Page 31 of Clichés & Curses

‘I didn’t say you weren’t.’

I didn’t get a chance to continue defending myself, when I heard a car door slam shut, and saw Colton opening the door to the back seat.

‘He’s here,’ I pointed out.

Nina and Lily hauled Claudia across the yard while I helped carry their purses.

Colton rushed towards us. ‘Do you need any help?’

‘No, we got it,’ Lily insisted. And she was right, it wasn’t the first time one of us had got a bit too drunk. By that point, we pretty much knew what we needed to do.

Upon reaching his car, we tried our best to situate Claudia inside the back seat. Lily entered the car from the other side to gently pull her in, while Nina slowly pushed her. Once all three of them were in the car, Colton shut the door and opened the car to the passenger seat for me.

‘Thank you.’ I smiled at him, getting in before he closed it.

I told him the street Lily and Claudia’s apartment was located on, before he started driving. He nodded and said he was familiar with the location.

The car ride continued in silence, with only the hum of the car and Claudia’s soft snores filling the void.

I was about to suggest turning on the radio to diffuse the awkward tension in the car, but stopped when I remembered that there might be an ABBA CD in there. A sudden feeling of possessiveness came over me at the prospect of Colton having to share with them the story of him and his collection of ABBA albums.

I quickly swept the thought away.

Where did that come from?

‘Thank you for inviting us by the way,’ I said instead, figuring that was safe territory.

‘No problem. Glad you all had fun.’ He smiled.

Nina just snorted. ‘I think this one had too much fun.’ Softly nudging the shoulder where Claudia’s head was rested on.

Colton just let out a small chuckle.

‘Did I, somehow, not see you, or were you not at the party?’ Lily blurted out.

‘Good observation,’ Colton nodded. ‘I had something urgent outside, I just arrived about twenty minutes ago. I was in the house for a bit, then I headed out to the backyard.’

I tensed up slightly at that, knowing without a doubt that Nina would figure out we had been outside together, expecting her to say something.

But I was saved from the interrogation, when I noticed that the car was turning into Lily and Claudia’s apartment street.

‘Thank God,’ I muttered to myself.

I pointed out to Colton where their building was, and he parked at the drop-off spot right in front of it.

Colton got down, opening Nina’s door first, and then, mine.

We both thanked him as we got out of the car.

Nina slowly started to drag Claudia from her seat, with Lily softly pushing her from the inside.

Putting one of her arms around my shoulders, Nina took the other arm. Colton helped shut the door, while Lily went ahead to unlock the apartment building.

‘I’ll wait for you two down here,’ Colton said.

I nodded in acknowledgment before facing Nina. ‘Let’s go.’

Lily waited until we crossed the door before closing it and heading straight to the elevators. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long, when the doors immediately opened. Once we reached the floor, Lily held the elevator door open, making sure we were all out of it before rushing to their apartment to unlock the door.

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