Page 40 of How to Prevent a Fumble

When Owen heads out, a couple others do too.

“Mark got us a room at a hotel. Said we can all crash there, but he has a surprise for us,” Cooper says, a naughty glint in his eye as he smirks.

“I may just go home,” I tell him, Briar’s words replaying in my head. If the others went home, that gives me permission to as well. There’s nothing wrong with leaving a party. I don’t always have to be the last one to leave.

That’s what I keep telling myself.

“No! Just come to the hotel, okay? It’ll be fun, man.”

“I don’t know…”

“Well we’re going now,” he says, interrupting me. Pulling on my wrist, Cooper leads a group of us out of the bar and into a car. I’m all too aware of the phones snapping photos of me as we go.

It can be hard to ignore them, and although the people are pretty good about not coming up to us and asking for photosevery five seconds, letting us live our lives, that doesn’t mean they won’t try to snap a couple photos here and there.

“What is this?” I ask as we step into the hotel room. There’s money all over the place. I think it’s fake, but upon closer inspection, I can tell it’s real.

Ones, twenties, and hundred-dollar bills are scattered everywhere, the lights dimmed in the fancy penthouse hotel room.

“We got strippers!” Mark says, his hands in the air as he comes out of the room with five girls around him, practically naked.

Any other time, I’d be fine with this. Actually, I would be fully on board. Excited about it, even. Strippers? I won’t lie, I’ve been to a couple strip clubs. Have talked to a couple strippers. There’s nothing bad about it. The women make good fucking money.

But for some reason now, tonight, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

But it’s Cooper’s birthday, so what am I supposed to do?

Sit in the corner, I guess. At least, that’s what I do. For two hours, I sit in the corner of the room nursing the same beer, watching the idiots in front of me have fun and get even more wasted.

Sunny

You doing okay?

I think so, but now that I know you’re up… are you willing to come get me?

How drunk are you Big Guy?

I may behungover tomorrow if that’s what you’re asking.

Great. Send me the address and I’ll be right there. Make sure you’re ready.

Sighing, I get up, heading over to Cooper to say goodbye, hoping he doesn't cause a fuss.

But he hugs me, telling me to be careful, sending me off with a slap to my ass.

There’s three girls by the door, and they look up when they see me, counting cash. “Hey, it seems like you’re the most sober one here somehow,” the brunette says, her eyes tired. “Can you possibly walk us to our cars? The guy who usually comes with us left.”

The other two women look at me expectantly before looking back at their phones.

I yawn. “Yeah, sure,” I tell them, opening the door.

In the hallway, we walk silently down the hall, and a door opens behind us. I hear whispering, but I assume it’s about the noise coming from Cooper’s room.

When we get to the parking lot, I make sure they’re all to their cars safely before I round the building, waiting for Briar.

When she finally pulls up in her beat up rust bucket, I climb in without a word, exhausted from the night.

“Thank you for asking me to get you, Leo. You did the right thing by leaving.”

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