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I let out a deep breath. “Okay.”
Chris leaned forward and kissed my cheek, and I narrowed my eyes at him. That wasn’t on my approved list of interactions, but before I could tell him to stop that crap, he was already in his very fancy rental car and pulling out of the driveway.
Well, that was it.
I was officially childless for the weekend.
And now I had to go speed dating again.
Fantastic.
***
“I cannot believe she roped us into this.” Piper paced the length of my bedroom with her hands on her hips. “That’s it. No more free food for Holley. She can kiss my ass.”
“It’s a miracle you make any money with all the food you give away.” I held up two dresses. “Which one makes me less attractive?”
She stopped by the window and studied them. “You could wear a trash bag and you’d be the prettiest person there.”
“Only second to you and your trash bag,” I shot back.
“No joke, I actually considered it for a moment. I don’t want to be here. At all.”
“I’m not particularly up for it, but only because I’ve only done it once. She promised me she’d get better guys this time, but…” I trailed off and shrugged. “I doubt anyone I meet at speed dating is going to be my future husband.”
“Stranger things have happened,” Piper mused. “What do you say? In two minutes? You have about sixty seconds each to get your point across. And wear the red dress. It’s just your color.”
“Mmph. Okay.” I looked at the neckline of it dubiously. I wasn’t sure why it was even in my closet—it might have even been Holley’s, to be honest. I wasn’t that big on the old deep-V necklines.
Mom boobs and all that.
If I wanted to get my stretch marks out, I’d wear a bikini walking down Main Street.
I changed quickly while Piper pulled her curled hair up into a ponytail. That wasn’t a bad idea—the bar could get hot when there were lots of people in it. Considering it was both a Friday night, karaoke night, and speed dating night, it was a recipe for disaster.
I adjusted my boobs in the dress and followed suit with her, grasping a hair tie and pulling my hair into a high ponytail. Mine wasn’t as long as hers, but the effect was still the same.
We finished getting ready with a slick of lipstick—red for me, pink for her—and called a cab. By the time it arrived we’d finished off the bottle of red we’d opened earlier and I was wishing I’d had something more substantial to eat than a salad for my dinner.
Thank God I could get food at Bronco’s, that’s all I was saying.
We arrived at Bronco’s in record time. It was already busy inside, but we had a table reserved with everyone else, so we wove our way through the crowd and headed for the usual table.
How the hell we were going to speed date in all this I didn’t know.
“How the hell is this going to work?” I shouted over the noise. “Holley!”
“We turn off the music!” she shouted back, scooting up a little.
“So there’s a fucking audience? Fantastic!” Piper yelled.
“Oh, sit down and drink up!” Tori tugged her down next to her and put a drink in front of her.
“Excuse me?” I said, motioning to my lack of a drink.
Not my best move.
Ooh, there was food!
I reached over and grabbed a handful of the fries in front of Kinsley.
“What the hell?” she exclaimed. “I was eating those!”
“Piper made me drink and I haven’t eaten enough!” I explained, snagging another. “I don’t want to look like an idiot on this stupid bloody dating thing!”
“Well…” Josh trailed off.
Piper reached over and punched him. “Don’t be a dick!”
“Isn’t it so good to have the gang together?” Colton drawled.
“We’re missing some,” I said. “Ivy, Kai, Seb, and Dylan.”
“And Ollie,” Saylor added. “He’s coming, too.”
Oh, good.
That’s what I needed while drinking.
The very hot British guy I was attracted to who was very very off-limits to me.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
“Where are they? I thought Ivy and Kai were coming tonight,” I asked, sipping from a glass of wine.
“They were,” Holley replied. “But Kai’s sister’s flight was delayed so she couldn’t get into town to babysit, so they decided to stay home instead.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed.
“To look after their child,” Josh said slowly.
I threw one of Kinsley’s fries at him and hit him square on the forehead. “My child is with his father, thank you very much. And that’s long overdue.”
“Stop bickering.” Tori waved her arms around.
“Rich from you,” Saylor shot back.
“Bitch, I will cut you.”
“Cheers!” Colton said, raising his beer. “To friendships that are sustained solely on bitching at each other over beer!”
“Hear, hear!” Saylor raised her glass. “But alcohol in general!”
Oh, dear.
This was going to be a bad night.
Catching the eye of Piper told me she was in full agreement with me.
