Page 62 of Take Me Home

We walked in and were greeted by a high-pitched shriek.

“You came! You came!” Becca squealed, pulling Jake and me into an aggressive three-way hug. She smashed our bodies together and wrapped her legs around us. Clearly, she’d already had some drinks and was feeling pretty fun.

“Darcy, I put songs just for us on the list!” Becca said, grabbing me by the arm and hauling me to the bar. “Come meet Cody!”

I threw a look over my shoulder at Jake, who laughed at Becca’s wildness.

Cody was about how I expected him to be: just a little taller than Becca, rail thin, a handful of visible tattoos, and generically cute. I took in the surroundings. It was a typical social club dive bar, with a small stage about two feet high on one end of the room. A damp smell that bordered on mildewy hung in the air. White Christmas lights were strung over the dance floor, where a group of people seemed very dedicated to learning the next dance.

“Cody, can she handle a shot or should we stick to buying her beers?” I asked, trying to acknowledge him and Becca’s already tipsy status.

“I don’t know. Baby, what do you want to drink?” Cody asked Becca, grabbing her waist and pulling her between his legs.

“On me,” I said.

“Let’s do a shot!” Becca shouted.

“Alright, your pick. Jake, do you want one?” I asked.

“Yes, he wants one!” Becca interjected. She leaned across the bar out of Cody’s lap. “Four Fireball shots, please.”

“And four Coors Lights,” I added. I dropped some cash onto the bar not expecting any change. I got a fair amount back. I forgot how cheap it was to drink at home. I left a generous tip and held up my glass to toast Becca.

“To our beloved Becca, who will always have your back and never tell your secrets, but she will give you shit for them. Happy birthday, my dear!”

“Aww, love your heart,” Becca said. We clinked glasses and tossed back the shots, the cinnamon candy flavor warming my throat.

“We have to dance the next one, y’all. It’s one of my favorites,” Becca declared, taking my hand again. “I’m so glad y’all came. You look hot, Darcy.” She turned to Jake. “Doesn’t she look hot? My God! Those legs, those tits!”

“You don’t have to answer that,” I said to Jake.

He looked at me with hungry eyes and smirked. “She’s not wrong.”

Becca greeted some of her other guests, including the guy who sold corn across from us at the farmer’s market.

“How you, sweetie? Heard it’s your birthday,” Corn Man said. I had no idea he and Becca were close.

“Yes it is, thank you,” Becca said with a sweet smile, taming her wildness for a moment. “How’s Tammy? She busy with her kids?”

“Oh yeah, she don’t get out much,” said Corn Man. Ah, a family connection. The door to the bar swung open and Caleb entered, a petite blonde trailing behind him. I flagged him down. When he got close, I hugged him.

“I almost didn’t recognize you not dirty,” Caleb teased.

“I do know how to dress when the occasion calls for it. Who’s this with you?”

“This is Mandy.” I extended my hand to Mandy and went to say hi, but couldn’t hear a word she said because of Caleb and Jake. They were being idiots, acting like they hadn’t seen each other in days and boohooing over each other. I turned to Mandy.

“They work with me at the peach farm. They’re not usually like this,” I assured her.

Mandy fixed a wide-eyed pleasant look on her face. The dance instructor called everyone out to the floor for the Watermelon Crawl.

“Oh! We have to go!” Becca beckoned us and some of her other friends to the dance floor.

Jake appeared at my side, holding out his hand. “Partner?”

“I do believe I agreed to dance with you,” I said, setting my fingers in his palm and letting him guide me. We stumbled through the instructional at first, but after a few rounds, we weren’t half bad. Jake was even, dare I say it, suave? Still, we got dirty looks from the other dancers. We hadn’t been dancing every week for years.

“I guess my boots are a little rusty,” I said to Jake. He leaned closer.

---