Shaken Not Stirred (Mixology) (15 page)

She walked right up to the counter to order.
I waved her on when she asked if I wanted anything. She insisted on
ordering me fries.

We settled across from each other in a booth.
I sat there nibbling on some surprisingly good curly fries while
she ate a cheeseburger. I was way too nervous about Carly’s
drunkenness, arriving late, and meeting Colin’s parents to eat
much.

When she left to use the restroom I texted
Macon.
I’m at a burger dive with Colin’s plastered sister. Yay
me.

I’m so proud of you, kid. You’re growing up
so fast.

Would this ever happen to anyone but me?

Probably not. You’re just lucky like that.
Have fun. ;)

Don’t wink at me.

I’ll wink at you all I want.

Are you going out with anyone tonight?

Yes. Mary.

I thought she liked Brody.

You thought wrong.

Be nice.

Would I ever be anything else?

Yes.

Go get more people drunk.

I will.

“Is that my brother?” Carly asked as she
reached the table.

“Nope, my friend.”

“Oh. You were kinda goofy smiling.”

“He’s a goofball.”

“He?”

“Yes. My friend Macon.”

“Where does he live?”

“With me.”

“You live with a guy?” She sat back down.

“Actually, I live with two.”

“Does Colin know?”

“Yeah…” Was she going to get judgmental on
me?

“And he doesn’t care? I would think he’d be
jealous or something.”

“Why would he be jealous? It’s not like I’m
sleeping with them.”

“You’re not sleeping with Colin either.” She
crumpled up the wrapper from her burger.

“And whose fault is that?” I clasped a hand
over my mouth. “Forget I said that.” I was getting a little too
comfortable around Colin’s sister.

She grinned. “I wish I had the nerve to live
with guys.”

“The nerve?”

“Yeah. I’d be all worried about how I looked
all the time.”

“Well, I’ve known Macon since we were babies,
and Brody and I don’t look at each other in any sort of romantic
way, so I don’t worry about it much.”

“You can’t walk around naked though.”

“You walk around naked in front of girl
roommates?”

She shrugged. “It’s been known to
happen.”

“Mental note to never live with you.” I
couldn’t help but smile.

She laughed. “Were you in a sorority?”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t active. I didn’t have
time.”

“My school doesn’t do Greek, but I don’t
think I would have joined even if we did.”

“Yeah, it just kind of happened for me.”

“Colin wasn’t in a frat.”

“Yeah? It hasn’t come up.” I glanced at my
watch. “We should go.”

“All right, let’s get this show on the
road.”

I easily found the hotel, but the lot was
almost full. We ended up parking on the opposite side from the
entrance. Once again, I regretted my choice of footwear.

“Do we just walk in? We’re pretty late.” I
smoothed out my dress.

“I bet we can sneak in. Hopefully no one
noticed us missing.” Carly was delusional.

We hiked across the lot, through the lobby,
and reached the dining room. Carly giggled the whole time, as
though we were teenagers sneaking in after a night out.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Colin met us at
the door of the dining room. Considering he was standing there as
soon as we got there, he must have been watching for us.

Carly got serious. “Everything is fine,
Colin. Your girlfriend and I were bonding.”

Colin didn’t blink at the g-word. “I’m sure
you were. Are you drunk?”

I wanted to bury my head in my hands.

“Yeah. Maddy introduced me to cosmos. They’re
really strong but still taste good.”

I jumped in to defend myself. “Uh, she only
had a few.”

“I can’t help that I’m a lightweight.”

“I’m sorry, Colin.” I met his gaze. I’d
apologized, but it wasn’t my fault she insisted on ordering the
third drink.

He laughed. “It’s not your fault, Maddy. I’m
glad you guys spent time together…or I think I am.”

“I didn’t embarrass you.” Carly leaned on
Colin’s shoulder.

I noticed some people watching us and turned
to Carly. “Do you want to go in, or should I walk you to your
room?”

“You know what? Hold on.” Colin walked back
into the dinning room and returned with one of his friends. “Mark
is going to walk you to your room, Carly. Maddy’s staying with me.”
He put a hand on my hip in a way that gave me chills—the good
kind.

“Great. See you later, Maddy.” Carly smiled
and I got the distinct impression she was thrilled about who was
walking her back.

