I laughed. “Oh, Gretchen.” I leaned forward to squeeze her leg. “Sweet, sweet Gretchen. All these years of meddling and you think you’re just gonna get off the hook?”
“I don’t need a man.” She lifted her chin.
“And we do?” I asked.
Sanders was fuzzy with drink and winked sloppily at me. “Nope,” he said.
“I just mean. I know—” She started but it was my turn to cut her off.
“None of usneedthese men.” I looked to the grumpy faces of Devlin and Ford. “Sorry,” I added not meaning it. Ford just nodded like it was true but Devlin shot me a look that made me flinch. “But we are certainly much better for having you all in our lives.”
I turned in Sanders’ lap, to look in his eyes. “You’ve made me believe in myself. You made me realize that love is not weakness. Love is the opposite. Fear is easy. Fear protects you. Love makes you vulnerable and scared. However, the reward is so much higher. I see that now, thanks to you.”
“I love you,” he said holding my gaze with somber intensity.
“I love you too.” I looked to the others feeling embarrassing moisture in my eyes. “I love you all. And apparently I’m a sappy drunk.” I sniffed and everybody shared their love in return.
I looked around the table and felt so much for each and every one of these people in my life.
“Time to go,” Sanders said unceremoniously. He scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder like a fireman. I squealed and tried to keep my skirt from flashing all my friends. “We gotta go. See ya,” Sanders said and started walking me to the front.
“Wait, we all took a limo!” I called.
He set me down but the others were coupling up and collecting their things too. They all seemed to have the same idea. Skip and Jack shared a look that brought heat to my cheeks.
“Alright, I’ll tell the driver we’re ready,” Gretchen said as she brought her phone out. “Couples, blah.” She stuck out her tongue dramatically but was smiling.
“You only have yourself to blame,” I said and put my arm around her. I kissed her cheek.
“Yeah. Yeah.” She smiled but there was just a hint of sadness that I vowed to take away, no matter what it took.
A few hours later, Sanders and I lay in bed at my apartment, sweaty and sated.
“We have to get up in four hours,” he mumbled, glancing at the alarm clock.
I ran a hand over my face. “Whose genius idea was it to take those shots?” I asked even though I loved the heat from the love bites Sanders had left all over my body. I stretched, languid with satisfaction.
He pulled me closer to spoon, drawing the duvet up to cover us.
“I hope we don’t smell like tequila in the morning. Someone will smell it on me.”
Sanders groaned. “Don’t say that word.”
“Tequila?” I asked and he groaned again. I laughed and said, “Aren’t you taking that group zip-lining today?” I teased.
He fake sobbed against my back. “Well, it may be me that loses my cookies this time.” He yawned. “Is this the group from the Florida company?”
“No, that’s next week. This is the one from Texas.”
“Oh yeah. I did know that,” he said.
“I know.” I shimmied and turned until we were face to face. “Are you happy?” I asked him.
“So much. I love working with the Lodge.”
“And you’re glad you moved out here? It’s very different than Denver.”
“Mm-hmm.” He nodded sleepily. His eyes were already closed.
