on the ground.
“Has he always been such a giant child?” she says, jumping up.
“He’s always been full of love, light, and a little fuck you,” I laugh, watching him interact with her.
“Who’s got the hooch?” Patrick laughs.
“Am I driving?” I whisper.
“Tent’s in the back, so—”
“What?” I snap quietly.
“If you’re not having a good time, we jet. If you are, we stay.”
“My parents—”
He holds his arms up in the air. “Already got the okay.”
“ ’Cause he has a dick,” comes from Savvy, who is flouncing around, because she can’t seem to keep still. “And, and he’s a white man. You’re all—”
“Shut it down, Pocahontas,” he interrupts her.
She dives at him, and he purposely falls. Then they roll around, laughing.
“See? You’re all the same.” She grabs his neck and starts mock-strangling him. “Indian with a dot, not a feather.”
He rolls over and pins her. “Savannah, to me, you’re Pocahontas, because you’re a—”
“Savage,” they all say then bust up laughing.
He pops up and looks around. “Let’s hear some tunes?”
An hour later, I am honestly having a great time. Probably the most fun I’ve had at a non-family function ever.
The conversation is as intense as I imagined it would be, and Savvy is smart as fuck. They all hang onto her every word, most of which are curses and hate-filled rants, but every one of them warranted. She’s intense, and listening to her for just an hour, I am convinced she’ll do at least one of three things: start a cult, change the world, or make Patrick fall even harder for her than he obviously already is.
“How about some hooch?” I elbow Patrick.
“Yeah?” He smiles.
“This is nice.”
“Intense, yeah?”
“That, too. But watching you fall—”
“Not happening.” He shakes his head.
“Why the heck not?”
He smiles at her. “She hates everything our family is about, and I’d never want to change a thing for her.”
I’m about to have an awe moment when she plops down on his lap, drunk and grinning.
“Savannah, what—” She slaps her hand over his mouth, and he finishes in a muffled, “Brings you here?”
“He’s afraid I’d change him is more accurate. That I’d have him joining the Peace Corps with me, and he’d end up wiping his million dollar ass with leaves and drinking from red Solo cups.”
He laughs. “What would likely happen, Savannah—”
“You’re so annoying,” she says before taking a drink.
“—is the second I was balls deep in you, you’d wave your white flag and surrender to my dic … tator ways.”
“In your dreams.” She gives him a sloppy grin and plants an even sloppier kiss to his cheek, then jumps up and skips away. “Let’s play beer pong!”
Thankfully, Patrick is a kick ass beer pong player, and I’ve only had to drink a few beers. Unfortunately, this means I’m drunk and more apt to join Savvy’s cult.
“Lemme grab the cooler from the Jeep, and we’ll grill some burgers and dogs,” Patrick says when I flop down next to Savvy.
“No meat, you murderous bastard,” she slurs.
“Got tofu shit for you, mouthy,” he says, jogging toward his Jeep.
I roll to my side and face her. “Do you like him?”
“Nope.” She laughs. “I hate everything he stands for.”
“But do you like him?”
She rolls to her side and smiles. “Hottest guy I’ve ever seen in my fucking life, and he shaves his chest, legs, pubes—”
“Wait—how do you know that?” I grin.
“Caught him in one of the study cubicles with that ho.” She points behind her to the blonde.
“I heard that!” the blonde yells.
“Wasn’t trying to hide it. Own that shit.” She raises her cup and spills a little on herself.
I can’t help laughing.
“I like you.”
“I’m so likable,” she says. “Said no one ever!”
“I’m drunk, Savvy, but you are wasted. Let’s go find something to nibble on while we wait for—”
“Patrick’s meat.” She laughs as she pushes herself up.
“Nothing vegan about that, girl,” Patrick says from behind her.
“Except the metal rod shoved—”
“What!” I interrupt her.
“Metal is vegan.”
“Thanks for blowing my spot, Savvy,” he groans.
“You know what?” I cover my ears. “I don’t even want to know.”
Chapter Twenty One
Idiom
High as a kite.
Truth
I shot for the freaking moon.
“She ate the fucking brownies, man.” I hear, but my eyes are heavy and the entire world is spinning. Behind it? A green laser beam.
“Savvy, what the hell were you thinking?”
“Leave her alone,” I croak out, like a frog, a frog who swallowed cotton balls.
“How was I supposed to know she’s never been fucked up?”
“I’ve been White Claw wasted,” I groan out. “I need beer.”
“The hell you do.” Patrick laughs.
“That the cops?”