“No still.” He kissed her, then hugged her tight, running his arms all over her back. “Damn, I can’t wait to make love to you.” He was already rock hard.

“I can’t either.”

Several times throughout the day he debated about just canceling his trip to Vegas and staying home to be with Grace. He could do to her tonight what he’d now have to put off for another time. But he didn’t.

Romero showed up as expected to drive him to the airport that afternoon. They dropped off Grace at her apartment and after a very long goodbye, he finally got back in the car with Romero. “Next time get a room and I can come back to pick you up.”

Sal smirked. “I can’t believe your wuss ass can’t come with me to Vegas. It’s one night!”

Romero shook his head, pulling a fast U-turn. “Nope. Are you kidding me? And risk Izzy turning this on me and taking off sometime on her own? Hell no.”

Sal stared out the window, hoping Grace would never think that way and make him have to worry about her taking off for the weekend to party with her friends. So far, she’d said nothing of the sort, but if she ever did, he’d just have to suck it up. One thing was for sure. This was the last time he ever left without her.

*

It didn’t take long to find the guys at the bar in Vegas. Sal had checked in, gone to his room and settled in before going back downstairs. He’d texted Jason and knew which bar to head to. Most of the guys were already getting loud. He knew a few from school but there were others he’d never met before. Jason walked up to him with a shot as soon as he saw him. “You need to catch up.” He handed Sal the shot, slinging his arm over his shoulders. “Everybody say hi to Sal, my college roommate.”

Sal got a loud greeting from all the drunken idiots and he lifted his shot in the air before downing it. At first, Jason was on him, handing him one shot after another. Sal was glad he’d eaten before leaving the restaurant that afternoon. Grace had made him something special and they sat in a back booth eating together. But after several shots he began to feel the slow buzz. He figured he was in Vegas for that reason and he wasn’t driving anywhere so he went with the flow, but he hated hangovers. He’d only had a few in his life and they weren’t fun. Talk about wasting an entire day. So he had a plan. He knew lushes hated partying alone, but he also knew once drunk enough they were easily fooled into thinking he was drinking just as much. Since Jason already had a head start this should be easy.

Sal texted Grace a few times to tell her how much he missed her. Even with all the noise and everything going on around him, she was all he could think of.

A few hours later, Sal knew Jason was cooked. Jason hung on him, talking and Sal could barely make out what he was saying. Sal had had enough shots to be feeling a comfortable buzz but he was no where near the state Jason was.“Maybe we should call it a night.”

“No, man.” Jason pointed a finger at him, smiling. “The girls are coming.”

“What girls?”

“Kitty…” Jason laughed. “My kitty Kat and her bridesmaids are out here, too.”

The waitress came to their table with a tray full of what looked like more shots. “These are compliments of some of your admirers, gentlemen.”

All the guys spoke at once, cheering and asking her who sent the drinks and what they were. The waitress simply pointed at a group of women on the other side of the bar and said, “Tequila. Casadores.” She turned to Sal with that unmistakable gleam he was so used to getting from women. “This one’s for you.”

Sal smiled taking it from her. Jason already held his and lifted it toward the group of women. “There’s my kitty Kat.”

Sal squinted barely able to make out the girls in the smoky crowded room. Jason handed him the drink and held his up for a toast. “You sure you wanna drink another one?” Sal asked.

“This is my bachelor party, man!” Jason slurred, hanging on to Sal’s arm for support. “Don’t get all Mother Teresa on me!”

Sal clinked Jason’s glass with his then took a sip of the drink. Casadores tequila wasn’t the smoothest tequila out there but he didn’t remember it being this rough. Maybe it was because the Third Generation tequila they’d been drinking earlier was one of the smoothest out there.

Jason downed his. “Whoa!” He lifted his empty glass in the air then frowned at Sal’s still almost-full glass. “C’mon! Don’t be a pu**y!”

There was no arguing with a drunk so Sal drank the rest instantly feeling his entire body warm. Jason smiled big. Another waitress walked up to them with a tray of drinks. Not shots this time but Sal didn’t recognize the drink. “The ladies are intent on getting you guys loaded,” she said passing out the drinks.

Sal rolled his eyes. As if Jason needed even one more shot. He took the drink the waitress handed him and smelled it. Whatever it was it was potent.

“What is this?” he asked with a frown.

She smiled. “Liquid Cocaine. It tastes better than it smells, trust me. Your ladies know their drinks.”

Sal turned to the corner where the ladies were feeling a lot more buzzed than he had just earlier. It wasn’t until those ladies looked like nothing more than a bunch of fuzzy bodies in motion that he realized just how buzzed he was.

He took the drink and held it up in the direction of the fuzzy bodies, losing his footing for a moment. Half the drink spilled onto his wrist and he licked it, holding on to a barstool for support. He’d never even heard of Liquid Cocaine but if he had to guess it was straight gasoline laced with acid.