Sin, making most of his chest a wildly neon yellow that probably would have glowed in the dark.
After the whiskey tasting, we took the limo that had picked us up after we’d showered off all the paint back at the hotel, and we went straight to the club that most of the guys seemed hell-bent on checking out. That Gray wanted to go and seemed completely at ease threw me for a moment. As obsessed as he was with Kassa and making her happy, it seemed weird to me that he had been all for us going to a strip club. I didn’t know the girl all that well, but Kassa didn’t seem like the type of female who would appreciate her fiancé tossing bills at women to get them to take off their clothes.
But then again, Gray was a bastard on the best of days. Still, his goal in life seemed to be to make Kassa smile, so he couldn’t have been all bad.