Joel opens the bottle of vodka. He pours three cups—one for him, one for me, one for Violet. None for Kit. Violet's brow knits together the way it does when she's working something out. Then it's relaxed. She says nothing about Kit skipping the booze.
And she claims she's tactless.
Joel takes a long swig. He purses his lips in disgust. "You really drink this shit?"
She laughs.
"Try it. It's disgusting." He grimaces.
I've never been a fan of vodka and this cheap brand doesn't do the potato liquor any favors. My throat burns as I swallow. I grimace the way Joel did.
"It can't be that bad." Violet shakes her head at us.
Joel motions to her: then try it.
She takes a long swig. Her lips purse. She sucks in her cheeks like she just tasted something sour, but she doesn't admit defeat. "Not my favorite."
"Fuck, we must have orange juice or Coke or something." Joel jumps to his feet and bounces to the fridge. Even after pounding his drums for an hour and a half, the man is bursting with energy. He grabs a carton of juice, takes a swig, deems it acceptable, and returns.
He's incredibly smooth about pouring Kit a glass of OJ and handing it over.
I stick with straight vodka. It's bad, but rubbing alcohol–flavored OJ is worse.
Violet looks to me. "If Ethan can handle it, I can."
Joel shakes his head and fills his glass to the brim. He takes a long sip. "Almost decent." He looks to Violet. "You want to start, Valentine?"
Her eyes light up at him calling her by her last name like she's one of the guys. Have to admit, I wasn't sure how Joel and Kit would act towards Violet. Maybe I should be offended by the lack of loyalty, but I'm not. I'm glad they aren't giving her shit about walking out on me.
What matters now is getting her under me.
"Hmm. Okay." She only barely grimaces as she takes a sip. Her brow knits with concentration then her eyes light up. She's got something good. "Never have I ever had a threesome with a bandmate."
"That's awfully specific," Joel says.
"Drop the finger, drummer boy." She sticks her tongue out.
Joel shakes his head. "Sorry. I have a strict 'no fraternizing within the band' policy. But-" He motions to Kit then to me.
Both of us drop a finger.
Violet's jaw drops. Her eyes go to mine. "You and Kit?"
I swallow hard. Usually, I'm more than happy to flaunt my experience. At the moment, I'm worried what Violet thinks of me. I was quite the slut before we got together. She never cared but-
God dammit, what is wrong with me? I'm not fucking shy like this.
I clear my throat. "A few times."
"A few times!" She nearly spits out her drink. Her eyes go to Kit's. "How few we talking?"
"Few dozen," Joel mumbles.
Kit shrugs without a hint of shame.
Violet nods, playing like it's fine. But I'm not buying that. There's trepidation in her eyes.
"Wasn't a big deal," I say.