A Cruel Summer

Chapter 31

AN: A few things! I remembered after I wrote this that IRL Cara is sober now which is amazing! She is a little lit in this chapter, but going forward I'll probably avoid that with her character.

Secondly - smut warning. The stopping point if you don't want to read that part is when they get back to T's apartment.

Thirdly - my keyboard was not cooperating while i wrote this so i apologize for any typos

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"Sup, bitches!" they hear shouted across the bar, the British accent taking on a drunken slur.

"Hey, Cara," Karlie chuckles as they approach, dropping her arm over the girl's shoulder. After their dinner, Karlie and Taylor had decided to drop by the bar where their friends were having a casual night out before heading home for the evening. Karlie glances around the pool table to see Blake and Ryan, Derek and Nick, Keleigh and Miles, Zoé and Channing, Ashley, and Gigi. As she turns back to Cara, she groans internally, catching a glimpse of the woman standing a few feet behind her, engaged in conversation with a man Karlie doesn't recognize - Selena.

"You two look fuckin' snazzy. Might be a tad overdressed for this place, mate," Cara chuckles as she takes a sip of her beer, pulling Karlie away from her dread momentarily.

"We came from dinner," Taylor explains with a soft smile as she pulls the Brit in for a hug. "What even is this place?" she asks as she glances around, leaning back into Karlie's side.

"This," Cara begins with a smug smirk, "is the best hidden gem in New York."

"Really," Taylor laughs, "Because it smells like stale beer and cigarettes and there's about a 30-year age gap between us and everyone else in here."

Cara rolls her eyes and grabs Taylor by the shoulders, shaking her gently. "Embrace the grit, TSwizzle! This ain't your fancy uptown cocktail joint, love," she continues, her voice thick with mock seriousness. "This is where real New Yorkers come to let their hair down, wrinkles and all. Besides, the jukebox plays killer blues, and the bartender, Marty, pours the meanest whiskey sour you'll find in the tri-state area."

"Alright, alright," Taylor laughs. "You convinced me. Let's go see Marty, then."

Karlie and Taylor follow Cara to the bar and wait as Marty prepares three whiskey sours. "What's the deal with you and Selena?" Cara asks Karlie inquisitively, glancing in the direction of the brunette across the bar. "You looked like you saw a ghost when you noticed her."

"Oh, um, it's nothing. I just wasn't expecting to see her," Karlie explains, nervously tapping her fingers against the bar.

"She hasn't boarded the Kaylor train yet?" Cara asks, this time directing the question to Taylor.

"Not quite," Taylor sighs, "She still has some... apprehensions about Karlie. About us being together."

"Apprehensions? What kind of apprehensions?" she presses, raising an eyebrow at Taylor. "Did she, like, join some anti-love cult or something?"

Taylor giggles, "Not that I know of. I think... she still doubts Karlie and I can make it work after everything we've been through. I don't think she thinks we're in it for the right reasons."

Cara nods understandingly, "She'll come around," she says with a shrug, "Or maybe she won't. It's not your responsibility to convince her, but you can certainly show her that she's wrong. Maybe even watching you two together tonight will be a push in the right direction," she finishes with a shrug and big gulp of the drink the bartender had just placed in front of her. "Now, come on, pool tournament time, teams of two. I have dibs on Karlie!"