DINNER & DIATRIBES. . . JACKSON AVERY!

chapter twenty-five: P.Y.T (pretty young thing)

"Hey."

Briar grunts, aiming another kick at the punching bag, and ignoring Meredith behind her. She isn't sure how long she's been at the gym, or why Meredith is here, but she has no interest in anything that exists beyond the bag she's been kicking and punching.

"You know, you have Jackson and April worried." Meredith continues, and Briar rolls her eyes as she fixes her stance and aims three rear undercuts at the bag, catching it when it swings back. "I ate your brownie by the way."

"Bitch." Briar pants out, without any anger in her tone. A brownie is the least of her concerns.

"Are you planning on being here all night?"

"Does it matter?" Briar sighs, wanting to be left alone. "I'll be at work tomorrow."

"Do you want company?"

"No." Briar says, and is relieved when she hears Meredith leave. She takes a steadying breath, adjusts her boxing gloves, and gets back into it. When she finally stops hours later, it's to find a water bottle next to her stuff, along with a brownie.

Briar can't help but laugh.

✦

Briar giggles to herself as she stumbles inside, tripping over the doorway and clumsily catching herself on the frame. She drops her keys on the table and makes her way into the kitchen, wincing at every sound she makes. She doesn't know what time it is, or if anyone is home, but she doesn't want anyone to wake up and come searching for the source of the noise.

"Briar?" She hears a little while later, wincing when a light turns on. "What–what are you eating?"

"Pretzels, duh." Briar says around her mouthful, squinting at Lexie, who is hovering by the entryway. "Want one?"

"Fuck it. Sure." Lexie sighs, moving to join her. She jumps up to sit on the counter next to Briar, before grimacing. "Oh, God, you smell like straight booze. And sex! Oh my God, Briar, did you have sex? Who was it–?"

"I went clubbing." Briar tells her friend with a laugh, feeling so warm. She takes a break to dunk another pretzel in peanut butter, before tilting the jar in Lexie's direction to do the same. "I went to . . ." She pauses there, lifting up her hand so that she can see the stamps on the back of it. "One, two . . . three. I went to three clubs."

"Four." Lexie corrects gently, tapping on the stamp she didn't notice and making Briar laugh. It's a rose, and Briar really likes it. She should buy stamps of her own.

"Riiiight. Four clubs. And I met Roni, and Livvy, and Samantha. I didn't meet anyone at the last club." She says, pouting at that.

"Okay, and uh. Did you–did you sleep with Roni, and Livvy, and Samantha?" Lexie asks, laughing as she mimics the way Briar had said their names. Briar laughs with her, not knowing why they're laughing, but joining in anyway. Lexie has a nice laugh, and Briar finds herself leaning into her side.

"No. Yes. Samantha was just really nice, like she helped fix my lipstick in the bathroom, but she's straight."

"Right. Of course. And why was your lipstick messed up?"

"'Cause I ate out Livvy." Briar tells her, smiling proudly as she runs a finger over her bottom lip. Lexie chokes next to her, and when Briar looks over, she's bright red. Briar frowns, concerned as she reaches over and tries to feel for a temperature, only to have her hands batted away. "She was so pretty. And so sweet. I should've gotten her number."

"Maybe you'll meet her again." Lexie says, making her grin. She really hopes so. "What about Roni?"

"Oh! She was at the first club." Briar says, perking up. Roni was the best. "She danced with me to a lot of songs. Like, a lot. But we did a super fun dance to One, Two Step and fuck, she was so hot while dancing. And she's a gymnast, so she's super strong, and she held me up against the wall when she–"