Page 8 of What Happens In Vegas
He stood aside, holding the door as the women entered. Bonni stopped dead. ‘Would you look at this place!’ She couldn’t believe the management had upgraded them to this three-bedroom presidentialsuite. All because she’d won. ‘Wow, so amazing! I’m speechless,’ Bonni whispered. ‘This is the lap of luxury. Can you believe this?’
‘No, I can’t! I’ve only ever seen rooms like this on a movie screen!’ Ava squealed.
Bonni watched her girls as they investigated the suite. Celia wandered behind the in-room bar, inspecting the liquor, while Ava took in the view. Fredi came out of the bathroom,impressed with the high thread count of the towels. Since the day they’d met, in a women’s studies class in college – their professor had opted to base the seating arrangements on the students’ first names, the names their mothers had given them, rather than the patriarchal hand-me-downs of their last names – and bonded when they couldn’t stop snickering. They’d always had each other’s backs, andshe couldn’t be more grateful. Bonni wondered if they were still young and silly enough to do the crazy things they’d done in college. Lord, the dancing, the tequila shots, and climbing that damn water tower. Bonni smiled and drew in a big sigh, so unbelievably happy right now.
‘Guys, we need to kick the vacation up a notch. We’re going shopping, and then we’re asking the concierge to point usin the direction of the hottest club in town. My treat.’
Celiapoured a shot of tequila and waggled the bottle in Fredi’s direction. Fredi rolled her eyes but came over to line up another three glasses. Ava walked over and wrapped an arm around Bonni’s waist, saying, ‘You don’t need to treat us! Our original plan is already awesome! The money you won, that’s, like, down-payment-on-a-house kindof money, even after the taxes.’
Fredi snorted. ‘That’s our Ava. Heart of a dreamer, brain of an accountant.’
‘Hey! Just because I believe in happy endings doesn’t mean I can’t be realistic too!’ Ava countered. ‘Money can make you or break you.’
Bonni slung her arm around Ava’s shoulders and guided her toward the bar. ‘You are absolutely correct, but this is free money. I won it on the hotel’sdime. I’m not going out and wagering it all on blackjack, just sprinkling a little magic on this girls’ weekend. And then I’ll sock the rest away for the Virginia move.’ She gave Ava a kiss on the cheek. ‘Now calm the hell down and enjoy yourself.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Ava took a glass when Celia began passing out the tequila shots.
‘Well, I’m certainly not going to argue with you. I haven’t been toa club since my ill-fated why-didn’t-any-of-you-stop-me? bachelorette party.’ Celia held her shot glass up.
Fredi jabbed a finger at Celia accusingly. ‘Excuse me, I don’t remember every single thing from that night, but I do remember telling you the statistics on divorce and you pooh-poohing me, saying you were in lurrvvve.’
‘I was blitzed out of my mind! You should’ve kidnapped me.’
‘But thenyou wouldn’t have your kids,’ Ava pointed out.
Celia sighed, swirling the shot gently. ‘That’s true. Everything that happened, it happened for a reason. My kids.’
‘Andme winning a hundred grand is for a reason too. C’mon, enough chattering, let’s get this party started!’ Bonni shouted, raising her tequila glass to her friends.
They clinked their glasses before downing the shots and slammingtheir glasses on the bar in unison. Bonni felt the burn go down her throat and into her veins. She was determined that this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime, no-holds-barred trip. Bonni leaned over the bar to grab the bottle of tequila.
‘One more round, ladies, before we go hit the shops. After all, someone has to be the winner of the Celia Pukes pool, and I’m feeling lucky!’
‘Hmm, takingshots like that, I’ve got to wonder if you might be the one we should be wagering on!’ Fredi warned.
‘Nah, are you kidding? You know I don’t drink much.’ Bonni waved off her friend’s remark.
Fredi slapped five dollars down on the bar. ‘Who’s in?’
Before Bonni knew it, money was on the bar. ‘Wow, guys, talk about a no-confidence vote.’
