"I’m not going to lie." I grab the other shoe and start putting it on. "I thought you were going to go toe to toe with the Worm." She throws her head back and laughs. I sit up, grabbing my purse.
"Are you leaving?" she asks with her eyebrows pushed together. I try to put on my poker face, but if anyone else knows me besides Travis, it’s Rachel.
"I’m going to get out of here," I share, avoiding her eyes while I look up at the room and see that Travis is waiting beside the door, where he told me to meet him. His eyes find mine, and he motions with his head that he’s heading out. He turns and walks out of the room.
"Are you sure about this?" Rachel asks, and I turn to her and see her looking at me. I stare at her, turn back to look at our friends on the dance floor, and then back again to the doorway that is now empty.
"Nope." I shake my head. "Not even a little bit," I lie to her. "This whole day, I haven’t been sure about anything."
"I mean, weddings are all about regrets, right?" She laughs. "How many people do things at weddings that they wouldn’t do anywhere else? Like, sex in the coatroom. Or sex in the bathroom."
"Or sex with the best man," I add in. "Or during a drunk speech."
"Yes." She points at me. "And how many people can say they banged the groom on his wedding day and wasn’t the bride?"
I gasp. "I’m not banging anyone," I refute, and even my head yells liar.
"Oh, please." She rolls her eyes. "You guys are like two magnets." One hand is in a fist while the other hand slaps it.
"We’re friends." I look back at the table, grabbing a glass of water. "I mean, we were friends," I add in. "He was my best friend."
"Hey," she huffs, and I laugh.
"He was my best guy friend." I put my arm around her and bring her to me.
"I bet he regrets it," she says softly. I shake my head, and my arm drops from her.
"I can’t go there," I say, getting up. "It’s in the past, and that is where it is going to stay. He’s going to give me a lift to my hotel."
"Well, have fun." She smiles at me. "I’ll call you in the morning." I lean down and kiss her cheek. "Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do," she snickers, and then I shake my head.
I debate going to say goodbye to everyone else, but then it might draw attention to me and the fact I’m leaving with Travis. Walking with my head down to avoid eye contact with anyone, I walk into the room and then see Clarabella and a man close to each other. They spring apart when I walk into the hallway. "I’m sorry." I hold up my hand. "I was just leaving." I point at the brown door at the end of the hallway with the Exit sign on it.
"Leaving?" Clarabella quizzes, folding her arms over her chest, cocking her hip. "Isn’t that interesting?”
Playing dumb, I just smirk. "It’s been a long day." And the alcohol is just enough that I would do something but not something I regret, I want to add in.
"Oh, I bet it has." She smiles. "Chances are it’s going to be even longer." She motions to the brown door. "See you tomorrow, Harlow."
"Nice seeing you, Clarabella." I nod at her. "And you have fun with your friend." I point at the guy who stands there in jeans and a white shirt. His tatted arms look like they’re going to make the shirt split.
She glares at me, and I try to hide the smile when I turn to walk out of the room. The darkness hits me right away, along with the thick humidity. A white limo is right in front of the stairs leading down. He leans on the back of the car, waiting for me. He smiles when he sees me. "I thought you changed your mind," he says when I walk down the four steps as he holds out his hand to help me walk.
"Just saying goodbye." The butterflies start in my stomach, and I’m blaming the booze. He opens the back door and waits for me to get in. I put one leg in and scoot over to the other side, giving him room to sit. He comes in and closes the door, and I can’t help but laugh. "Oh, my," I say, looking at the wedding decorations that are hanging from the back window.
"Just wait until he moves the car," Travis says, and I look at him as the car starts moving, and I can hear cans dinging. I get up, looking out the back window, and see five strings of cans following us. "Does it say just married?"
"It did," he says. "Shelby took a Sharpie and crossed off just and put almost." I throw my head back and laugh.
He reaches for the bottle of scotch I saw him holding. He turns the top, and then it pops with the cork. I grab a glass and keep it for him as he fills them both. He puts the scotch back and takes one of the glasses. Our fingers graze each other, and my nipples perk up at his touch. "Hussy." My head screams at me at the same time as I answer back, "Fuck off."
"To Jackie." He holds up the glass, and I click my glass with his. He takes a sip of his scotch.
"Who is Jackie?" I ask him, taking a sip of the scotch and then wondering if this is even a good idea.
"Jackie," he says, leaning back against the seat, exhaling. "Is Jennifer’s roommate and her best friend." I hold the glass in my lap as he turns toward me now. "And also the one who Jennifer is in love with." My mouth hangs open. "Yeah, that’s about what I did when she told me."
"So, she’s gay?" I ask him, and I’m trying my best not to laugh at him.
"She isn’t sure," he admits, looking down into his glass of scotch. "But she is sure that she doesn’t want to be married." He chuckles. "At least to me, that is."
I sit here shocked, and I have so many questions to ask. "I," I start to say. "Um, did you not suspect?" I ask him and then hold up my hand. "Sorry, it’s not my place." The butterflies that started have moved to knots that are beginning to move up to my throat.
"It’s fine," he assures me, taking another sip, maybe for courage. "What Jennifer and I had," he says, and it’s safe to say that I don’t even want to know. "It wasn’t what we had."
I shake my head. "You don’t have to say that," I finally say and take my own sip of scotch, hoping it stops me from talking. "What we had. It was a long time ago." I blink and look over at him.
He just looks at me, not saying anything and the car comes to a stop. "Where are we?" I look around and see the white building.
"Well"—he puts his glass down and grabs mine—"it’s a surprise." He opens the car door and steps out. His hand comes into the car to help me out, and I slip my hand in his, stepping out of the vehicle. The sounds of crickets now fills the area as we stand in the empty gravel parking lot.
"Where are we?" I repeat, looking around. I don’t even see a sign or anything.
"You’ll see," he says as he walks backward and pulls me with him. His smile lights up his face, and I am totally out of my mind. I should just end the night now and have the car take me back to my hotel room.
He pulls open the two glass doors, and I hear the sounds of pins being knocked down. "You did not," I say, looking around and then seeing the bowling lanes. I shake my head, thinking back to how he used to take me bowling once a week. No matter what time it was, he would drag me to the bowling alley every Friday night.
I look around and see that there are about four people here. Stopping at the blue counter that is filled with bowling shoes. "What can I do for you?" she asks and then takes in our outfits.
"We will take two games," he says, pulling out his wallet. "Two pairs of shoes, and we need to buy one pair of socks." He points at me. "Also a pitcher of beer."
"Two hot dogs with that and a basket of fries," I add in. "If we are going to bowl, we might as well do it the right way." I smile at him.
The girl hands me a pair of white folded socks and a pair of size seven shoes. "These shoes complete my outfit," I say, looking down at the light white and blue shoes. "I might not return them," I joke, and the girl just stares at me. "Tough crowd," I mumble and step aside while Travis gets his shoes.
"Lane ten." She points at the end of the lane, and I see it’s dark. "It’s disco bowling."