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“Give them chew toys, top up their water bowls, and leave them at home?” I suggested.
Jess’s eyes rounded. “Abbie!”
“Ooh, you’re mean tonight,” Emily said, dutifully accepting a margarita.
I downed half my cocktail in one gulp and rolled my eyes apologetically. “I didn’t mean it. I just met a couple of Daddy Will groupies at the bar, and one of them was particularly painful.”
Birdie leaned forward on her elbows. “Tell. Us. Everything.”
I laughed. “It’s just so ridiculous, isn’t it? All these people here for one guy, all because he’s good-looking and asingledad.”
Emily winced. “It’ll all be over soon.”
“I know.” I fished out my phone and opened it to the bingo card. “Have you seen this? They’ve created a Valentine’s Day bingo card with Will as the prize.”
The girls craned their necks to check out the image.
Jess shook her head and sat back. “That’s gross. Can you imagine men doing this to a woman? I don’t get why anyone thinks this kind of thing is okay.”
“It’s grotesque,” I agreed.
“Does Will know about it?” Emily asked.
“Yes, but he won’t talk about it. He thinks ignoring it means it doesn’t exist. Man logic.”
“Hm.” Birdie pinched the screen to zoom in on the squares I’d defaced with violent crosses. “Looks like you’re winning.”
“What was that?” I asked absently.
“Exchanging numbers,” she noted. “A kiss. A couple of obscene but generic sexual favours. Quite frankly, Abs, I’d be disappointed in you if you didn’t have at least six knocked off this list.”
“Six or seven, give or take,” I mumbled, switching off my phone and putting it back in my clutch.
Emily’s eyes narrowed, and Jess’s lips curled into a smile.
“What are you up to, Ellison?” Jess demanded.
I raised my eyebrows innocently. “I’m not up to anything.”
“Liar.”
Birdie’s eyes twinkled. “Wasn’t one of the tasks on that carda quickie at The Stop?”
I shrugged and took a sip of my drink. “I can’t remember.”
Emily’s big eyes grew wider as her head whipped around at the crowd. “You wouldn’t! Not tonight. It’s too busy, isn’t it? Oh my God. You would. You totally would. Where? And when? Do you need us to cover you?”
Birdie chuckled as Emily blushed, and I had to laugh as well. Tiana swanned past our table, raising an eyebrow at me that hardened my resolve, and I slipped out of the booth.
“No time like right now, wouldn’t you say?”
I left Jess, Emily, and Birdie giggling behind me and made my way to the bar. It was immature. It was petty. Some might evensay it bordered on hostile. But I never wanted to be one of Will’s many women, and now that we were together for real, I couldn’t even stake my claim—at least not in a traditional sense. But when had I ever wanted to be traditional?
As I put my plan in motion, a rush of confidence burst through me. I liked this part of me—the risky, naughty, unconventional part that broke the rules. I could love one man and care for a child,andI could have sex in the back of a bar because it was thrilling and provocative, and it made me feel good.
And if I couldn’t tell these women that I was Will’s girlfriend, I could still make something clear in language they’d understand. Hot Daddy Will was mine.
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