Page 17 of To Love or to Lose
“Are we going to a five-star restaurant and someone forgot to inform us?” Eloise asks, mouth full of the cheese and crackers Wren sat in front of us.
“You better not be,” Wren gasps in horror.
“You girls clearly don’t understand what proper dinner attire looks like,” Logan teases.
“We’re at your house,” I deadpan, pretending to note our surroundings. “When you said ‘dinner attire,’ we thought youmeant ‘dinner attire based on the location of where said dinner will take place.’”
“Dinner attire meansnormaldinner attire, Gen.” He pokes me in the shoulder. “You think too much into things.”
“I know, I know, go ahead and tell me how uptight and bitchy I am,” I say sarcastically, smiling.
“I would never.” He mockingly gasps. “As long as you're self-aware.”
I roll my eyes at him before seeing Luke and Jameson have already made their way to the island where Wren has set up her hors d'oeuvres.
“Hey!” Wren yells. “Don’t eat too many of those, boys. The girls already offered to set the table, and dinner will be ready any time.”
“And the boys are helping!” Eloise adds, standing from her barstool and making her way toward the dining room.
Logan quickly follows. “Of course, we are!”
Dinner was uneventful.
Most of the time we spent at the Callaghan’s dining room table was spent gorging on all the food. Wren was constantly refilling our plates, so none of us really had the chance to talk.
Eloise, Winnie, and I helped take dishes into the kitchen and load them into the dishwasher while the boys got the pool ready for us to swim.
I’ve always loved being at the Callaghan house when it’s getting dark. Being able to watch the sunset while the water fromthe pond in their front yard ripples is one of the most scenic sights I’ve ever witnessed.
The fact that the Callagans get to see it every night never ceases to amaze me.
Over the summers growing up, we all used to take rafts out to the middle of the pond after dinner, watching the sun set as we jumped from raft to raft, occasionally falling in the water.
Those are the moments I think of frequently, wishing them back.
I had just shut the dishwasher and was wiping my hands dry with a hand towel when the boys open the sliding glass door in the living room and reenter the kitchen.
“The pool is going to take a bit to warm up, but there's a bonfire outside if you ladies want to come sit with us,” Logan says.
The stone patio is glowing red from the fire contained by the firepit in the middle, chairs surrounding it.
I don’t think this type of fire is classified as a ‘bonfire,’ but I decide against saying anything and take a seat between Eloise and Winnie.
Logan is on the other side of Winnie; Luke is on the other side of Eloise.
Jameson is sitting directly across from me.
After a few minutes of silence, Winnie is first to speak, “You know, I heard if you drink alcohol when you’re in hotter environments, you get drunk faster.”
“Oh, yeah?” Logan asks, positioning his body so he is entirely facing her. “Why is that?”
“I don’t know, I think the warmer you are, the faster the alcohol can get to your bloodstream,” she replies. “I’m not suggesting we drink, or anything. I just think it’s interesting, since we’re sitting around a fire and all.”
I sit up straighter in my chair, unable to stop myself from correcting her. “It’s because when your body temperature elevates, it causes an increase in blood pressure, which opens up your blood vessels and allows alcohol to circulate faster.”
Logan and Luke look at me like I’m crazy for knowing this, as if I study this stuff for fun in my free time. Blood cells and the circulatory system are a large part of what I remember from AP Anatomy.
“That, coupled with the fact that heat causes you to sweat. Not only will alcohol circulate faster, but you’ll feel the effects more from dehydration,” Jameson adds.
