by Autumn Reed
Simone emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray of appetizers that clearly fit in with the patriotic theme. Xavier grabbed what looked like a tomato and mozzarella crostini and popped it in his mouth. “Simone totally agrees and volunteered to assist with tonight’s festivities.”
I glared at my best friend. Traitor. She merely smiled in return and offered me, Shane, and Cole an appetizer. When I refused to try any of the food, she handed the tray to Cole and hauled me into the bathroom, shutting the door behind us.
“Listen, you can either spend your evening trying, and failing, to distract yourself, or you can spend it having a good time with the people who support you the most. Is there even a choice?”
I wanted to argue, but how could I? Despite my overwhelming desire to go home, change into pajamas, and veg out in front of the television, Simone and Xavier were trying to make the best out of a shitty situation. They’d gone to a lot of trouble, and I didn’t want to be a spoilsport.
“Okay, okay. I’ll go out there and have a good time.” Handing her my now-empty glass, I added, “But you’re going to fetch me a refill. Stat.”
Simone squeezed my cheek with exaggerated affection. “That’s my girl.”
I pressed my glass into her hand. “Drink.” Then, I waltzed out of the bathroom and squeezed between Shane and Cole on the couch. “So, what’s the status? Is James ahead?”
Tad grabbed his tablet and said, “At six o’clock, early tallies were showing that James and his opponent were separated by less than one percent. But the polls don’t close until eight, so we have a long wait for any kind of official announcement.”
Amused by his precise answer, I asked, “Are you tracking updates?”
He flipped his tablet around to reveal a spreadsheet with a number of rows and columns. “I’m not much help in the party planning department, so I put my accounting skills to use.”
“I’m sure Xavier appreciates your contribution.”
While Shane asked Tad an accounting question, I snuggled into Cole’s side, and Snow hopped from his lap to mine. “How about you? Did you know about this insanity?”
He chuckled. “Not until I arrived shortly before you did. Xavier was just finishing decorating and had the dress ready for Snow. I thought about warning you, but I was a little afraid you’d bail, and I selfishly wanted you here with me.”
Running his fingers through my hair, he asked, “Are you upset? I can tell Xavier to take it down a notch, if you want.”
I shook my head. “It was a bit of a shock, but I’m fine. I was just telling Shane on the way over that we all need to get used to the weirdness surrounding me and Nic. No time like the present to start.”
Simone appeared with drinks for me and the guys, and as soon as I saw the mischievous glint in her eyes, I inwardly groaned. She was definitely up to something.
“Considering two of the three infamous lying bastards are in the house, I think it’s only fitting that someone propose a wager on tonight’s results.”
Cole and Shane both looked at me, and I shrugged. “You two do your thing, but you know I don’t get involved in your bets.”
Simone wagged her finger at me. “Oh, no, that’s not going to work this time, Emma. You have to participate.”
“How about this?” Cole said. “We’ll all choose ‘loser’ punishments for each other. I’ll start. If Xavier calls the results incorrectly, he has to wear his little Uncle Sam outfit to Loft25 tomorrow night...with a matching hat.”
“Okay, but you have to buy the hat,” Xavier called from the kitchen. “If you lose, you have to DJ tomorrow night.”
“Not a problem,” Cole agreed easily.
“Wait, I’m not done yet. And you have to play ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ between each set and woof along with it.”
Cole rolled his eyes but said, “Okay. Emma, what’s your pick for Simone?”
“Hmmm.” I considered her thoughtfully, knowing it needed to be embarrassing. “Continuing the theme, you’ll wear your Halloween costume from two years ago to Loft25.”
It took her a second, but her eyes widened. “The Southern belle costume?”
I grinned evilly. “Yes, including the hoop skirt. And you have to speak in a Southern accent.”
“That’s just mean, but at least I can get you back.” She rubbed her hands together in excitement. “You get a choice between two. You can either dress like Captain Hook tomorrow night, or you have to listen to a ticking clock app while falling asleep for the next week.”
Shane gasped in faux shock. “How dare you use Emma’s biggest pet peeve against her?”
Cole just looked at me, confused. “You have an issue with clocks?”
I nodded, realizing it must not have ever come up since the Ts didn’t have any analog clocks in their house—I’d checked. Shane only knew because we’d talked about pet peeves on our first date. “I can’t handle the sound of ticking. It drives me insane.”
“Just like Captain Hook,” Simone added with a maniacal laugh.
“How would I possibly come up with a Captain Hook costume by tomorrow?”
She shrugged. “The clock app it is.”
“I better call the election correctly,” I muttered. The mere thought of listening to hours of ticking made me shiver in revulsion.
“Shane, you’re up,” Cole said. “What are you thinking for Tad?”
Tad crossed his arms over his chest, and though his huge biceps made him look intimidating, his expression was anything but. “I’d like to remind you that I tried to talk Xavier out of the party.”
“Good point,” Shane said. “I’ll go easy on you. If you call the results incorrectly, you owe us five hours of free tax advice.”
“Done. And if you lose, you have to wear one of Xavier’s mesh tank tops tomorrow night.”
