“Vegas! Vegas! Vegas!” Jack chanted from his spot on the passenger side of the car. I groaned lowly, ready to bash my own skull in on the windows. He’d been chanting on and off since we’d crossed the state line into Nevada and I was beyond sick of it. Being cooped up in a car with Jack for 32 hours turns out to be my worst nightmare, one that I will have to relive in less than 48 hours. I was going to cherish every moment I had away from him. I still loved him, don’t get me wrong, but there is definitely such a thing as too much Jack Barakat.
I mean, let’s ignore the fact that we are actually in Las Vegas, searching out the hotel we’d reserved rooms at (or, rather, Jack’s parents had reserved rooms at on the assurance that Marissa and I would occupy one and the boys the other), and let’s also ignore that I was also beyond excited to be here. Jack was an irritating five-year-old with too much sugar at his disposal. I was bored of it. All I wanted was to spend an hour laid in a real bed with Alex before we went out and explored the town, and I was for damn sure going to get it.
“Fuck off, asshole,” I groaned, thoroughly disappointed that I had nothing to throw at him. Thanks to my lack of a missile, he continued to chant, now louder than before purely to be more irritating. I was the first one out of the car when we finally pulled up at our hotel, going straight to get the bags from the back so I could just have a moment of peace. I loved him, but he was an irritating little shit.
It didn’t take us long to get checked in and separate from one another, doing exactly what we’d promised Jack’s parents we wouldn’t do and splitting off into couples. Alex and I put the other two under a strict no-elopement promise before going into our room and both just flopping down on the bed.
“I never want to stay in a car that long with Jack ever again.” Alex chuckled as I murmured my complaint into the pillows.
“Good luck with that. You’ll be doing it again on Sunday.” I groaned loudly, unhappy with the reminder.
“Can’t we just fly home?” I asked, removing my face from the pillows and turning onto my side to look at him.
“No,” he snorted. “My mom would murder all of us. She already suggested we should do that before I pleaded for the car.”
“Your mom is a genius. Always listen to her, Alex.”
“And miss you talking in your sleep all the way through Ohio? Never.” I snorted, hitting him lightly and telling him I absolutely did not talk in my sleep.
As planned, by 8pm we were all showered, dressed and ready to head out for the night. We were all, admittedly, still exhausted from the trip, but there was no way we were going to waste a single moment of this trip, never mind an entire night.
“So, where first?” Alex asked, fingers laced in my own and looking between the rest of us. He seemed to be looking more directly at Jack, with whom he had planned this trip years ago, which didn’t go unnoticed.
“Dude, I know absolutely no bars or casinos in Vegas. Especially not which ones that’ll let our IDs fly. All I know is there’s like a bazillion and not all of them will serve us,” Jack told him, interrupting his own serious nature with the word ‘bazillion’, as if there was such a word past about third grade.
“’Bazillion’ isn’t a word, idiot,” Marissa told him, voicing what the three of us had been thinking.
“Fine. Billion. That’s a word, right?” She nodded. “Yeah, okay, there’s a billion. Can we just find the closest one and move along to wherever we hear is good?” Alex, Marissa and I all looked at each other, momentarily stunned by Jack having such a good idea.
“And that’s why you’re my best friend, Jackass. You’re so full of good ideas,” I grinned, moments later when we’d all recovered from our mild shock.
“I kno- Hey! Did you just call me a jackass?”
“New nickname,” Alex mused. “I like it. Definitely a keeper.”
“I’m actually rather proud of it.”
“Will you stop ganging up on me?!” Jack screamed, attracting the attention of pretty much everyone in the lobby of our hotel, where we were currently making our plans. I smiled apologetically at the couple nearest to us, who were shooting us annoyed looks.
“Way to go, douchebag,” Alex scowled, smacking Jack lightly. Jack simply shrugged in reply, walking to the door and opening it quickly so we could make our escape. It was dark already, nothing out of the ordinary for February, only it was much warmer here than back in Baltimore and the air was still. It was different to what I was used to, but I had to say I liked it. My attraction to warm places remained consistent. We had, of course, visited the Grand Canyon when I was a child and, while my parents were complaining about the heat the entire time, I was running around excitedly, without that sluggish too-hot feeling.
The first bar we came across, almost literally across the road from our hotel, looked incredibly dingy. Jack was insistent upon going in, to prove that his plan was as good as we had originally thought, but the rest of us protested, assuring him that we didn’t want to contract hepatitis on our first night here – or at all, if possible. So, of course, we amended the plan to the first semi-decent looking bar or casino we could feasibly get away with our IDs. As there wasn’t a decent looking bar within our eyeline, Jack immediately started protesting as we walked, complaining about the distance he was walking ‘in Vegas’ to find a casino we liked the look of, voicing a complaint after every place we walked past.
“Dude, we’re here to get wasted and lose all our money in style,” Alex snapped, after yet another complaint from Jack. “Not bitch and moan about how you wanted to lose your dignity in a shitty bar.”
“I wouldn’t lose my dignity,” Jack pouted, the first thing he’d said in nearly 10 minutes that wasn’t a complaint.
“You lose your dignity daily, Jacks,” I laughed. He glared at me, pushing me with his shoulder and earning another slap from Alex. “Come on, this place looks okay,” I stated, pulling Alex toward the first decent looking casino we’d seen so far.
“This is why you’re my girl,” Alex grinned, referring to the fact he’d been too wrapped up in Jack to notice what we were walking by. I laughed again, allowing him to push a small kiss to my temple as I made my way into the casino, the rest of the guys in tow.
Our first night passed in a blur of gambling, drinking and laughter. Marissa and Jack didn’t slip away within an hour or so, as I had expected, instead they stayed the entire night, laughing and joking as though there were no tomorrow. We picked up enough information to keep us in town for the next two months in different places, never mind two nights, so after a few drinks, we moved on to the next place, and the next and the next.
By 1am, however, we were all tucked up in our beds, sound asleep after our long drive.

Notes