Page 79 of Magic or Madness

“You know I love you, right?”

“Yes,my beautiful girl. I love you, too.” He places a kiss on my forehead, encouraging me to let loose.

“God, you two are so fucking cute. I need to know how you met, like right now,” Cami says, linking her arm through mine.

“Oh, girl. It’s a helluva story, but first, there’s a jukebox out there,” I tell her, and her eyes light up.

“Let’s fucking go!” She cheers, pushing us past Ozzy and dragging me straight to the music.

“No, wait. We need Pepper!” I exclaim, and she laughs, turning to face me with her eyebrows raised.

“Salt, too?”

“No, Pepper! Lex’s girlfriend. The blonde.” I point through the crowd until my finger indicates my target.

“Her name is fuckingPepper?” She covers her mouth with her hand, grabbing onto me and nearly knocking us both to the ground.

I cackle along with her, completely out of breath as I try to explain myself.

“Ozzy called her Paprika for the first few weeks,” I say, wheezing in between words.

That does it, and we’re both on our asses, a heap on the floor as we laugh so hard I nearly pee myself.

“You’ll love her, I promise,” I bargain, attempting to pull us both back to our feet.

Ozzy reaches his hand down, helping me and Cami up, and shaking his head.

“You come and get me if you start to feel like shit, understand?” He orders, grabbing my chin with his thumb and index finger.

“Yes,amore mio.” I bite my lip seductively, and he can’t fight the smile creeping across his face. “Get Pepper to dance with us?”

He does as I ask, walking back to the booth and grabbing my drink, helping Pepper down.

“Last drink because of the coke, okay, Fallon? I don’t want you to get too far gone since it’s your first time.” He hands it to me, and I sip it slowly, the room beginning to spin, but in a way that I lean into.

“Let’s dance, Pepper!” I yell, and she squeals, bouncing with excitement.

Cami is bent over the jukebox, attempting to make it work, when finally, a song starts playing, and we all jump up and down.

‘Eye of the Tiger’ blasts through the speakers, and we scream-sing, stumbling through the lyrics and making complete idiots of ourselves.

I feel like I could take on the world, my body is moving so fast, and I’m just at the right mix between high and drunk.

My mind is scrambled, and all I can focus on is what is right in front of me. I’m fucking high, and I’ve never done anything compared to how this cocaine feels streaming through my body.

We dance until the bartender rings the bell for last call, and I’m a stumbling mess, with Ozzy trying to keep me from eating shit on the sidewalk.

“Bambi, you’re killing me. Just hold my hand and look forward,” he says, guiding me like a toddler.

Cami is worse off than I am, and Oliver isn’t the best at keeping her upright. She’s got scraped knees and opted to take her heels off to avoid another fall.

This feeling is called crashing, and it’s more like flying off the edge of a cliff, facing the ground head-on.

“I can’t feel my legs anymore,” I slur, and Ozzy lifts me off the ground, carrying me the rest of our walk back to the rental house.

“You need water, and sleep.” He carries me up the stairs and drops me in the center of our bed, my body bouncing as I hit the mattress.

“Help me out of this dress,” I whine, burying my face in the sheets and smearing mascara on the pillowcase.

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