Pushing Limits (Fighting Love #1) - kali cross Page 0,15
with a sheepish grin, shrugging offhand, she says, “I like shot glasses.” Standing up, with a slight sway, she recovers and dances back to the kitchenette.
She wobbles as she pours two shots and glances at me. I wave at her from my bed. Giggling, she takes a short dash, sliding on the hardwood floor. Her hands stick out like a surfer for balance, stopping only when she knocks into my bed. Clutching my hands, she pulls me up. “Get up. Come on.” Once on my feet, she pulls my hand, nudging me to the table, “Have a drink with me.”
Her contagious energy takes me along for the ride. She brought Patron silver…cool.
Saddling up to the table, we sit and settle down to the business of taking shots. Licking my hand, I shake on the salt. Burning the entire way down, the liquor warms my stomach in an instant as I finish the shot off with the sour lime. It’s smooth…really smooth. My first shot, thankfully, is enough to get me going. Sally follows taking a shot.
“So, tell me about yourself,” she says, pulling her ponytail out, her blond hair cascades down her back like she’s in a shampoo commercial.
“Not much to tell, really.” I shine her off, eyeing the empty shot glass. I don’t know about this. I’m not much of a drinker. My stomach does a slow turn.
“Come on! We’re going to be living together. There’s not much to tell?” She eyes me with a skeptical look. “Ok, I’ll start. I’m from Birmingham, Alabama. I went to school in Bama last year, but I needed to get away, so I applied here. I’m undecided right now. I’m trying to get all my gen Ed classes out of the way. My family wants me to major in public relations, but I love fashion. I’d like to incorporate the two, but I need to sit down with my advisor on how to do that. I doubt my dad will go for it anyway. I’ve been here for one semester. I roomed with another girl last term but that didn’t work out, so now I’m here.” She smiles, “Ok, your turn.”
“I’m from Chicago. I spent last year there, and now I’m here. I got here yesterday,” I say with a shrug.
Sally pours two more shots. “You’re going to make me pull it out of you, aren’t you?” She says with a smirk. “Ok, why did you leave Chicago?”
Licking my hand, I shake on some salt. I study the glass, hesitating or pondering, I’m not sure which. The subtle scent of agave and citrus caress my nostrils. Hell, it’s been too long since I got my drink on…what the fuck. Slamming the shot, I suck the lime for all it’s worth. The liquid warms my stomach and loosens my tongue. What the fuck. Why exactly do I care if anyone knows my mom is a bitch? “My mom threw me out. Well, she didn’t really throw me out. She shipped me off to another school again. I’ve been in boarding school ever since I was six. I came home for the first time last year. I thought I was coming home was so we could be together as a family – my parents and I – turns out, she merely needed me to smile and wave for photo ops while she ran for office.” I demonstrate my best beauty pageant wave to an imaginary crowd.
“Wow, your mom sounds like a bigger bitch than mine. My sole purpose in the family is to marry well.” She lifts her nose like a Queen looking down on her subjects. “My brother, on the other hand, is the heir apparent. The sun rises and sets on him, as far as my dad is concerned. You would think in this day and age, a dad would be interested in both his son and daughter when it came to the family business. But not my dad, he’s old school. My contribution to the family is to marry someone from a good family and spew out the babies.” She imitates what I am sure is her father with a frown, tapping her fist on the table. “A proper business merger.” She giggles, putting a finger to her mouth sarcastically feigning a questioning stare, “Funny…they didn’t bother to check and make sure I was hetero when they mapped out my life.” She laughs out loud, her chocolate brown eyes twinkling.