Page 42 of Play Fake
But as I share this post-wedding meal with her, I can’t help but wonder if it’ll ever transition into something that’s forus.
“I’ve never had champagne like this,” she says, nodding toward her glass. “What is it?”
“Cristal,” I say, nodding toward the bottle on the counter.
“It looks expensive.”
I laugh. “Three-fifty for that bottle.”
“You could buy, like, fifty bottles of the kind we get for New Year’s Eve for that.”
“You only drink champagne on New Year’s Eve?” I ask.
She lifts a shoulder. “I just turned twenty-one last year.”
“And you didn’t drink before that?”
She twists her lips. “I told you, I don’t really like how alcohol tastes.”
I narrow my eyes at her, knowing full well she doesn’t like it because she’s been drinking the cheap shit. “Have you ever gotten drunk?”
Her hand flies to her chest, and she’s nearlyproperas she says, “No!”
“Come on, Birdie. You’re twenty-two, and you’ve never beendrunk?”
“Tipsy, sure. But drunk to the point of getting sloppy?” She wrinkles her nose. “It just never appealed to me, to be honest.”
I wonder what else she hasn’t done.
“We need to fix that. I’ll get you hammered someday.”
She lifts her glass. “One of these and I probably will be.” She takes another sip, and then she sets her glass down. “But I can’t. Jack’s going to wake up at three, and again at eight, and I can’t be drunk when I’m taking care of him.”
“Are you always this responsible?” I ask.
“You’re paying me to be this responsible, remember?”
“Touché.” I cut into my steak, and it’s cooked perfectly. “Still, every person in their early twenties deserves at least one night with no responsibilities. I was there for all of my siblings except Madden, and now I’ll add you to the list of people I got drunk. I’ll see if someone can watch the baby overnight sometime so we can hit the town.”
She laughs. “Aren’t you supposed to be appearing more wholesome? Getting some girl two-thirds your age wasted doesn’t feel like the way to do it.”
“Two-thirds my age?” I make a face at her that clearly lets her know how much I disapprove of that message.
“My mother informed me that you are closer to her age than mine,” she mutters.
I bark out a laugh, and I’m about to say something totally inappropriate about a mother-daughter trio when I bring it back to the topic at hand. “Regarding the wholesome vibe, we’ll dodge the media. Doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun. Maybe Vegas-style fun.”
“I have no idea what that means.”
“It means VIP lounges, bottle service, high-stakes gambling. Taking risks and not worrying about the consequences.” I lift a shoulder.
She swallows the bite of lobster she just took and shakes her head. “And I’m supposed to just letyoutake care of me while you get me wasted?”
My hand flies to my chest. “You don’t trust me?”
She laughs as she picks up her glass. “I trust that you’ll hand me a good time.”
I can most definitely give her a good time. Probably an even better time than she ever dreamed of.
