Page 40 of The Game
Good thing I never fucking had one.
CHAPTER 22
Alice
“So…I take it you had fun?” Teddy’s voice sounds from behind me, and I totter on the plush barstool as I whirl around, two skinny straws trapped in my mouth as I suck down another Cosmo. Ricky told me I give off basic bitch vibes no matter how Teddy dresses me, and this is my third. As drunk as I now am, I can’t be mad at it.
Beaming as he saunters near, devoid of makeup and looking exhausted but filled to the brim of life, he settles his hand on my lower back and holds my drunken gaze. With my inhibitions so loose right now, I worry about what’s going to happen when we get home, but the drunk side of me pushes all that away and is instead excited, especially with his hand gently rubbing my back and how it makes butterflies erupt in the pit of my stomach. Okay, and my vagina, as Cardi B once said.
“Yup!” I quip, setting aside my empty drink as I waver on the stool. My girlfriends I met earlier had to leave; one of them started puking in the bathroom, and Ricky all but dragged me out by my hair and told me to keep my ass planted in this chair until the show was over. “You’re seriously such a good singer, like…wow!”
Teddy rolls his eyes but chuckles.
“Sober up for the ride home, bunny. We’ve got a pit stop to make.”
I’m quick to pout until he quirks a brow at me in warning, my stomach flooding with all those good hormones I’ve missed so much. I wonder if his cock is big enough to get my period to start early. I’m still on the pill, but with all the stress lately, the placebo weeks don’t work, and my body feels like it’s in this constant state of hormonal rage.
God, why am I even thinking this? I feel like a deplorable slut, but then the alcohol gives me that upswing my emotions need right now, and I feel like just coasting on the good times for as long as I possibly can.
“No, but like…you guys are seriously amazing,” I slur, his band coming up behind him. With the bar closed down, it’s quiet, my ears left ringing from that impactful music. Cash orders more shots and tosses me a salacious wink as he seats himself next to me. Unable to stop rambling, I keep spitting compliments at them. It always used to make my twins laugh, how I gushed over everything when I was drunk, from their handsomeness to the flowers they would buy me randomly. Teddy is no different; he deserves to hear how amazing he is.
“This wassofun. Why don’t you have a record deal yet?”
Everyone’s eyes shift quickly to me, then to Teddy, then elsewhere, my question left hanging. He pats my back before grabbing my hips and sliding me off the stool.
“Think that’s enough booze for you, my little degenerate. Let’s catch the bus.”
Puffing out my lips as I teeter on the ground, he wraps an arm around my waist to keep me upright.
“Okay fine. Bye guys!” I say, waving as they chuckle.
“Bye, Alice. You’re too sweet for Ted Bundy over here, don’t you forget that,” Cash says with a sideways grin.
“Pssh. You haven’t seen my bad side, that’s all—”
“Okay, fighter, let’s go,” Teddy says with a laugh, pulling me toward the back entrance. Pouting and unable to run away because I need his support, I allow him to drag me out into the crisp air, dewy fog coating everything and diffusing the lights of the street lamps as we make our way to the bus stop. Even though I am drunk, I am still cold, shivering into his side as the air sobers me up slightly.
He’s quick to chafe my side, and the way he cares for me suddenly makes tears spring into my eyes. Being drunk is always a gamble with me; it’s either tears or uncontrollable laughter. And right now, as we walk the desolate streets of Seattle, the scuffle of our shoes and the patter of old rain dripping off buildings the only other sound, I just want to cry. Bury my face in his chest and have him tell me it will all be okay in the end, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.
“Teddy—”
“Shh, bunny. You’re drunk.”
“I know, but—”
He chuckles, squeezing me gently, and my head lolls to his body, resting there as I allow him to guide us home. “Save your sentiments. I want to be able to remember them clearly when I’m not keeping an eye out for muggers.”
“Fine,” I sniffle, gripping him back as though he’ll somehow disappear from me, too. It’s kind of a pattern in my life, one I try not to think too hard about. I don’t want to be a victim, but I suppose I also need to acknowledge some of this is out of my control.
The heavy scent of skunk makes my face screw up, and when my tired eyes blink fully open, I see a green sign in the distance, the iridescent reflection bouncing off the wet pavement. A small grin fights to form on my lips.
“Should’ve guessed.”
He laughs again, the noise so light and unencumbered by the weight holding both of us back.
“Don’t tell me you’re too prissy for weed.”
“Quite the contrary. I tripped on Molly in high school.”