Page 41 of The Rebel
“Yeah, that’s usually how people react, but spoiler alert, sex doesn’t have to happen in the bedroom. In fact, it never happens in the bedroom for us.”
“What does Kevin say about this?”
“He thinks it’s weird, although I think he secretly wants to have his own space as well.” She looked up from the counter. “Well, all right. I’m done.”
“You’re not buying anything?”
“No, I just wanted to look.”
“No judgment,” the girl called from her armchair. “Hope you enjoyed, and maybe I’ll see you again.”
“Thanks,” I said as Annelise smiled and waved at her.
“Damn. Is everyone here so nice and relaxed?” Annelise whispered.
“Ah, no, I think she was just more interested in her book than us,” I admitted as we headed back out to the street. “Hey, what would you think if I treated you to the best Sazerac in town?”
She threw her head back, laughing. “It’s so early in the afternoon.”
“Well, why not? It’s Sunday, and we’re off until tonight.”
Annelise pouted. “I can’t believe your boss is making you work on a Sunday evening.”
“He’s not, but I want to be there on the opening night of the event. I think it’s important for me. Besides, you were the onewho said you wanted to catch up on that series. So, let’s get you good and drunk before that. And I know the bar that has the best Sazerac.”
“Yum,” Annelise said.
“It belongs to one of my boss’s brothers.”
“Ah, of course. Is there something that family doesn’t do?”
“I’m not even sure,” I admitted.
I took her hand, and then we interlaced our arms the way we used to do in high school as we headed toward Julian’s bar.
“Are bars open all day here, around the clock?” she murmured.
“I bet a few are at least.”
We arrived in front of the red building soon enough. There wasn’t much going on inside. It wasn’t empty by any means, but we had plenty of room to choose a seat at the bar and ordered our Sazeracs almost immediately.
Once the bartender set them before us, we lifted our glasses.
“Cheers,” I said with a grin.
“Cheers,” Annelise replied as we clinked glasses.
I giggled.
“What?”
“I just remember the first time we snuck alcohol, and I thought my parents wouldn’t notice.”
“Oh yeah. We were dumb, weren’t we?”
“No. We just had a very good opinion of ourselves.”
“We had a fantastic childhood,” she said.
