“Ouch.” He rubs his arm. “A robot wouldn’t have been a whiny baby over having a cold.”
“Ah, yes. You’re real. I’m sorry for the way I acted. Truly.”
“Apology accepted.”
I stand on my tiptoes to kiss his chin, then turn to the soup he brought. “I’ll share my soup with you, but not my crescent rolls.”
“Greedy,” he says with a smile, watching me. “Let me stay tonight.”
“There will be no sex tonight, Wyatt.” I can’t help but laugh. “I’m way too sick.”
He drags his hand down my back. “No, but there can be cuddles and Netflix.”
“Netflix and cuddle sounds better than Netflix and chill,” I say with a happy sigh. “Okay, I’m in.”
“Oh my God, this is so good,” Samantha Nash says after the first bite of a lemon cupcake. “Seriously, Nic, they just get better and better.”
“The recipe doesn’t change,” Nic replies with a laugh.
“I can’t get enough of them,” Sam shrugs.
We’re at Succulent Sweets, Nic’s bakery, for girls’ night out. Jules and Natalie are arranging fruit, nuts, cheese, and meats on a board. There is a pink cocktail being poured, and gorgeous women surrounding me.
I hope I remember everyone’s names. I do remember whom each of them is married to, so I silently go around the room, committing faces and names to memory.
Nic is married to Matt. Sam is Luke’s sister and is married to Leo freaking Nash. As in the lead singer of Nash. As in one of the most famous rock stars in the world.
I met him at Will’s wedding and almost made an absolute fool of myself.
Alecia, the curvy blonde laughing with Sam, is married to Dominic, and that’s a whole crazy family story. But I love both of them. Dom is calm and broody, and so smart, and Alecia is his perfect match.
Of course, Meg is here, drinking her pink cocktail and talking with Meredith, who is married to Sam and Luke’s brother, Mark.
This is so fucking confusing. I need a roadmap.
“Where are Stacy and Brynna?” Nat asks.
“They both have sick kids at home,” Jules says. “Speaking of which, how are you feeling, Lia?”
“So much better.” I accept the pink cocktail and take a sip, then feel my eyes go wide. “Oh, this is good.”
“Be careful, you’ll get hammered fast,” Sam says with a wink. Sam is also blond and super petite. She has a runner’s body. “So, tell me why we’re at the bakery instead of one of the fun bars downtown for girls’ night.”
“Because,” Meredith says, “we’re too old to go clubbing. This way, we can drink and eat and talk without the crowds.”
“It’s quieter,” Alecia adds.
“We’re old women,” Sam mutters but reaches for another cupcake. “But I guess if I can have leftover cupcakes and cocktails all night, it’s not so bad.”
“Not to mention,” I add with a smile, “we don’t have to close down at two. We can party all night if we want to.”
“I don’t remember the last time I partied all night,” Jules says with a smirk. “I’m so domesticated.”
“Why didn’t Anastasia come?” Natalie asks.
“She’s finishing up a wedding cake for tomorrow. One of the tiers fell today and spattered all over the floor, so she has to remake it.”
“Oh my God, that’s a baker’s worst nightmare,” Nic says, shaking her head in sympathy. “Please remind her that if she ever needs help, I’m happy to lend a hand.”
“I will, thanks.”
“Okay, we’re all set up,” Jules announces with a wide smile on her beautiful face. “We have food over here, so we all don’t go into a sugar coma.”
“I’m happy in my sugar coma,” Sam says, raising her cupcake in salute.
“We also have cocktails and wine for days,” Natalie says, laughing at Sam.
“Hallelujah,” Alecia says.
“And I brought something, too,” I add, all eyes immediately pinned on me. I turn and reach for the huge tote I brought in with me and lift it onto a table. “You guys know that I always have deliveries from makeup, hair care, and skincare companies. I use some of it, but not all of it is good for my coloring or skin type. Or I just have so much of it, I could never use it all.”
“You brought us goodies!” Meredith exclaims.
“I did. All of this is for you. Please don’t make me take anything but the tote home.”
“We get to shop,” Nic says with a smile, and leans in to hug me. “Thank you.”
“This party is for you,” Nat says. “You weren’t supposed to bring us stuff.”
“But thank you,” Meg adds. “Because since Erin was born, my skin has been so dry.”
“Oh, I have stuff for that.”
We spend the next hour eating cake, food, and drinking pink cocktails while I give makeup tips. It’s the most fun I’ve had in years.
“Amelia has a boyfriend,” Jules announces, much to my horror.
“No, I don’t.”
“Well, you’re fucking him, honey, so unless he was a one-night stand . . .”
“He could be her fuck buddy,” Meredith suggests.
“Is he your fuck buddy?” Alecia asks as she rubs a makeup remover wipe over her forehead.
“I don’t think—”
“Oh, you have to talk about it,” Meg interrupts with a Cheshire cat smile. “It’s part of girls’ night out. We talk about sex. It’s what we do.”
“It is?”
“Fuck, yes,” Nic says. “Except Jules gets grossed out because we’re fucking her brothers.”
“Will and I don’t fuck,” Meg reminds everyone. “Don’t let him hear you say that.”
I can only laugh and watch these gorgeous women banter with each other as they play, elbows-deep, in my makeup and skincare leftovers. Sam has frosting on her cheek. Meredith does a pirouette on her way to the cocktail station.
“So, spill it,” Meredith says. “Tell us everything.”
“Don’t forget to use the dirty words,” Sam adds with a sage nod.
“Well, he’s my neighbor,” I begin and see Nat frown. “He’s the guy in the white house kitty-corner to yours.”
“Oh, he’s handsome,” she says with a smile. “I haven’t met him, but I’ve seen him outside now and again, and he’s not bad to look at.”
“I’ll have Matt do a run on him,” Nic says as she picks up her phone. “What’s his last name?”
“What do you mean?” I demand.
“To make sure he’s not a pervert or a murderer or something,” she says with a shrug.
“Crawford. His last name is Crawford.”
“On it,” Nic says, biting her lip as she texts her husband. “Keep talking.”
“He’s an architect. And he introduced himself the day I moved in.”
“Nice,” Alecia says with a nod. “That means he’s friendly.”
“Or casing the joint,” Nic adds.
“You’ve been married to a cop for way too long,” Nat says, making Nic smile.
“Anyway,” I continue. “I ended up needing his help in the middle of the night, and then I climbed him like a tree because he was standing in my kitchen in nothing but underwear.”