by Tijan
Heather eyed me, her hand resting on her hip. “You’ve started training already, right?”
I straightened and brought my arm over my chest, stretching it to the left and right.
I reversed and did it the other way. “Yeah, but it’s hard.” Training was a full-time job, and leaving Maddie to do my long runs was a whole other issue. “My trainer has been pushing me hard, but I just want to stay and snuggle with Maddie.”
Both Heather and Taylor softened.
“She’s such a cutie.” Taylor smiled.
I tensed, groaning. “You’re making me want to go back and say screw it to this weekend.”
Heather frowned. “Why don’t you?”
Because…
I had to remember the reason myself. “Because I need friend time, and I do. I really do…” But my voice hitched into a wistful sigh. Maddie. Gah. Maddie. I could feel her body in my arms already, her weight, her smell. She would wiggle around, searching, and then she’d sniff my neck and collapse into one of her long sleeps.
I just wanted to play with her, pretend to eat her little toes and fingers.
And her shrieks—I could hear them in the air.
“I bet Malinda is having a grand time with her.”
I shot Heather a grateful look. She was trying to make me feel better, and I nodded. “She was salivating over getting to keep her for the weekend, but I wanna go back now. I really wanna go back.”
Both girls were laughing.
It was obvious I wasn’t going to go back.
“Being a mom changes you.” I hadn’t known. I hadn’t been prepared. “You think you’re good and you got life going for you, and then bam. You have a little baby and everything tips upside down and your priorities totally change.”
Not that my priorities really had changed.
I loved Mason.
I loved my family.
But it was more.
Maddie made me feel more, love more. She just made me more.
The girls understood. Both smiled gently at me, and then suddenly Heather declared, “I want to get drunk. I know you’re having a mom moment, but I’m having a Heather moment and my moment is the reason we’re here. To cut loose and have fun. Let’s do a girls’ night. Fuck the guys, I mean, you know.”
Taylor was grinning, her eyes twinkling. “I’m for that. I love our girls’ nights.”
“Does this extend for our sleeping arrangements too?”
“We’ll stay over here and crash where we crash.”
Heather considered it and then nodded. “Yeah. Okay. I’m in.”
Taylor’s eyes got big. “The booze is on our side—the booze Logan already bought. I’m snagging as much as I can before they get back.”
6
Bren
The guys were down at the beach, and they wanted a few things: a bottle of Jack, a couple blankets, and a lighter. I volunteered to come back to get them because I knew this crowd the best. That said, though, I didn’t really know them that well.
I knew Heather. Loved Heather.
I knew Channing. Loved my brother. Obviously.
But the rest, I’d only met them once or twice, seen them a few other times, but they all left me with different vibes. I was okay with Sam and Mason the most, and that was me being lenient with that word.
I didn’t adult well.
That wasn’t meaning me being an adult.
That was me meaning I didn’t like adults.
Logan, I didn’t know about him. He was wild and unpredictable. He had a lot simmering under the surface, and I could literally see the anger there. He wanted to let it out, but he wasn’t because he was an adult. Adults couldn’t just be. They had to suppress, and that Logan dude was tired of suppressing. He had shit to say, so I was hoping the liquor they were buying would tip the balance and he’d erupt. That shit would be fun to watch.
As for the rest:
Nate, my opinion was being held in check with him. He seemed like a whole ‘stay tuned’ issue.
Matteo, I didn’t know his problem. He seemed nice, but something was going on with him. I didn’t like it and my read was to steer clear of him, and again, I had no reason why I was picking that read from him. I just was.
As for the other girl, Taylor. I liked her.
I might not like adults much, but I could read adults. I read them really well, and I was reading that Taylor was in a mass amount of pain. She was nice and lovely on the surface, but there was stuff inside her. Stuff that people either weren’t feeling or stuff that she hid well, like extremely well. Even her man, the wild suppressing one didn’t seem to be checking in with her. He was all up in his head, doing his thing and leaving his woman to do her thing, but after watching her a little, I saw that was her thing.
She flew under the radar because that’s what she wanted.
She didn’t get her due credit.
I was giving her the due credit because I liked her. I almost liked her more than Heather’s best friend. I mean, if I was going to be put in an apocalyptic situation where I had to choose who to be quarantined with? I’d choose Taylor over everyone else.
Huh.
I surprised myself with that answer, but then I tuned back into their conversation.
I was standing behind our camper and the girls had all decided to get rip-roaring drunk (not their words, but I was paraphrasing because I could tell that was their meaning) and I was rethinking our whole plan for the night.
Forget about grabbing the supplies, I went back to get the guys.
We had a whole show that was going to stream live and in person for us tonight.
7
Samantha
We were drunk by the time Mason and the guys got back. I had no clue why they’d taken so long, but bottoms up. Mason came toward our campfire, and I greeted him by lifting my drink and yelling, “Ninja Sam is baaaaack, honey!”
He stopped, ran a hand over his face, and looked down. “Christ. You’re wasted.”
“I’m so fucking wasted.” A thought came into my head, and I scrambled over to him, pulling my phone out with the hand that had the drink in it. “Hey! You have to look.”
