Page 37 of Torn Mate
I sat up a little at that. Did she just say midnight? I would have to tell my mom I wouldn’t be back for dinner. Lexi didn’t say anything, and I felt the nervous energy rolling over me.
“Oh wow, thank you for having us. So what do you do on ladies’ day?” I was curious if they knitted and bitched, because I was down for that.
“So, we do a lot of different things. We have a karaoke machine there and we all sing terribly, so don't worry. But after a few drinks it's really fun. We chill out, watch romance movies. We like to stick with the theme of the day, so last month we did a tropical theme. We sang songs about the beach, ate fruit, and watched movies with the same themes. This month’s theme is the nineties, so we have a playlist set up on the karaoke and today's movies are… Gemma?”
Holy shit, this wasn’t like some old knitting ladies club, these ladies just described my favortie things to do: watching romance movies and singing. I was bouncing in my seat, this was so awesome.
“I was a teen in the nineties, so I got to pick the movies for today, but if you girls have a suggestion you're welcome to add it. I found four great movies.Dances with Wolves—” Hallie’s hand shot up and Gemma held her finger up in a wait-a-moment sign. “It was nineteen-ninety, so don't tell me it's not, and it's beautiful.”
Everyone chuckled. I loved it, it was a fun theme and that movie was perfect. Wolves, romance…
“Cruel Intentions—hottie Ryan Phillippe.Ten Things I Hate About You.Heath Ledger, need I say more? And…Legends of the Fall.”
Hallie cheered, her fist in the air. “Young Brad Pitt. You’re the best.” Everyone laughed, I joined in. She must really like Brad Pitt. Hell, I did too. She had great taste and so did Gemma. They were awesome movies to have picked.
“We also eat, dance, chat. And there is a ten-person spa out back, so that's why I said to bring your swimsuits. We sometimes like to get comfy in our pajamas to watch the movies. It's up to you what you want to do,” Zara explained to us.
“It's just all great fun, laughs, and you can talk about your mates without fear they’re listening in… Well, inside. I can't be sure how well they listen to rules and linger on the sidelines to see if you're bitching about them, but the whole house here is completely soundproof. We have a device in every room,” Tyra added to Zara’s explanation.
“Let’s get the daiquiris flowing. You’re welcome to drink, girls. No rules here…”
Holy shit, this day just got amazing.
I can’t holdmy liquor. I needed to make better choices in life… like, any more than one drink was too much for me. I needed to stop at one, not two… or was it four? I didn’t remember. I was laughing with Peyton and little Keanu was adorable as pie. He had red hair and was so cute and I just loved babies.
The thing about drinking was I thought I was this amazing singer and did three songs in a row. I wasn’t, but I had fun. I got to do Backstreet Boys songs… three in a row, because one wasn’t enough. Peyton sang with me on the third. I was starting to forget the words to the song when I needed to pee.
But Lexi was singing and I didn’t want to miss it. Everyone was telling her to do it, but she was telling us that she can’t sing. We didn’t care, it was all in good fun.
When the start of “Hit Me Baby One More Time” came on, I got all excited and started to munch on some chips as I crossed my legs and held on for the whole song so I wouldn’t miss Lexi’s singing voice.
I didn’t know why Lexi thought she was bad. She was so good. When she finished, I could see she looked a little vulnerable there so I rushed over and hugged her. So did the others, so many hugs here.Okay, time to pee.
Zara told me she would show me where to go, but I had it. No need for her to leave the party. The directions she gave me were perfect. I rushed and did my business and I left feeling a little better, still tipsy, but I didn’t need to pee anymore. I started back to the party, but then I thought,wouldn’t it be cool to see Noah’s bedroom?
Because that would be awesome. I bet it was messy, like, a boy would be messy. I assumed it was upstairs, so I walked up them without anyone noticing. I would be back in a minute, they wouldn’t even know.
I opened a door and the first thing I saw was the posters of cars and women in bikinis. I laughed; this was a boy’s room. Was it Noah’s room? I looked over onto the unmade king-sized bed and saw the fluffy pink pig and stumbled in. This was Noah’s room. But why… He didn’t buy this for his mom. He just bought it… for himself? I looked around again and nothing else was pink and fluffy. It was blues with the smell of Noah.
I rolled on the bed to get the pig. I hugged it and smiled. Oh Noah… what else was in your room that was cute? His closet door was open so I moved off the bed to see if he had something hiding in there. More pink pigs?
When in there, his clothes were all neat. I ran my fingertips along all the clothes hanging. He had a lot of hoodies. They were so big too, to fit his big chest, and mmm… I rubbed my face against one. They smelled clean and fresh. I wanted to steal one… Would he notice? Probably.
I stumbled out of his closet and back to his bed. I sat there and looked around. He had a desk, it was messy with his school work, an Xbox and TV. I smiled at that. He wants to be a game designer. That’s such a cool job to want to do.Noah. He was cool. I held the pig to my chest as I thought about how cute he was when he smiled, how sweet he always was with me. Always listening to everything I said—
“Ada?” I turned to the doorway. Was that… “Lexi?” What was she doing up here? I had only been gone for a few minutes… maybe a bit more.
“Where are you?” I blinked a few times to clear my head, but nope. Maybe I wasn’t tipsy, I think I was drunk. I giggled and held the pig tighter.
I turned to see Lexi standing at the door, her brows raised high, looking at what was in my arms. “Fluffy pink pig?” she asked. Oh yeah, she sees it too. I wasn’t crazy, Noah had the pig in his room and I couldn’t stop hugging it. I wanted to hug Noah. I missed him.
“Oh, Ada. What am I going to do with you?” Lexi looked at me as she ran her hand down her face. It was funny. I giggled and shrugged. I had no idea what she would do with me. I couldn’t feel my fingers… Was that normal?
“He has the pink pig. I don’t think it was for his mom.” I rubbed my cheek against it, it was so soft.
“Dude, remember when I told you not to stroke him when he was a wolf?” I remembered that day. What was she saying? Did she know about me and Saint last night?
“You know how the guys mark me every day with their scent, and mine rubs off on them?” I just stared for a good ten seconds before my eyes traced his room. I touched so much stuff. I didn’t think of that at all, I just thought they rubbed their scent off on me.
