30. Tricycle
Ever since semester break started, I have been feeling much lonelier. It occurs to me just how packed the first half of the school year was and how social I have been. I mean for goodness’ sake I have a boyfriend, which I never thought would happen. Forgive my self-deprecation—it’s just what I do.
The past few days at my house have consisted of me sitting in my room by myself or watching TV on the couch with my brother. Aside from FaceTiming my dad every night, my days all seem kind of worthless, ya know? And quiet. That is until my door swings open and a red-cheeked, decked-out Brandy stumbles into my room.
I bolt up from my after-dinner nap. Half her hair is up in a bun while the rest of it rests against her shoulders in tight curls. Her outfit is blinding. A silver tank accompanied by denim shorts with a gold belt. It may be December, but thanks to the West Coast LA weather, her outfit is considered appropriate.
“Get your ass up and dressed. We are going out.”
I’m still trying to piece together how she is here right now. “How, what?”
“I told your mom you’re staying with me overnight, and she looked at me funny, then asked for my address. After that she let me come in.”
“My mom what?”
“She may not completely approve of friends, but she seemed worried that you have been depressed ever since break started.” She claps her hands loudly. “Get up. New Year’s! DropStix. Put on a dress, freshen up, and take that braid out of your hair.”
“Why can’t I just be comfortable?”
Brandy walks over to my desk chair, grabs my over-the-shoulder bag, and checks it. Yeah, it’s empty. She begins tossing small items inside it. “Your lover will be there, plus it’s better than moping here in your lame-ass room.”
He’s back? And he didn’t tell me? I grab my phone from my side table to check if he texted me, and I hadn’t seen it. Yeah. Hours ago. Shoot.
“One, never say lover ever again. Two, hey!” My room is not that lame.
“Lainey. Cameron is going to be there. If not for me then go and dress up for him.”
I hold my head up high. “I dress for no man.”
Brandy places a hand on her hip and stares at me blankly. “Buddy system. If you don’t get up of your own free will, I’ll drag you there like a Raggedy Ann doll myself.”
Jeez. Aggressive, much?
By some miracle, Brandy gets me to dress up and let my hair down. It might be the idea of Cameron that makes me want to look my best. We show the bouncer our fake IDs. Thanks, Mikey. The man doesn’t even hesitate to let us in. That or Brandy and I look about three years older than we are.
Walking in, I am taken aback by how versatile this venue is. Nightclub meets fancy high school gym. It is decorated beautifully with snowflakes and white piles of cotton fake snow. Its elegant interior does not match the rave music blasting through the speakers. It makes my heart thump and my ears ring.
Brandy motions to the floor where bunches of people are dancing and jumping along to the music. “Let’s do this.”
I look at the bar and notice a few empty seats. Maybe some of that action will help ease my winter depression. “Let’s do that.”
Brandy smiles deviously, and we snag two stools by the hot bartender. Brandy orders a beer while I go for a Dirty Shirley. Now that’s a tasty way to get drunk. The bartender slides us our beverages, and I suck mine down faster than it takes for Brandy to pull out her credit card.
“Wow, girly. No rush here.”
“My mom left my dad for some younger dude named Jeremy.”
Brandy chuckles and clinks her glass to mine. “Parents are great. Drink on.”
I order another glass. Then a third, fourth, and I stuff my face into a bowl of pretzel sticks. By eleven o’clock, I am feelin’ real good. It doesn’t even bother me when the guy next to me leans over the counter and speaks to us.
“Hello, ladies.”
I whip my head around and am almost blinded by the slightly blurred vision of one of the greatest looking people ever. He smells like Abercrombie Fitch peed all over him though. “Hello, gentleman,” I drawl.
He throws his head up and laughs. “Cuties, can I buy you another drink? A shot of something?”
Brandy smacks my arm, and I swing my head around to see her. My brain, I can feel it bouncing up there. Hahahahahaha.
“What?”
Brandy puts her mouth to my ear and whispers, “Get him to give you a Word of Mouth shot.”
I laugh as her breath tickles my ear. “Why?”
She pats her right breast. “Cross an item off the list.”
“You need to do it too.”
She nods, and I swing back to the nice man.
“Can you get both of us shots?” I yell over the music.
He licks his lips. “Sure thing, sweetheart. Anything else?”
I lean in close to him. “Spit the shot into my mouth.”
In an instant, the man buys us two shots and slides one to Brandy. “What’s your name?” he asks, pouring salt onto his hand.
“Lainey, and my friend is Brandy.”
She leans over me and gives a little wave.
