“I’ll finish this and then we can go. You should grab a water instead,” I suggest.

He quickly dismisses it. “I’ll just crash at a hotel.”

“I’m serious. We can leave whenever.”

Elias sighs, “And I’m serious, too. I can’t remember the last time I had fun.”

I nod. He’s doing this just for me and I don’t know how to take it yet. Feels weird. Not right.

“Cheers,” Elias smiles, and I feel a fluttering in my chest.

“Cheers.” I raise my Hugo and we clink our glasses together.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

ELIAS

We leave maybe an hour or so later. Can’t tell for sure. What I can tell is that we drank too damn much. At least I did, but Indigo seemed like she was familiar with her Hugo cocktail. I tell her as much.

“That’s not true,” she laughs, a hiccup leaving her lips, which makes me laugh too, although I can’t remember what we’re laughing about.

I open the cab door, letting her in first. Looks like even when drunk, I have manners. Elias: 1, Wine: 0. Indigo gets in, somehow managing to bump her head. She groans, cursing under her breath. Chuckling, I follow her in and pay extra attention to my head, which is a bad idea. With my whole attention on my head, I forget how high I have to raise my leg to get in. My shoe catches on the verge, making me lose my balance, so I tip forward and hit my chin on the seat.

Indigo bursts out laughing and slaps her thigh. I grunt in response. Getting back on my feet becomes really hard. I try to raise myself up, only to slip again, with my chin on the seat and my legs outside the vehicle.

“Stop laughing and help me,” I say, but she just laughs harder and louder, her hands clutching her belly.

“Oh,” she continues, wiping the tears from her eyes, “okay, okay.”

I smile as I see her lean over, but right before she grabs my arm, she laughs again and opens her purse. She fishes out her phone.

“I have to take a picture.” She laughs even harder, and it’s contagious.

After taking a bunch of photos and making me laugh even more, she helps me get up.

“Where to?” the cab driver asks.

“How did he get here?” I ask Indigo, utterly confused, making her laugh again. I try to focus on her by squinting my eyes, but every time I try, my vision blurs.

“Home?” she asks, raising her arms in the air.

My head turns once again towards the driver. “You heard her,” I nod, proud of myself. “We’re going home.”

Yeah. That seems like a great idea. The man scowls.