Family Business

Blaming

Claire's pov

When we got out of the clearing and entered the woods, now completely out of sight, Samantha said, "Tonight is really gonna be epic. Show 'em, Alex." She lightly tapped his arm, indicating it was time to reveal their surprise.

Alex pulled a bottle of Limoncello out of his backpack.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked, in disbelief.

"Uh huh," Samantha nodded.

Grabbing the bottle from her boyfriend's hand to inspect it for myself, I said, "Wow, it's still cold."

"Yeah, I put it in the freezer a couple hours before we left," Alex explained proudly.

"My grandfather and uncle drink this after dinner a lot," I said, kinda in awe we were gonna do this. It seems like such a grown-up thing to do.

"Get the glasses out, Alex," Samantha prompted.

"Oh yeah, ok," Alex said, digging through his backpack to pull out four tall shot glasses.

"Are we really gonna do this?" I asked, still not quite believing this was actually happening.

"Haven't you ever had alcohol before?" Alex asked in shock, making me feel like a baby.

"Not really," I said, kinda scared they would make fun of me but I didn't want to lie to my friends either. "I mean my mom let me try a sip of her wine once but it was so gross, I never asked her again."

"Well, this is really good," Dante said. "You'll like it."

I practically melted when he smiled at me.

"You've tried it before?" I didn't mean to sound like I didn't believe him, but I was kinda shocked.

"Yeah, lots of times," Dante said, almost like he was offended I asked.

"Come on, serve it up, babe." Samantha impatiently tapped Alex's arm.

We sat in a circle as he poured out the four shots, handing us each one then setting the bottle down as he grabbed his own.

Holding up her glass as if making a toast, Samantha said, "To friendship," as she waited for us to raise our glasses.

"To friendship," we all echoed, before downing the shot.

I started coughing as I felt the alcohol burn my throat, despite being ice cold.

"Shit, I just got brain freeze," Dante groaned, clutching his head as we all laughed at his overdramatic, yet comical reaction.

Patting my hand, Samantha quietly said, "Don't worry you'll get used to it," referring to my coughing jag.

"Should I pour another round?" Alex asked, even though he already had two of our glasses refilled.

"Hell yeah," Dante laughed, rubbing his temples. "That was awesome."

We polished off the remainder of the bottle rather quickly. My head was spinning and I was feeling quite giddy. I found everything my friends did and said to be hilarious. Alex ran back to the mansion and asked Cook to prepare some snacks for us. When he returned, he had sandwiches, crackers, cut up fruits and cheeses, and several bottles of water.

After having something to eat and downing a bottle of water, I felt a little better. We all ended up taking a nap in the warm afternoon sun. Feeling re-energized, we decided to open the second bottle of Limoncello Alex brought while we played truth or dare. We did a lot of stupid dares and told a few embarrassing truths but kept it light-hearted and fun, nothing dark or dangerous.