Wallbanger(65)

“I don’t know, but if the kiss doesn’t come soon, I’m gonna burst,” I admitted, knowing ful wel I was no longer talking about our friends. And

knowing ful wel that he knew ful wel I was no longer talking about our friends.

“Hmm, I wouldn’t want you to burst.” He was now mere inches from my face.

Harem. Harem. Harem. I repeated this mantra over and over.

“I wanna go in the hot tub.”

The whining pul ed me away from the voodoo and back to the kitchen. Where there were people present.

“I wanna go in the hot tub,” I heard again and turned to address Mimi. Imagine my surprise when I saw that Sophia was actual y the whiner, and

she was now hanging on Neil like a backpack.

“Okay, so go in the hot tub. No one’s stopping you,” I insisted, sliding away from Simon and back in front of my plate where I began separating

my peas from my lobster. I was ful , but I would never leave lobster on the plate. I had standards, after al .

“You have to come too,” Sophia whined again as I began to comprehend. Sophia was drunk. Sophia got clingy when she got drunk. Oh boy.

“Go ahead. I’l clean up the kitchen a little and then meet you guys out there,” Simon said, taking my plate and starting to stand.

“Hey, hey, hey! Lobster bite, hel o,” I protested as I grabbed my fork.

“Here, I would never get between a woman and her lobster.” He smiled, offering me my fork back. I accepted the bite with a smile and stood

up. I was a little more drunk than I thought, and this fact made itself known as gravity began tease me.

“Whoa there, you okay?” he asked, steadying me as Sophia started off for the bedroom.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine,” I answered, planting my feet and winning the battle.

“Maybe you outta slow down?” he asked, taking my wine glass.

“Oh, lighten up, it’s a party,” I cried, beginning to giggle. Suddenly everything was funny.

“Okay, party on.” He smiled as I headed to the bedroom to change into my suit. Which proved harder than I thought. String bikinis are difficult to

tie when you’re more than a little buzzed.

“Okay, Caroline’s next. Truth or dare,” Mimi yel ed, once again proving that Drunky Mimi only had one volume level.

“Truth,” I yel ed back, splashing Sophia in the face accidental y as I reached behind me for my glass of wine. We’d brought out the last bottle of

Cava and were steadily working our way through it. And it was steadily working its way through us, our game becoming more and more dangerous.

The sky crackled a bit with far-away lightning, and low rumbles of thunder were just beginning to be heard over the giggling and splashing.

Once we came outside and got settled in the hot tub, it was only minutes before Neil suggested a game of Truth or Dare, and only seconds

after that before Sophia agreed to it. I laughed it off at first, saying there was no way I’d play such a childish game. But when Simon implied that I

was chicken, the alcohol reared its ugly head and shouted something to the effect of, “I wil play Truth or Dare, you sucker, until you can’t tel your

truth from your dare!”

This statement made perfect sense in my head, and must have seemed logical to Mimi and Sophia as wel , as they immediately began

offering me high fives and you-go-girls. I’m pretty sure I saw Simon shake his head, but he was smiling, so I let it go. And poured another glass of

sparkly.

“Where’s the one place you want to travel, and haven’t been yet,” she asked, humming along to the tunes coming through the French doors.

Sophia had found al of her grandfather’s old records, and Simon almost had a fit when he saw the col ection. He’d selected a Tommy Dorsey

album, and the big band accentuated the night perfectly.

“Boring, make her take a dare!” Simon sang, and I stuck my tongue out at him.

“It’s not boring, and she chose truth so she gets truth. Caroline, where is the one place on earth you want to go?” she asked again.

I leaned my head back against the edge of the tub. I looked up at the stars and an image immediately came to mind: soft wind blowing, warm

sun on my face, the ocean spread out in front of me dotted with craggy rocks. I smiled just thinking about it.

“Spain,” I sighed quietly, the smile lingering as I imagined myself on a beach in Spain.

“Spain?” Simon asked.

I turned my face toward his. He was smiling back at me. “Spain. That’s where I want to go. But it’s so expensive, it’s going to have to wait a

while,” I smiled again, my head stil wrapped around the image.

“Hey, wait, Simon, aren’t you going to Spain next month?” Ryan asked, and my eyes widened.