Page 1 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

Shamrocks were everywhere. On the floor, on the tables. In my hair. I brushed them aside and set my purse down on the bar top, eyeing the suspicious-colored drink waiting for me. It looked like pureed asparagus. I brought it to my nose and took a sniff. At least it wasn’t beer.

“What did you order me?” I asked, taking a small sip. It had a mild fruity taste and was very sweet. Not bad. I took a larger gulp.

“Leprechaun piss.”

I sputtered a bit and then set the glass down, looking over at Christa who was holding an identical version to her lips. She smiled and tipped back half the contents in one go.

I laughed. “Seriously?” I intercepted a falling clover before it drowned to the bottom of my drink. I glanced around. Where the hell were these things coming from?

She shrugged. “Not the most charming of names, but who cares.It’s good, right?”

“Yeah.” I took another swig, figuring I was better off not knowing exactly what was in it.

“Careful, though. They’re deceptive. You’ll end up sprawled on your ass if you don’t watch it.” And with that, she finished off her drink and signaled for another.

I raised my eyebrows. She’d only arrived about twenty minutes before I did, but who knew how many she’d already knocked back. Good thing she’d been dropped off and was getting a ride home with me. And as far as I was concerned, I had no worries of faceplanting before the night ended. I was too exhausted to get drunk. In fact, I wasn’t even in the mood to be out at all, but Christa and I had never missed a Saint Patrick’s Day together since we’d met seven years before, and I wasn’t about to break tradition just because I was a little tired.

She held up her newly freshened drink. “To another year,” she said, and I clinked my glass with hers. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” I took a quick glance towards the door, wondering if he’d make it. Although if he did, I’d end up sitting on his lap. The place was packed. I had no idea how Christa even managed to weasel in, much less save me a spot.

“When’s Dre supposed to show up?” she asked.

I shrugged. “He’s not sure if he can get out yet. He said he’ll try, though.”

She nodded. Dre was co-owner of Braun’s Gym, and like any business owner, he was often stuck working more hours than the employees, not fewer.

Christa smacked my leg. “Well, as long as you’re here. And who needs him, right? Or any of them.” She winked. “Men are only worth one thing anyway, and it’s not like he’d be able to do you right here against the bar. Better to wait until later. Or just choose someone else tonight.”

I laughed, shaking my head. Christa was the fling queen. At the age of twenty-two, she displayed her ‘boyfriends suck and always will’ badge with pride. She still had plenty of time to change her mind, but I didn’t see that happening any time soon.

Not that I technically had boyfriends either, but I did have Dre and we were considered… complicated.

I reached for my purse. Normally, I wouldn’t have cared too much about him showing; I loved hanging out with my best friend alone. But after the bomb he’d thrown at me earlier that day, it made me wonder just how serious he was.

I pulled out the emblem and Christa narrowed her eyes. “What the hell is that?”

“Dre gave this to me.” I handed it to her, and she flipped it back and forth. “He wants us to be exclusive from now on.”

She frowned. “You’re losing me here, Perry. On so many counts.” She tossed the Ford logo into my lap. “He gave you a piece of plastic? How romantic. And what exactly do you mean by ‘exclusive’?” She gave me a funny look, then finished off her drink.

“He stopped by this morning and said he wanted us to stop sleeping with other people. Wants to see what it’d be like to have it just the two of us for a change.”

Yeah, like I said: complicated. Our relationship was an unconventional one. We’d been together for five years, and while we were monogamous during our ‘on periods,’ we had plenty of ‘off periods’ too. Then we were free to see—and screw—whomever we wanted. The only exception was each other’s friends. Those were off-limits.

“And the emblem is a part of him. It’s a symbol that means something to him. You know how much he loves that truck, Christa.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I know how obsessed he is with the stupid thing. I know him just as well as you do.”

Well, maybe notas well, but she did meet him in high school justlike I did. “I thought it was a sweet gesture,” I said, “since it’s not like he’d ever give me a ring.” Christa was also well aware that I had an aversion to jewelry. And marriage.

“And you’re actually considering this?” She put both her hands on my shoulders and stared me down. “He just decides to pull all this shit out of his ass all of a sudden and you’re okay with it?”

“You’re not going to lose me, Christa.” Her face was morphing into something that resembled panic. She probably assumed that once I started a one-on-one relationship, I’d no longer have any time for her. “You and I are still going to spend lots of time together. It’ll be the same as always, I just won’t be having sex with anyone but Dre.”

“It sounds like you’ve already decided.”

Her tone was a bit standoffish, and while I could understand her reaction to a point, I didn’t get why she seemed to be taking it as a personal slap in the face. I wasn’t suggesting that she change her lifestyle along with me.

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