Maisie
. . .
EIGHTEEN
“One margarita, hold the salt, but not the tequila!” Hunter shouts, bringing three glasses over to the couch. The glasses are larger than my head.
I take mine off the tray, bring it to my lips, and give it a taste. I sputter, coughing half of it back into my cup. “Jesus, Hunt, are you trying to put me on my ass?”
Her responding toothy grin as she plops onto the couch next to me is answer enough. “Duh, it’s girls’ night.”
Laine giggles along to that, tipping her glass up to her lips before doing the same thing as me. “Holy fuck, sister. That’s got more punch than the last dick I rode.”
“You’re welcome.” Hunter winks, clinking her glass with ours. “To girls’ night!” she chants, and we all cheer.
I was a little surprised when Hunter invited me.
I’ve never been to one before, so I was a little nervous.
As soon as she mentioned Laine would be joining, excitement sprouted in my tummy.
I’ve yet to meet her, and I knew if she raised an adorable little gremlin, she would be no different.
Maybe I was a little curious if I could pick her brain about Grayson under the radar too.
I was right—Laine is amazing. In the few minutes I’ve been here, she’s made all my nerves dissipate.
Social anxiety who? Between Hunter's hospitality and Laine's genuine care to get to know me, I know tonight will be a blast. I told Laine I was an author, and, it turns out, she’s a huge reader.
That alone let me know we would be good friends.
“Alright, so I got all the essentials. Face masks, nail polish...” She looks down at our glasses. “Booze! Chick flick options are already cued up. Oh, and we can’t forget the snacks!” She jumps over the back of the couch, grabbing a handful of bowls and throwing them on the coffee table.
I grab a facemask for each of us, handing them out like it’s Christmas morning.
They have cute little animals on them, and I smile.
I never got this with my mom or friends growing up.
Bouncing around foster homes made it hard to have any stability, friends included.
Hunter will never know this, but this night means more to me than she’ll ever know.
It healed a little piece of my inner child.
I’m just getting my facemask on when Hunter growls at me.
I squeal like a little girl. She points to her face, a glint in her eyes.
“I’m a Bear.” She sees mine and fake pouts.
“Now I’m regretting my choice, because your Capybara mask is definitely cuter.
Let me see yours, Laine.” She motions for Laine to show hers off.
“Oh, fuck you guys. Why do you both have to look so cute?”
I spin a finger at Hunter’s face. “I don’t know, this bear is totally doing things to me,” I tease.
Hunter’s eyes perk up behind her mask. “Really?”
I don’t have the heart to tell her the bear mask looks more like the poop emoji, so I just nod along and take a large gulp of my drink to hide my smile.
“Three hot ass bitches!” Hunter chants before downing half her drink. She doesn’t even flinch; meanwhile, my eyes are watering from the half sip I took. I know she makes drinks for a living, but Hunter can handle her shit.
Hunter flips through her TV, pulling up movie options for us.
“So we have the classic, The Notebook…but I feel like tonight is more of a Mean Girls kind of night.” When Hunter notices the confusion on my face, she jumps off the couch and shakes my shoulders.
“Please have mercy on my poor soul and tell me you have seen those?”
I hide behind my margarita so she doesn’t tackle me to the ground. “That would be a big, fat no. It was a little hard getting time to watch those types of movies while jumping around foster homes.”
Hunter doesn’t even flinch at my words or demand a sob story. I silently thank her. I’m not in the mood to throw a pity party for myself. I just want to pretend tonight is a rehash of my childhood.
“Oh, babe, we are fixing that immediately. Get comfy, because I’m about to blow your mind.” She hops over the back of the couch once again, like she’s in some action movie, dimming the lights before launching herself over to land half in my lap.
Mean Girls lights up the screen, and I feel little butterflies in my stomach at getting to experience this with these two girls.
“I forgot how much I love this movie,” Laine chirps, settling in on the other side of me. She looks exhausted. I’m sure being a single mom and working is a job and a half. She deserves this night just as much as I do.
I know she’s related to Grayson and he’s complicated, but I would love to get to know her better. She seems like the type of friend I would seek for myself if I could hand pick one. I’m not sure she could hurt a fly if she tried.
I may be leaving here in a couple months, but there are phones, planes. My family is here, so I could visit. I imagine a life in which I had friends I could text for advice on an outfit to wear on a date, or to share my gossip with. I think these two girls could maybe be that for me.
