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Before she could reply to the insult, Mark stepped next to his girlfriend. It was obvious he could tell they were having words, but he hadn’t heard them.
“Hello, Gee,” he said.
Darlene flashed him a nasty glare—like he wasn’t supposed to speak to her or something.
“Found us a booth in the corner,” Mark said, glancing over Gia’s shoulder to the dance floor and sighing. While Darlene had obviously known about the bachelorette party, it was clear he hadn’t. “Unless,” he shot Gia an apologetic look before turning to Darlene, “you wanna go somewhere else?”
Darlene scoffed as if he’d made a ridiculous suggestion. “Of course not. I told you, I feel like dancing.”
“More shots!” Alison yelled out in drunken glee as she came back to the table. Her giddiness faded when she saw Darlene standing there.
“You girls have fun,” Darlene said, her smile and tone equally fake as she looped her arm through Mark’s, heading to the dance floor where—as expected—she plastered herself to him, shooting Gia a dirty look in the process.
Alison scowled, her arms crossed, all traces of her earlier happiness gone.
Shit. Gia had jinxed their night by proclaiming it a success.
“What the hell is she doing here?” Alison asked.
Gia sighed. “Same shit. Different night.”
Alison shook her head, annoyed. “You know she’s only with Mark for the money he makes.”
While Gia had suspected the same thing, she’d never said it out loud, not wanting anyone to mistake her opinion as sour grapes. The truth was, Darlene had never exactly made it a secret that she was looking for a rich guy to take care of her.
Paige piped up, agreeing. “She dumped Rodney the second you and Mark broke up. I heard she told one of her girlfriends that she wasn’t wasting her time with a guy who drove a truck for the city when there was an electrician available.”
“She’s such trash. I hate that we’re related,” Alison grumbled.
“Hey,” Gia said, wrapping her arm around Alison’s shoulders. “I love you,” she said, giving Alison a taste of her own medicine, her best friend giggling when Gia backed up her proclamation with a sloppy kiss on the cheek.
“Fuck Darlene,” Alison said loudly, picking up a shot.
Gia realized she had the greatest family and friends when they all grabbed their glasses, knocking them back after echoing Alison’s words.
With that near disaster averted, they spent the next hour dancing, scream singing, retelling story after story about Gus and Alison’s relationship through the years. Gia had dodged many, many questions about Xander—more specifically about his penis and his bedroom acumen—as they all got drunker and drunker. Harley gave a hilarious lecture to Alison about what to expect on her honeymoon, acting as if it was going to be the bride’s first time, even though they all knew Alison had lost her virginity to Gus in the woods by the lake during the Fourth of July picnic when they were both sixteen.
Gia was having the time of her life, which was saying something, considering every single one of the last six nights had also been the greatest. Best week ever, she decided, hoping and praying she could keep the streak going right up until the wedding.
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she shut it down. She’d been purposely avoiding all thoughts of what came after the wedding. Mainly because she knew, and she hated it. Xander was returning to Dallas on New Year’s Day, and that would be the end of this.
A short-term fling was all it could be, so Gia couldn’t let herself get too swept up in him, and much as she might be willing to give the long-distance thing a try, Xander hadn’t offered it. Hadn’t said a single word about extending this beyond the end of the year.
Of course, she was fooling herself. Despite her best efforts at keeping things casual, Gia’s emotions were already engaged, so much so, she feared she’d do something insane. Like take her profile down from Tinder and wait for the rare times Xander visited…as if those few days scattered throughout the year would be enough.
No. She was taking only what Xander was offering right now. Two weeks of hanging out, having fun, and incredible sexual exploration. On top of that, and whether he realized it or not, Xander was helping to heal old hurts she hadn’t known were there…involving the loss of her parents and her breakup with Mark. She’d been able to recognize and deal with some lingering emotions, and it had taken a weight off her heart.
“We should have gotten strippers,” Paige said, slurring her words. “Bet Gus had strippers at his stag night.”
Gus and a bunch of his Maris buddies had traveled to Dallas for his bachelor party at the beginning of December, all of them crashing at Xander’s. Xander told her last night the guys had rolled into the big city wired for sound, and it had been one long weekend of cigars, bourbon, and strip clubs. Then he admitted he and Gus had slipped out of the last strip club after hitting their limit—apparently Xander had a dislike for those kinds of clubs—and went to a quiet bar by themselves to hang out and chat.
“Gus said he didn’t really like the clubs,” Alison said.
Gia grinned. That sounded so much like Gus…and Xander.
Several of the women returned to the dance floor, but Gia opted to sit this one out. She’d been chugging water since the “fuck Darlene” shots, which meant she was sobering up and getting sleepy.
“Pinky swear,” Alison said, leaning across the table, her pinky extended.
