Solace

Prologue

Among Friends

Bunny

“You taste like cigarettes.” Nicki licked my bottom lip. Her breath wreaked of every liquor mixed. “It’s fucking gross, Bunny.”

Shoving her off of me, she stumbled backward, nearly falling over the coffee table. “Don’t put your tongue where it doesn’t belong and you won’t find shit you don’t like.”

She took a step toward me, pawing at the neckline of my oversized shirt. “Come on, Bunny, just tonight. You won’t even remember it tomorrow. I brought your favorites.” She pulled a small baggie of pills from her bra.

“Fuck off, Nicki. I'm trying to quit that shit, seriously.” Snatching the bottle of J?ger from the coffee table, I walked away. As soon as I turned, a mass of bright orange hair blocked my vision. Bright orange hair that could only belong to one person…Marlowe.

Perfect.

“Come with me, groupie,” I said to her as I draped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her out to the backyard with me.

Marlowe was holding some fruity bottled drink, and never stopped laughing the entire way out. “Bunny, where the fuck are you taking me?”

Once we stepped onto the deck, I spun around so that Marlowe’s back was against the house.

I braced myself from falling over with my free hand; the other still held the bottle of liquor.

Holding the bottle up to the light from above the back door, I examined the contents; it was about half empty.

Good, still enough for the night. Taking a swig, I reveled in the burn down my throat.

When I finally opened my eyes, I looked down to see that Marlowe was staring at me with a sweet smile on her face.

Slowly, her thumb brushed underneath my lip.

I saw a drop of the dark liquor on the pad of her thumb as she brought her finger to her lips.

As the scene unfolded in front of me, time moved in slow motion. I no longer heard the music playing from the pool shed or the people talking across the backyard. I just watched as Marlowe's perfect lips wrapped around her thumb. My lip tingled where she had just touched me.

Leaning in closer to her, my forearm fell against the brick, and my mouth was at her ear. “You do not realize what you’re doing.” I knew my voice sounded pained, but I couldn’t help it.

Marlowe stretched up to reach my ear. I wrapped my other arm around her waist, pulling her closer to me. She yelped and started laughing, “Ha! Bunny!” Looking around, a couple of people had noticed us; they looked over in curiosity but quickly turned away.

“Were you going to say something?” I turned my head and stuck my ear out to her.

Placing her hand around her mouth like she was going to tell me a secret, she stood on her tiptoes, and I leaned down to meet her halfway.

“Maybe I realize exactly what I’m doing.

” Marlowe stepped away, yanking the liquor bottle from my hand and shouted, “Let’s go find Dexter!

” She took a giant gulp from the bottle and began walking toward the other side of the backyard.

Dexter sat on the opposite side of the yard from where Marlowe and I were.

This was where the pool shed was, tables, chairs, and the fire pit.

As we walked over to the chairs, I thought I might fall into the pool a couple times.

But I think Marlowe was just drunk enough too. We balanced each other out.

As soon as Dexter wasn’t blurry anymore and I saw him clearly, I shouted, “Dexy!!”

He sat in the chair he always sat in, a blue and white checker print pool chair that had been right there since we were 17.

My pink pool chair sat next to his, but a guy in a dirty-looking lime green hoodie sat there.

Dexter leaned over to the guy and said something.

He never took his eyes away from the fire when he spoke.

“What man?” The lime green hoodie guy spoke a little too loud over the music.

Dexter turned his head to the guy and said with his face stone cold, “You’re in Bunny’s seat. Get up.”

The guy looked over at Dexter. “Who the fuck is Bunny?” Sheer confusion was painted across his face.

Narrowing my eyes, I looked at the guy and pointed to myself. “Bunny.”

“Go find your own seat, dweeb. I was here first.” The guy situated himself more comfortably in my chair, leaning back and spreading his legs out farther.

At his words, Dexter looked up from the fire again, but I lifted my hand, settling him down.

A fucking pit bull on the attack when anyone came after his friends.

I handed him the liquor bottle I had been carrying.

Dexter took it and nodded in response. I noticed Marlowe standing behind Dexter with her hands on his shoulders.

A worried look settled into her features.

My feet carried me slowly to stand right in front of the guy who had made himself way too comfortable in my favorite chair.

“Friend, I don’t know who the fuck you think you are.

” I leaned down in his face, forcing him to look me in the eye.

“But this is my fucking house. So get the fuck out of my chair before I get you out of the chair.” I narrowed my eyes, lifting the corners of my lips into a demonic smile.

