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I paced away, then back, weighing my options. Did Ireallyneed to follow Emily’s plan to wait another week to announce my relationship with Abbie? I thought about the women downstairs and what their reaction might be if they realised they’d come all this way for nothing. I didn’t even have any single friends to sacrifice in my place, and I couldn’t predict the impact a mass rejection might have on the success of the festival—or my bottom line. But Iwascertain this situation made Abbie uncomfortable, and doing something about that might make me feel less powerless.
“Fuck it,” I said. “I don’t see any reason to wait until after Valentine’s Day to tell everyone we’re together. What will it matter now? Everything’s in place for the tournament. The stupid festival has started, and nothing’s going to stop it now. Why can’t we just go public?”
The tension left Abbie’s pinched shoulders. “And start a riot? Those women want into your pants, Kidd. Just flash them a dimple and take a few numbers. It costs us nothing and gives the women what they want. We need everything to run smoothly this weekend, right? No complications. No drama. No social media crises.”
I shook my head. I didn’t want Abbie to be right, but she was. “This is fucked.”
She sighed and walked over to me, then looped her arms around my neck. “It’s actually the most exciting thing to ever happen to you—not counting Seb, of course.”
“Not counting Seb,” I agreed, then I kissed her gently. “Or you.”
I slipped my hands under her shirt and trailed my fingertips light enough over her skin to trigger a shiver, and then I set my lips against her ear.
“We’re finishing this tonight,” I murmured as my dick tented my pants again. The hard tip brushed against Abbie’s thigh, and she snaked a hand between us to rub my length with her open palm.
“Jesus, woman.” I thrust slightly against her hand. “You’re making my life very difficult, do you know that?”
Abbie pressed her open mouth to my neck, sliding the tip of her tongue against my skin, and she moaned as my dick jumped in her hand.
“We’re finishing this tonight,” she agreed. “No doubt about it.”
41
Abbie
Thursday night was ladies’night at the bar. Not that it was planned that way, but it just so happened that the ratio of men to women at The Stop on the first night of the festival favoured us over them. And byus, I meant certain women of a certain age dressed to impress a certain bartender whose stock had risen considerably now that he was officially a smoking-hot single dad.
I went to a lot of extra effort getting ready that evening. I missed Seb, but I was looking forward to a few hours of alone time before a night out with my girls. I also had a surprise for Will, and anticipation vibrated under my skin.
I started my evening with a full hour of yoga. It was the first time I’d carved out that much time for my own practice in nearly a week, and the way it slowed my pulse and cleared my head made me realise how much I missed it.
I spent much longer than an hour in the bathroom. I wasn’t the type to feel threatened by other women, but tonight, Iwanted to walk into The Stop like I owned the place. I shaved, exfoliated, and moisturised so that every inch of my skin was velvety smooth and smelled like coconut. I washed my hair, dried it, and styled it with loose, beachy waves. I pulled out my sexiest dress—a short, tight, blue number that always made Will look twice—and applied a touch more makeup than I usually would, paying extra attention to my eyes and mouth.
After slipping on a pair of strappy heels and tucking a sparkly clutch under my arm, I made my way downstairs feeling like a million bucks.
I was a woman on a mission.
I was fed up with feeling as though nothing in my life belonged to me. Will’s baby, Will’s loft, Will’s business and all the brilliant things that were going to come from this weekend… What claim did I have on any of it? None. But there was one thing that was mine, and though I couldn’t shout it from the rooftops yet, I could beat these other women at their own game. It was a little juvenile, and some might call it petty, but I needed to blow off a little steam, and I couldn’t think of a more satisfying way to do it than being naughty.
My life might have been unrecognisable from the one I was living a year ago, but my time in practice that afternoon had reminded me of something. I was stillme. I didn’t have to give up one version of myself and become another completely. I could embrace some parts of me while releasing others. It was okay to be more than one thing.
And tonight, I wanted to be a vixen.
A muffled hum of music and voices inside the pub greeted me in the private hallway outside, and when I stepped into The Stop via the side door, I was taken aback at the press of bodies. I paused to look around at the crowd and the live local band that played on a raised platform in the corner. Will had resisted even a single pink decoration on the inside of what was essentially hishome, and I smiled as a lick of pride burst inside my chest. He’d worked so hard, and it had all been worth it.
I threaded my way through the people and headed straight for the bar. The wait for a drink was three people deep, but I joined the queue instead of cutting ahead. Jess, Em, and Birdie were probably already waiting for me in our usual booth—Tash was at home with her head in the toilet—but the energy in the room was infectious, and I wanted a moment to experience it alone. There was an almost tangible buzz, a cyclone of sideways glances and whispers and flirty shouts among the women around me, and it was kind of a turn-on knowing that nearly everyone here wanted Will, but I was the one in his bed.
As I waited in line, an attractive woman squeezed in beside me. She was at least five years older than me, maybe more, and she spared me a nervous smile as my eyes cut her way. Her dark hair was perfectly curled, her lips were cherry red, and she wore shiny black pumps with her tiny shorts.
My head lifted, then whipped back towards this woman’s feet. Not any shiny black pumps. New season patent leather Louboutins. I’d never seen a pair outside a store window, and they were the most gorgeous things I’d ever seen.
The woman gave me a side-eye before glancing down at her outfit. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
I winced at having been busted checking her out. “Nothing! You look great. I was just admiring your shoes.”
“My shoes?” She twisted her ankles as she checked them herself. “Oh, right. The Louboutins.”
“Did you forget you were wearing them?” I joked.
