Chapter 24 #2
“Are you saying you want me to do more kitty eating, Turtle Dove? That can be arranged.” Wrenley buries his face in her neck, and she breaks into squeals and giggles.
“Aaaand I’m going to take that as my cue to go. Dove, I’ll text you!” Vixey bounces behind the bar and kisses Alex on the cheek. Pink blooms along the bridge of his nose as she hugs him from behind. “Thank you for the night off!”
“No problem. Have fun, ladies.” He manages it through a cough. The poor man is so smitten, and Vixey doesn’t seem interested in him in any remotely romantic way. I wonder if she knows he’s carrying a torch for her?
“Do you wanna go home and grab a dress and meet me at my place?” I ask, interrupting Dove and Wrenley. Their PDA doesn’t faze me one bit.
“Okay. I’ll text you when I leave. Why don’t you come home with me, and you can come back later?” she suggests to Wrenley, who’s out of his seat before she finishes.
Hunter chuckles, sliding over as soon as they disappear. “I’ll keep my phone on if you need anything. Or, if you’d like me to come over afterward. I haven’t gotten my kitty eating in today.” He waggles his brows, then presses a chaste kiss to my lips.
Turning in my seat, I lean against his chest to kiss him harder.
Hunter’s love language is physical touch, and I’ve been doing my best lately to ensure he knows I want him around.
I’m not the best at showing my feelings, but this is something I can do for him.
Not because I feel like I have to, but because I genuinely want to be there for Hunter the same way he’s been there for me.
Our moment is cut short when Alex taps on the bar in front of us. “Hey, Buns. Thanks for inviting Vixey out. She really needs this, and she really wants to be your friend.”
“God, I don’t know why. I’ve been awful to her.” I snort and pull back from Hunter, picking up the glass of water Alex set down after our announcement.
Neither guy replies, and my gaze slides from the lime wedge floating atop the ice to Hunter, then to Alex. Both men are staring at me with worried expressions, like I just said something completely out of pocket.
“You kind of have…” Alex says carefully.
“Are you feeling okay, Little Rabbit? You just willingly admitted you’re not very nice to Vixey.”
Huh. I guess I did.
“Whatever. If she’s here to stay, I might as well try to get used to her. Seems like she and Dove have gotten pretty friendly in my absence.”
“Dove isn’t going to abandon you just because we’re having a kid and they don’t want any, Bunny.” Hunter wraps an arm around my shoulders and kisses the top of my head. “Don’t worry. Your friend isn’t going to replace you with Vix.”
My brows flatten, and I pull back. “Call her that one more time, Hunter, and there will be no kitty eating for a week.”
He smirks. “Baby, you can’t go that long without me on my knees.”
I flash him a wide, sweet smile. “You’re right. Let me rephrase. There will be no Hunter Jr. sucking for a week.”
His smirk drops as he pulls away. “Okay. Geez. You’re so mean, Little Rabbit.”
Alex groans. “I swear I need a shower after listening to you four talk about your sex lives.”
“Don’t be so vanilla, Alex!” Hunter shouts at his retreating back, then drops his mouth to my ear. “How about we rush home and get in a workout before you go out?”
“We don’t have time,” I laugh. “Dove is coming over.”
“Oh, please. You don’t think they aren’t going to do their own adult gymnastics before spending a night apart?” He slaps money on the bar, grabs my hand, and helps me down from the stool. “Come on, your chariot awaits.”
I don’t recall seeing him grab his phone, and with it being the weekend, I’m sure it will take forever to get a car. “Did you already order a ride?”
“My face, Little Rabbit. Your chariot is my face.”
As we step out of our cab, Dove squeals the moment she sees Vixey waiting for us on the sidewalk. “We look like we’re straight out of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion!”
She’s not wrong. While she’s decked out in her signature pink, with five-inch platforms and a metallic sheen to her bubblegum-colored dress, Vixey is wearing a short sequined mini in the color of the Pine Green crayon from the old Crayola box.
Meanwhile, I chose a glittering lavender bodycon—just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I can’t dress cute.
“I don’t know what that is, but I’m happy to be a part of it.” Vixey wobbles in her kitten heels, hands flying out to catch nothing but air as she steadies herself. She’s clumsy enough on flat feet, it’s a wonder she hasn’t broken an ankle in the sixty seconds since we arrived.
“You don’t know Romy and Michele?” Dove asks incredulously, as if it’s a crime.
“How old are you?” I ask.
