“Al, come on, how many years have we been going to their parties and how many years have you wished you brought Jim Beam instead of Merlot?”

“I can’t believe we’re actually having this conversation, do you hear yourself?”

“I do! You know I’m right you just-”

“Hey, girls,” Shane calls and waves them over; Dana with liquor and Alice with a bottle of some expensive looking wine. I wave to them both and Alice gives Shane a wide-eyed look. It was the kind of look Ricky Ricardo would give Lucy just before asking her to “‘splain.”

“So, you two are buying wine. Wine’s a good choice to buy. Yup.”

“Dana” Alice nudges her and looks over both of us.

“You two are totally going to Bette and Tina’s tonight, together. Wow, Shane, going with someone, I’m pretty impressed.”

Shane chuckles and I grin, wrapping my arm around her waist. “Yup, she’s my date.”

“Well, this is me blown away.” Dana adds sarcastically and then grins, linking arms with Alice who nearly loses the grip on her bottle and just gives us both a silly smile.

“We’ll see you two tonight.” Alice laughs and points ahead of us. We’re next in line, I didn’t even notice. Dana and Alice make their way to the back of the line and I can hear them, no longer bickering about what alcoholic selection to bring, but instead giggling in a flabbergasted way. Shane’s just grinning goofily and when we get to the check out I slide a credit card to a portly older woman with the name ‘Susie’ on her name tag. She just smiles at Shane and I and rings up the bottle, charges it to my Visa, and wraps up the bottle in festive and glittery paper. Well, that’s taken care of. Now I just need something to wear, but I decide to make due with what I have in my closet. We walk back to the car and I put my hand over Shane’s as she goes to shift gears out of ‘Park’ and into ‘Reverse’ instead, I press up on her hand, keeping the gear locked in park as my lips move nearer to hers.

“We have a few hours to kill, Shane.”

“I like the way you think.” She grins and leans into me, needless to say, I hope the windows don’t get too foggy.