“Ryland. Nice to meet you.” Ryland holds his hand to my lips. “Lick.” I do as I’m told. Salty. He tilts his head as he pours the tequila shot in his mouth. His hand flies to my neck as I’m pulled to a kiss. A rush of liquid fills my mouth. After he pulls away, I tilt my own head to swallow. Then he holds out a lime wedge. “Suck.” I do as I am told once again and pucker my lips.
“Oh, my God,” I say out loud. He smirks and wipes the corner of my mouth.
“Good girl.”
When he leaves my side to aid Brandy, I see that Cameron has finally arrived. He’s looking at me with the strangest expression on his face. As if I just murdered his kitty. My heart sinks, and nausea forms in my gut.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.
My hand flies to my mouth, then I drop it. I shake my head a little, and reality hits me. What am I doing taking a shot from another man’s mouth? As an attempt to soften his expression, I lift my hand again and give him a wave. Even intoxicated I know it’s a weak gesture, but the room is whirling around me, and it’s impossible not to be distracted by that. Especially when it’s messing with my center of gravity. Cameron is a bit far from me, but I can see his nostrils flare as he takes a seat on the opposite side of the bar. He doesn’t even want to be around me right now.
Shit.
A new song blares, and Ryland takes one of my hands and one of Brandy’s. “Care to dance?” He doesn’t wait for a response before he yanks us away from the bar. The movement nearly gives me whiplash, but if I break away, I will surely fall to the ground. So, I let him lead me away, but I keep my eyes glued to Cameron’s back until I accept he’s not going to look behind him.
Ryland releases Brandy’s hand and takes my other one. “You’re not one of those weirdos who doesn’t dance, right?”
Ask me when sober, yes. “No, I just don’t know a lot of moves.”
Ryland grins and twirls me. “You’re so stiff. It’s almost like no man has ever spun you before.”
I take in a breath. “No man has.”
It’s funny how the alcohol has stolen my worry about what others will think of me. I mean, here I am with this stranger and Brandy, hopping around like a loon. Do I care? No.
“How old are you?” I ask Ryland after he gives Brandy a twirl.
“Twenty-one. Junior.”
My jaw drops. “No way. We’re freshmen.”
“Freshmen? I would have pegged you both as sophomores at least.”
He turns me around and grabs my hips, pulling me against him. There is a reason I should not like this, but right now I cannot think of anything except what I’m doing. We move in circles, and when the bar becomes visible, I stop moving. Brandy comes up beside me.
“Who is that chick with Cameron?” she whispers.
“I have no idea.”
I glare at the girl beside my man in all her dark, curly-haired beauty. Well, I can’t tell if she’s a beauty, but I can assume. I leave Ryland’s hands and march up to Cameron. Alcohol can make one a brave little soldier. Oh wait. Liquid courage. I get it. Hahahaha.
The closer I am, the more I see this lady’s features clearly. She and Cameron are engaged in a conversation. Oof, the room also spins, so when I reach them I hold on to Cameron’s arm. “Hello, all. How goes it?”
The girl giggles. “Hey.”
Cameron barely turns to meet my eyes. “What are you doing?” He takes a gulp of his drink.
“Just saying hi to my hot boyfriend.” Interesting how that comes out like I’m singing it. I press my face against his arm, taking in his squishiness and hypnotizing scent. I grab his face and give kisses all over until he pushes me away.
“No need to mark your territory. This is Tamara’s cousin. She’s married,” he says, a bit agitated.
“Yeah, he’s not my type.” She fake gags, then slaps Cameron on the arm playfully. He allows himself a smile, then sobers when he looks back to me. “You’re Lainey, right?”
I nod very slowly.
“I’ve heard of you from Tamara.”
My usually friendly self leaves the room for a moment. “Can you leave for a second, so I can talk to this really sexy man?”
Despite my dismissal, she smiles and hops off her stool. “I have to use the restroom anyway.”
Cameron heaves a sigh. “What?”
“Hi.”
“Hi,” he repeats. “I catch you tongue deep in another guy, and you say ‘hi’?”
My head shakes from side to side a little quickly. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I wasn’t kissing him. He was just spitting tequila into my mouth.” Shit, that sounds kind of worse.
“You’re fucking drunk,” he says, stating the obvious. “And how the shit is that any different?!”
Yeah, this is the thing I was feeling guilty about on the dance floor. The thing I should care about. And I do!
“It was on the list. Brandy told me I should?—”
“Brandy,” he scoffs. “Brandy’s idea to make the list. Brandy’s idea for you to fuck Mikey. Do you take any responsibility for this?”
I get an ache right behind my eyeballs. “My head.”
“I mean, if Brandy told you to suck that guy off, would you have done it?”
“No, no, no, no. That’s not on the list anymore.” Wrong thing to say, idiot! I mean to say something else, but at this point in time I have no idea what.
