Page 69 of Full Coverage (Boys of Fall)

“We have some catching up to do,” he admitted. “But we have a lot of time now. I’m here to stay.”

Teresa beamed at him. “Let’s talk about how to get Randi to say yes. You’re going to need something big. Because it’s been amonth.”

Nolan sighed. “Yes, Mom, I know.”

* * *

“Fuck this.”

Randi looked around the hood of the car she was working on to see Lela standing there, hands on her hips.

“Are you okay?” Randi asked.

“No. I’m kinda pissed, actually.” Lela walked straight to Randi, took her hand and pulled her toward the door to the waiting area.

Now what? Coach had left about three hours ago and Randi had been thinking about their conversation ever since. It was past closing and everyone was gone, making this the best place to think.

“What’s up?” Randi asked, following her friend.

“Girls’ Night. And you’re coming. But there are some rules tonight.”

“Rules?”

Lela stopped by the small office where she knew Randi kept her personal belongings while she worked.

“Yes. Go in, change your clothes and meet me out here in ten minutes. We’re going to Pitchers and we’re getting tequila, and you’re not going to cry, you’re not going to leave early and we are, by God, making this agreatnight with lots of fun so that you can get back to liking tequila. And your life.”

Randi appreciated the gesture. “I just—”

“I’m not asking,” Lela told her with a firm look. “All the girls are there. Let’s go.”

Randi looked back at the car she hadn’t even really been working on, then at her friend. The women at Pitchers had been here for her for so long and, more importantly, would continue to be here for her. They were going to grow old together. Sure, Lela and Annabelle and Sadie and Paige and the others were madly in love. But they were still going to be having girls’ nights when they were eighty. They would be there with emergency chocolate anytime she called. They were going to be sharing her blanket, and her spiked cider, at football games until they were too old to climb into the bleachers. And then they were going to line their lawn chairs up by the fence like the old ladies did now. They deserved her time and attention and energy. She wanted tequila to make her think of her friends, not Nolan.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s do it. We’re going to make tequila fun again,” Randi decided. She pulled the ponytail holder out of her hair as she headed into the office. “Let me grab a clean shirt and my boots.” She always kept extra clothes and shoes in the office for just such an occasion. These occasions actually came up quite a bit.

She changed quickly and soon they were walking through the door to Pitchers.

The place was packed and Randi took a deep breath. This was home. Every single inch of this place was familiar and filled with memories. The people here wereherpeople. The music was her music. And she wouldn’t trade this for any party in New York or even Paris. This was where she belonged.

The feeling of comfort washed over her and she happily followed Lela to their table, where Lacey, Paige and the rest of their gang were already sitting. Sadie arrived with a tray full of shot glasses the moment Randi’s butt hit the chair.

“Glad to see you,” she said with a wink.

“Here’s to making tequila fun again,” Lela said, lifting her glass.

Randi joined in the toast and shot back the drink. It burned in its old familiar way and she found herself smiling. Did it make her miss Nolan? Sure. But would she have skipped over the tequila body shots if she’d known how things were going to go? No way.

“Another,” Randi said, and all the girls cheered.

They followed up with beer and girl talk and laughing and thirty minutes later, Randi was feeling a lot more like her old self. Comfortable. Happy. Where she belonged.

That feeling lasted another three seconds.

“Randi.”

Randi watched her friends’ eyes widen just before she turned. Slowly. With butterflies swooping in her stomach.

Teresa Winters was behind her.

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