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Monroe looks coolly enthused, as always. “Sounds good to me.”
I turn to our other friend. “Cass?”
But she’s engrossed in her phone. “What?” she asks when she catches us staring at her. “I’m looking to see if Dix has a sex tape.”
“Stop looking at porn on my phone. I’m gonna get gross ads.” I take it back and look at the screen. She isn’t lying. “Why on earth would Dix have a sex tape?”
“I don’t know. I was just checking.”
Her skin flushes. For someone who wants to be a bad girl, her face isn’t quite with the program yet.
“Alright.” I put her phone on the table and look at them. “So, what do you say? Do you guys want to have a party?”
“I’m down,” says Cass. “Just show me what room I can drag Dix into.”
“None! There are no rooms here that you can draganyoneinto.”
“Well, you burned down the love shack, so my options are limited!”
Monroe nudges her. “Cassie isn’t the one who burned it down. The s-t-a-l-k-e-r burned it down.”
“I thought we weren’t talking about the s-t-a-l-k-e-r this weekend.” Cassie whispers back.
“Guys, I’m right here, so I can hear you. And, believe it or not, I can spell, too.”
They giggle like they told the funniest joke in the world. Monroe sobers up first. She pats my knee. “We just don’t want to bring you down, babe. It’s enough that theNew York Timesrejects are outside waiting for a glimpse of you and Loverboy, and that you’re unemployed because Beck’s ex is a world-class bitch, and that you have a stalker, and… damn, when you say it like that, you really have a lot going on. Your life is kinda messy.”
“What Monroe is trying to say, Sloan, is that we didn’t want you to think about any of that this weekend.”
I smile. I needed this weekend so badly and I didn’t even realize it until they got here. “You guys have been great, but life is what it is. I can’t pretend like all that isn’t happening.”
“You’re sure? You’re doing okay?”
I nod. “I’m sure.”
“Good,” Cassie interjects. “Now, back to the party planning. If we can just draw a map of the house and label which rooms are safe for banging…”
Laughing, we plan, order supplies, and bake late-night cookies. The Wave win in a blowout, and by some miracle, all three of Beck, Colin, and Dixon score goals.
It’s a good night. A girl needs her friends with her. By the time we all split off to go to bed, my soul feels full.
35
SLOAN
I feel Beck moving in the darkness before I see him. “Goddamn,I missed you, baby,” he croons as he slides into bed and pulls me against his chest. He’s soft and slow and warm and huge. I snuggle into him and purr appreciatively.
“What took you so long to get home?”
He grins and presses a kiss to the top of my nose. “I told the pilot to fly faster, but he didn’t have the same sense of urgency I did. Must not like his woman very much.”
I’m glad it’s dark, because I’m grinning so stupidly that I’d rather keep it to myself. “How was the game?”
I’m expecting him to be over the moon with the weekend’s results. Two key wins are worth celebrating, after all. But to my surprise, his voice comes out in an angry lash.
“Not good enough.”
“Not good enough? But you won. Shouldn’t?—”