“She just turned twenty-six,” Dove answers for her. “Which, okay, I guess that makes sense, but still… we’re going to need to watch it!”
That explains a lot.
There’s a six-year age gap between us, and that makes all the difference. I remember how I was at twenty-six, and the amount of shit that’s jaded me since.
I ignore the fact that Dove knew she just had a birthday.
“Vixey!” We all turn toward the sound of one of the bouncers shouting the tall girl’s name and waving us over. He’s built like a pro wrestler, with a buzz cut and a scar running through his upper lip that hitches the right side up.
“Hey, Daniel! I brought some friends tonight, is that okay?” She greets the man with a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. He gives us a friendly once-over, gracious enough not to linger on my bulging belly—thank god, because I was a little worried we might have a Knocked Up moment.
“Anything for you, V. You ladies have a nice time tonight.” He unclasps the rope and moves aside to let us through. It doesn’t surprise me, the hearts in his eyes while looking at her. The girl’s a bombshell… even if she is graceless.
A chorus of frustrated cries rises from the long line waiting to get in, but one mean mug from Dove has a good portion of them shutting their mouths mid-complaint.
“You can check your coat there if you want.” Vixey motions to a space once we reach the end of the long, dark hallway.
Even though it’s cold outside, I’m the only one who wore a jacket.
I don’t particularly want to part with my old leather, but a few minutes inside tells me if I keep it on, I’ll be a sweaty, sticky mess within a couple of dances.
“So, how long have you two been friends?” Vixey asks while they wait for me off to the side.
“Gosh, almost two years now, I think? I actually knew Hunter before I knew Bunny.” I hear Dove explain. “Remember Ryan? I met him at a gala and met Hunter through him. Then it was like fate when Bunny and I ran into each other one night while we were—”
My head whips around just as she stops herself from saying more, stretching the word and finishing with, “—both at the department waiting on the guys. We hit it off instantly.”
“Whatever happened to Ryan? I noticed he hasn’t been around since he and Wrenley got in that fight.” Vixey leads us to the bar, practically yelling over the music.
For as packed as it is, the bartender notices her quickly—another cute guy she greets by name, who seems to have a hard-on for her.
I have a feeling Vixey is one of those girls who gets along easily with men, so other women make assumptions about her.
It explains why she doesn’t have any female friends.
While she’s distracted, Dove and I share a look before I reply, “He moved out of state. Got transferred somewhere west.”
“Oh. I always liked him—he was nice. Well, I guess to me anyway,” she muses, handing Dove some sort of tequila cocktail and me a soda water with lime.
“Of course he was nice to you, you’re hot. I’m surprised he didn’t try to sleep with you. Unless he did, and you just haven’t told me. You can be honest if you slept with him, though—we were never exclusive. We knew each other forever before we even slept together.”
“I would never do something like that!” Vixey vehemently waves her hands, her long, balayaged mane flying.
Dove waves her off. “Relax, Vix. I’m just saying it’s okay if you did. You’re definitely his type.”
“Was his type,” I mumble loud enough for only Dove to hear.
Vixey is too tall to catch the joke and downs two shots before spinning toward the dance floor. “Well, I didn’t. Fucking guys my friends have fucked is not my jam.”
“Great rule to live by.” I hold up my glass in a cheers to that motion.
Loud remixed pop thumps through the space. The main floor is packed, so Vixey leads us up a few steps to a roped-off level, where there’s a smaller, less-crowded dance floor adjacent to the VIP area. A group of guys instantly hone in on her and Dove, passing me by the second they see my stomach.
Once upon a time, it might have upset me to be dismissed so easily.
But all that goes through my mind is how, when I tell Hunter about the night’s events, he will undoubtedly make a joke about how no one better think they’re too good for his girl.
It brings a smile to my face, and I nearly grab my phone to text him.
Tonight is about us girls. And I am not dick-whipped.
It honestly feels good to let go for the night. Dancing with Dove and Vixey is freeing. For as much attention as they pull, neither strays from my side—we’re celebrating each other and couldn’t care less about the men trying to steal their attention.
Nearly an hour later, Vixey goes to the bathroom while Dove and I settle into a booth along the wall as a younger group of girls abandons it to return to the floor.
“See, she’s not so bad, is she?” Dove asks while texting Wrenley.
The guys decided to have their own night out and went back to the bar to hang with Alex. Even though Hunter and I haven’t spent a night apart in a while, Dove and I decided we’re going to see if Vixey wants to stay at my place tonight.
I’m trying.
“Okay, she’s not that bad. You’re right.”