Page 140 of Spurred On

And that was before the tequila came out.

Despite herself, Sidney had a blast. Penny officiated the games, which ranged from everything from Cowboys Against Humanity to Tequila Pong. Most of the attendees were Sidney’s dear friends, and even those friends of Porsche’s she’d just met became fast friends . . . after a few shots.

But the real highlight of the party was the strippers.

Sidney should have expected it, given the fact that Lisa and Claire had been instrumental in setting all this up. But she could never have expected the real surprise they had planned.

It all began when, in the middle of a raucous game of Pin the Boner on the Cowboy—with a life-size cutout of Brandon as the target—a pounding came on the door.

“Oooh,” Claire squealed. “Whoever could that be?” Judging by the way she pranced over to the door, she knew damn well.

She opened the door and a loud, deep ominous voice rumbled, “Ladies, there have been noise complaints about this party. We’re going to have to take you in.”

“Oh, officer,” Claire gushed. “Please don’t arrest us.”

Sidney had to roll her eyes, because really?

A hunky police officer pushed his way into the room and glowered at all of them. The women who recognized him laughed.

Because it was Charlie.

As he turned on Claire, a loud thumping music began and a parade of sexy men filled the room, bumping and grinding to the beat. Dressed like various characters from the Stud Ranch, Logan, Cade, Mark, Rafe, and Ben pranced around the room. They each did a bit of a dance—which was hysterical—and then they eased back as the star performer, the groom himself, stepped forward, shaking his grove thang for Porsche alone.

Apparently, she hadn’t expected this at all. She stared at Brandon with eyes wide and a smile on her face as he slowly stripped off his shirt—to hoots and hollers and a couple of catcalls . . . from the guys.

He ended up half naked on his knees in front of Porsche in the classic proposal pose, holding out a long-stemmed rose. “Will you be mine?’ he asked, and Porsche laughed.

“Of course,” she said, and they kissed.

Yeah. It was all super-romantic and shit, but Sidney was busy scanning the crowd for the one man she hadn’t seen.

She caught a glimpse of him in the doorway next to Ford. Cody leaned against the jamb with his arms crossed and a look of barely reined-in impatience on his handsome face. Obviously, the guys had tried to rope him in to their impromptu show and he’d resisted.

Their gazes clashed. Chagrin flickered through his expression, and she had to laugh. He seemed so appalled by it all, she couldn’t help it.

To her delight, his taut expression broke, and he grinned as well.

And ahhh. It was the first exchange they’d had in months. It was only a shared amusement over the heads of their friends across a crowded room, but it was something.

“We decided it was stupid to have two parties,” Brandon said, pulling Porsche into his arms.

“Yeah,” Logan said. “Never mind the fact that the bachelor party was boring.”

“Hey!” Mark bellowed. He’d obviously been drinking. “I was the one who planned that.”

“But all the really interesting people were in this room,” Ford said with a wink.

“Speaking of this room . . .” Brandon skated a glance around his defiled boudoir. “What have you done to it?”

“It wasn’t my idea,” Porsche said, and everyone laughed.

Once the men were there, the tone of the party changed. Naturally, it would. Everyone paired up, even the Wilder brothers, who were appropriated by some of Porsche’s Dallas friends.

It only made sense for Sidney to gravitate to Cody. Or, perhaps, he gravitated to her. Whatever. Somehow, they found themselves side by side in the crowded room.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” she responded. And then they both avoided each other’s gaze for a while.