By the time we got back to the group, the party was fizzling out. Allan was already taking a last shot with Craig and Josh.
"Hey, hon," said Benji when I approached. "Where ya been off at?"
"I went to the bathroom," I said quickly. Benji raised a suspicious eyebrow, so I added, "Got lost in all the rooms. This house is
so big
."
"Whoo-ee, those mushrooms hit nice, don't they?" Amir said, lounging across a wooden bench.
"Yessiree, they sure do!" I chuckled as I copied his Western lilt, the shape of it tickling my mouth. The two of us dissolved into a fit of giggles.
"Oh, so you ate some too?" Asked Benji, an accusatory note in his voice.
"Uh huh," was all Amir could get out between his hoots of laughter.
"When?"
"After flip cup."
"Well, shit, I want some." Benji declared and headed off toward the kitchen. "Don't leave without me!"
"Leave?" I asked.
"Yeah," said Amir, finally coming down from the giggle high and sitting up. "Yeah, we're getting ready to head out."
"Time f' dinner!" Said Josh, suddenly appearing at my left. "Weh goin' f' pizza!"
He looked absolutely wasted.
"Awesome!" I said, leaning slightly away from his tequila breath. "Couldn't hurt to get some food in you. Water too."
"Wha'?!" Josh blurted, offended. "'M totally fine. Look a' me!"
He threw out his hands in an almost valiant effort to strike a confident pose and prove his sobriety. Unfortunately, his left hand sent a finger directly up Craig's nose and his right knocked the cocktail out of Benji's hand just as he returned, munching on a few chocolates.
"Oh shit," he said dully. "Guess you're right, big bro."
And with a laugh, I draped his arm around my shoulder and we led the group out of the dying party, Benji still flicking loose drops of gin and tonic off his shirt and grumbling about dry cleaning.
The pizza restaurant was a few blocks down the road, where the main strip of town began. It wasn't far, but our drunken group was taking its sweet time.
"Shit, gurl," Amir sighed, flexing his fingers and staring in awe at the leaves overhead. "Them mushrooms got me all fucked up."
"How many did you take?" Asked Craig.
"I had like three or four cubes."
"Three or four?!" Allan said with some alarm. "Which is it?"
"Gurl, that's about as accurate as I can get right now." He stumbled a little. "How many'd you have?"
"None for me," said Craig.
"Josh and I had two," Allan answered. "Danny had..."
"Three," I finished.
"And you not seeing these colors?" Amir was amazed and incredulous.
"No, not just now," I laughed. "But everything does seem a little wavy still."
"Oh wow. I mean, this is just a - a
vibe
."
Allan and I caught each other's eye and stifled some more giggles.
"Josh?" Benji asked the ragdoll that was my brother, leaning heavily on me as we walked.
"Hm?"
"How ya doin', hon?"
"Bitchin'," he said without energy, his head and eyelids droopy. We all laughed a bit.
"You sure?"
"Fuck yeah!" He said with drunken bravado. "I got m' bro wi' me," he tapped me on the chest, "I'll be jus' fine."
I grinned lightly and redoubled my grip on his weight as we walked.
"We'll be at the pizza shop soon," said Allan. "Good thing too, I'm starving!"
We rounded the corner on the main street just then and ran right into another group of guys coming the opposite way.
"Danny!"
"Oh shit!" I said in surprise. "Hey Logan!"
Our entire group came to a dead halt. Even Josh found the strength to look up in surprise.
"How's it goin'?" Logan asked with a dashing smile.
"Yeah, p-pretty good," I squeaked and felt my face redden. "And you guys?" I looked over at Ty, Cornelius, and Gus, who loomed over us all from behind the others.
"We good," said Cornelius, and he turned to look at Josh. "Is this your brother that's getting married? He look like you."
"Yeah," I said, disarmed once again by Cornelius's direct questions. "This is Josh."
I introduced them all to each other. Everybody nodded politely and engaged in pleasantries, but both crews seemed to be standing behind our obvious points of connection: Logan and myself.
The flush in my cheeks and neck deepened.
"So," said Logan, "We'll be seeing y'all at the underwear party tonight?"
"Underwear party?" Asked Amir, swaying almost imperceptibly to unheard music.
"Yeah," said Ty amiably. "We're gonna be at the Mermaid Lounge. Logan, I thought you invited them already."
"Yeah, I - uh - I hadn't gotten around to telling them yet... uh... sorry." I piped up meekly.
"Well, damn," said Benji. "That's better than what we had planned tonight! I'm definitely in!"
"M' too," slurred Josh while the others agreed. "But isn't th' Mermaid Lounge, like, sssuper hard t' get into?"
"Oh, no worries," said Logan, raising his sunglasses to reveal his shocking blue eyes and flashing a reassuring smile. "Ty'll get Danny's name on the VIP list for tonight, and y'all can come on in with him! Just skip the line when you come and pay the cover."
"Wow, uh -" I stammered. "Thanks, th- that's so nice."
"Ain't no problem, darlin'." His accent once again tickled my spine.
"And thank you, Ty," I turned to him. "Logan said it's gonna be your birthday at midnight, right?"
"Ugh, I'd just forgotten for a blissful half hour," he said ruefully.
"Well, I bet your set'll bring the house down."
"You know that's right!" He called out, perking up again.
I leaned over to Josh and the others to explain. "Ty's gonna be DJing the set at midnight for his fo-" I caught Logan's warning eye "... his, uh, his birthday."
"Oh fun!" Said Josh.