He caught my drink just as Heather started to say something.
Then he reached into my pocket and pulled my phone out himself. “Okay. What am I looking for?”
“There are pictures. Malinda sent Maddie pictures, and she’s so cute!”
I’d been staring at them for the last twenty minutes, and according to Heather, I’d shown them to her five different times. All five of them. And the texts Malinda was sending me.
“How long were we gone for you to get this smashed?” Mason was grumbling at the same time he was scrolling through my phone. “Why is Malinda giving you hourly updates?”
“Because I asked for thirty-minute updates, and she refused to do that.”
He lifted heavy eyes to me. “Sam.”
I tried to mimic him, but that meant I had to stick my bottom lip out too. “Mase.”
“You don’t need hourly updates from Malinda.”
“Yes, I do.” Because I did.
So did he.
And if he didn’t want them, I’d get them for him.
Because that’s who I was now. A mom. A mother. I had another entire being dependent on me. She’d been made from my loins. I pushed her out of my body. She was me, made from me, and it was my job—
“Stop.” His hand came down over my forehead.
“Wha—” I smacked it off. “What are you doing?”
“Stopping the thoughts. I can literally see them. You are fine. Maddie is fine. You pumped enough milk for her, and it’s frozen, and everything is okay. Malinda got the thirty-page write-up on what to do if any scenario happens while we’re gone. And it’s one night.”
God. One night.
I wasn’t going to last.
His hands came to my shoulders, and he peered down. “Babe.”
Ooh. That sounded nice. I moved into him, but wait�
� I had a drink.
I looked around. Where’d that drink go?
“Samantha.” He tugged me against him. My body next to his…oooh, his very fine and very strong and very athletic—my husband was hot. He just got better looking as he got older too, and being a pro athlete, he could go all freaking night. And his thighs? His thighs were Thor thighs. They were god thighs.
My hands fell to them, and I squeezed.
They were my thighs.
I loved those thighs, and especially when he was pumping into me—
His hand came down over my mouth this time.
“Hhhmph!” I slapped his hand away again, scowling. “What was that for?”
Heather drawled behind me, “Girl, those weren’t thoughts you were keeping to yourself.”
“Wha—” I turned to her, eyebrows up in horror. “I didn’t.”
She gave me a resigned nod. “You were. And while I was entertained, especially with the Thor thighs, we don’t need to know what it’s like to have your hot pro NFL guy pumping into you. Nope. Not a visual we need.”
Taylor stood next to Heather, holding her drink—and mine!
I reached out for it.
She handed it to me and nodded. An emotion flashed in her eyes, and she turned to Mason. “We’re doing girls’ night. Guys have to stay over there.”
“Fuck,” he responded. His eyes narrowed, and he looked carefully at each of us. “Do I want to know what brought this on?”
“No. We’re good.” Heather tugged me back, lifting her chin in the direction he’d come. “I got both of these handled, but we’re doing girls’ night over here. Channing got the text. He’s bunking with you. Put him on the couch. I don’t care, but Logan is not to be over here. He’s going to be the one to push it.”
He sighed. “Shit.”
“Shit is right!” Taylor pumped her arm, her drink sloshing over.
I had a moment of clarity.
Heather and I, we’d gone through hell and heaven, parties and blackmailing. There’d been slight stalker issues. Crap. There’d just been a ton of shit we’d gone through—Mason too—and here we were. Still together. Still friends. And still having a good time. A damn good time.
My phone pinged, and I went to grab it.
I have a baby! Did I tell you all that already? A baby!
She was adorable. Big fat cheeks. Green eyes like her daddy’s. She had my hair. I mean, we both had black hair, but it was mine on her head. I just knew it. And she was going to be a runner. I could already tell. She was always pumping her little feet and hands in the air. Her little eyebrows would flatten, and she’d scowl and wave those limbs until she was exhausted. Just like me.
I was already proud.
But Mason wasn’t having it right now. He raised my phone up and moved back, blocking me with his hip. He wrapped his other hand around my waist.
“I’ll get the updates, okay?” he said. “Maddie is fine, but maybe I want to see the pictures. Hmmm?”
I reached for the phone again.
Heather wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me back.
She smiled sweetly at Mason, and I know she was smiling sweetly even though I wasn’t looking at her because I could hear it. I could feel it. She said, “We’re good. Thank you for being in charge of the Maddie updates, because while I love my little goddaughter, hourly reports are something I can catch up on tomorrow all at once, if you know what I mean.”
Mason’s lip twitched. “I’m getting your drift.”
“Good, good.” She nodded. “You guys have a nice night.”
His eyes skirted over us before he seemed to come to some decision. “Okay.” He pressed his lips to my forehead and skimmed his hand down my arm to mine. “Have fun, okay?”
A tingle of sensations trailed his touch, or wait…trail of tingles? Yeah. That made more sense. I tipped my head up, he dropped his mouth back to mine for a moment, and then he was gone, leaving me in a rush of desire, warmth, and tingling extremities.
I waved my hand in front of me, fanning myself. “Do you all appreciate the fineness of my man?”
Heather gave me a blank stare.