As soon as Carly disappeared, I turned back
to Colin. “Sorry.”

“Why do you keep apologizing? It’s not your
fault my little sister’s a lush.”

“She is twenty-one,”

“Yes, but she doesn’t always act it. You, on
the other hand, always act twenty-two.”

“Oh yeah? Is that different than you acting
twenty-six?”

“Completely.” He leaned over to kiss me on
the cheek. “Are you ready to meet my parents? They’ve been asking
about you for the last hour.”

“They have?”

“Yeah. They’re curious who the mysterious
Maddy really is.”

“Mysterious, huh?”

“Very.” He took my arm and led me over to a
table full of people.

“Is this Maddy?”A blonde middle-aged woman
asked excitedly. She was out of her seat and on the way over to us
before Colin could answer. Was it his mom?

“Hi Mrs.…” What if I was wrong and it wasn’t
his mom?

“Please, call me Miranda. It’s so nice to
finally meet the girl my son talks about so much.”

Phew. Mystery solved. “Nice to meet you,
Miranda. I’m Maddison.”

“Maddison? Colin never told us what Maddy was
short for.” She cast a sidelong glance at her son.

He shrugged. “You never asked.”

“Where’s Carly?” Miranda looked around.
“Didn’t you say the girls were together?”

The girls? That was a rather informal way of
describing us. I didn’t even try to answer. I’d let Colin take that
one.

Colin smiled at me before answering. “She
went to lie down.”

“To lie down? Is she drunk?” Miranda didn’t
sound particularly surprised, which made me wonder if this was a
frequent behavior of Carly’s and not as much my influence as I
thought.

Colin put an arm around my shoulder. “Maybe a
little.”

“I’m sorry you had to witness that.” Miranda
shook her head.

“It’s fine. She seems really nice.” I didn’t
know Carly well, but I liked her enough that I wasn’t going to
throw her under the bus.

“So you two are getting along then?”

“Yeah. We just met tonight.”

“Oh. I assumed Colin would have introduced
you two when she visited. No wonder she wasn’t forthcoming with any
details.”

I wanted to say “you and me both,” but I kept
that to myself. Something wasn’t adding up for me. Why not
introduce me to his sister, but invite me to a wedding to meet the
whole family? If he was working that much, why was she visiting
him?

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance.” I’m
not sure why I stepped in, but I didn’t want to hear Colin’s
excuses in front of his mom. I’d get the truth from him when we
were alone.

“Maddy just got here, so I want to make sure
she gets something to eat.” Colin deftly maneuvered me toward the
buffet. “So that’s my mom. I’m not sure where my dad is.”

“That’s fine. Meeting one parent tonight is
plenty.”

He laughed. “You’re going to meet him.”

I made a plate of chicken and some sort of
pasta while Colin watched.

“I’m guessing you ate already?”

“Yes, but I’ll obviously sit with you.”

“I feel bad. I don’t have to eat.”

He placed a roll on my plate. “You have to
eat.”

“You’ve been around me enough to know I eat
plenty. You don’t have to worry about me wasting away.”

“Yeah, but what kind of date would I be if I
let you go without food?”

“I don’t know…a normal one?”

“Please eat. For me.”

“You don’t have to beg me. I’m hungry. I’m
just saying I can skip it if there’s something else I should be
doing.”

“Nothing else right now.” He led me back over
to the table his mom was seated at. He pulled out a chair before I
could.

I sat down and glanced around. Everyone else
was busy talking, so I dug in.

“Hey, Colin. We need you.” A girl I
recognized as one of the bridesmaids came over.

Colin looked at me questioningly. “Do you
mind? Hopefully, this won’t take long.”

“No. Go ahead.” I groaned internally. Now
what? I didn’t even have Carly around.

“I’ll be back soon.” He kissed me on the
cheek and got up. The bridesmaid didn’t even glance at me.

I’d finished my meal before Colin’s mother
noticed me sitting there alone.

“Oh. Hi, Maddy. Where did Colin run off
to?”

I took a sip of my water. “One of the
bridesmaids said they needed him for something.”

“Oh. Hopefully, he won’t leave you waiting
for long. But this gives us some time to chat.” She turned in her
chair so she could look at me better. “Colin mentioned you’re
working at a restaurant?”

