Page 1 of Bang Buddies With Benefits
Prologue
Catalina
Dicks, dicks everywhere, and not an inch for me.
Although “an inch” might be too accurate of a measurement when it came to the glittery-pink, phallic-shaped confetti raining down on our heads.
Ellie, one of my besties, and the thrower of this bachelor party lowered the canon, a grimace on her face. “Sorry, everyone. I didn’t know it’d go off that easy.”
I ran a hand through my hair, shaking the projectile penises out of my dark curls. “That’s the thing about premature ejaculation. It always catches you off guard.”
Several of the women seated around the hodgepodge mixture of bar tables cackled, drawing the attention of the other patrons, and not for the first time, either. While I was freaking hilarious and all, the rambunctious mood and amount of alcohol consumed definitely played a hand in the shrieked decibel.
At this point, Ellie’s stepsister, her four bridesmaids, and the rest of the female friends and family in attendance would probably laugh at any and everything.
Ellie’s vexation grew as she watched Penny fish shrapnel out of her glass. “Oh, shoot. Did some end up in your drink?”
Despite the obvious answer, Penny and I exchanged a glance. Our friend had been next-level stressed about throwing this party, regardless of our countless assurances we’d help ensure it go off without a hitch. Besides pitching in, our other job was to keep Ellie calm.
Penny casually shrugged a shoulder, a smile spreading across her face as she replied, “Just the tip.”
Giggles rounded our large group in a wave, like the crowd in the stands of a baseball stadium, only hornier.
Ellie’s stepsister swept back the veil of cheap tulle attached to the headband that declared her the bride-to-be and yelled that she needed another blow job shot so that later tonight, she could go home and give her fiancé a blow job.
The pink flushing Ellie’s cheeks caused both Penny and I to flank our friend. I draped my arm over her shoulders. “There’s no reason to be embarrassed. If anything, that’s a sign that the party’s a raging success.”
Penny nodded. “The staff of the Drunken Kraken is used to rowdy groups who get rowdier in time, and we’ll tip them generously. If someone here is offended by that, they’re clearly in the wrong place.”
I rubbed my hand up and down Ellie’s arm. “Your sister’s going to remember this night fondly for the rest of her life.” Since her father left when she was young, Ellie tended to be a rule-follower who was forever going above and beyond to show her stepfamily that she deserved sticking around for. Something she didn’t have to prove, as she was amazing and kind and one of the purest souls I’d ever met, but that was the thing about our inner demons.
It was a truth I knew all too well.
The tight line of Ellie’s shoulders loosened. “Thanks, gals. And surely throwing this bash earns me a dozen or so love karma points. This is going to be the year I meet the man of my dreams; I can just feel it.”
As the resident romantic in our trio, Ellie had uttered that phrase every single year since we’d started. Nearly a decade later, and it still had yet to happen, but far be it for me to burst her vodka-filled bubble.
My past, on the other hand, had effectively cured me of wanting to fall in love ever again. Not because my last serious relationship wasn’t powerful and intense and completely life-changing, butbecauseit’d been all those things.
Sometimes in life, devastating events left you jaded and far too aware of the finality of certain endings.
No second chances.
No shiny optimism.
Just a whole lot of emptiness packed full of guilt and pain.
Instead of letting myself wallow in it, I switched my career goals, pursued a law degree, and turned my grief into an unrelenting pursuit of justice. As if someday, I’d deliver enough fairness to make up for the time it’d failed my first and only love.
In another life, I would’ve had a bachelorette party, followed by a beautiful wedding.
Tears rose, the surrounding scenery blurring into one endless group of chatting and laughing and drinking and toasting, and that simply wouldn’t do. I, Catalina Mendes, caused grown men to quake in their expensive suits and loafers in court. I didn’t give in to my emotions, no matter what. Not anymore.
Although if I were being a hundred-percent honest, being a no-strings attached girl did sometimes suck. A confession I’d deny if confronted on the subject, especially to my well-meaning friends and family who’d never understand. It was more than being unable to put myself out there again; it involved not deserving that sort of happy ending.
“Hello?” The bride-to-be stood, catching herself on the table when she swayed, and hollered, “Where’s my blow job?” in the direction of the bar.
Panic filtered into Ellie’s expression, and I placed my hand on her shoulder. “I’ll go get it. I need a refill anyway.”