Xavier snickered while Shane examined his thin frame. “You do realize he’s like two sizes smaller than me, right?”
Tad nodded with a pleased smile. “Exactly the point.”
“Fine,” Shane sighed.
“Nice work, everyone,” Cole said. “Now, we all just have to call our selections for the winner—James or his opponent. Xavier?”
“Opponent.”
“Okay, Emma?”
I hesitated. The question felt like more than a choice for a silly bet. It felt like he was asking me what I wanted to happen. If James won, Nicholas would stay in California for even longer, but at least he could be happy that everything he’d given up was worth it. If James lost, I didn’t know how Nicholas would cope, and I didn’t even know how I would feel about it.
But I knew what my answer had to be. “James.”
Cole nodded. “Simone?”
“James’s opponent, hands down.” Clearly, she wasn’t ready to forgive Nicholas or even hope for the result he wanted.
“Tad?”
Tad gave me a small smile. “James.”
“Shane?”
Shane squeezed my thigh as he confidently said, “The opponent.”
“Okay,” Cole replied. “I’m going with James. Good luck, everyone!”
Xavier appeared with a tray of shot glasses filled with bright blue liquid. “Okay, now that that’s out of the way, can we get this party started?”
“What are those for?” Shane asked, staring at the shots with suspicion.
“We’re playing a drinking game!” He set the tray on the coffee table and presented a dry erase board covered in words and phrases like, dramatic, exit polls, and too close to call. “Every time we hear one of these on the news, we have to take a shot.”
My stomach churned just looking at the copious amount of liquor in front of us. “I have to work in the morning, you know.”
He grinned as he increased the volume on the TV to ensure we’d catch all the key words. “Since it’s just a primary, there’s not as much news coverage, so we probably won’t get too plastered.”
Right. Considering it would only take a couple of those shots to turn my br
ain to mush, I set my cocktail aside and replaced it with a glass of water.
As loathe as I was to admit it, the next few hours were rather enjoyable as they passed in a blur of talking, laughter, and too much alcohol. Nicholas was on my mind, but not in the way I expected. While more and more counties reported their final counts, I found myself anxious for him and realized I sincerely wanted James to win. Not just for Nicholas but for James and Kat as well.
“Everyone be quiet!” Xavier yelled. We’d given up on the drinking game after losing count of how many shots we’d downed and were scattered around the room, talking. “They’re getting ready to call it!”
As I stood behind the couch, my attention completely focused on the newscast, Cole slipped his hand in mine while Shane did the same on my other side. The room was now silent, except for the anchor chattering on the television. I held my breath when the district we’d been waiting for appeared on the screen.
For the republican primary in California’s twenty-seventh congressional district, the winner is James Lowell.
I released my breath as an odd mixture of acceptance and disappointment flowed through me. Nicholas wasn’t coming home, but this was the result he’d worked so hard for. I was happy for him. And, unfair or not, I was happy knowing the public outing of the torrid foursome hadn’t ruined James’s political career.
It was finally over—the waiting and the not knowing.
From this point forward, I was done. No more hoping he would come back to me. No more tracking Nicholas and Alyssa. No more Nicholas.
Feeling every eye in the room trained on me, I smiled and said, “How about one more shot?”
Chapter 20
Cole and I arrived at Loft25 as soon as it opened the next evening. After taking way too many shots the night before, I was determined to drink only club soda and get to bed early. Since Cole, Tad, and I chose the winning candidate, we didn’t have to perform our assigned punishments. But that didn’t mean I was willing to miss out on Shane, Xavier, and Simone following through with theirs.
It took only seconds to spot Xavier—well, his stately stars and stripes hat—behind the main bar. “Why is he working?” I asked Cole, since Xavier was promoted from club employee to personal assistant months ago.
My mischievous boyfriend grinned at me. “It seems that we just happened to be short a bartender, so I volunteered X to take over.”
“What a coincidence, what with Xavier dressed remarkably like Uncle Sam tonight of all nights.”
“Isn’t it, though? If nothing else, he’ll make a killing in tips.”
I laughed. “It’s a good thing he adores you. Otherwise, he might consider quitting.”
“You only say that because you don’t know how much he gets paid. It would take a lot more than making him wear an outrageous outfit to convince him to quit, especially since he’s probably loving the extra attention.”
I studied Xavier’s radiant face and decided Cole was right. The man soaked up attention like Ace soaked up his afternoon naps in the sunlight.
“Simone must not be here yet,” I said when I didn’t find her among the small crowd. And it wasn’t like there was much chance of missing her.
“Want to wait upstairs?”
Glancing up at the empty VIP section, I nodded. “Might as well get a birds-eye view of her entrance.”
He latched onto my hand as we walked toward the stairs. “If it was anyone else, I’d probably feel bad for her. But I have a feeling Simone will relish the stares as much as Xavier.”
“Probably more. Did I mention the dress is extremely low cut? She’ll probably end up with a new boy toy by the end of the night.”
“What happened to Miguel?”
“They broke up.” I scanned the club for signs of him. “I hope he’s not working.” Although Simone was nonchalant about the whole thing, Miguel might have taken it harder than she let on.
