"Thirteenth," Andrew said. "She made sure to ask me if I was superstitious."

"Some insane number," Nicky said. "But when Andrew waltzed out of her office at the end of his first session with her she was right on his heels and completely unfazed. Pretty impressive, right?"

"No," Neil said.

Nicky sighed. "Eat your ice cream, jerk."

Neil fought the urge to roll his eyes and dug in. When they left Andrew brought a stack of napkins away from the table with him. Neil didn't have to ask why. He didn't know how many of Sweetie's servers sold cracker dust, but hiding the packs between extra napkins was an easy way to make deliveries. Andrew waited for Kevin to get in the passenger seat first, then dumped the stack of napkins in his lap for Kevin to sort on the drive to the club. By the time they got to Eden's Twilight Andrew's smile was gone for the night.

Eden's Twilight was a two-story nightclub near the heart of Columbia. Nicky had worked there as a bartender when getting the twins through high school, and Neil had a feeling Andrew had helped out under the table. They'd left the city for school but came back as often as the season allowed. Nicky's friendship with the staff and Andrew's generous tips got them instant access and ridiculous discounts on drinks.

The upperclassmen came in Allison's car. When Nicky pulled over at the curb out front of Eden's Twilight, Allison double-parked beside him to let her passengers out. Andrew collected VIP parking passes from the bouncer on duty. Kevin handed Allison hers and gave her quick directions to the parking garage in case she got separated from Nicky in traffic. She nodded understanding and pulled away.

The bouncer on duty looked a little confused by how many people Andrew had with him, but he waved them through without question. Andrew pushed open a second set of doors and led them into the club.

The doors put them out on the dais, a curved section packed with tables and the main bar. Two short stairwells led a few feet down to a crowded dance floor. Halfway between the doors and bar were the stairs up to the second floor. Neil had yet to go up there, as the balcony was meant for private parties. Andrew could have easily gotten them access, but his preferred bartender Roland always worked the downstairs bar.

It took work to find a table through the crowd, and the one they found only had two stools left. Andrew shrugged it off as inconsequential, since chances were most of the Foxes would end up on the dance floor anyway. He left most of his teammates to guard the table and dragged Neil through the crowd toward the bar for their first round.