“You are ridiculous Veronica!”
I picked up the coat and handed it to her. “And we have more.”
Holly looked at it. Her eyes watered. “Ivy. . .”
“Oh no.” I frowned. “Don’t you dare cry, Holly.”
Her bottom lip quivered.
“Stop it.” I frowned. “Just take the damn coat.”
Tears threatened to leave her eyes. “You made us all Kate Coats?”
I sighed. “It was just a—”
She bawled right there.
Here we go.
I shook my head. Veronica and Anna rushed over and hugged her. I remained where I was, uncomfortable with this much affection. Only Holly could do that to me.
“The coat.” Holly rubbed her eyes and more tears came.
Smirking, I continued to hold it for her.
“Kate coats.” She almost choked on her words. “I talked about them forever.”
“We know.” Veronica patted her back. “Now get yourself together so we can get fucked up.”
Emma handed Holly a tissue. “Be careful with your coat, Holly. Mine is a little scratchy.”
Really? I’m so glad she leaves right after the wedding.
Holly took the tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “Oh, Emma. I didn’t see you there.”
“No one ever does.” Emma backed away.
“Kate Coats?” Holly got up from the floor, walked over to me, and pulled me into her arms. “Ivy!”
“Oh my God.”
“You love me so much! Just so much!”
“Okay. Okay.” I left her arms and gave her the coat. “Let’s get back to the party.”
She wiped at the rest of her tears and put on her coat. “I’ll wear this forever.”
“Good.” I assessed the fit and was happy.
Holly held her hand in the air. “I’ll never take this off. Never!”
I laughed. “Well, you have to take a shower some time, Holly.”
“I’ll shower in it.” Holly hugged me again. This time I couldn’t help but sink into her hold and enjoy it for a few seconds.
Veronica clapped her hands. “Who’s ready for my hot chocolate del diablo?”
Holly left me and screeched. “No, you didn’t!”
“I did.” Veronica wiggled her hips. “The Boozy Chocolate bar is open! What will the bride have?”
I headed over there, ready for a drink myself.
“No.” Holly backed away. “I can’t. Nikolas’s mother is here. What if I bump into her drunk or—”
“I’ve got you.” I pointed over to the cocoa bar. “Have fun. We solemnly pledge to keep you out of trouble.”
Holly let out a long breath. “Fine. Peer pressure wins.”
Veronica snapped her fingers. “Drink! Drink! Drink!”
Chapter 6
A Holly Jolly Christmas
Drunk off chocolate and booze, we set out, ready to give the snowy town of Lapland something to talk about. I called an uber. The minivan arrived. We climbed in and took up the three rows of seats.
I made a note to give the poor driver a huge tip.
In the front seat, Veronica hung with Holly as she wore her dildo crown over her bride beanie and sang about dildos the whole uber ride to the restaurant. “Jingle dildos! Jingle dildos!”
“Yes, girl, yes!” Veronica rocked with her. “Jingle those dildos, girl.”
Holly’s drunk ass got even hyper. “Jingle the dildo all the way!”
In the middle seat, Anna sat next to me. I clapped with them and tried to add lyrics. “Oh, what fun it is to ride. . .”
“On a one-man dildo sleigh!” Holly added, “Eh!”
“Oh my.” Park chuckled from the back seat. She was the only one who would sit next to Emma. Park clapped with me. “I have to check out this sleigh that you all are talking about.”
Emma’s voice came next. “You all are murdering a nice song.”
Veronica giggled. “Emma needs a dildo! Emma needs a dildo!”
“Here you go, Emma!” Holly took off her crown and tossed it to the back.
I caught it before it hit Emma. “Okay. Okay. Let’s just keep this on your head, girl. And you all leave Emma alone.”
“Thank you, Ivory.”
Lord.
“Ivy!” Holly screamed, making the driver jump. “It’s I-v-y! I. V. . .”
“Y.” I laughed.
“Y!” For some reason, Holly drew an S in the air, telling me she was drunker than I thought. “You see? Y.”
“Okay. Let’s keep it down for the driver.” I laughed until my throat burned.
“She knows your name. She’s doing that on purpose.” Holly glared back at Emma. “Say Ivory on more time and it’s going to be you and me!”
Emma held her hands in the air. “I said her name right.”
“You didn’t!”
“I did.” Emma turned to me. “Didn’t I, Ivory?”
“Motherfucker!” Holly tried to jump her little ass over the seat.
“Whoa!” Veronica grabbed and pulled her back.
I scooted over so I was between them.
Anna chuckled. “This is the best night ever.”
“But what did I do?” Emma whined. “I said it right. Didn’t I, Ivo—”
“Girl.” I held up my hand. “Let’s leave it alone.”
Park offered Emma a thermos. “Here. Have some of this.”
“What is it?” Emma asked.
“Tequila.”
Surprisingly, she grabbed the thermos and took a big gulp.
We made it to the restaurant. At least the driver was chuckling as he opened the door and let us out. I handed him a hundred-dollar bill. He said he would be back to pick us up.
Once he drove off, we all turned to the restaurant and drank it in. The place was called Ice.
This town may not be creative with their naming, but they sure know what to do with snow.
The restaurant truly represented its name. Ice bricks formed a huge building. It was a massive igloo. The snowy ambiance literally reached from the floor to the ceiling. Stunning ice sculptures filled every corner. But most of all, it was freezing.
Holy Mother Mary, it’s cold!
This was why I made sure we had matching jackets, gloves, and hats. When I made reservations, the hostess told me that the temperature went below 0 °C. Therefore, dinner had to be booked in advance so that the food could be served quickly.
We headed inside.
Lord, even the tables are made out of ice.
Unfortunately for us, the place had several couples and groups eating. I hoped we wouldn’t be too rambunctious for them. Thankfully, there were no kids or I would have had to snatch off Holly’s dildo crown.
We marched in there, clapping and snapping our fingers to our own music. “We getting married! He getting married! She getting married!”
Even Emma sang along, which told me the Park’s thermos of tequila had helped.
Veronica bent over and twerked in the aisle. “They getting married!”
“Okay! Okay!” Stumbling back, I hushed us. “We have to act like classy bitches in here.”
Holly whispered to me, “But we’re not classy bitches.”