“Yes. I bartend.” Working at a restaurant?
Was he that vague about it?

“But you graduated from college this
spring?”

“Yes, UVA.”

“That’s right. What is your degree in?”

“Chemistry.” I studied my lap. I wasn’t
interested in where the conversation was headed.

“Do you know what you want to do with it
yet?”

“No. I’m still thinking.”

“Oh. I suppose you have some time. Nothing
wrong with that.” Her expression and the tone of her voice were at
complete odds with her words.

I decided to change the subject. “Carly’s
great. I’m glad I got a chance to meet her.”

“I hope she isn’t bothering you. She can be
clingy sometimes.”

Was this woman talking about her own
daughter? “Not at all. We’ve had a nice time.”

“Great.”

Another middle-aged woman interrupted us, and
I took it as my opportunity to leave. After a few attempts to get
her attention, I left the table and started toward the doors.

“Hey, if it isn’t my favorite bartender.”

I looked up. Davis—that college guy who had
hit on me the night I met Gabriel—grinned at me.

“Oh. Hi.”

“Are you friends with Gray?” He referred to
the groom.

“Nope. I’m here as someone’s date.” I glanced
back toward the doors, more ready than ever to leave.

“Someone who can handle you?” His eyes
twinkled, and he seemed to be over the rejection.

I’m sure I turned bright red. “Listen, just
forget you saw me.”

“No way.” He touched my arm. “You’re the
first non-lame person I’ve seen tonight.”

“Are you here for the bride?”

“Yeah, Dara is an old high school
friend.”

“Oh cool.” I stared longingly at the
exit.

“Where’s your date?”

“I’m not sure. He’s in the wedding party, so
he got called away.”

“So where are you headed?”

“To my room.”

“Are you in the main building?”

“Yeah.”

“I was going to hit up the hotel bar. I know
this one’s free,” He gestured to the drink station, “but I need to
get out of this room.”

“Cool. Have fun.”

“Want to join me? I mean, your date’s not
around anyway.”

“Ah, I think I’m going to pass on that.” This
guy didn’t give up.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me give you my number in case you change
your mind.”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” I didn’t know much
about etiquette, but taking a guy’s number when you were somewhere
as the date to another guy didn’t sound too up-and-up.

“Can I get yours?”

Was he serious? He didn’t seem to be catching
the drift. “Sorry, I don’t think so.”

“Oh, well, I guess I’ll see you at the
wedding then.”

I walked out of the dining room and headed up
to my room. I got to my door before making a distressing discovery.
I didn’t have a key. I’d meant to grab mine, but I never did. “No.”
I slunk down on the floor outside my room. Could the night get any
worse?

That’s when I remembered Carly mumbling her
room number to Mark. I’d see if she was still up. I took the stairs
down a floor, and stopped outside her door. I heard talking. I
hesitated a moment, not sure if I should interrupt, but I was out
of ideas and not willing to spend hours sitting in the hallway.

I knocked.

“Maddy, hey!” Carly wrapped her arms around
my neck when she opened the door.

I laughed. “Nice to see you, too.” I looked
over her shoulder and noticed that Mark and another guy were
sitting on her bed. They each had a flask, and I was pretty much
positive Carly had been drinking more.

“Hey, Maddy.” I’d briefly met Mark before the
rehearsal. He was an usher, and if I interpreted it right, also a
childhood friend of Colin’s.

I didn’t remember meeting the other guy, and
he smiled in greeting. “Hey, I’m Jamie.”

“Hi Jamie.” I smiled slightly before turning
my attention back to Carly. “Sorry to, uh, crash this party, but I
didn’t have a room key, and I don’t know where your brother
is.”

“Brother?” Jamie asked. “Are you here with
Colin?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh. I didn’t know he had a girlfriend.”

“Neither did I.”
And even if he did, he
might not after tonight.
His fault or not, I was frustrated
that he’d invited me to an event and then ditched me. He should
have come alone.

“Colin didn’t say where he was going?” Mark
asked.

“Nope. One of the bridesmaids called him
away. I waited awhile, but then I decided to leave.”

“Aww, that’s awful. What a prick.” Carly
grabbed Mark’s flask and downed some.