Page 61 of Holiday on the Rocks
Evan helped Rachel with her coat. “Where to?”
Lexi fluffed her hair. “Oh, Cosco for sure.”
Eyes darted about, and I cleared my throat. “Cosco? For dinner?”
“Oh, hell yes.” She pointed to me. “Allie, do you know they have hot dogs for a buck fifty and a twelve-ounce soda for seventy cents? Can you believe that shit? I go there twice a week.”
“So, it’s just you and the geriatric patients out on a day pass from the nursing home?”
Rachel wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know if I’m in a hot doggy kind of mood.”
“They have Italian, Rach. And it’s good pizza.” Lexi whispered. “I was raised to be thrifty with my coins. We’ll eat cheap and drink like queens later.”
Who could argue with that?
The room was an inferno because with every glance in Levi's direction, I’d find his glimmering eyes locked on me.
But closure was over. It was time for new beginnings. Yes, we both agreed, got it freaking tattooed into our flesh, and it felt great. Did it leave me with a little hole in my being that would likely never be filled by another because nobody was him? Yup. Were the memories of being in his arms hijacking my ability to string two thoughts together? Yes. But the bottom line was I'd leave Colorado in a few days with a peace throughout me. The past was reconciled, and I could go home and live my life never looking in the rearview mirror again.
You can build a teepee with your lies…
“Y’all, I’m starving. Let's get dinner and we can check out some clubs.”
TWENTY-SIX
LEVI
SURVIVAL MODE
Kristina’s blinking eyes clocked seventy-five an hour. “We’re going to a club?”
Rachel shot her arm in the air. “Bet your ass we are. And there’s no worrying during drinking hours so turn up your smile. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll skip my meds and stir things up a bit.”
Allie placed her hands on Rachel’s shoulders. “No. You take those meds. I don’t want to have to dig up bail money later.”
Rachel gave a sarcastic grin. “You won’t need bail money, I promise. I’ve learned that sarcasm and attitude are so much cheaper than bail money. I’ll be good.”
“Yeah, in life laughter is the best medicine.” Lexi flashed one of her evil grins. “Unless you have diarrhea.”
Allie ran her hands over her curls. “I can’t go to jail. I haven’t memorized a phone number in years. Who could I call? Then again, a good friend will bail you out, but I know my true friends would likely be sitting beside me.”
The words inspired a group hug that even I had to admit was pretty damn cool.
They’d been friends forever and would walk to the ends of the earth for one another. Back in high school the only people in my life other than Allie were the thugs who taught me how to hot wire cars and score booze. Until after the accident and moving to Wisconsin with Evan’s family, I’d never had people in my corner like that.
Allie was the first woman to show me what that looked like. I barely remember my mother. She found my father to be intolerable but left me behind. WTF, right? My dad, at the time, could’ve been summarized as a functioning alcoholic with a short fuse. If I had a problem, he was the last person I would’ve taken it to. I’d always just solved shit myself. Sure some solutions would’ve been frowned upon by police officers and the authorities, but when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.
That’s how Allie flipped everything in me. She was caring, patient, and wanted to hear my thoughts on things. She’d question my questionable decisions but not judge me. She wanted to understand and showed me different ways to see things. If it wasn’t for her, I know with everything in me I’d be in prison somewhere. No doubt.
When I left and lived with Evan and my aunt and uncle, Allie had somehow instilled the tiniest seed of trust in me, and when Evan’s family wanted to help me find my way, I let them. All because of her.
Rachel eyed Evan and Royce. “Now if you fellas are going to actually be our designated drivers, we need to lay down a few ground rules.”
Evan crossed his arms over his chest. “Go.”
Rachel pointed at me. “First of all, this one steers clear of me and Allie.”
I gave a nod that said yes while trying to control the grin that screamed hell no.