“Actually, he quit. Apparently, the construction biz is going well.”
“Good for him.”
“Yeah, except now we’re down another skilled bartender. They’re dropping like flies,” he said almost wistfully, and I wondered if he was referring to his brother.
“How is Jeremy? You haven’t mentioned him in a while.”
He shrugged. “It’s not like we talk, but I called Tammy last week. She said Jeremy has managed to keep his job at the nightclub in L.A., and it sounds like he’s staying out of trouble.”
“That’s good news. How is the expectant mother?” Though Cole’s relationship with his brother was still tense, he’d gone out of his way to make sure Tammy was taken care of. In addition to paying for her rent and medical expenses, he’d helped her get a receptionist position so she didn’t have to keep waitressing while pregnant or after she had the baby.
“Great.” His face radiated with excitement. “I still can’t believe I’m going to be an uncle in a couple of months.”
Wrapping my arms around Cole’s waist, I smiled up at him. Sometimes, I was still amazed that I’d only seen a player when we first began dating. He’d always been so much more—compassionate, generous, and kind. And all that despite a miserable upbringing and family who only used and abused him.
He’d stored up a lifetime of love, waiting to give it away. I was a lucky recipient of that love, and there was no doubt in my mind that his niece would be as well.
“You’ll be an amazing uncle. I have a feeling you’re going to spoil that little girl rotten.”
“Obviously.”
Grateful for the height my heels gave me, I skimmed my lips over his. “Have I told you lately that I love you, Cole Reid?”
He slid a hand up my back and tangled it in my hair. “Yes, but I can never hear it enough.”
“I love you,” I said as I kissed him again.
Cole took control of the kiss then, but instead of deepening it like I expected, he kept it soft and slow. His touch was magical, the depth of his feelings evident in the sweetly seductive way he teased my mouth and tongue. He never needed to speak words of love again, if he would always show me just like this.
When we broke apart, I sagged against his body, happy to let him be responsible for keeping me upright.
“You okay?” he asked with a low chuckle.
“I’m just testing your strength. Can’t have you slacking on your daily workouts.”
“Can’t have that.”
Hearing my name being called, I forced myself to release Cole and walk to the edge of the railing. Simone was standing at the bottom of the steps, a vision in taffeta and lace. Instead of merely donning the dress, she’d curled her hair so it hung in ringlets down her back, and she carried a parasol. I was surprised the bouncer hadn’t confiscated the potential weapon, but he’d probably been too distracted by the rest of her to notice it.
“Wow, is that authentic?” Cole asked.
“Pretty close. She had it custom made for a costume contest.”
“Did she win?”
I tore my gaze away from my best friend to give him a pointed look. “What do you think?”
“Will you two lovebirds come down here already?” Simone yelled in her very fake Southern accent. “There’s no way I can get up those steps in this monstrosity.”
“On our way,” I hollered back.
As we descended the stairs, it was clear Simone had the attention of almost every person in the club. Not that I blamed them for staring. If it wasn’t strange enough that she was wearing the elaborate costume—in the middle of a nightclub and despite the Vegas heat—she looked damn good doing it. Even I couldn’t help checking out her impressive cleavage.
“Why, Miss Scarlett,” I drawled, “I’m so sorry for missing your grand entrance.”
“You should be,” she pouted prettily. “Why did I bother getting all dressed up if no one appreciates my efforts?”
I glanced at the numerous males in the room who appeared to be waiting for a chance to catch her eye. “I don’t think that’s a problem
.”
She flipped open a lace fan I hadn’t even noticed attached to her wrist and fluttered it near her cheek. “Are you suggesting I might have an admirer or two?”
Cole laughed. “Try twenty. I have a feeling Emma did you a favor by selecting that particular outfit.”
“Well, Tad definitely didn’t do me any favors,” Shane said as he joined our circle.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of him in the black mesh tank top that clung to his torso like a second skin.
“Thanks a lot,” he muttered.
“I’m sorry. You look hot...” There was no hiding his muscular chest and arms, and I half-wondered if I should make him hide in the office for the rest of the night. “...It’s just so not you.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
I moved in front of him and rested my back against his chest. “Is that better, self-conscious Shane?”
He tugged on my hips so I was flush against him. “Now it is.”
“Well, I’m parched,” Simone said. “I think I’ll saunter over to the bar and see how many gentlemen offer to purchase me a refreshment.”
“Are you keeping a running tally?” I asked.
“Of course. After going to the trouble of stuffing myself into this corset, I’ll need something to brag about tomorrow.”
“Good luck, then.”
“Thanks, but I don’t need luck. I’ve got the girls,” she added with a wink before strolling away like she was in search of fresh-squeezed lemonade on a hot summer day.
“I’m a little worried she might need a body guard,” Shane said when Simone was immediately surrounded by men at the bar.
Cole laughed. “I don’t know. I’m guessing she can do some damage with that umbrella.”
“It’s called a parasol,” I corrected. “And I’m sure she can take care of herself, but it might not hurt to keep an eye on her...from a distance.” I had no desire to get in the middle of Simone and her pack of admirers, unless she needed me.
