Page 74 of Half Truths (Secret Society 1)
“Oh my God, Mae. Drink the water, then pee.” She shot me a stern look. “Then we’ll do another shot.”
“Be right back.” I walked toward the bathroom.
The room seemed to shift a little, so I slowed down. Maybe another shot wasn’t the brightest idea. Still, I’d feel better after I peed. When I was finished in the bathroom, I stepped out and held onto the threshold for a second. The party was a sea of white sheets. The only thing missing was a Trojan horse smack in the center of the room to hide in. I must have been standing there for a long time, because by the time I reached the kitchen, where Celia was now making out with Quentin, I felt like I was completely sober. I grabbed a red solo cup and vacillated between the Fireball and Cuervo.
“Fireball. I’ll do one with you.” Travis’s voice beside me made me gasp as I turned around to face him.
He looked as handsome as ever, one brown muscled shoulder and arm exposed in his loose-fitting toga. From the way his hairline was perfectly even and his dark hair faded on the sides, I could tell he’d just gone to the barber. His smile was wide as he looked at me for a moment before wrapping an arm around me and pulling me into him. I pressed my face to his chest and breathed in his familiar scent, Aqua Di Gio cologne, and exhaled, already feeling much better than I’d felt all day. He pulled away slightly but kept his hand splayed on my back as he turned to Celia.
“Are you the roommate that left her after a hot minute?”
Celia laughed. “Yes, but I still check up on her.”
“Good.” He left his hand on my back. I fought the urge to shrug it off. “It was the right move for you though. This is a nice place.”
“Hell yeah it’s a nice place, and you can crash anytime you want,” Quentin said, smiling. “But we still gonna kick your ass in ball.”
Travis laughed. “We’ll see about that. We got a new center and he’s looking like Shaq out there.”
“That just means we’ll have to foul him and see how he does from the three-point line.”
“Ah, low blow.” Travis laughed again.
“Okay, we gotta go say hi to people,” Celia interrupted. “You guys can talk sports later.”
She shot me a look that said, damn he’s hot, as she dragged Quentin out of there. I shook my head and turned back to Travis.
“Do you have a cup?”
He reached over the counter and got one from the new stack. “I do now.”
“Perfect.” I placed them side by side and poured a decent amount of Fireball for a shot, the amount that would burn the hell out of our throats and probably make us question our choices tomorrow. I slid him a cup and picked up mine. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.” His dark brown eyes met mine as he tapped his cup to mine. We took the shot at the same time and set the cups down on the counter. “Another one?”
“One more.” I laughed, pouring us another one. We did it again, setting the cups down.
“One more?”
“No. I already had too many tonight. I’m good for now. Maybe in thirty minutes.”
“If there’s any left.” He eyed the bottle and looked at me again. “You look great, as usual.”
“So do you.”
“Been putting in overtime at the gym.” He flexed his bicep to show me.
“I can tell.”
“I guess that’s what happens when your girlfriend leaves you. You get bored and workout more often.”
“Hm. I bet your coach wishes I’d left you sooner.”
Travis laughed. “Probably.”
“Are you ready to graduate?”
“I am. Ready to graduate, ready to start law school. I’m excited.” He smiled. “I got into Princeton.”
“Holy shit.” I gaped, slapping him on the arm. “When did you find out?”
“A couple of weeks ago.”
“You should’ve told me.” I slapped him again. “That’s crazy amazing, Trav.”
“Yeah. I’m happy. Mom’s happy. Dad’s ecstatic. I think he reported it on the news the other day instead of the weather.” He laughed.
“I’m so freaking proud of you.” I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. With the movement, I could definitely feel my toga riding down in my chest area, so I lowered myself and fixed myself quickly, just in case.
I’d learned as a teenager that getting drunk at parties wasn’t a brilliant idea, but if you were going to do it, you should always be mindful of your wardrobe and your surroundings. I’d learned that, of course, by wearing a tube top at a party. Thankfully, there was no recorded proof of what happened, but I never let myself live it down.
“Hey, you want to go outside?”
“Sure.” I grabbed a bottle of water and started walking beside Travis, quickly grabbing onto his arm when I realized the room was indeed tilting again.
