Page 80 of Sanctuary

“I just told you that,” her mom said. “You must’ve drifted off. That’s what the surprise was, but I couldn’t wait until I got off the plane, so I called you.”

“Oh, wow. That’s wonderful.” Unbidden worry kicked in when she thought of their donor recently pulling out. “Dad never comes with you; he’s always too busy. Are you sure everything’s all right?”

“Everything’s fine. We’ll talk when we’re all settled in with you. See you very soon.”

Lori wasn’t convinced. Everything’s fine and We’ll talk didn’t go together. “Okay, Mom. I’ll be there when you land.”

They said their goodbyes, and Lori hung up. The feeling that something was wrong persisted, and she stood to shake it off. Her mom never lied to her, so if she said everything was fine, then everything was fine. She looked at her phone screen again to see she had messages and missed calls—eight of them, a mix from Gabe and Rosie—and she realized she hadn’t looked at her phone since she’d woken. Care of her epic hangover had required her full attention. She read the messages then listened to the voicemails; Gabe was worried about her because she hadn’t heard from her since they parted last night, and Rosie wanted a full debrief of her behavior. God, what did I do? She drank a hell of a lot more than she had in a long time, probably since college.

And played pool.

She remembered hustling Gabe and having far too much fun for it to be legal. That explained the nature of the daydream; she’d spent all night thinking about doing all those things and a whole lot more to Gabe in that bar. And in the hotel: a hotel that would’ve needed thick, soundproof walls.

Stop it. Gabe would be here in a few hours; she was coming to see Max later than usual because Lori had to pick up her mom, and now her dad too, from Midway. She sent a reassuring text to Gabe and video-called Rosie, deciding it would be easier and faster to face the inevitable inquisition.

“Who are you and what have you done with my friend?”

Lori sank back onto her chair and stared at Rosie. “What did I do?”

“It might be easier to tell you what you didn’t do,” Rosie said. “You didn’t act like the Lori Turner I’ve known for the past six years. You didn’t stop drinking even when I advised you that it might be worthwhile to slow down a little. You didn’t act like Gabe was your friend, and you?—”

“Whoa, stop there. How did I act toward Gabe?”

Rosie shook her head slowly like a disappointed nun. “The word for it is ‘vampy,’ I think.”

Lori clasped her hand over her mouth. “Was I that bad?”

Rosie grinned. “You were that good.”

“But you just said?—”

“I was kidding. You were awesome.” Rosie was literally vibrating through the screen. “I’ve never seen you like that, and it was something to watch, I tell you. Don’t you remember any of it?”

Lori rolled her eyes to the ceiling and searched for recollection. “I played pool with her?”

“You played with her, and yes, there were a few games of pool too. Where did you learn to play like that?”

“It’s all angles and math; it’s not complicated.” She waved off the compliment to return focus to her main concern. “Did Gabe seem okay? Did she seem mad?”

Rosie raised her eyebrows. “Mad? Why would she be mad?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because I told her that we could only be friends and then acted like a clit-tease.”

Rosie shrugged. “Are you a clit-tease when you have every intention of following through in a few days?”

“But she doesn’t know that.”

“Maybe she does now.”

Lori covered her face with one hand. “What have I done?”

“Nothing to be embarrassed of, that’s for sure,” Rosie said firmly. “Never be ashamed of your sexuality.”

Lori looked up. Pieces of the night were coming together in her mind; Gabe certainly seemed to have enjoyed their interaction. And she would’ve surely stopped it or walked away if she’d been uncomfortable. All Lori could remember was her beautiful laugh and the joy lighting up her face. “Did we go home before them? Did Gabe stay at the club? We took a cab home, didn’t we?”

Rosie narrowed her eyes. “Did you fall out of bed and bang your head last night? We all took a cab. Gabe insisted on dropping you home first.”

Something passed over Rosie’s eyes, and her lips quirked into a smile, but it was gone in a millisecond.

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