If they want me, that is.
We get lost in the movie, and I find myself laughing along. It’s silly, sure, but it’s also fun to relax for once.
The girls in the movie start dancing wearing sexy little Santa outfits, and Laine blurts out, “God, I wish my boobs still looked like that. Nova completely wrecked mine. Now all they do is hang like deflated air balloons.”
“At least you have something to work with.” I point down at my nonexistent chest. “I used to be told I had mosquito bites for boobs.”
Hunter’s mouthful of margarita ends up in my lap, but I don’t care. The smiles on both their faces are worth it. “At least they're more like spider bites now,” she adds, a cheeky smile on her face.
I shrug, shooting her a smirk. “Hey, what I lack up front I make up for in the trunk.”
“I’ll be the first to admit your ass was the only thing I looked at when you walked into the bar in that tight little jean number. Your cheeks were barkin’ in them things.”
Now I’m spitting my drink in her lap. “Jesus. Is that your way of hitting on me?” I tease.
Hunter leans in, gripping my cheeks, and waggles her eyebrows at me.
“Maisie, if I was a man in that bar that night, I wouldn’t have gone home until I had your number in my phone or my cum dripping down your thighs.
Woman to woman, you’re a smoke show. And I know I wasn’t the only one thinking it.
” She looks over at Laine, and I pray she doesn’t mention Grayson.
My cheeks are on fire. How do I even respond to that?
I know Hunter is just playing around with me, and she can be very forward, or so I’ve learned in the short time I've known her. But as someone who may seem confident on the outside, my inner thoughts are riddled with insecurities. Seeing someone who’s so self-assured call me a smoke show makes my heart flutter.
“It’s true,” Laine pipes up. “I would definitely set you up with my brother if you were staying in town, just so I could get to tell people you were my future sister-in-law.”
I point a finger at both of them. “First of all,” I look at Hunter, “I can’t take anything you say seriously with that damn bear mask on.”
“Hey, I thought you said it was cute,” she pouts.
I ignore her. “And second,” my eyes travel over to Laine, “hell to the no. Grayson is a hard pass. Harder than a brick wall, pass. Never going to happen. He’s Chesney’s best friend and basically my…coworker?”
Shit, even I’m not convinced. Both the girls look at me like they know something I don’t. Their smiles turn to giggles when they share a look.
“Alright. Alright,” Hunter says, patting my knee. “Not team Grayson, got it.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Well, I didn’t say that…”
“So you’re saying there’s a chance,” Laine squeals, he cheeks rosy from the alcohol.
“They would make cute babies,” Hunter adds in.
I groan, throwing a pillow over my face. “You guys are the worst.”
We aren’t even paying attention to the movie now, more using it as background noise. That’s what girls nights are all about, though, right? Bonding and gossiping while getting drunk off tequila. If I knew they were this fun, I would have been doing this a long time ago.
“Speaking of boys…” Hunter trails off. “How long is it until I can call myself a born again virgin? The dating pool here is non-existent. She’s all dried up.
Between that and working at the bar 24/7, my vibrator has been working overtime.
The poor thing is ready to fall apart. Please tell me one of you is getting enough for all of us. ”
Laine’s hands fly up defensively. “Don’t look at me.” She looks away, trying to brush off Hunter’s words, but there’s definitely a pink tint to her cheeks. I know Grayson has mentioned he thought Chesney had a thing for his sister at one point.
Is there something there?
Before I can finish the thought, Hunter pounces on me. “What about you, city girl? Any juicy dick knocking on your door? I bet they have some fancy men in New York who would spoil the shit out of you.”
I shove her off playfully, downing the rest of my margarita. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve sworn off all men.” I twirl my finger in the air. “There will be no men coming near this.”
Hunter takes my empty glass, getting up to refill it. Apparently, we are drinking drinking tonight. “That’s no fun. Please explain why we are boycotting men? I need some dick in my life.”
“Men are trash,” Laine interjects, downing the rest of her drink too.
“That,” I agree with her, “and they are cheaters.”
Hunter returns with two fresh margaritas. “Who do I need to kill, babe? I’ll do it, no questions asked.”
I take the drink, thanking her. “That would be my loser ex. You’ll never believe how I found out.” I take a giant sip to down the memory.
Hunter scoots to the edge of the couch, leaning in. “Well, go on.”