He pulls out his phone, taps the screen, then turns it toward me. My eyes instantly land on the message displayed.
212-894-5092: leave her ALONE. this will be ur only warning.
“What the fuck is this?” The question is clearly rhetorical. It’s pretty obvious the “her” in this context refers to me and even though the texts I’ve received onmyphone have been way more graphic with literal death threats,thissomehow scares me more. It feels…different. More personal. Familiar in a way I can’t place.
“Holly!”
Both of us turn to the alley’s entrance to see April standing there. She’s swaying slightly on her feet and holding what looks like a penis-shaped balloon.
“Where have you been —” Her eyes land on Theo and her entire face lights up. “Theo! You’re here!” Then her brows pull together in dramatic drunken concern. She gasps. “Ohmygod, did I just…were you two about tokiss?”
“What?! Absolutely the fuck not!”
“A little bit, yeah,” Theo counters at the same time.
I whip around, glaring daggers at him. He just winks.
April stumbles toward me, looping her arm through mine. “We’re doing more shots. Parker thinks he can outdrink me, and for the sake of our future children, I have to prove him wrong.”
We head back into the bar. Theo trails behind us like some kind of an overbearing bodyguard. The place is a lot more packed than before. Louder too. Low, heavy beats vibrate through the smoky air. Some EDM crap. Low, red lighting casts everything in a shadowy glow.
Parker’s already waiting at the bar with a tray of four shots. I’m suddenly glad they’ve already booked a car service for their drive to Cooperstown tomorrow. My poor sister is a terrible driver as it is. She doesn’t need a hangover on top of that.
The moment Parker sees Theo, he leaps up to greet him. The two exchange a classic “bro-hug” complete with an unnecessary, bone-jarring pat on the back. Then he turns to April, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek as if to apologize for not greeting her first.
We each take a shot from the tray, raising our glasses.
“Wait, wait!” April protests. “We have to toast to something!”
Parker doesn’t miss a beat. “Here’s to getting drunk and making out with my hot fiancée on the dance floor!”
The fiancée in question swats him playfully in the stomach, her embarrassment only making him laugh.
Somewhere between trying to come up with the perfect toast and the opening beats of a Britney song, we throw back our shots sans toast. The alcohol burns on the way down, but the warmth spreads quickly. Theo suggests food. April leans back against Parker, scanning the menu with her phone in one hand, his chin resting on her shoulder. “What do you want to eat?” she asks, her focus on the screen.
Parker barely glances at it before replying with a smirk, “She’s not on the menu.”
April snorts, shoving her elbow lightly into his ribs, though she’s clearly trying not to laugh. “You’re horrible.”
He presses a kiss to her shoulder. “And yet, you’re marrying me anyway.”
“Still time to make better choices,” I mutter low enough that April and Parker don’t hear me, but I catch the sound of Theo’s laugh from the corner of my eye.
The song changes.Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!By ABBA.
I order another martini and April grabs Parker’s hand, laughing as she drags him to the dance floor.
“It’s our song!” she squeals. They blend into the crowd, dancing together like no one else exists.
“We should do that,” says the voice beside me.
I glance at Theo, my brow furrowed. “What?”
He side-eyes me. “Dance.”
The bartender returns with my drink, and I blink slowly, trying to process the gibberish that just came out of his mouth. “You want to dance with me?”
Theo sighs. “All right, since you won’t stop begging.” He steps in front of me and offers his hand. “And please try to follow my lead. These shoes are new, and I don’t want you stepping on them even if it’s to reach me for a quick thank-you kiss.”
