Page 76 of Naughty & Nice

“Vodka,” Wilder says, holding up a bottle and three glasses as he emerges.

The candlelight glints on the glass, and my dread grows.

Bad idea.

Really bad idea.

But…

“Bottoms up, kids,” Wilder says the second he’s poured us all a shot and passed them out.

“What?” he asks when we both just stare at him. “What else are we going to do? This is the best we’ve got.” To prove his point, he lifts the small glass to his lips and swallows it down.

He pulls a face and groans as it burns before turning his gaze on us.

“Come on, I hate partying alone.”

“We’re not partying,” Hendrix mutters.

“Fuck that, Rix. Take off those boring panties and put on your party ones instead. It’s Christmas. We’re fucking stuck here. And we can’t even warm up a pizza. It’s time to get drunk, baby.”

Wilder pours himself a second shot, and by the time he lifts it to his mouth, I’ve decided that I’m with him.

He’s right. It’s Christmas. We’ve got to embrace the situation we’ve found ourselves in.

“Let’s do this,” I say happily before drinking the shot. “Oh my god,” I gasp, instantly regretting it.

“Your turn, Rix. You can’t have your girl going wild without you.”

I’ve no idea if it’s meant to be an innuendo, but I do know that the twins’ eyes collide, Rix’s narrowing in warning and Wilder’s lighting up with excitement.

A swarm of butterflies erupts in my stomach. I have first-hand knowledge that partying with Wilder leads to trouble.

But is it the kind of trouble I’m willing to get involved in tonight?

Like he said… there isn’t anything else to do.

“Refill,” I demand, thrusting my glass out.

Wilder’s face lights up with excitement.

“Good girl,” he praises, making something warm flood through my system.

Only Hendrix has said those words to me before. My parents never gave me any kind of praise, no matter how hard I tried or how well I did.

“What are you waiting for then? Put some music on,” I demand, getting to my feet. “I thought we were having a party.”

I begin dancing long before Wilder finds a suitable playlist. My skin tingles with awareness, but it doesn’t stop me.

Looking back over my shoulder, I find Rix watching me with intrigue.

We’ve done a lot together over the years, but we’ve never really partied. Unlike Wilder, it hasn’t been a part of our lives.

Sure, there have been plenty of times when we’ve drunk too much, but there was never dancing and joy. It was more about drowning our sorrows.

By the time Wilder started hitting the party scene, I was too focused on Nick, and Hendrix was right here with me.

Partying and enjoying ourselves, no matter how fake it might have been, felt wrong.

---