Taylor’s eyes were wide.
Heather’s hand was still over her mouth.
Right. I put my hands in my back pockets. “Never mind. Wipe that from the transcript.”
Heather snorted. “I changed my mind.”
Both Taylor and I looked at her.
“I’m not going to wrangle you guys or monitor you. I’m getting drunk too.” She let go of Taylor. Taking three steps, she bent and grabbed the bottle of whiskey. She pushed off the cap and tipped her head back, taking three shots in one large gulp.
We were leapfrogging.
I didn’t know why.
I didn’t know how.
I didn’t know who started it, but we were leapfrogging.
Heather jumped over me.
I jumped over Taylor.
Taylor went over Heather.
But wait.
None of us had ribbitted, or croaked, or whatever sound frogs make.
Ribbit.
We had to do it all over again.
And we were supposed to go somewhere. There’d been a point to this… Anyway, off we went.
Ribbit. Heather leapt over me.
Ribbit. I leapt over Taylor.
Ribbit! Taylor over Heather.
Now we were in Heather’s camper.
Taylor had been in the bathroom, but now she was coming back. She had a funny expression on her face, but I was almost too far gone to notice because I was crying.
I didn’t know why I was crying, but I was crying.
Oh!
“I miss Maddie so much.”
Taylor moved around us, crawling back up onto the bed. “Sorry, guys.”
Heather’s arms were around me, and then a hand was slapping my forehead.
I looked up. It was Taylor, but it wasn’t her hand. It was her foot. Her head was twisted the other way in the bed, her arm up and covering her eyes. “Guys.”
We both looked up.
Taylor shook her head. “Never mind. I’m sorry, Sam. You miss your little girl.”
“My baby. I’m a horrible mother. I left her—”
Taylor groaned, sitting up. She took her foot away. I kinda liked having it there. Propping herself up, her hands on the bed, she frowned at me. “It’s one night, Sam. You’re going to see her tomorrow, and we’re all going to Manny’s tomorrow night.”
She was right.
That was right.
I’d see my baby tomorrow.
But right now I was missing her, missing her weight in my arms, missing her little smell, her little sounds, even her crying.
“I’m okay, right?” I was so drunk. “Or am I going to scar her for life that I left for tonight?”
Heather cursed, her head moving from my shoulder. She looked exhausted, bags under her eyes. “Girl, get it together. One freaking night, and you gotta do it now. You’ll have other bonding times and breastfeeding times later. This is the time when you can get a night away, and you’re due one night—if anything, for your sanity.”
Taylor lay back down but threw up her arm. “But not ours, because holy hell, Samantha, you are annoying right now.”
That got through.
Taylor had called me annoying, and I knew Heather was irked.
I sighed. “Remember the days when I was Ninja Sam? Now I’m just Crying Mom Sam.”
They both laughed.
“Fuck’s sake. We’re all just getting old. Come on.” Heather had had enough.
Of what I didn’t know yet, but she snagged my hand and pulled me to my feet. She reached for the door.
Taylor slid down from the bed. “Where are we going?”
Heather led the way out and down the stairs. “I’m bored.”
“Oh no.”
That was me, but I didn’t pause.
I didn’t have a good feeling about where Heather was going. I saw th
e look that flashed over her face before she got up. A bored Heather wasn’t good. She had a tendency to be like Logan in that respect.
She turned around, walking backwards now. “Taylor.” She gave her a serious look. “I’m apologizing ahead of time.”
“For what?” Taylor’s voice went up a notch.
I shook my head. I knew Heather. I knew that look.
This wasn’t going to be good.
Oh no.
Oh no.
Oh no.
She was heading down the path. It was the path—the path we weren’t supposed to walk tonight. We’d set the perimeters. We’d drawn the line. We’d declared our mission. It was girls’ night. We were supposed to be rallying around Taylor, and Heather was going to bomb that all away.
I raised a hand. “Can we go back to leapfrogging?”
Heather ignored me, saying to Taylor, “You’re drunk. I’m drunk. Everyone’s drunk.”
“Heather, no.” I tried again.
“What are you doing, Heather?” Taylor asked.
A smirk came over Heather’s face, and that was so bad, so very bad.
“You didn’t say anything, but don’t think I didn’t notice.”
Oh no.
“Heather…”
But she was gone. She was talking, and she wasn’t going to stop.
She kept walking as she did, “He was with Nate. He greeted Logan. Didn’t greet you. Didn’t greet me. Didn’t even look at Taylor. And when Mason was over there, he didn’t say a word. I was watching. You don’t think I was, but I was. My life, who we roll with now, you have to have eyes everywhere. I have eyes everywhere, and I noticed.” She stopped, looking at me. “Drunk time is the best therapy time. Matteo’s going to get some therapy.”
“Tonight?” Taylor whispered, and even in the dark I could see the blood drain from her face.
“Tonight. I got the feeling.”
Heather nodded and turned back around, marching over the path.
Taylor came up beside me. “She has a feeling?”
I nodded. Yep. I knew that feeling.
Heather was about to raise holy hell, and she was doing it to help Mason? I wasn’t sure.