“Are you really trying to pick a fight with me over a chair?” The guy laughed, folding his arms across his chest.

Standing up straight, I placed my hands in my pockets.

“Who said anything about a fight? I’m just telling you to get the fuck out of my chair and make sure you take your trash too.

” Making a nasty face, I gestured to the couple of beer cans that sat next to my chair.

They were actually mine from the night before. I had forgotten about them.

Dexter chuckled softly before leaning over to the new guy. “Just get up, man. Seriously.” His face said it all. Fuck with me, and you fuck with both of us. It was the truth and had been since we were kids.

Finally, hoodie guy stood and mumbled under his breath, “Fucking lame party anyway.”

I chose to ignore him. Marlowe, on the other hand, didn’t.

Even though the man towered over her five-foot-three frame, she shoved his shoulder with her entire body weight as they passed each other.

“Piece of shit,” she muttered as the man stumbled away.

Marlowe turned to me when I took my seat in the chair.

“I’m going to go grab some chips. I’ll be right back. You guys want anything?”

As soon as Marlowe asked her question, Nicki’s irritating laughter penetrated my eardrums. “Fuck this.” I pulled Marlowe into my lap, and she wrapped her arms around my neck, eyes widening in shock.

“We don’t need snacks, groupie. Right, Dex?

” When I asked him the question, I nodded my head toward Nicki so they both hopefully caught my drift.

Reaching my hand up, I snaked my fingers around Marlowe’s neck and pulled the side of her face close to mine.

“Can you play along with me tonight, Mar? If it’s too much, tell me.

But I need Nicki off my ass.” Marlowe pulled back slightly, giving me a questioning look. “Please, Mar.”

She cupped my face in an incredibly sweet gesture I never expected. It took me by surprise. “Oh, yeah. I got this.” She smiled.

Nicki approached and whined my name, “Bunny…”

“Goddammit,” I muttered. Dexter began to fidget with a stick in the fire.

Marlowe slung her Converse-clad feet over the arm of the pool chair.

“Oh hey, Nicki.” Marlowe’s tone was casual and carefree.

Just like how she speaks to customers behind the bar at Captain’s.

I bit my lips to hold back my laughter and glanced over at Dexter, who was smirking and had pulled Marlowe’s feet up onto his chair.

Marlowe reached a hand at Dexter for the bottle of liquor.

She tossed back the bottle with practiced ease before looking over at the blonde and smiling.

As if on cue, a heavy beat dropped on the speakers from the shed and Nicki’s jaw dropped as she took in the scene in front of her. “Uh, Marlowe…” A disgusted look was painted across Nicki’s face. “Could you get up so I could talk to Bunny?” She crinkled her nose like she had smelled something foul.

“Hmmmm, no, I don’t think so.” Marlowe looked at me, then Dexter before returning her gaze to Nicki. “I’m good here. If you need to talk to Bunny, you can do it right here. I don’t need to move.” She took the bottle and set it on my bottom lip. “Open up,” She whispered.

What the fuck?

Marlowe poured just the slightest bit of the herby liquor down my throat.

Leaning into her, I whispered in her ear, “You’re a little too good at this, Mar.” I saw goosebumps rise on her neck and I nipped her earlobe. I was going to have as much fun with this as I could.

When I looked over at Dexter, he gave me a questioning look, and I winked at him. He knew I would fill him in later, and I would as soon as Nicki was gone.

“This is ridiculous!” Nicki stormed off. But not before tripping over a lounge chair on her way to the back door. Marlowe huffed out a laugh.

I noticed the guy in the lime green hoodie again. He helped Nicki stand back up from where she tripped. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“TJ!” Nicki whined. “Let’s go. This party is lame anyway. Take me home, would you?”

“Oh please…the two of them would find each other. Like a fucking rom-com or some shit.” Marlowe groaned and rolled her eyes before lifting the liquor bottle and taking a swig.

Dexter chuckled as he sat back in his chair and lit a cigarette.

He then handed Marlowe and me each a cigarette.

We smoked and passed the bottle of J?ger between the three of us until it was gone.

Explaining the situation with Nicki to Dexter wasn’t difficult.

He knew I had been trying to shake her for a few months.

Explaining how Marlowe got brought into the situation was a little more complicated.

Trying to get my cross-faded brain to process that it really was just perfect timing was a challenge.

Marlowe and I just kept laughing, trying to explain it.