“Sorry about what happened back there,” he said as the limo pulled away from the club. “Landon and the girls were fun and all, but they aren’t swingers.”
“Ah. Right.”
“So,” he finished matter-of-factly, “I had to keep buying Landon drinks.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You mean you got him drunk on purpose?”
“Yeah. But he wasn’t really the problem. Mindy was.”
I looked at Leah out of the corner of my eye. She was more amused than annoyed.
“She wasn’t going to let you go until you took her home.”
“Um, no,” Erin agreed.
“So I had to figure a way to get rid of them, without hurting anyone’s feelings.”
“Tonight is a
Who was I to refuse?
Mark and Erin began making out too.
I pulled Leah’s hand to my lap, and she began squeezing my resurgent erection.
“Don’t get too carried away,” Mark said. “We’ll be there soon.” A couple of minutes later, he moved Erin’s hand from his own lap. He turned around to see where we were.
“Better cover up,” he said absently, and I realized that Erin’s breast was exposed.
She grinned at me and waited until the last second before she lifted the strap of her dress.
The limo pulled to a stop outside the hotel entrance. Mark and I helped the girls out of the back while the driver unloaded our small overnight bags from the trunk.
“I checked in this afternoon,” Mark said as we grabbed the bags and headed into the lobby. “Adjoining rooms,” he added, and pulled a key from his pocket. “We can party in one and sleep in the other.”
We tossed our bags on the beds, and the girls disappeared into the bathroom.
“Grab the ice bucket,” Mark said as he opened the door to the other room.
“Why? Duh. Never mind.”
“Be right back,” he said. “Make yourself comfortable.”
I poked around the room—a standard hotel double—and then decided to turn on some music. Mark had brought a boom box. Trip would’ve made a special mix tape just for the party, but Mark hadn’t brought
“We’re all set,” Mark said when he returned. He put the buckets on the table and plunged two bottles of champagne into the ice. “I brought the stuff to make B-52s. You wanna hand me those bottles?”
He lined up shot glasses and filled them partway with Kahlúa. I watched in fascination as he used the back of a spoon to add Baileys Irish Cream.
Then he carefully finished with a layer of Grand Marnier.
“They’re a pain to make and cost a fortune,” he said, “but they’re awesome.”
The girls emerged from the other room. I glanced their way and did a double take.
“We were overdressed,” Erin explained.
I felt a twinge of guilt when I looked at her. The feeling passed quickly, though, and I let my eyes roam over her nude body. I winked at her and turned to Leah.
She smiled, warm and inviting. I drank in the sight of her, from tousled dark hair to painted toenails. Then my eyes returned to her face, and I felt a surge of emotion. She must have felt it too, because she looked away quickly.
I glanced at Mark, but he hadn’t seen it.
“God, you look awesome,” he said. “Both of you.”
He crossed to Leah and held her in his arms.
For a moment I wished things had gone differently between us. But they hadn’t, I told myself, and now she was with him.
I’d missed my chance with Wren too. She
Erin slid her arm around my waist. I automatically put mine around her shoulders.
“You okay?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah. Just… thinking.”
“I could tell. You get this look.”
“That obvious, huh?”
“You and Mom… you’re so alike. You overthink everything.”
“So you’re an expert on Mom now?”
“Have to be,” she said flippantly. “Never be able to do anything otherwise.”
“Ah.”
“You’d better watch out, though.”
“Why’s that?”
“Means I’m an expert on
I chuckled. “Somehow I doubt it.”
Mark and Leah pulled apart before Erin could reply.
“Hey,” Mark said, “who wants shots? They’re your favorite.”
“Really? B-52s?”
“Yeah. Come on.” He handed out shot glasses. “Happy birthday!”
Leah smiled as we echoed the toast.
I paused with the glass at my lips and realized that I should sip instead of toss it back. I tasted the first two layers, but didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Then I grimaced my way through the Kahlúa.
“What’s the matter?” Mark said.
Leah chuckled. “He doesn’t like coffee.”
“That’ll change,” Erin said out of the side of her mouth.
I shot her a curious look, which she ignored.
“Hey,” she said, louder, “you guys are still dressed.”
“We’d better fix that,” Leah said.
A look passed between them.
Erin set her empty shot glass on the table and began unbuttoning my shirt.
I glanced at Mark. “Um… hey, Erin… why don’t you help Leah instead?”
“Why? Are you shy?”
