I laughed and tapped my glass against hers.
Looking around the table, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have so many people who loved and cared about me. My parents loved me and did their best to accept who I was, but these women embraced me in a way that only your chosen few could.
“You okay?” Ashley pushed a bowl of salsa my way. “You’ve got a glossy eye thing going on.”
“Yeah. Just soaking it all in.”
She gave me a soft smile and then turned to the loud debate over the menu and which apps we should get.
“Get all of them.” I shrugged. “Why choose?” Tommy’s deep laugh caught my attention, and I noticed that the two Moretti soldiers had quite the spread. In a very ladylike move, I leaned over and snagged a taquito. “How do you already have food?”
“We weren’t busy being sentimental,” Gio said, completely straight-faced.
“You’re boring.”
“I know.” He bared his teeth. I suppose it could’ve been a smile, but it was more like a predatory warning to move along.
So, I moved along.
After a delicious meal and too many drinks, we headed to a club to dance. Standing in a tight pack, we dissuaded dance partners with wild dance moves and the occasional outburst of hysterical laughter.
“I need to use the bathroom,” I shouted in Jazz’s ear. She followed me to the small hall at the back of the club. Three women stood outside the women’s bathroom.
“Let’s just use the men’s.” Jazz lifted her chin toward the door.
Flashbacks of the last time I’d used the men’s room ran like a reel in my mind, and I shook my head wildly. When Jazz frowned, I added, “I’d rather avoid piss on the floor.”
The short redhead in front of us spun around with a big, drunk grin. “It’s all urinals. I checked.”
Jazz laughed, and I blew out a sigh of relief.
A bleary-eyed coed threw her arm around the short woman and lifted her chin at us. “We’re just here for moral support, so you’re two closer to peeing.”
“Good to know.”
“You don’t have a lighter, do you?” she yelled over the loud music as she patted her pockets.
Jazz and I shared an amused look. “Sorry, no.” I reached into my clutch and pulled out a matchbook with the hotel’s logo. “But I do have these.”
“You’re a goddess.” The younger woman gushed as she snatched them from my hand. “Tiff and I were going to head out back and—” She made the universal sign for smoking a joint. “Since you provided the fire, it’s only right you come with us.”
Smoke what I was sure would be skunk weed in the alley with two college kids?
“Sure, why not? I really do need to pee, though.”
The DJ dropped a song with thumping bass, and the crowd got extra rowdy, so the four of us awkwardly danced, unable to hear each other over the ruckus. As we entered the bathroom, the two hallway girls and their friend left, repeating their invitation to join them in a bit of puff, puff, pass.
“You’re not really going to the alley with those kids, are you?” Jazz asked as she checked her lipstick. Her dark eyes watched me in the small sink over the mirror. “I’d bet good money they have that weak ass weed they sell on the beach.”
I let out a deep sigh. “No, which makes me feel old.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I know.” I searched my small bag and huffed. “You don’t, by chance, have a tampon, do you?”
Jazz dug through her purse. “Last one.” The bathroom was not even a four-by-four square, so she easily handed it to me from the sink.
“Thank God. I didn’t want to have to fashion a toilet paper pad.”