“Not yet, anyway.” Titus raised his glass and laughed, “Regardless, good looking out, my friends.”
“No problem. We put too many years of personal vendettas into that prank to put you in that kind of danger,” Spencer said with amusement, having just taken a sip of his drink. “You knowthose two will keep this going until the end of time, and who are their favorite victims?”
“None other than us,” Alex said with an arch of his eyebrow.
“Wait a minute,” I said, looking at Spencer. “Where did you get that drink? Is that scotch?”
“Yeah,” he said, eyeing his glass. “It’s from thegoodliquor cabinet Jake has hidden in his office,” he smirked and took a hefty gulp. “My second glass and I already feel that this night will be the best New Year’s ever.”
“Oh no! Oh shit,” I reflexively pulled the glass from him to stop him from taking another victory sip. “That’s where I had John put that bottle that Jake spiked with laxatives.”
“You had your kid hide the booze? How very alcoholic of you,” Titus teased while I stared at Spencer in fear.
“Yeah, well, I had no other option,” I sighed. “I called John and told him to throw out the figs Aunt Laney sent over earlier and then move that bottle to his dad’s office.”
“Why did you raid Jake’s office liquor cabinet?” Jim questioned with a laugh.
“Because that’s where that asshole always hides the good stuff when we attend parties at his house, and he’s at work,” Spencer answered. “And I’m still stuck in the days when Jakey would tell uswhat’s mine is yours…”
“Well, if you drank enough of that,” I said with a laugh, “you’re going to feel his pain when it becomes yours and you’re shitting your brains out all night like they were at Titus’s resort.”
“Meh, I’m not too worried about it,” he answered. “I don’t feel anything out of the norm.”
“You better not fuck up my plans for ringing in the New Year with you,” Nat looked at Spencer with a fair amount of fury. “If my new lingerie isn’t put to proper use after that ball drops tonight, I’ll make you suffer far more than diarrhea ever could.”
“Weaponizing sex again, lover?” Spencer winked at Nat.
I could instantly tell the man was feelingmorethan just one or two glasses of scotch.
“Um, Spence?” I spoke. “I think you’re closer to drunk than you realize. You’re probably not going to feel it coming.”
“He’s fine, Ash,” Jim said.
Midnight was finally nearingafter going through rounds of adult card and board games while the kids played upstairs in the game room. We finally turned on the television to watch the ball drop, and then we went outside to watch fireworks get set off from the ocean barge that Mitchell and Associates had hired for everyone in Malibu to enjoy.
Everything was going perfectly until the laxative finally caught up to Spencer, who let out a howl like a dying coyote as he ran to the nearest bathroom with his butt cheeks clenched so hard that he looked two inches shorter.
“Well, looks like Spence is going to miss the fireworks,” Jim mused with a smirk.
“Sounds like he’s going to have plenty of those going off in that bathroom,” I said, shaking my head. “Can we all agree that pranking Collin and Jake—or at least trying to get them back—is never a good idea?”
Alex grinned at me, “Sweetheart, this war between us has gone on for years. The only reason Jim and I aren’t shitting our brains out in the closest bathroom is because weknowbetter.”
“Exactly, we’ve dealt with those two since childhood, but after tonight, Spence will know not to be so trusting around Jake or Collin in the early days after pranking their asses as well as we did.”
“The early days,” Nat questioned with an arch of her eyebrow. “It’s been almost a month of this?”
“Yeah, it usually takes a good six months with no activity to begin trusting those two again,” Jim advised.
“Let’s get the kids downstairs. I don’t want them to miss the fireworks,” Avery said, returning our attention to the New Year’s celebration.
Even though I tried to run interference and save someone’s literal ass tonight, Spence fell victim. Maybe that would be enough for my husband and Collin to calm their butts down for a while?
Probably not.
This had been a full-circle holiday, and although I was thankful for all my friends and family, I was exhausted and ready to curl up in bed. The new year had started a little over an hour ago, and I planned to go into it refreshed, renewed, and restored.
Overall, it was a beautiful holiday; I would cherish it forever, and our children would never forget it. I loved my life, my husband, my children, and family and friends, and I was excited to see where the new year would take all of us.
The End
