Fuck it.
Just then I heard my condo door open. For a fleeting second, my head went somewhere it shouldn’t have gone, but reality set in when Andy called my name.
“In here,” I yelled back.
He appeared in my bedroom doorway with a disgusted look on his face. “Dude, what the fuck?”
“What?” I glared at him defensively.
“I’ve been calling you for a week and haven’t heard back. What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing, I’m just chillin’.”
“Chillin’?”
“What do you want, Andy? I have things to do.”
“Oh, what—like call a heart surgeon and schedule your bypass appointment now because of all these?” He walked over and picked up my Slim Jim canister. “I talked to Viper, he told me what happened.”
“It’s not a big deal, whatever.” I waved him off.
“If it’s not a big deal, why are you drowning your sorrows in sodium and reality television?”
“Don’t forget beer,” I joked.
“Listen, why don’t you come over this weekend?” he asked.
“Fuck. That.”
“Let me finish, ass wipe. Blaire and all her obnoxious friends are headed to a weekend getaway in Napa Valley. It’s just me and the kids. I’ll invite Viper and a few of the guys over. We’ll smoke expensive Cuban cigars and drink too much, so plan on crashing at my place.”
“No.”
“Come on, if worst comes to worst, you can go up and play with Logan and Becca.”
“If I say yes, will you leave?”
“Absolutely,” he said.
“Fine.” I sighed as I rolled over. “Now get out. And leave the Slim Jims!”
Andy laughed as he walked toward my bedroom door. “I’m holding them for ransom.”
I pulled up to Andy’s house and sat in my truck, contemplating turning around and going home. I just wasn’t feeling this. As I had just about talked myself into driving home, Logan appeared on Andy’s porch, waving at me to come in.
Crap.
“What’s up, buddy?” I scooped up Logan as I made my way up the porch.
“I got a new PS3 Lego game, wanna come see?” he asked excitedly.
“You know what? Let me say hi to your dad and I’ll be right there, okay?”
Andy was in the kitchen, taking pizza out of the oven when I walked in. “Hey, glad you made it.”
“Me too, I guess.”
“Have you talked to her?”
I glared at him. “No, and I’m not talking about it tonight.”
“Okay, okay.” He put his hands up in front of him. “I won’t ask anymore.”
“Where should I put this?” I held up the bottle of tequila and rum I’d bought on my way over.
“Uh-oh, tequila? Someone means business tonight, huh?” Andy raised an eyebrow at me and sighed. “Why don’t you put them in the blast chiller down in the basement?”
By the time I came back upstairs, the unmistakable sound of Viper’s bellow sounded throughout the house. “The party can now begin, the king is here!” He went through the kitchen with one arm up in the air, a case of beer tucked under the other.
“The King?” I teased, coming up behind him. “You sure do like yourself, huh, V?”
“I do, I do.” We shook hands and he set his beer on the table.
“Big Mike, how are ya?” I went over and shook the giant paw of one of our defensemen. Andy represented both Viper and Big Mike, so it came as no surprise that they both came over too.
“I’m awesome,” he said with a big, goofy grin on his face. “Guess what? Michelle is pregnant.”
“That’s excellent. Congratulations!” I said as sincerely as I could, though right now I don’t think I could truly be happy for anyone about anything. Selfish, yes, but it was the truth.
Before we even got the night started, there was more commotion at the front door, except this time it was the devil’s voice I heard.
“What are you guys doing back here?” Andy’s mouth hung open, his face frozen in shock at Blaire and her friends standing in the doorway.
“Our flight was canceled because of storms over the Valley, so we’re all gonna have a giant sleepover here. The limo is coming back super early in the morning and we’ll be on the first flight out.” She looked around the room, turning up her nose as she went. “What’s going on here, Andrew?”
If there was one person in this world Blaire hated more than me, it was Viper.
“What does it look like? I had the guys over for dinner and drinks,” Andy responded defensively.
“Hi, Brody.”
A head peeked out from behind Blaire.
Shit, Kendall.
“Hey, Kendall,” I said dryly, suddenly wishing I were a tiny girl in a blue dress from Kansas and I could just click my heels together and be home. Actually, anywhere other than this kitchen would be just fine with me.
There we stood, Blaire’s group and ours, the East and the West, the Crips and the Bloods, staring each other down to see who was going to head where.