Alcohol You Later (54)

“License and registration.”

Raven nods, digging through her purse for her ID while I retrieve the registration from the glove box and hand it to her.

“Do you have any idea how fast you were going?” the cop asks while looking over the documents.

“Well, umm, not really.” Her voice is shaking. “We were sort of in a hurry.”

The man widens his stance. “I clocked you doing one-oh-one in a seventy.”

Raven sucks air through her teeth. “I’m so sorry, sir. We’re having a bit of a medical emergency.”

“Are we?” he asks, looking around her at me.

I lift a finger and nod, unsure where this is going but curious enough to see it through.

“Yes,” she says. “My friend here…he isn’t well.”

“Looks fine to me.”

“It’s a…” She cups a hand around her mouth, but I can still make out her whispered words. “Private issue.”

“Unless you wanna get more specific, I’m gonna have to write you a ticket, ma’am.”

She groans. “Sorry, Nick.”

The acid in my stomach roils. What the hell is this girl up to?

“He’s having a serious,” she makes air quotes, “reaction to his little blue pill.”

I choke.

“Do what now?” The dude can hardly keep a straight face. He’s doing better than me; I’ll give him that much. “What kind of reaction?” He makes air quotes to mimic hers.

She clears her throat. “A—umm…an erection lasting longer than four hours, sir.”

I can’t fucking believe she’s seeing this through. He’s gonna haul us into the station, and Anika will murder us both.

“Ma’am.” The cop spits out a laugh. “I can appreciate your dedication to getting out of this ticket, but the jig’s up.” He starts writing something on his pad.

“We can show you,” she offers, reaching for my hoodie, making as if she’s about to lift it.

“No,” the cop says, holding out a hand. “That’s quite all right.”

“Okay, well, are we getting a ticket or not?” The girl is suddenly feeling quite bold. “I’m sure you can appreciate how delicate this situation is. The last thing we want is to lose that…limb.”

The officer sighs heavily, narrowing his eyes at her, then shakes his head. “Just slow down, Miss Winters.”

“Yes sir.” She gives him a salute.

I wait until the cop drives off before confronting the little fibber. “What the hell was that?” I ask, howling with laughter.

“That was fun.” She turns my way, gives me a wink, and pulls back onto the road, this time sticking to ten over the speed limit.

The last twenty minutes of the drive is blessedly uneventful, other than every few minutes one of us cracking up. It feels good to laugh and smile with my best friend again, even if she did risk my virtue in the process. Life’s been so heavy lately.

“What would you have done if he’d called your bluff?” I ask, keying the code into the gate when we arrive at the lake house.

“Didn’t think that far ahead,” she admits with a half shrug. “Let’s just be glad it worked.”

“Touché,” I say, pulling my sweater over my head and tossing it into the back seat. “Keep going. It’s a few miles yet.”

“You weren’t lying when you said it was secluded.” She continues slowly along the winding gravel road that passes through a densely wooded area. “Whose place is this?”

“Ashley Ryder.”

I grab the wheel and straighten it when Raven damn near veers off the road. “Shut the fuck up!”

“Same label…” I laugh. “Pay attention, woman. Jesus…” I shake my head. “You’re a terrible driver.”

“I’m a great driver,” she counters. “I’ve never gotten into an accident or even a ticket.”

“You’re a damn con artist is what you are, Bonnie.”

She beams like I’ve just given her a compliment.

“You do realize the ticket would have been much cheaper than the both of us having to get bailed out of jail.”

She waves my comment away. “We were never going to jail.”

“Are you kidding me?” I snort.

“Please, Nicholas. That man wreaked of homophobe. Did you see his face when I offered to show him your pecker?”

“The man was probably worried he’d get nailed with a sexual harassment suit.”

“Negative,” she counters, pulling up to the cozy log cabin. “He was worried he’d turn gay through osmosis.”





The cabin looks like it was taken straight off the pages of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I can’t stop gawking. The landscaping features huge stones and rustic greenery and is immaculately kempt. The most adorable covered porch spans the front, with swings hanging on either end. Twin rocking chairs to the left of the double doors that face the dock provide a perfect view of the pristine lake. I imagine watching the sun rise and set from that position to be nothing short of majestic.

There are no other houses as far as the eye can see.