I smirked at him, and he smiled, finishing his own bottle of beer.
Kai walked over, grabbing another for himself, but then he halted, eyeing me. “Does this bother you?” he asked. “We don’t have to drink.”
His hand was paused on the bottle, his eyes dropping to my water.
“No.” I exhaled. “I want to be all here for her. I’m good.”
He took the bottle and uncapped it, the sweat streaming down the sides looking like bliss at one time, but not this time. Bile rose up my throat, remembering the feeling when I drank. Of time moving too fast, of waking up feeling like hell, and feeling paranoid of saying the wrong thing or facing the music the next day after I’d done something stupid.
I could do so much more with myself. I was tired of who I used to be.
But I could have a vice.
If Damon got to drink in front of me, then I got to smoke in front of him. Shooting out of the chair, I dug a pack out of Rory’s breast pocket with his lighter, and lit one up, waiting for a dirty look from Michael about smoking in his house.
But nothing. He was too busy smiling and laughing with Kai.
“That was fun last night,” Micah said.
Em had filled me in on what it took to get me out of jail, and surprise, surprise, she was right. Her involvement at the station changed things, so whoever was in charge was keeping it quiet because of her. It still unnerved me that I hadn’t heard a peep from Martin, though.
“As long as you don’t get caught, it’s a lot of fun,” I replied.
Pulling over a duffle bag I had laid on the chair, I pulled out a green Army of Two mask, as well as a black one painted with white bandages to look like a mummy. I handed them each one.
Micah eyed me, looking confused.
“For later,” I said. “It’s Devil’s Night.”
Their eyes widened, remembering what Emmy had talked about, and they exchanged a look, laughing under their breaths.
“Seems like you and your friends are the law in Thunder Bay,” Micah said.
“Just the opposite.” I took a drag. “There are no bedtimes here.”
Rory tossed his mask back on the chair. “Is anyone coming after us?
“Undoubtedly.”
Micah chuckled. “Oh, good.”
Maybe not tonight, but someone was coming.
“You guys gassed up?” Michael called out, and I looked over to see him talking to David and Lev.
The other guys nodded. “Yeah.”
Michael looked around to all of us. “Cell phones charged everyone?”
We all replied in the affirmative.
“The kids?” he asked next.
“The nannies will meet us there,” Damon answered.
Michael stood there, everything ready and all the ducks in a row, his shoulders tense.
“You ready?” I asked him.