Free Outside In by Doug Cooper

cliff sticks out over the water on West Shore. I saw it one day coming back on the Jet Express. It’ll be a cool hangout. We can take a twelve pack, jump off the cliff, then build a fire on the beach.”
    “I thought you said it was already a tradition.”
    He winks. “It will be—after this year.”
    “What about Haley?”
    “We’ll stop by the Skyway, but she’ll never last. You saw how polluted she was already.”
    I look down toward Haley walking into the Boat House. “I just feel bad. She’s a big reason I’m here, and I’ve hardly spent any time with her.”
    Cinch says, “Don’t expect to. She runs on bar hours. When the bar closes, she goes home to pass out.”

    After work at the Skyway, Cinch and I find Haley tucked in the loge with Stein. I sneak up and put my arms around them. “Just what I like to see: two of my favorite people together. What are we having?”
    “Nothing for me,” Haley says. “I only stayed until you gothere so you wouldn’t think I stood you up. Come and give me a kiss.” She pushes her tequila-soaked tongue in my mouth.
    I jerk my head back. “I guess you
have
been here awhile.”
    “Walk me out to my car.” She stands awkwardly. “I’m done.”
    Stein grabs her keys. “You aren’t driving. One of us will take you home.”
    Her words slur together. “Ahhh, you guys take such good care of me.”
    Cinch takes the keys from Stein. “Let’s all go to the cove after we drop her off.”
    “But I want to go, too,” Haley says in a drunken mumble.
    Stein stands and helps me guide her toward the door. “We’re both going home. The holiday weekend starts tomorrow. You don’t need to make it any more difficult than it already will be.”
    On the way to her Jeep, Haley notices Astrid, walking across the lot on her way to join us. “What’s she doing here? Just friends, my ass.”
    “Come on, don’t be like that,” I say.
    “Just shut the fuck up, you pathetic drunk,” Cinch says. “Like you’ll remember any of this tomorrow.”
    Astrid hesitates before getting into the Jeep with us. “Maybe I should just meet you guys there.”
    Stein laughs. “Don’t worry. Cinch is right. She’ll have to call the last person she remembers being with to ask how she got home and where her car is.”
    Astrid climbs in the back seat. Stein and I position Haley in the front. She clings to my arm. “Just ride up here with me.”
    I squeeze in. Stein closes the door. “You’re on your own. Now you understand why I ride my bike everywhere.”
    Cinch drives onto the main road. Haley maneuvers onto my lap and kisses my neck until she passes out. Astrid is silent in the back.
    Once we’re at Haley’s house, Astrid waits in the car while Cinch and I carry Haley inside and put her to bed. I scan herlanguid body, asleep under the sheets. “Good thing she didn’t drive.”
    Cinch takes a beer from the fridge and opens it. “Yeah, too many people drive drunk around here.”
    “What was up with her kissing me? That’s the first time that’s happened.”
    Cinch dumps some coke on the counter. “Be careful with Haley. She has ulterior motives.”
    “Are you sure we should do this here?” I walk back toward the living room to watch for Haley.
    “Don’t worry. She’s out cold. You could have sex with her and she’d never know.” He divides the pile into two thick lines. “You know, she and I didn’t talk for an entire winter once because I got sick of her nagging me all the time. It was like we were a couple, and then I realized that was what she wanted. At least now I got you to take her off my back.”
    I hand him a rolled-up bill. “No way I’m going there.”
    Ssshhhump
.
    Ssshhhump
.

    Back on the road the cool night air rushes through the open Jeep. Neither Cinch nor Astrid says much, which feels fine with me right now. My heart races, but I’m relaxed. The trees dance with the wind under the glow of the sky. The road turns sharply to the right, and the vineyards