Jesus, I'd never seen a girl switch from hot to ice as quickly as she had.

It fucking sucked, but how could I blame her when my friends had listed off my sexual history?

It didn't matter if all we did was watch movies and talk. I needed to be with her. She grounded a part of me that had been floating around for years now.

I just wanted time with her.

One on one.

And now?

Hell, now I'd be lucky if she danced with me.

Stupid fucking Casey Garza and her lack of a gag-reflex.

Aw screw it.

I needed a drink.

"Rumor has it you've got a kid on the way," were the first words I heard when I entered the hotel bar.

"Wow, that didn't take long," I deadpanned, stepping around Maleficent the second, and making a beeline for the bar. "Good news travels fast around here."

"Yeah," she huffed, following me. "That and chlamydia."

"Well, you'd know all about that." I sighed heavily and flagged the bartender. "What do you want, Ash?"

"Is it true?"

"Hey, darlin'," the raspy voiced bartender with the ginormous rack purred when she swaggered over to me. "That was one helluva game you played tonight. What can I get you?"

"Hey, Janice." The fact that I was eighteen didn't matter a damn around here. I was the town's so-called rising star; chartered for the big time. Being served was one of the perks. "I'll take the usual."

"Uh-huh." She winked and set about making my order.

"Ugh," Ash grumbled, scrunching her nose up at Janice's retreating frame. "I can't believe you fucked that grandma."

"Janice? She's thirty-eight, Ash. Hardly a grandma."

"She's nasty."

I shrugged off her words. "She's always been nice to me."

"Well?" Ashley snapped, drawing my attention back to her. "Is it true?"

"Jesus." I sighed, entirely uninterested in the girl in the sparkly pink dress. "Is what true, Ash?"

"The walking scab of Ocean Bay," she hissed. "Freddy fucking Kruger. Did you seriously knock her up?"

My hackles rose as I twisted sideways to glare at her. "Call her that one more time and see what happens."

She opened her mouth to say something catty no doubt, but the look in my eyes had her swiftly snapping it shut.

"Wise choice," I growled.

"People heard y'all talking outside of the hotel," she went with instead. "About the baby."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the bar.

"Well?"

"Well what?" I snapped, facing her once more.

"Is it true?"

No, it was wasn't true. It was a running joke between two friends that some gossipy assholes had overheard and ran with, but I wasn't about to give her the inside scoop.

"Whether it's true or not, it's none of your goddamn business, Ashley." Janice returned with a tray of shooters and a couple of tall glasses of my favorite; rum and coke. "You're a lifesaver, Janice," I told her, reaching into my pocket for my wallet.