“Hey.” I tap Youssef on the chest. “I know Shonda will be mad at me, but do you, uh, want to get out of here?”
He laughs and brushes his thumb along my collarbone. “What did you have in mind?”
I sigh and lean into his touch. “Mmm. Your place? Or mine? I think I have it to myself tonight.”
He starts tracing the neckline of my shirt. “Those sound like excellent options, but we do have one stop to make first.”
“Oh?”
“There’s an after-party I promised to drop in at.”
I must not do a great job of hiding my disappointment, because he laughs a second later. “I promise you’re going to like it.”
He gets all weird and secretive about the details after we’ve snuck out of the green room, hiding his phone from me as he orders a ride.
“What? Is it run by the mafia?” I prod. “Or is it just something you know I’m going to hate and refuse to go to?”
He smirks. “I told you you’re gonna like it. Have patience, grasshopper.”
I groan and keep bugging him, but he doesn’t give in the whole way out to the sidewalk and into the car. The outside of the club is still buzzing with people. Another DJ is playing the pavilion now, keeping people dancing on the pavement and reliving the thrill of the show.
“What’s even open this late?” I ask as the car takes us up towards the Plateau.
It’s already well past midnight on a Sunday night—or I guess Monday morning.
“You’ll see,” Youssef sing-songs.
We get all the way to Avenue Mont-Royal, and that’s when it starts to dawn on me.
“You didn’t.”
Youssef shrugs, trying to play innocent. “Didn’t what?”
I get the answer when we stop in front of Taverne Toulouse. Most of the other bars on the street are closed or about to be, but I can hear the music from inside and the chatter of a crowd as soon as we step out of the car.
I pause in front of the letter board on the side of the building.
The Best Luxe After-Party In Town
+ Bon Voyage for Paige
I turn to Youssef with my eyes wide. “You did this?”
“I helped a little,” he admits. “Mostly it was Ingrid and DeeDee.”
My throat starts to get thick, and I turn to blink away the burning in my eyes.
I’ve never had friends like this before.
“Hey.” He comes to stand beside me. “I’m sorry if it’s too much. I could just—”
“It’s perfect.” I turn back around and smile at him. “It’s so perfect.”
I lead the way to the door and pull it open. I just have time to register the crowd milling around inside before someone screams, “SHE’S HERE!”
DeeDee’s by my side in an instant, dragging me up to the bar as everyone claps and cheers. The faces around me are mostly a blur, but I spot Zach, Ingrid, her whole band, and pretty much all of the Taverne Toulouse staff.
My eyes sting as I look at them. It’s cheesy, but what the staff say about this place is true: Taverne Toulouse really is a family.
