Chapter Nine
Dani
I t’s nearly midnight by the time I make it home. After cuddling with Victor and Andrés for thirty minutes, they insisted we grab something to eat, and I’ll never say no to spending more time with them.
No matter how pathetic my little crushes on them are.
I make sure to lock the door behind me, cursing when my phone starts ringing. It’s in my bag somewhere, and by the time I find it, it stops ringing.
Because of course it does.
I smile when it immediately starts ringing again, and I realize it’s Maya requesting a video call.
“Hey, bitch.” I grin as I answer the call to find her flipping off the camera.
“What took you so long to answer?”
Rolling my eyes, I toss my bag onto the coffee table before collapsing onto the couch. “I just got home, and it was buried in my bag.”
“You just got home from your session with the guys?” She frowns, and I stick my tongue out at her.
“We got some food after, so yes, I just got home. But enough about me. How did the show go?”
Besides being a camgirl, Maya is a burlesque dancer and a teacher. Her most recent class was putting on a show tonight, and I can practically tell she’s bursting to tell me all about it.
“Oh, my goodness. You wouldn’t believe how well they did. Every single one of them nailed the routines.” She snorts. “I never thought I’d be so excited about teaching other women how to do burlesque, but here we are.”
“Here we are.” I sit up with a jerk. “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. Lorna called me into her office today and asked me to be in a calendar. She apparently wants to make it an annual thing, and I get to be August.”
Maya’s eyes widen. “Seriously? That’s so fucking cool. Tell me about it.”
I give her a quick rundown of what I know. If anyone is going to be able to help me come up with an idea for this, it’s Maya.
“Do you have any ideas about which holiday you want to do?” she asks when I’m done, and I shake my head.
“I looked up some before Andrés and Victor got there, but I’m not going to lie—I got a little overwhelmed by how many options there were. I found over twenty just for August 1st, Maya. How the hell am I going to figure out which one to do? What if nothing will work?”
“Whoa.” She holds up her hand. “I’m going to stop you right there. Let’s move to our laptops and look together. There’s no reason to get overwhelmed before we’ve even gotten started. Take a deep breath for me.”
I do just that as I sit up and make my way to my dining room office. I set my phone on the holder I have just for this occasion as I boot up the laptop. A glance at my phone shows Maya is doing the exact same thing.
“Okay, let’s pull up some websites that list different national holidays and see if any of them jump out at us,” Maya tells me, and I really do feel much better having her working with me on this.
The first website pulls up way too many options, and I exit out of it immediately. The second one isn’t much better, but the third is. Not only are there fewer holidays listed, but the page is less chaotic than the first two.
“Oh, August 1st is International Beer Day,” Maya says slowly. “That could be interesting.”
I wrinkle my nose. “If I liked beer, sure.”
She snickers. “Good call. I guess that’s not a good one.”
“It’s also National Girlfriend Day.”
She shrugs. “Too bad you don’t have one of those.”
I narrow my eyes at my best friend, but she’s too busy looking at her computer screen to notice.
I might have a girlfriend if Maya weren’t so scared of commitment and repeating her parents’ mistakes.
It doesn’t do me any good to dwell on that, though. Instead, I force my attention back on the list of holidays. I scroll to the end of the month to see if anything there tickles my fancy.
“August 31st is National Eat Outside Day,” I say, trying to keep a straight face.
Maya’s head snaps up. “You’re totally thinking about eating me out somewhere outdoors right now, aren’t you?”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“As much fun as that would be, I don’t think that’s what that means.”
“Probably not, but Lorna didn’t say I had to celebrate the holiday as intended.” Snickering, I continue flipping through holidays.
Maya and I toss holidays back and forth.
A few of them sound interesting, but I’m not really sure what to do with them.
There’s a national kiss and make up day, a bacon lover’s day, and even a relaxation day.
None of them are really what I’m looking for—at least not until I find myself staring at August 9th.
“Did you find something?” Maya asks, and I hold my finger up as I try to work out why it keeps catching my attention.
Then it hits me like a ton of bricks.
“Book Lovers Day.”
Maya tilts her head as she considers me. “I know you love books, but believe it or not, I can’t see directly into your head. You’ve gotta clue me in on what you’re thinking.”
“Hang on; it’s still forming in my head.” I close my eyes, and then it’s just there. The perfect idea. “Hell, yes.”
“Are you going to share with the class?”
“You’ll be in it with me, won’t you?” I ask, and she rolls her eyes.
“Obviously. There’s no need to beg, Dani.” I bite back a groan as she grins at me. “Plus, who in their right mind is going to say no to this kind of thing? But I’d like a little more information on what I’m signing up for.”
I bite my bottom lip, almost afraid to ask the next part. I’m sure I can find another woman for the shoot and video, but I don’t want another woman. I want Maya. “It wouldn’t just be the two of us. Nor will it be only women.”
She holds her hand in the air, gesturing for me to continue. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
So I do.
I can see her apprehension slowly melt away as I explain it to her, and by the end, she’s grinning. “That’s fucking brilliant, Dani.”
“Do you think they’ll agree?”
Another roll of her eyes. “With you asking? Absolutely.”
Glancing at the time, I realize it’s almost two in the morning. “Damn it. It’s too late to call them now, isn’t it?”
“You can text first, but I’m betting they’re all still up. It’s not like any of us keep regular hours.”
She’s not wrong there.
“Come over?”
She nods as she closes her laptop, already picking up her phone. “I’m already on my way.”
“I’m kind of excited about this now.”
“Surprisingly, so am I. I don’t think anyone else could’ve come up with this idea, Dani. Your brain works in mysterious ways.”
We say our goodbyes, and I shoot texts off to the others. It’s less likely to wake them up if they’re sleeping. I should probably jump in the shower while I wait to hear back from them.
Unless I want to smell like Victor and Andrés.
As tempting as that thought is, I head for my bathroom to take a quick shower.