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Angel glanced at her watch which was set into a delicate looking bracelet made up of gold and tiny sparkling gems. It went surprisingly well with the casual peach sundress she was wearing, probably because of the gold chain wrapped twice around her neck. “Depends... do you know what time you’re off?”
“Ummm....” Maria glanced around the bar. It was after seven, but she always stayed until she was no longer needed. Still, most of the rush already had their drinks which meant things behind the bar would slow down to a more even keel soon. “I can probably get out of here in half an hour.”
“Soooo... one drink. Pre-gaming!” Lexie said gleefully.
“Pre-gaming?”
Jessica grinned. “For Stronghold girls’ night. As soon as you’re done here, we’re taking you to Olivia’s.”
“That...” Relief and a kind of awed happiness filled her. “That sounds amazing.”
Girl time, with these ladies, where she could vent and ask questions, and not have to worry about being judged... yeah, that sounded fucking awesome. Otherwise she’d be tempted to call up Jackie and would probably end up spilling a lot more than she meant to.
“Great. In the meantime, I’ll have a glass of white wine,” Jessica said.
Angel looked at the board where Murphy’s listed their specials. “Dark and Stormy.”
“Tequila sunrise.” Lexie just grinned at Jessica’s look. “What, I already called out of work tonight.”
“That’s going to get you in trouble,” Angel murmured as Maria poured Jessica’s glass of wine. Maria looked at her with raised eyebrows, wondering why Patrick would object to Lexie calling out of work. “Lexie and I might have arranged for a bucket of glitter to fall on Patrick’s head yesterday... completely covering him and quite a bit of his carpet.”
“Pink glitter,” Lexie chimed in, her blue eyes sparkling. “So for my punishment he’s got me working every shift possible for the next month... supposedly it’s supposed to keep my idle hands busy.”
“Personally, I think he’s just doing it to keep you off the club floor,” Jessica pointed out, taking a sip of her wine. Keeping quiet, Maria mixed the drinks and just listened to the club gossip, a small smile on her face. She’d wondered what Lexie had done yesterday.
“Whatever, he can’t keep me from getting someone to cover my shift, and since I’m not going to be on the club floor tonight anyway he can’t even yell at me about it,” Lexie said smugly.
Laughing, Angel accepted her drink from Maria. “At least, not tonight. You are just asking for a spanking.”
Fluttering her ridiculously long lashes, Lexie gave Angel a sweet smile. “Why yes... yes I am.”
“From Patrick?” All three of them looked at Maria, who blushed a bit as she realized the surprise in her voice could be considered kind of insulting. “Sorry... just... he’s kind of intimidating.” Both Angel and Jessica nodded agreement, but Lexie just shrugged. Unfortunately Maria didn’t get to finish the conversation because she had finished making their drinks and there were already other people behind them trying to catch her eye so they could order. Moving away from the bar, the three stood together, talking and laughing, and also keeping an eye out for Maria.
Even though they were no longer talking to her, she still felt included. She knew they were waiting for her. Doing a girls night with them sounded perfect. Heck, even if things didn’t work out between her and Rick, there was no way she was giving up these girls now. Especially since it seemed like they liked her just as much as she liked them.
Maria was in heaven. Girl heaven, that was.
Hanging out with the girls of Stronghold was just as much fun as hanging out with her sisters. Maybe more so because she felt a little freer, and she didn’t already know everything about them already. So far the night had held several shocking revelations, all coming out after multiple drinks.
Olivia was sitting pretty as Queen Bee in a plush, red velvet armchair just barely a dark enough shade to keep from clashing with her red hair. Even the fuzzy little sheep on her pajama pants couldn’t take away from her regal posture. On the love seat, Hilary and Jessica were cuddling, both of them in pajama pants and tank tops. Hilary’s were a shocking shade of pink while Jessica was wearing what looked suspiciously like men’s boxers and a ragged blue t-shirt.
On the couch with Maria were Lexie and Angel. Lexie was sprawled out and taking up at least half the couch, her legs resting over both Angel and Maria’s laps. Unlike the others, Maria, Lexie, and Angel were all still in their regular clothes. Jessica had brought some to change into and Hilary had been at Olivia’s and already in her pjs when they’d arrived.
Jessica was finishing up explaining her solution to the marriage question, which Maria was completely fascinated by. The whole threesome relationship kind of boggled her mind, especially once they’d gotten on the topic of marriage. Apparently, Chris and Justin wanted a wedding, but the big question was which one of them would actually, legally marry her. And apparently, so far, the two were trying to work it out on their own without including Jessica in their conversation. Jessica’s solution was brilliant simplicity—and Maria was pretty sure it wasn’t just the alcohol talking.
She didn’t want to legally marry either of them. Have a ceremony and say vows, making a commitment? Sure. But she figured they could set up trusts and legal avenues for all the financial stuff in case something happened to one of them, and same thing for any kids they might have. Jessica was perfectly happy to just be with both of them, and she was worried being legally married to only one of them would upset the balance their relationship had achieved.
“So what do the guys think?” Lexie asked, tapping the rim of her glass. Maria had no idea what Lexie was drinking, they’d all been making their own concoctions out of the ample options Olivia had supplied.
“Ha.” Jessica snorted. “I’ll tell them as soon as they get around to asking me what I think we should do.”
Olivia laughed while Angel shook her head, amused.
“Alpha men. Go figure. Idiots.”
Now Maria laughed. “And Rick kept going on about ‘communication’ in BDSM relationships, what the hell.”
“By communication, they mean they tell you what to do and then you do it,” Lexie said succinctly, wagging her finger at Maria. “It works out so well for them too.” The saccharine sweetness in her voice was more effective than sarcasm, and everyone burst out laughing.
