"Isn't it a little early to be drinking beer?" Happy asked. She glanced at her watch a couple of times within seconds of asking the question.
"I know it's noon time here but it's happy hour somewhere in the world." Dante held up his glass then finished off his dark lager. "Besides, if Nichelle does to me this year like she did to me last year I'm going to need the antifreeze."
"Just don't drink too much." Nichelle put her cloth napkin on the table. "There's still a parade we have to sit through."
Zeke made a face. "Do we have to sit through the whole parade?" For a big as Zeke was and as menacing as he could be, sometimes he pouted like a little boy.
If Nichelle hadn't been friends with him for over ten years she would have found the look odd. Since she'd known him and the rest of the group since their college years, nothing fazed her.
"You know, Zeke is right," Happy said. "We got hotel rooms that overlook the parade route. We could stay in the comfort of our rooms and still take in the parade."
"What? And miss out on the sanitation guys drumming on their trashcans or the jazzersizers dancing their way down the street?" Nichelle shook her head. "This is tradition. This is how we mark the start of the spring season. We do the scavenger hunt, we watch the parade, then we get drunk. It's been the same way for over seven years."
"And again I have to ask. Does anyone else find it weird that we're catering to their sex games?" Lennon asked and pointed at Dante then Nichelle.
"Jealous?" Dante lifted his eyebrows.
"Something troubling you about scavenger hunt?" Nichelle reached into her purse to retrieve her list. She scanned her items, noticing right away that she had been given the odd numbers. She hoped she wouldn't be odd girl out.
"I don't know." Happy smiled with a bit of pink coloring her pale cheeks. "I think it's kind of fun."
Both Lennon and Zeke stared at her with their eyes wide open and mouths gaping. Lennon could be shocked with a look. Zeke surprised Nichelle with how floored he appeared.
"Happy, you're supposed to be the voice of reason here," Lennon mused.
"What? And take your job? Never." Happy patted him on his back.
Besides the fact that Happy epitomized her name, she had a way of surprising people, especially since she carried an innocent appearance. Now with her hair blond instead of chestnut brown that she had all through autumn, and her hazel eyes hidden behind her spectacles, she had a sexy yet academic appearance. With her bubbly personality coupled with her alluring yet reserved look, she drove a lot of Nichelle's male friends wild. If only Happy knew her sexual strength.
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