Unknown number: I was knocking earlier.
Me: Who is this?
Unknown number: Satan.
Me: Seriously, who is this? I’m tired of the games.
Unknown number: it’s Logan. What games?
Me: How’d you get my number?
Unknown number: Does it matter?
I paused. Did it? No. Not really anyway. I knew he wasn’t the one behind the texts I was getting. That wasn’t his style. His style was blunt force trauma, and I could verify that from the way he dropped the news about my father and The Lab Initiative. I saved his phone number.
Logan Fitzgerald: You heading to the party yet?
Me: Soon. Travis is meeting me there.
Logan Fitzgerald: I guess I don’t want to know the answer to the burning question in my mind after all
Me: what question?
Logan Fitzgerald: I was wondering if you were going to wear something under the toga. Maybe something red. Maybe something black.
Me: that’s definitely none of your business.
Logan Fitzgerald: Maybe I’ll find out
Me: With how I feel about you right now, I might break your hand so you have to sit out this year if you try to find out
Logan Fitzgerald: You’re funny when you’re angry. Are you going to break the hand that contains your blood?
I paused, biting my lip. Why did it feel like the butterflies in my stomach took flight when I read those words?
Me: Maybe.
Me: I’ll be naked under the toga
After a moment of receiving no answer from him, I tossed my phone into my bag with a laugh, grateful for the slight improvement in my mood, and headed downstairs where an Uber was waiting for me.
Chapter 31
“For the record, toga parties are just an excuse for jocks to show off their muscles and girls to walk around almost naked.” I lifted my red cup to make that toast with Celia and missed her cup, hitting the air beside it instead.
“You know you’re slurring your words.”
“Am not.” I blinked hard.
My eyes felt heavier than usual. I hadn’t drunk like this in a long time, but tonight I’d decided to escape the madness inside my head and drown out my thoughts. Maybe I was slurring.
“You are.” Celia raised an eyebrow. “Have some water. You don’t want to be slurring when Travis gets here. Also, let me tie your toga again. I’m scared your boobs are going to pop out.”
I looked down at myself. My boobs were not in any danger of popping out. My vagina, maybe. The slit came all the way to the tip-top of my thigh, but not my boob. I said this out loud and Celia laughed.
“Dude, your slit is really high. You know people don’t normally use actual sheets for these things, right? We buy ready-made togas at costume stores.”
“Um, excuse me, I did buy a ready-made toga. I just made minor improvements.” I looked down at my exposed thigh. “Maybe I went a little overboard.”
Celia laughed again. “You’re a mess.”
I took another gulp of the water. Maybe I did need it, after all. My throat felt parched.
“Do you have a mint?”
“I do.” She shook a tin of cinnamon Altoids and handed it to me. “Are you planning on making out with your ex? If so, I’m gonna have to advise against it.”
“No way.” I laughed, popping a mint in my mouth and handing her the tin back. “That ship has sailed. Am I still slurring?”
“Yes. More water.”
“I’m going to have to pee. Also, I want another shot of Fireball.”
“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.”