Page 38 of Arris, Jayme & Dyani
“Me,” Dyani volunteered.
“See, a team player.” I gave Arris my Red Bull and grabbed Dyani lightly by her throat. I tilted her head back and poured at least a double shot down it. She lifted her head and swallowed. I wiped her chin with my thumb for good measure. “You ready?” I turned to Arris.
“You’re not tilting my head back and pouring that shit down my throat,” he said.
I wiggled the bottle side to side.
He sighed but took it from me, leaned back, and took his own drink. I tapped the bottom to make a little more slip out.
He shot me a look.
“What?”
“If either of y’all are getting drunk, I’m staying sober.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t push the issue. I already knew how Arris was. His protectiveness was one of the things that attracted me initially.
“That’s fine. You can play babysitter.” I snatched my Red Bull back and he sighed but collapsed on the couch.
Dyani snickered and shook her hand.
“Let me get one more shot,” she said.
“Let’s do it.”
She tilted her head back and I fed her another shot.
Then we went back to dancing like we had before Arris got there. We talked, rapped, sang, and joked as one song slid into another. I was sure neither of us would be walking down the stairs at the end of the night after the way I was feeling.
I was hyperaware of Dyani’s beautiful body pressed against mine and equally aware of how good Arris looked, sitting in the center of the couch, leaning back and looking larger than life. One of his hands rested behind the couch and the other held the same beer he’d gotten twenty minutes into his entrance.
We all turned and looked toward the entrance of the section when my sisters walked up the stairs, a smattering of people behind them, bottle girls carrying more liquor, sparklers, and signs telling me happy birthday. Janari held a nice-sized birthday cake. Janine walked right next to her with a long lighter in hand.
I squealed, clapped, and bounced up and down on the balls of my feet. My arm automatically wrapped around Dyani, pulling her into me while I danced a little from the attention surrounding me.
“We have a timer!” Janine said loudly. “So, let’s count down!”
She tapped her phone as they made their way to me. The people in the section started circling us and Arris stood where he was.
“Alright!” Janine yelled. “Ten! Nine!
I held a hand out toward Arris and waved him over. He didn’t hesitate. He held his beer up and moved through the crowd to come up on my other side.
“Eight! Seven! Six!”
Dyani ran a hand up and down my side. Arris threw an arm around my shoulders.
“Five! Four!”
Janine started lighting the candles on the cake.
“Three! Two!”
I took a step closer and did a quick little twerk that had a few people laughing while counting.
“One!”
Everyone sang, “Happy Birthday”, and I leaned forward and closed my eyes. I immediately wished for more nights like this—loud, carefree, with the people who cared about me, Arris and Dyani included. I shook my head immediately, as if that would erase my first wish. I wished again, this time for Dyani and Arris. Just them.
