Page 12 of Deck of Scarlets

Jeremy grabbed his pillow and turned it into an actual pillow fight. After several minutes of assaulting one another, he slung his arm around my shoulder and said, “So, did you fuck?”

I pushed him off. “No! God, we just made out.” Although, from a distance, it would’ve looked like we were about to or in the middle of it.

I loved Jeremy, but sometimes he wanted too much detail about my sex life.

“So, are you going to see him again?” he asked.

“Nah, I think that was a one-time thing. His whole ‘see you around’ was another indicator of that. Never got a chance to even ask for his number either.” I sighed.

“Ugh, men. This is why I’m making out with chicks most of the time.” He laughed.

I gave him a sly look and said, “Most of the time?”

“Men are confusing. At least you ladies are upfront about what you want.”

We laughed some more when Nickie came in with a silver tray of Chinese food. “What did I say about having fun without me?” She placed the tray down on the coffee table and handed us each a pair of chopsticks as she picked up one of the bowls overflowing with Lo Mein.

“Sorry, Jeremy asked me about the mysterious man I made out with at the club,” I said.

“Oh, so that’s where you went.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. Surprised you realized I was gone.”

“Sorry, the singer held my attention.” She swooned.

Since that night, Josh had become Nickie’s official unofficial boyfriend for four days. The lead singer was known for open relationships but seemed to take a liking to my best friend, and this had become his first monogamous one.

I took another container piled with Lo Mein. “Either way, I made a promise not to get all committed. I don’t have the energy for the mind games.”

“So, he turned you down?” Nickie’s tone dripped with pity.

Jeremy slammed down the remote and ran from the living room. “Fuck! The wine!”

I stabbed the Lo Mein with my chopsticks. “No.”

She shrugged her shoulders and took a mouthful of food.

I bit my lip, trying my best to let it go, when I remembered the laced flask from that night. “By the way, what did you do to the drink that night?”

Nickie swallowed. “Mitch Lester gave me some of his good shit.”

“So, you have no idea what was in it?”

She shook her head, taking another big bite.

“And you trusted him?” Getting fun party drugs was one thing, but getting it from Mitch Lester was asking for a hospital visit or an early trip to your grave. The fact that Nickie would be so stupid as to trust that piece of shit had me livid.

Nickie rolled her eyes and put her food down on the tray. “Mitch’s stuff isn’t laced with anything heavy.”

I slammed my container down, the chopsticks flopping over and hitting the floor, staining the luxurious carpet. “Doesn’t matter. It could’ve been!” She had more trust in the city’s notorious drug dealer than her best friend since elementary school.

Jeremy rushed back with three glasses of wine. “I got the goods la—okay, which one of you bitches stained my mom’s favorite carpet?”

Nickie stood, her eyes turning into dangerous slits. “Jeez, Rem. Didn’t think it would be a fucking problem.”

My hands began to tremble, and the image of the creature crept around the edges of my mind. “It is a problem, Nickie! Mitch is known to lace his shit with the heavy stuff.”

She crossed her arms. “Since when? And why do you fucking care all of a sudden? Is mommy’s perfect little angel suddenly done with the party life?”

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