Life of the Party (Wayward #1)

CHAPTER 43

My eyes flew open, a wide, ecstatic smile spreading across my face. It was my birthday. I was eighteen! I’d been looking forward to this day for years, and it had finally arrived. Legally, I was an adult. No bar could deny me, no liquor store was off limits, no cigarettes ever had to be booted again. I was finally eighteen.

I turned over and wrapped my arm around Grey’s slumbering form, pressing kisses along his shoulder and neck. I was excited and eager to share my happiness with him, ready to start what was sure to be one of the best days of my life.

“Good morning,” I whispered in his ear. Even my voice was smiling. Grey groaned into the hotel pillow, trying to ignore me, but the corner of his mouth lifted in amusement. I knew he probably wasn’t used to such exuberance first thing in the morning, but I couldn’t help myself. I was too excited to let him sleep.

“Grey,” I gave him a little shake. “Grey, wake up.”

His blue eyes were bleary as he slowly blinked them open, and he looked up at me with affectionate tolerance. “…Why? Is the building on fire?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“Is Zakk Wylde on the phone for me?”

“Uh…no.” Who the hell was Zakk Wylde anyway?

“Then why do I have to get up? There’s nothing the least bit exciting going on today.” He resisted, nestling back into the pillow. “Shut the blinds, would you?”

“Grey!” I slapped him playfully. His blue eyes opened abruptly.

“Ouch. What was that for?”

“You know what it was for.”

“Oh, okay, you’re right.” He nodded. “I did forget something important. ”

I waited, blinking at him expectantly.

“The fight is on tonight. Good thing nothing’s going on. I really want to watch it…”

Grey couldn’t finish. I attacked him gleefully, trying my best to pin his arms down against the bed. We wrestled around for a moment, laughing, but he was way too strong for me. In a matter of seconds, our roles were reversed, and he’d flipped me over, holding me back against the mattress.

“Grey.” I protested, breathless with giggling. It wasn’t fair that he was so strong.

“What? Was there something else?” His handsome face leaned over me, his blue eyes light with amusement, his lips smirking innocently. “Oh, wait. Now I remember.” He bent down and kissed me. “Happy Birthday, Mackenzie.”

“Thanks.” I smiled up at him, wondrously, gloriously happy.

“So, what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. I wanted to get wasted, that much I knew, but it was a little early for that. There was something else, though, something I really, really wanted to do, something I’d wanted to do for ages. The thought made me giggle with embarrassment. “Okay, there is one thing, but you’re going to laugh at me.”

“Me? Never.” Grey smiled.

“I want to go buy some cigarettes.”

He looked confused. “Oh, are you out? I’ve got some here…somewhere.”

“No, I’ve got some—but I want to buy some. Grey, I can buy them now!” I nearly squealed with excitement.

Grey shook his head at me, laughing incredibly. “It doesn’t take much to make you happy, does it?”

“Not when I’m with you.”

“Oh yeah?” His blue eyes gleamed.

“Yeah.”

Grey pulled me towards him and kissed me, gently. “Do you think you could wait for your cigarettes…just a bit longer?” He wondered, his breathing uneven as his lips moved slowly down my neck.

“Uh, yeah.” I bit my lip and arched into him, shutting my eyes as the heat rushed through me. “I think I can manage that.”

“A pack of Export A Gold, regular, please,” I asked politely. The store clerk just looked at me, completely uninterested, like he didn’t realize this was a pivotal moment.

“Can I see some ID? ”

“Sure!” I exclaimed proudly. Grey chuckled behind me. I pulled my wallet out of my purse and flipped it open excitedly.

And then my heart stopped.

My license was missing. Frowning, I quickly thumbed through the rest of the cards in my wallet, but it wasn’t there. Hastily, I patted my pockets and then rummaged frantically through my purse, but to no avail. I looked up at Grey, panicked, stricken.

“I don’t have it,” I admitted, my cheeks flushing red with heat. The clerk raised a doubtful eyebrow at me, as if to say, “Nice try, minor.”

“You don’t have it? Check again. You probably just missed it.” Grey assured me. He stepped forward and flashed his ID at the clerk.

I stepped back, calmed myself from full-fledged panic, took a breath, and slowly looked through the slots of my wallet and then again through my purse, my hands shaking with near desperation. It wasn’t there.

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Without my license, there was no way I’d get into any clubs. No way I’d celebrate my eighteenth birthday. The whole weekend’s plans came crashing down around me, all of them weighing on that one stupid plastic card with my birth date plastered officially across the front.

