“Shit.” She massaged her temples as though she had just remembered. “Okay fine. She stripped naked and slipped on the tiny little… bikini? Looked more like a hoochie outfit for a Mardi Gras. “We start drinking at a more appropriate time, and we go slow, start with cider, and then we hit it hard before we roll up.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “I like this plan.” Then I took out my white bikini. We were heading downstairs just as Nate was coming out of his room.
“Hey!” he snapped, but I rolled my eyes, ignoring him. “Madison!” he repeated. “You can’t ignore me forever.” I flipped him off over my shoulder, going into the kitchen.
“We can skip food,” Tatum says, pulling her oversized glasses down over her eyes.
“Speak for yourself,” I muttered, reaching for the bowls and pouring some of Jimmy’s famous homemade granola in. Best. Ever. I headed out the kitchen doors, the sun kissing my skin instantly.
I inhaled the fresh morning air. “Today is going to be great.”
“It better,” Tate whisked. “I need to get laid, stat!”
I chuckled, wiping my mouth and taking a seat on one of the lounge chairs. “What’s happening with you and Nate?” I was sort of rooting for them in the beginning, but I had witnessed how Nate was with Tillie to how he was with Tatum. There was no denying he was only using Tate, but Tate was starting to catch feelings. With Tillie disappearing for the past months, Tate and Nate managed to come to an agreement, but nothing else has happened between them after their little “talk.” Nate probably got cold feet.
“Don’t make me laugh. I’m not working out my abs today.”
I snorted, my head tilting back. “We will get you laid tonight. Have you seen Bishop’s cousin, Justin? He’s not bad at all.”
“We have different types.” She gestured to me with her free hand as her other rubbed oil over her leg.
I shook my head. “I don’t know, I think you’ll like him.” I placed my empty bowl on the ground and hit play on the sound dock. “Everybody’s fool” by Evanescence starts playing, and I lay on my back, letting the sun seep into my pores.
“Mads!” Someone was shoving me in the arm, my eyes slowly peeled opening to the bright sun. I raised my head up to see Tatum passing me a J. “It’s two P.M, you slept most of the day away. I thought about waking you but thought better of it. What’d you do this weekend to warrant such lengthy sleepy time?” She stood up and dived into the pool.
“Jesus, I don’t know, get absolutely wrecked by trying to save Bishop, and then ended up getting this.” I pointed to the tattoo that was over my ribs.
Tatum swiped the water off her face and started laughing. “Girl, you are owned.”
I shrugged. “His is bigger, and he has two.”
“He has two?” She quirked her eyebrow, pushing herself up and out of the pool.
I nodded and then chuckled. I thought I was wide awake before, but that has nothing on how I’m feeling right now. Tatum dipped behind the little Bahama hut bar we had tucked away at the side of the pool and grabbed out some bottles. “Your dad and Elena are gone, Nate is gone, it’s just us and these poor, innocent bottles of wine.”
I bit my lip. “Hand it over.”
She gasped. “No way, we’re at least going to be classy about this.”
“When are we ever classy?”
She paused, pondered over it for a few beats, and then nodded. “Good point, but, I do want to try my hand at some of these cocktails I saw on Pinterest.” Oh no, Tate and her Pinterest addiction.
“Fine.” I walked to the edge of the pool and dove into the cool water, pushing off the hard floor and coming out the surface. “Just make sure mine is strong!” She started dancing, and shaking, and then dancing more, and changing songs. Tatum moved at speeds that made my head spin. I dried off, straightening my tits in my bikini and headed back to her.
Sinking the first cocktail she had made, I moaned at the taste of silk sliding down my throat. “Damn, that was so delicious. What was it?”
“It was a milky way, be careful, that shit has enough liquor in it to put you on your ass.” She made another one, and then we went back to the lounge chairs, cranking the music higher.
“You know” —she waggled her eyebrows at me— “I think you should talk with him, maybe a little later.”
I shrugged. “I will, just not right now. Right now, I want to be a little angry at them.”
She lifted her glass. “I’ll drink to that.” Tate pulled out her phone, and she shuffled closer to me for a selfie. I pulled my tongue out and crossed my eyes, pulling a silly face as she pouted her lips. She uploaded with a grin on her face.
“What was your caption?”
Tate was famous for her captions. They were either extremely dry or over the top. There was no in between, but either way, they always managed to make people laugh. I wasn’t that active on Facebook or any social media. I had only just started using Snapchat, and even then, I almost always forgot to upload photos and videos.
“Beauty and the Beast have all the treats, with a little cocktail emoji.”
I cracked up, clutching my tummy. “You’re a dork.”
She shrugged. “Maybs, but you love me anyway.”
She was right, I did.
Around four cocktails later, we both began climbing up the stairs. We weren’t wasted, but you could definitely notice that we were under the influence. I think. No, I felt fabulous. Laughing about something Tatum had said, we stumbled into my bedroom. “I need something to wear. Something I know will drive Bishop crazy.”
“Girl, do you like seeing him mad? The man is lethal, I wouldn’t be poking the tiger.”
“Actually, I sort of
