Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
She shrugged and looked at me with a sad smile. “Just wondering what our lives will be like after we graduate.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll always be friends. No matter what happens.” I reached over and squeezed her hand, suddenly feeling sentimental. “We have each other, right? That’s all that matters.”
But even as I said the words, I knew they weren’t true. Because no matter how strong our friendship was, it couldn’t compete with the pull of a toxic relationship. And I had a feeling that Bonnie’s toxic relationship with Wyatt was going to be the death of our friendship.
Bonnie flashed a shy smile and ducked her head down, hiding her face in the mouth of her glass. “It has been a while since I’ve gone out like this. I miss it.”
Sadness flashed in her eyes and not for the first time, I wanted to kick Wyatt’s ass.
“And I miss having you out with me! The dynamic duo is back for my twenty-first, baby!” Living in a small-ish town like Glitz, next door to Vegas’ darker, younger cousin Mayhem, meant it was easy to get good and blasted well before my twenty-first birthday. But my brother Gunnar and his wife Peaches decided I needed a VIP room to celebrate this milestone.
Bonnie raised her glass. “To good friends.”
“Strong drinks,” I added the way I always did.
“And a night that never ends!” We finished the last line together, a promise we made late one night freshman year after I’d had too many cranberry vodka cocktails.
“Can you believe it, we’re already twenty-one years old. Where does the time go?” I shook my head and knocked back my drink, taking the glass of water the hot bartender pushed into my hands.
Bonnie let out a snort that was out of character for the good Catholic girl and covered her mouth in a hilariously horrified expression. “What is the matter with me?”
“Nothing in the world Bonnie and please don’t ever change.” You’d expect Bonnie to be uptight and judgmental given how she was raised, five days a week at the local Catholic church whether she wanted to or not, and that was on top of her Catholic school education. But Bonnie was sweet and even though she didn’t drink, the girl could make a sailor blush when it came to shaking her booty on the dance floor.
“We’re twenty-one, Maze, not fifty-one. We don’t even have our diplomas yet.”
The reminder brought another smile to my face. “Not yet. Six weeks from now, we’ll be college graduates. Adults. Dwellers in that gross place called the real world.”
“Come on, it won’t be so bad. We’ll get jobs and make our own money, which means no one can say how we spend it.” That was especially important to Bonnie, who grew up in a strict, deeply religious household where women listened to men and kids listened to adults, period. No questions and no negotiations.
Gunnar wasn’t too bad as a brother playing parent, unless he was sure he was right, and even then, Peaches was always the perfect ally. She was the best mom ever.
“That all sounds amazing, but the downside is we’ll have to do actual work.” My expression sent Bonnie erupting into a fit of giggles that made her skin glow. And when her wide, lush mouth spread open with laughter, at least five dudes groaned behind their zipper pain. “Damn girl, put that lethal weapon away before you cause a riot!”
Bonnie froze mid-laughter and looked around, too self-conscious about her looks when she had no reason to be. She constantly stood in with her bright red waves which were in stark contrast to my plain black hair that hung to the middle of my back. Where I was ghostly white, Bonnie had that whole sweet Irish rose thing going on with rosy cheeks, lush pink lips, and cheekbones straight off the Paris runway. She was a knockout in a nun’s habit, or whatever was one step above a nun’s habit on the awful to amazing scale. “Stop saying that, Maisie! You know it’s not true.”
I ordered another drink and turned back to my bestie. “I know it’s absolutely true. That guy over there, the blonde in all black, has been staring at you all night. He’s almost got enough courage to approach you. And let’s not forget the suit at the end of the bar who’s been drooling over your tits for the past hour. Be careful, he seems like a drink spiker.”
Bonnie choked on her drink and shook her head. “You can’t tell that from looking Maisie. You are so full of it.”
“Trust me, I have good instincts when it comes to people.” I grew up on a ranch in Texas, which I knew made me sound like some kind of small town hick.
The truth, though, was my upbringing was anything but normal. My mom died when I was too young to remember her, forcing my brother to take care of me. He and his wife Peaches did a great job.