Party of Three

by Sandy Lowe

  Sarah snorted. “Pretty sure Ryan gave her that when she stuck her tongue down Eleanor’s throat.”

  “Ryan was kissing her for you, and you know it. Eleanor needs someone nice and steady, not to get caught up in your…” Kaitlyn trailed off, at a loss for words to explain exactly what Eleanor would be getting caught up in.

  “Horndog shenanigans?” Avery suggested.

  Kaitlyn pointed at her. “Exactly.”

  Sarah harrumphed. “What’s wrong with horndog shenanigans?”

  “Nothing, if that’s what you’re looking for,” Kaitlyn said.

  “It’s totally what I’m looking for,” Sarah said. “All the sex. So much sex. Sexy sex.”

  “Glad to see you’re committed to getting over your dry spell,” Avery said.

  “Haven’t been dry since dropping off the cake.” Sarah giggled at her own joke.

  Kaitlyn couldn’t help but smile. “You’re in fine form.” She looked at Sarah closely for the first time since getting in the car. “Look at you, you’re all smiley.”

  Sarah instantly frowned. “I am not.”

  “You are. Why?”

  Sarah fidgeted with a button on her coat. “I have a date for next Saturday.”

  “With a certain drop-dead gorgeous chef?” Kaitlyn said.

  “She made me drop something all right,” Sarah said.

  Avery clapped her on the back like they were bros at a football game. “Well done. Told you some crazy hot sex would sort you out.”

  Crazy hot sex had sure sorted Kaitlyn out. She wanted to be scrambled just so she could be sorted out some more.

  “Where are you going on your date?” She needed a distraction. She couldn’t think about sex. Right now, getting turned on thinking about Beck would be a disaster. She crossed her legs surreptitiously and hoped her cheeks weren’t burning. If Beck had stolen her panties to make her extremely sensitive and aware of how very bare she was under her dress, she’d achieved her goal. The sadist.

  “Swingers,” Sarah said.

  Avery shot Kaitlyn a worried look over Sarah’s head. “I know you’re happy to be back in the saddle, but maybe a bar for swingers isn’t the best place for a first date.”

  “Do you know this woman? Is she safe?” Avery asked Kaitlyn.

  “I don’t know her. I know someone who’s hired her though. I’ll ask around.”

  Sarah rolled her eyes. “You will not, you idiots. Swingers is the name of the new mini golf complex in Queens.”

  “Mini golf,” Avery said like Sarah had just told them she’d be having her first date in the party room at McDonald’s.

  “Yup. It’s cool. There’s a bar, and food, and golf balls you attempt to hit into very small holes in the ground.”

  “Oh,” Kaitlyn said. “I get it. It’s upscale mini golf. I read about it in the culture section. Very trendy.” And way better than a swinger’s club or McDonald’s.

  “It’s going to be great,” Sarah said, her face all smiley again.

  “Maybe you should suggest that Hot Bartender take Eleanor there,” Avery said, grinning. “Think of the double date potential.”

  Sarah closed her eyes and moaned theatrically. “So much mini golf hotness. We should all go out sometime, me and Ryan, Kaitlyn and Becca, and you and Spencer. Even Eleanor and Hot Bartender if it works out for them. We could…” She frowned. “What’s the word for four things?”

  “Quadruple,” Kaitlyn said.

  “Yes, an epic quadruple date,” Sarah said.

  “Also known as hanging out with your friends?” Avery laughed.

  “We should go to a strip club,” Sarah said.

  “I am not going to a strip club.” Kaitlyn was firm on that. Strip clubs were for middle-aged men who couldn’t get it up for their wives.

  “Fine, we’ll go to the movies or something boring.” Sarah rested her head against the window and closed her eyes. “You’re missing out not going, though.”

  “I am?” Kaitlyn looked at Avery, who just shrugged, laughter in her eyes. “What am I missing out on?”

  But she wouldn’t get her answer because Sarah was fast asleep, a ghost of a smile still on her lips.

  Kaitlyn tilted her head back against the seat and let the night wash over her. What a party. The angst of telling Eleanor about Peter. Avery holding hands with Spencer, both of them so goofy happy. Accidentally telling Beck her vibrator was a better lover. Being a lookout for the most ridiculous revenge ever. Finally understanding why Beck had walked away, forgiving her, trusting her. The most gut-wrenching, blood-sizzling, panty-ruining sex of her entire life, in the back seat of a car no less. And now here she was chatting with her friends, teasing them, making plans. Kaitlyn’s cup of gratitude for her life was full to overflowing and just being alive had never felt so right. She couldn’t think of anything she needed.

  Except maybe going to a strip club? But, really, what was she missing?

  About the Author

  Sandy has a master’s degree in publishing from the University of Sydney, Australia, and is the senior editor at Bold Strokes Books. Party of Three is her first novel.

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