Page 6 of Hardcore Vanilla
Jake had twenty dollars on a girl. Might as well go find out whether or not he was taking Patrick's money today.
"Shower," he muttered, because he needed to clean off if he was going to go face his friends after a night of fucking amazing sex with Sharon. He was pretty sure he still smelled like her perfume. "Then coffee. Then hospital."
Maybe he'd grab some donuts on the way too. Babies took a while to come right? People would probably be hungry. And he wanted a donut.
Plus, having something to hold would keep him from trying to touch Sharon again...
There were a lot of uncertainties after last night, but one thing he knew for sure was that she was definitely not out of his system. As if to concur, his damned cock twitched.
******
So much for avoiding Jake.
But there had been no way she was going to miss seeing Angel and Adam's new arrival. Babies trump awkward morning afters.
At least she got some entertainment from the fact that he didn't quite seem to know how to deal with her presence either. His blue eyes kept flitting over in her direction, and when she had first arrived he'd practically used the box of donuts he was holding as a shield. Sharon had smirked at him as she'd picked up a pink one with sprinkles, both to hide her own awkwardness and just to get under his skin.
Jumping into their usual routine was not only familiar, it made her feel less awkward.
He'd scowled at her, but there was a little something extra in his eyes that had sent a shiver up her spine. Doing her best to ignore him, she took her donut with her and settled down into a chair next to her bestie, Kate. All of her friends were already there, in varying degrees of sleepiness and hungover - even Lexie and Patrick who were wrapped up in one chair and practically cooing at each other. Lexie had her left hand outstretched and both of them kept looking at the ring on it with expressions of loving awe.
They were so cute she almost wanted to vomit.
But her donut was too delicious to throw it right back up again.
She happened to catch Jake's eye where he was sitting next to Luke and Olivia. Deliberately she licked a swipe of icing off the top of the donut. Even from across the room she could feel the heat of his gaze as his eyes flashed at her.
So much for trying not to be awkward.
But if she was being honest with herself, ducking her head and keeping a low profile had never really been her style anyway. It was his though, and he looked both annoyed and turned on.
Smug, she turned away to try and pay attention to what Hilary and Jessica were saying. The two besties were sitting across from Kate and Andrew, with Liam on one side of them and Justin and Chris on the other, talking about Jessica's commitment ceremony to her two men. Yup, Jessica was engaged to both Chris and Justin, the brave, brave woman. Two Doms! They were best friends and looked enough alike to be brothers – dark hair, dark eyes, and super sexy. Sometimes Sharon envied her a little bit, but twice the bossiness? No thanks. They suited sweet, curvy Jessica perfectly though.
Hilary was tucked into her husband’s side as usual, even with the arm of the hospital chair between them. Sharon was almost surprised to see that Hilary wasn’t on Liam’s lap. He was a pretty easy-going Dom in a lot of ways, but they did tend to be attached at the hip. The shortest of the men, his stature and boyish face didn’t get in the way of his authority when he decided to exercise it. Not that he needed to much; Hilarylikedbeing a good girl.
"Angel and Adam have already agreed to let their kid be either ring bearer or flower girl," Jessica said, her hazel eyes sparkling. Beside her, Justin and Chris exchanged amused glances, obviously willing to indulge whatever whim their soon-to-be-wife wanted. Well, legally she wouldn’t actually be their wife, but close enough.
Sharon had recommended them an excellent lawyer to help them figure out all the legal and financial stuff that would bind them together even though they wouldn't be technically married. They didn't know it, but she was also paying a portion of the lawyers' fee. Hey, what was the point of being the rich trust fund friend if she couldn't use it? They deserved a happily-ever-after and she was perfectly happy to make sure they could afford everything they ever wanted.
It made her feel a little bit like a fairy godmother.
Kate squealed, clapping her hands together. A shiny ring sparkled from her left finger as well. "That's amazing! Oh, my goodness, can you imagine if their kid was in all of our weddings?"
"Ugh, we got married too soon," Hilary said, pouting at her husband, Liam.
Chuckling, he lifted her hand to his lips and gave it a kiss. "I think we got married at just the right time. Besides, we really didn't need another flower girl or ring bearer."
Theirs had been an extravagant society wedding, thanks to Hilary's parents, who ran with the same kinds of circles Sharon's did. If she remembered correctly, there had been three adorable little flower girls and two chubby-cheeked ring-bearers.
"That's just what happens when you do things first," Jessica said, poking Hilary in the side and beginning a small poking war between the two of them. Sharon grinned at their antics, sharing her amusement with Kate.
She really loved her friends. They were fun, funny, genuinely some of the nicest people she'd ever met, supportive as all hell, and none of them cared about her money. All things which could be frustratingly hard to find, especially in that particular combination.
Although she hadn't been sure it would be a good idea for Kate to get back together with her ex, Andrew, it had turned out to be great for all of them. He was Antonio Banderas level hot, and Sharon counted her blessings that she hadn't hooked up with him before Kate had moved back here. Sharon had arrived about a month earlier than Kate and started going to Stronghold, where she had met a lot of people but hadn’t started hanging out with them till after Kate arrived and been welcomed back into the fold.
She’d had no idea that Andrew was Kate’s ex at the time and she was just thankful she’d never slept with him. Talk about awkward. Before Kate's return Andrew been a total manwhore - to the point where Sharon dubbed him 'Crusty Cock' - and so she'd never been tempted no matter how sexy he was. Plus, she tended to avoid the serious sadists, unlike her bestie. Now they were together, happily engaged, and everything was awesome. Well, other than the fact that Sharon now needed a new roommate and was still struggling to find one. She really hated living alone.
Unfortunately, all her friends were now paired up and living with each other, which meant she was stuck interviewing random people in hopes of finding one she could happily live with. So far, no luck, which meant she was left alone with her thoughts far too often.
