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“Did he sleep over?” Simone asks, taking a step toward me. “Wait. This was the morning after he had his business lunch with that other woman?”
“Oh my goodness,” Fiona says, grabbing a bottle of wine to top us all up. “They hooked up? What time did you go over? Did it look like anything happened? I can’t believe she didn’t say anything! We spent all day together… That little hussy!”
“I’m going to kill her,” Candice says. “She held out on us.”
“Um…” I cringe. “I probably shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Oh, stop.” Simone waves a hand. “Now spill.”
“You want me to stop or spill? Seems contradictory.”
“Stop stalling,” Candice says, gripping my wrist as her eyes dance. “Tell us everything! You’ve been sitting on this news for a whole week!”
I laugh, then shrug. “I went over with a piece of cake, and we ate it. That’s it.” Sort of. Biting my lip, I glance over my shoulder at the door, then turn back to the women gathered around me. When I speak, my voice is low. “Rudy was just getting out of the shower when I arrived. He was wearing nothing but a towel. Lily’s hair was wet too.”
A high-pitched squeal rings out from every female mouth in the room, right before an avalanche of questions comes my way. Laughing, I throw my hands up. “I’ve said too much.”
“Oh, no way, Nora,” Fiona huffs. “You’re not leaving us hanging like that.”
“She’s new,” Simone says in a conciliatory tone, patting Fiona’s arm. “She hasn’t learned the rules yet.”
“The rules?” I ask.
“Gossip must be shared at the earliest opportunity,” Candice says solemnly. “Especially when it pertains to one of us girls.”
I’m starting to like the sound of “us girls” more and more each time I hear it. It makes me feel like I’ve found a place where I can settle, and I haven’t felt that way in a long time.
The doorbell rings again, and a shiver of anticipation runs through all my new friends. I can almost feel them bursting with questions about the new pairing. But when Blake moves to open the door, it’s not Lily and Rudy who step through.
It’s Lee—and his eyes land straight on me.
CHAPTER 23
Lily
When I enter Candice’s living room, I’m immediately mobbed by a horde of women.
“So, we hear that Rudy looks good in a fluffy pink towel,” Simone says, cutting straight to the important stuff, as usual. “Would you agree?”
Nora arches her brows at me. “I’m sorry. This is my fault.”
“Oh, quiet, you,” Simone says, waving a hand in Nora’s general direction. “We’ll deal with you holding back on breaking-news-worthy gossip in a minute. First, Lily has to talk. How big is his dong?”
“Excuse me?” My eyes bug.
Fiona cackles. “Don’t mind her. She asks everyone that.”
“And do people actually answer?” I stare at Simone, who just shrugs. “Don’t you all have something better to do than gossip about me?”
“Lily,” Candice huffs, “you didn’t even mention Rudy sleeping over. You kept it a secret, which means…” Her voice drifts off as she wiggles her eyebrows.
Which means things are serious, she’s saying.
When in doubt, play dumb. “Which means what?”
“Would you look what the cat dragged in!” My mother’s voice carries from the entryway in the way that only a mother’s voice can. Briefly, I wonder if I’ll gain that ability within the next few months.
My mother’s full name is Charlotte Anne Viceroy, but everyone calls her Lottie. I don’t think my mother has been a Charlotte since the minute she was born. Too rambunctious, never demure. Today, she’s dressed in neon-pink pants and a polka-dot top. Her glasses and lipstick match her pants, and it looks like she just got her pixie hair cut today. It sticks up in funky silver spikes.
