I sigh. “She was my Lyft driver. She invited me to a bachelorette party.”
“And you went?” Somewhat incredulous.
“Yeah, I did. I’m on a sort of…adventure, to find myself.” I laugh. “I guess that sounds dumb, but it’s true. I’m recently divorced and figuring out my life. So yeah, I went to a bachelorette party with people I didn’t know.” I shrug, shake my head. “I’ve never been a big drinker. Grew up pretty, um…religious. So drinking wasn’t something we did. My ex-husband and I would have a beer or a glass of wine now and then if we were out, but…” I lift my palms up. “Nothing like last night. They were all drinking tequila, just shots of it, mixing it, whatever. Every time I turned around, they were shoving a shot in my hands, and they all seemed fine.”
“She was with the big group of Hispanic chicks. Big bachelorette party. They had platinum passes.” This is from one of the big blond brothers. “Fuckin’ wild, all of ‘em. Inez said they musta went through three fifths of Patrón by themselves, and theyshowed uplit.”
Rev stares at me. “Never partied before, never been drunk. First time, you do it with a group of wild-as-fuck Latinas shooting Patrón?” He shakes his head. “Lucky to be alive, girl.”
“Angel was so friendly, and it really was fun.” I wince. “Except barfing on the bus.”
Kane snorts. “Threw up and kept partying.” He shakes his head, chuckling. “Hell of an introduction.”
I make a face. “Never again.”
The men all laugh, at this.
“Uh-huh,” Rev says, humor in his voice that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Everybody says that at some point.”
“Well, it’s true, in my case. Feeling like this isnotworth it.”
He nods. “Heard that, too. Said it myself a time or ten.”
Chance laughs. “’Member Hanoi? You, me, and Phil drank so much rice wine we passed out and woke up in a rice paddy three days later?”
Rev tenses—I feel it. His whole body goes hard and rigid. “Yeah, I remember. Fuckin’ Phil’s dumb fuckin’ idea.”
“Shit, still not sure I ever been that wasted,” Chance says.
Rev’s jaw is ticking, clicking, grinding. “Oktoberfest, Berlin. Way drunker, that time.”
Chance’s brow furrows. “Hmm. I barely even remember that one.”
“’Cause you bought a keg, stole a dolly, and rolled the keg around with you, drinking right from the squirter thing.” Rev sounds amused, again, but again it doesn’t quite reach his eyes or face. “Me, Phil, Julius, and Kwan had to drag you back to the hotel. You slept for two days and then ate four hundred dollars’ worth of room service. We missed our flight out and Cap was so pissed at us he made us do a fifty-mile ruck in the Alps, above the tree line, in full gear. Bet you rememberthatshit.”
Chance closes his eyes slowly. “Yeahhhh,” he breathes. “Won’t ever forget that ruck.”
“Yeah, me either,” Rev says, sounding bitter. “Still got the scars on my feet from the blisters.”
“That’s ’cause you didn’t double sock, you twink-ass pansy.”
“Ididdouble sock, you fat fuck,” Rev snarls. “I just wore a hole straight through both.”
I watch this exchange, puzzled and intrigued. Clearly, they’ve known each other a long time, and served in the military together. They also don’t seem to take any real offense to the insults they’re hurling at each other.
I look at Kane. “Should I be concerned?”
He shrugs. “Nah. Them two argue like a pair of old bitches. Don’t mean shit.”
At that moment, a person appears from the hallway leading to the gym. It’s a woman, with black hair pulled back in a severe bun. She’s wearing a black pantsuit with a white button-down, no tie, and sensible pumps. Even from several feet away, she exudes icy, no-nonsense competence.
“Rev.” Her voice is the rasp of a rattlesnake’s tail. “Your presence is required. Now.”
The room stills. It almost feels like ice is creeping through the room, stealing over tables and along the floor.
Rev slugs back the last of his coffee, unfolds from the bench. Pauses beside me. “Be back. Don’t move.”
He swaggers across the room and past the woman without looking at her. He seems unconcerned, but there’s a line of tension across his shoulders and the back of his neck that wasn’t there before.