“Any luck?” Grey asked casually, handing me the pack of cigarettes.

“No.” I shook my head in a humiliated stupor as we left the store. I just didn’t understand how I could’ve lost my ID. The only place I’d left my wallet behind was in Charlie’s car, when I’d stopped to use the bathroom on the way to the airport…

I gasped out loud, covering my mouth with my hand. A sudden thought occurred to me, but it was so horrible I didn’t even want to entertain it.

“What?” Grey wondered. “Did you leave it somewhere?”

“No, Grey.” I turned my dark, wide eyes up to him. “I think Charlie took it.”

“Charlie?” He looked skeptical. “Why would she do that?”

“Because. Because she’s been…choked at me lately because you and I are…and she and Zack…aren’t.”

“You think she’d ruin your whole weekend because of that?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “I can’t think of any other explanation. Grey, I made sure it was in there. I know had it with me.” I blinked back exasperated tears. This was so unfair, so brutally stupid.

“Hey, it’s okay, Mackenzie.” Grey took my hand and smiled at me hopefully. “Maybe it’s back at the hotel. We’ll go and check. ”

I nodded glumly and let him lead me down the city streets, totally miserable. The day was cloudy and cold, threatening with icy rain. People bustled around us and the traffic sped by noisily. I wrapped my arms around myself and frowned.

My license wasn’t at the hotel either, but deep down, I knew it wouldn’t be. I just knew Charlie had taken it. I hated to think she was capable of such spite, that she’d sabotage all my plans just because she was jealous of my relationship. I didn’t deserve her anger; it wasn’t my fault her boyfriend was a total dick.

“What’s going on with Zack, anyway?” I asked Grey as we searched, perturbed Zack’s idiocy was ruining my weekend.

“What do you mean?” He wondered innocently.

“You know what I mean. Charlie, remember her? His girlfriend?”

“Oh, right. That.” Grey grimaced, looking through my purse.

“Yes, that.” I stopped what I was doing and looked up at him. “So?”

“So…” Grey sighed. “Mackenzie, it’s none of our business.”

“It wasn’t, until my fucking license was stolen.” I insisted. “It sure the hell is now.”

“Fine. Zack is seeing somebody else. Okay? Happy?”

“What? He is? Here?” I froze in disbelief. I thought of my friend at home, pining for a boyfriend who was totally cheating, and felt a little less anger towards her. (Only a little.) “Are you sure? How do you know?”

“Because. Normally, I share this room with Zack. I know.”

I cast a wary glance at the other bed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you’d tell Charlie.”

“Of course I would. He’s totally ghosted her, Grey; he hasn’t talked to her once.” My voice rose defensively. “She’s heartbroken because of it. You should see her.”

“Charlie’s tough, sugar. Trust me, she’s better off.”

I shook my head and bent down to rifle through my suitcase again, riddled with disbelief. “I’m telling her, Grey.” I decided. “She deserves to know.”

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged. “Just leave me out of it.”

After our search proved fruitless, I flopped down on the bed, defeated.

“Ugh, this sucks.” I covered my face with my hands. I wanted to punch something, to hit something really, really hard. Better yet, I wanted to get high. I wanted to get wasted even more than before, but now, ironically, the club was out of the question.

“This ruins everything, doesn’t it?” I spoke through clenched teeth, aggravated, staring up at the ceiling .

“Man, you’re dramatic.” Grey chuckled, and his blue eyes were amused as he looked down at my despondent form lying crushed across the bed. “Nothing is ruined. So the plans change a bit. No big deal.”

“No big deal?” I looked up at him incredibly.

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “We’ll find something else to do.”

“Like what? Watch the UFC?” I suggested sourly.

“Maybe.” He grinned. “Just leave it up to me, Mackenzie. License or no, I promise you an eighteenth birthday you’ll never forget.”

I sighed. It wasn’t that I doubted him, but I couldn’t see how anything would top the club after I’d had my heart set on it for so long. Grey’s handsome face was so hopeful, so eager though, I couldn’t help but have my spirits lifted. It sucked that my birthday was ruined, it was a huge disappointment, but at least I got to spend it with him. Softly, I returned his smile.

“Promise?”

“Promise. Just let me make a couple calls.”

“Grey.” I grasped his hand as he moved from the bed, and smiled my gratitude up at him. “Thank you. I’m sorry if I ruined your weekend.”

“Nah,” he smirked, “my weekend was made the moment you got off the plane.”