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Sneak Peek: Grind
Coming April 2017
Chapter One
"And you're sure nobody else is bringing Spinach dip?" The voice of Janelle, the overzealous third-grade teacher who had not left her house--or her two to
ddlers--since the school year ended sounded over Quinn Andrews' cell phone speaker and she shouted from the opposite end of the room.
"Positive, just bring whatever you have. It's going to be fun."
"I can't wait. I--Billy? What did I tell you about pulling your sister's hair? I swear when your father--"
"Hey, Janelle? I'm gonna have to let you go. I've got a few things to do before the girls show up," Quinn said.
"Okay, well, I'll be there in ten but I--"
Quinn rushed across the room and clicked off the phone before Janelle launched into another tyraid about how summer was hell now that she had children or how she'd spent most of the night thinking about school politics and was wondering if Quinn might help her stage a rally. Now that the kids were gone and her classroom was empty, she had only one thing on her mind--enjoying her summer.
True, back in the day that had once meant touring the country with her ex-boyfriend/rock god Lobster, and this time last year she was supposed to have been on her honeymoon, but, well, things changed and she was changing, too. For the better. Obviously for the better.
She didn't need to be swept away by international rock and roll sensations to have a good time anymore and just because she hadn't married her safe, respectable ex-fiance didn't mean she had to go back to that life either. She could be happy here, right in the middle. Like the very definition of a happy medium.
Her older sister swept into the room, her blond hair piled into a bun on top of her head and Quinn turned to find the other woman holding a vat of spinach dip.
"Wow." Quinn blinked.
"Are you seriously going to tell me that you told someone else to bring spinach dip?" Zoe asked.
Quinn shrugged. "Between the guys downstairs and the girls upstairs, there are going to be a lot of people."
Zoe set down the aluminum container in her hands on her granite island and then pinched her nose between thumb and forefinger. "Ok, fine. The more the merrier. Now when are the girls supposed to be here?"
"Fifteen minutes."
'Better get set up, then." They walked through the open archway into the sunken living room and Quinn made for the stack of boxes she'd left at her sister's house the week before.
"Did I thank you again for letting me do this here?" Quinn asked.
"Twice. But really, it's no big deal. With Ian's friends already here, it's not a big deal at all."
Quinn nodded. She still hadn't quite gotten used to the idea of her longtime best friend and sister shacking up together--let alone the notion of their coming wedding--but she was still somehow glad they'd found each other. Ever since their ill-fated journey to track Quinn down after she'd run away from her wedding, the two had been practically inseparable. Except, of course, for Ian's monthly guys' poker night.
"It might be a big deal," Quinn hedged.
Zoe's gaze darted to hers. "What did you do?"
"I didn't technically do anything."
"Who did you invite? Did you--"
"Relax. I only invited some friends from school and spin class. But...well, I may have been exaggerating when I said it was a candle party."
Zoe pursed her lips, then crossed her long, toned arms over her chest. Her already tense shoulders inched ever-closer to her ears. "What do you mean?"
"Well, It's a party for women," Quinn shrugged. "We're just not going to be talking about candles."
Zoe's eyes widened, and then she shot past Quinn and grabbed for one of the nearby boxes. Ripping away the flimsy tape on top of the unmarked box, she gasped and then pulled out a neon pink dildo as big as Quinn's arm, complete with pendulous plastic balls.
