“Aww, I love you guys too.”
Cara sighed. “I so needed this.”
“What’s the weather supposed to be like?” I’d thrown in a bikini, and I was hoping I’d get to use it. The storm clouds above suggested afternoon beach plans weren’t in the cards.
Juliet slowed down when we reached a traffic circle. “It’s going to rain in the morning tomorrow, but we should be fine in the afternoon.”
“I guess that means we can sleep in.”
Juliet laughed. “It’s going to be my kind of morning. “
***
“We should have brought something with us to go with all this liquor.” Cara poured us another round of shots. We were seated at the island in the kitchen. The rain started within twenty minutes of arriving, but our spirits were boosted when we discovered Juliet’s brothers had left behind quite the stash of liquor when they’d visited the week before.
Juliet leaned on her elbows. “You guys are lucky I remembered food.”
I laughed. “Do you call a few boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Special K bars food?”
“We usually have tons of the basics here, and I figured we’d just run to the store tomorrow to get more. I didn’t expect my dumb brothers to have eaten us out of house and home.”
“Are either of you sober enough to drive?” Cara tittered on her stool. “Theoretically, we could still go to the store.”
“No,” Juliet and I answered in unison.
Cara got a wicked grin on her face. “We could always ask your neighbor.”
Juliet paled. “What? Which neighbor? Have you seen a car?”
“I’m joking.” Cara laughed. “I wanted to see your reaction.”
“Not even remotely funny.” Juliet still looked freaked out. I couldn’t blame her. Her ex-boyfriend’s family owned the house next door, and I knew they had some serious history that took place at these houses.
“Break out that box of bars.” I got up to fill a glass with water from the fridge.
“Here you go.” Juliet tossed me a chocolate, peanut butter bar.
“We should play truth or dare.” Cara grinned again, but this one was friendly. I’d never seen her as drunk as she was that night, and I knew it was because she was so upset about Aaron. She was going to regret the alcohol in the morning.
“Truth or dare?” Juliet ate her bar in three bites.
“Although, I have a feeling it’s just going to be truths.” Cara moved into the living room, collapsing dramatically on the couch.
“Can’t we just watch TV instead?” Playing drunk truth or dare with my friends didn’t sound particularly appealing.
Cara picked her head up. “Please. It was fun when we did it as pledges.”
“Fun?” I looked at her with surprise. “Try awful.”
“Really? I thought it was fun.” Cara grinned.
“You would.” Cara was an open book. She had no problem airing her dirty laundry. She also seemed to enjoy the silly dares the actives made up. I’d picked dare and ended up having to sing Tomorrow from Annie on the front porch. Let’s just say I don’t have a great voice.
“Will you play or not?” Cara pressed.
“Sure, but I’m not starting.” I knew she was only suggesting the game so she could grill me about Colt. I’d at least make her wait.
“I’ll go first.” Juliet tossed her wrapper and walked into the living room. I followed her.
“Truth or dare?” Cara didn’t miss a beat.
“Truth.”
“Do you think you and Reed are going to get married?” Cara went in with a punch.
Juliet leaned back into an armchair. “Maybe.”
“Do you want to marry him?” If the topic was already breached, I figured it couldn’t hurt.
She nodded. “I can’t imagine being with anyone else.”
I smiled. “You two are kind of perfect for each other.”
Juliet stretched out. “All right, Mallory. Your turn.”
“My turn?” I snuggled into a blanket I found on the couch. “Shouldn’t Cara go next? She’s the one who suggested the game.” I bit back a smile when I watched a wave of frustration cross her face. She was dying to grill me for details.
“Come on. Truth or dare?” Juliet pressed.
“Truth.”
Cara jumped right in. “What’s really going on with you and Colt?”
“I haven’t slept with him again.”
“I don’t believe you.” Juliet gave me a serious look.
“It’s not that I haven’t tried…”
“What? The guy’s crazy about you. There’s no chance he’d—”
“No. He wants it too. We just can’t find time alone.”
“And you haven’t told us this because…?”
“Because I was afraid to.” If I was being honest, I might as well let it all out.
“Why would you be afraid? It’s just us.” Juliet moved to sit next to me.
“A lot of reasons.”
“Start naming them.”
“Because you wanted me to date Tanner.” I took a deep breath. I wasn’t ready to have this discussion. “And Colt’s a freshman.”
“So? Those are pretty weak reasons.”
I wrapped my arms around myself. “They’re good ones.” I didn’t want to talk about the real ones. It hurt too much to even think about Jack.
“We want you to be happy, Mallory. We don’t care who you date.” Juliet took a sip from her cup.
“Juliet’s right. I can’t believe you’d think we wouldn’t support you on dating anyone you wanted. Plus, Colt will be a Kappa in another few months. It serves the same purpose.” Cara smiled. Her face was a little flushed from all the alcohol.
“A pledge is the same thing as one of your boyfriends’ friends?” I gave Cara a disbelieving look.
Cara ran her nails over the fabric of the cushion. “We just wanted you to feel part of it. We hate leaving you out.”
“I appreciate that, but it’s not a big deal.”
“Why are you so embarrassed about Colt?” Cara scooted closer. “He’s hot and funny. I’d date him if I were single.”
How could I tell them everything? How could I tell them about what Dad said? About Jack? How could I admit that every guy in my life had left me in the dust because I wasn’t good enough for them?