I found JC down playing the slots when I went to the casino. I wasn’t sure what I should tell him about Jake. I mean, I didn’t really think there was that much to tell.
“Hey,” I said, standing next to him.
“Hi,” he replied, not even looking up.
“You’ve been down here quite a while. Do you want to go out and get something for dinner with me or something?”
JC shook his head as he pulled the lever on the machine and more money came out. “I’m on a role here.”
I watched him for a moment, to see if he was going to say something else. When it didn’t seem like he was going to, I said, “When are you coming back to the room?”
He shrugged and put more money into the machine. “Okay... well, I guess I’ll see you later then.”
“Bye,” he said, pulling the lever.
I sighed and walked off, wondering if I could find Chris or Joey. After looking around the casino for a moment, it was Justin I spotted, a group of showgirls surrounding him. Justin saw me and motioned me over to him.
“Hey Lance! I want you to meet some of my new friends.” I went over to where Justin was, and saw about seven or eight girls. He pointed to the one on the far right and said, “This is Jamie, this is Angela, Sara, Danielle, Neesha, Gretchen Amanda, and Stephanie.”
“Hi,” I said, wondering why Justin was introducing me to strippers. Women ones at that.
There was a round of hello, hi, hey, and what’s up. I smiled at them, feeling a little bit awkward to have eight women starting at me.
“Damn, Veronica and Bene are going to made that they missed meeting you two,” one, I think Stephanie, said.
“Yeah, they love you,” Danielle said to me.
Justin grinned and leaned back in his chair. “These girls got nothin’ but love for us, Lance.”
Jamie snorted and said, “No one likes -you-, Justin.”
He laughed, thinking she was kidding, but from the look on her face... I wasn’t so sure.
*
I had passed one drink too many about four drinks ago. Justin had done the same thing about two or so more drinks ahead of me. We were completely smashed, and I think the strippers were loving it.
“You know, Britney isn’t really a virgin,” Justin slurred, laughing a little bit.
“You don’t say,” Angela said, and even though I was drunk, I could tell she was feigning ignorance.
“Wow,” Sara added in agreement. Justin laughed, a high pitched little giggle, and said in a whisper, “Guess what? Neither am I!”
Danielle and Gretchen laughed, quickly covering their mouths when I looked over at them.
“Really?” Jamie asked in an amused tone. “Who’d you give it up to, Justin?” she asked, and I really think she enjoyed messing with drunk Justin.
“Britney, of course!” Justin said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Lance, are you and Justin the only two out of your band that are here?” Neesha asked me, trying to change the subject. Because really, who wanted to hear about Justin and Britney having sex?
“No, they’re all here. JC was at the slots... earlier,” I replied, because I wasn’t sure how long it had been, and suddenly I sobered up a little bit, realizing that my conversation with JC could’ve been hours ago. He could be back at our room and he could be worried.
Justin started giggling and said, “Lance -always- knows where JC is.”
“Why don’t you have another drink, Justin?” I said, shoving mine over to him, noticing that all eyes were on me with interest.
“Lance and JC are always together, because they’re in looovvvee,” Justin said, spilling my drink on himself in an effort to swallow some of it.
Before I could say anything, someone behind me said, “There you are. I have been looking everywhere for you, how long have you been down here?”
I turned to him and waved, almost losing my balance and falling off the chair, that’s how wasted I was.
“Are you drunk?” JC asked me.
Justin laughed and spilled more of my drink.
JC looked over at him briefly before turning to me and pulling on my arm to get me to stand up.
“Come on, we’re going back upstairs.”
I nodded to him, standing up and wobbling just a little bit. I felt his arms steadying me, and I looked back to wave good-bye to my stripper friends.
They were all grinning like mad.
*
The next morning, I woke up and my head was pounding so hard I thought it was going to explode.
I opened my eyes, and everything seemed to be spinning around. I staggered out of bed and made my way to the bathroom, kneeling in front of the toilet and loosing everything I had eaten the previous day.
“Josh?” I asked, and as soon as I had called his name, he was in the bathroom with a cup of water and two aspirin. “Thanks,” I told him, taking both aspirin down in one gulp of water.
“What were you thinking Lance? You know you don’t hold alcohol well at all, why did you drink so much?”
“I was mad at you,” I said, surprised at the own words coming out of my mouth.
“Why?” JC asked me.
“Because you blew me off at the casino. I ran into Justin and those strippers, and I figured hanging around with them had to be better than staying in the room all right. When the drinks started being passed around, I didn’t think one would hurt. One turned into two, two turned into three, and pretty soon I was drunk.”
JC sighed and rubbed my lower back, my head resting on the cold linoleum of the toilet seat. “Lance, I’m sorry about last night. I wasn’t really thinking when I was talking to you, but you did have every right to get mad at me. I just wish you hadn’t gotten wasted, because that hangover is going to last most of the day.”
We were silent for a moment. “Does this mean I’m going to have to send you to Gambler’s Anonymous?” I asked with a faint smile.
JC laughed and I knew things were okay between us.
*
