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Bailey laughed.
And then, because Bailey was Bailey, she grinned at me and said, “There was no freaking way that we would have escaped on time without Kick Ass Billie Rose.” A nudge of my shoulder. “Thank God the wine wore off.”
Dessie dropped her head back and groaned. “No.Why would you do that?”
“What?” Bailey asked, nudginghershoulder. “Admit the truth?”
“Yes,” Dessie muttered. “That.”
“Just saying”—Bailey grinned—“We would have never made it past that puzzle on the door if not for Billie realizing that the scratches on the wall went with the directional lock.”
She was right.
I didn’t verbally agree—there was ego,cocky,and there was confident. I liked to think I was the latter. Which was why I buffed my knuckles on my shoulder, nodded smartly, and said, “Thank you.”
Also, spoken smartly.
Also spoken…a bit smugly.
But I figured my dash of smug was well-earned. Mostly because the group would have still been working on all those puzzles—including the door one—if not for me.
I was Billie Rose, mayor of a small town, master spreadsheeter, collector of washi tape and stickers alike…and escape room extraordinaire.
Okay, so maybe now I was inching toward cocky.
But it was easier to throw myself into escaping the Pirate’s Den than to think about Joel.
About what I’d shared and how he’d held me and…
What I’d told him.
And the fact that he washere, close enough for me to smell the spice of his cologne.
Bailey grinned. “You’re welcome, o goddess of the escape room.”
“Comeon,Bay, don’t feed the ego,” Dessie said, though she softened the words by looping her arm through mine and drawing me to her side. “I’m already going to hear it for the next however many months about not trying the code backward.”
I nudged her. “Just saying—”
Dessie’s finger across my lips. “No, Billie boo, please don’tjust say.”
My eyes narrowed. “Next time I leave you in the room.”
Dessie kissed my cheek, and turned sweet, probably because she knew that I’d do exactly that. “And there I would stay, trapped for eternity, waiting for the band of swarmy pirates to come and rescue me.”
My lips twitched. “Hopefully they’d be romance cover worthy.”
A waggle of her brows. “Of course,they’d be romance cover worthy.”
We both giggled, and she squeezed me again.
Then Bailey bumped her shoulder against mine, taking my other arm, sandwiching me between my best friends. “Definitely romance cover worthy,” she agreed, and God, I loved these bitches, especially when Bailey’s grin softened into a smile, and she dropped her head onto my shoulder. “Pirates aside, honey, I’m glad we got to do this. I’ve missed you guys.”
“Me too,” I whispered.
“Me three,” Dessie whispered.
We fell quiet then and walked for a bit, arm-in-arm through the crowded San Francisco streets before the sidewalks narrowed and they were both forced to let me go.