Cameron laughs humorlessly then chucks my chin. “Such a sweetheart,” he says, his words laced with sarcasm and pain. “Go home and get rest.” He turns in his stool and whistles for Brandy. She wastes no time rushing to me, Ryland in hand.
“Is she okay?”
“No, she’s not my Lainey right now. Get her in bed and hydrate her.” My heart melts at the love behind his words, even if he is pissed off. I hold out my arms to grab Cameron, but he doesn’t reach for me.
I’m so sorry, Cameron.
Yeah, you bet you are.
Shut up.
Maybe if you stopped disappointing him, you wouldn’t feel so awful all the time.
I force the thoughts from my mind and focus on the arm that guides me away, and I pout all the way to Brandy’s house.
“I’m sorry, girly. I shouldn’t have let you drink so much. I know you’re going through family stuff, and I just wanted you to have a night to forget it.”
I shake my head. “No problem.”
“I shouldn’t have suggested the shot either.” She chuckles. “I got you in trouble.”
I wave my hand, dismissing her concern. “It’s fine. We’ll make up tomorrow.” My head hits the headrest, and I shut my eyes.
But soon I’m propped up on Brandy and Ryland as they walk me through the house.
Brandy’s house is about the same size as mine. Hers has two bedrooms and a nice flatscreen in the living room across a comfy-looking suede sectional.
“Parents are out, so you take my bed.” She leads me to a pink-and-white painted bedroom with a queen bed and the fluffiest, whitest duvet I have ever seen. If I’m honest, all I want to do is flop on top of it and make a duvet angel. “I am going to crash in my parents’ room. Tomorrow we will talk.”
“No, thanks.”
Brandy laughs as she pulls Ryland down the hall. Ew. He’s hot and all, but his presence in this house gives me a sense of uneasiness.
I stumble into Brandy’s room where I am greeted with another flatscreen. Dang. I search her dresser for a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. It is not an easy task, since most of the wardrobe consists of tight pants and torn up shirts. Is this girl ever comfortable? I could never.
I half sleepwalk to the bathroom and use a finger to brush my teeth and tongue, enough so the taste of alcohol dies down. I splash my face and chug some tap water before I cuddle into the bed.
I only sleep for maybe twenty minutes until the squeak, squeak, squeak of an old bed fills the room. Then Brandy’s laughter. I knew Brandy was frisky and all, but I didn’t think she’d be one to do someone she met the same day. And I really wish she would do it quieter. Drunk girl trying to sleep here.
I turn on the TV to block out the sound but to no avail. Oh God. The laughing turns to moaning and cursing. I scoot myself out of bed and shuffle across the hall. My head is pounding enough without the sex sounds. I bang my knuckles on the door three times.
“One second!” Brandy calls. Moments later, her moaning gets louder and a little disconcerting. I wait until it silences, and I open the door. Brandy flies to a sitting position on the bed but not before I catch the horrifying sight of what they just did. That’s not how Cameron and I did it.
“Oh my God.”
“Girly, I told you to wait! What is it?” She covers herself while Ryland lets it all hang in the open.
“I’m so sorry! I just— I am so tired, and my head feels like Daenerys Targaryen blew it up with one of her dragon babies. I was just going to ask you to take it down a notch.”
Her eyes go wide.
Ryland laughs. “Is that it? You came all the way here to ask us to keep it down?”
“Uhmm, yes.”
“I find it fascinating how quickly you go from sexy Lainey to sleepy old lady Lainey.”
Say that five times fast.
Ryland straightens out on the bed, and my gaze meets his giant man parts. No. I force my eyes to look at his face.
“Just, shush.”
“Will do,” Brandy says, clearly embarrassed.
“Now I’m gonna go and sleep so, please.”
Ryland speaks again in a deep raspy voice that sends a shiver up my spine. “You could do that, or you could join us.”
I nearly break my neck turning it so fast. “What?”
“What do you say we make this bike a trike?”
Oh God no.
Ryland gets up, full-ass naked, and takes my hand. He gently pulls me to the bed, but I refuse to sit.
“Come on.”
Never would I ever. Brandy put it on the list, I know that, but I did not have any intention of doing it. I thought it was her joke item. It’s not right. Not for me, especially now that I am committed to a man. A man who loves me and is already mad at me.
“Ryland, don’t,” Brandy says.
Ryland glances to the dresser across the bed, which is under yet another flatscreen. I envy this house so much. He pats me on the back. “She’s free to go if she wants. We’ll have a good time either way.”
I blink slowly. It takes all my strength to open my eyes again. “You do you. Imma go sleep.”
Yeah. No way am I staying in this room for another second. I’m in enough trouble.