Page 7 of Inviting Trouble
Alex left, saying he’d be back in an hour. Her dad would look after Viv if she woke.
Hailey went right back to where they’d left off. “Tell us about Park.”
Her mind immediately flashed to his going-away party, her last best memory of him, the last time she’d felt close to him. He’d been so drunk, he didn’t even remember it. She should focus on that fact, not the fact that she’d completely screwed up the transformation from mouthy twerp to sexy woman. Not the fact that he didn’t remember the first kiss of her entire life. And definitely not the fact that she’d offered him her virginity. Too late now! Adrenaline shot through her. She needed a run or a sparring match. Something. Unfortunately it was December, the sidewalks were too icy for a run, and none of these women could match her in sparring. She needed Ty, also a black belt.
She leapt to her feet. “I’ll get the chips.”
She dashed into the kitchen, threw several controlled punches, and then took a few deep breaths, finding her calm center again, something karate had taught her. She snagged a bag of potato chips, returned to the living room and tossed them on the coffee table. She flopped back on the sofa.
“How long’s it been since you’ve seen him?” Ally asked eagerly. Her blonde hair, ending just past her jaw, bounced a little in her excitement.
Mad fidgeted on the sofa, clenching and unclenching her fists. “Two years. He’s been home a few times but we never spent much time together.” Not by her choice. It felt more like ten years since they’d really connected. Park had signed on for four more years after his first six were up. Then, once he was out, he’d taken a five-month assignment for a government contractor near the Air Force base, working on a new flight simulator. Now he was finally returning home. He was twenty-eight; she’d turned twenty-six last week. They were like two completely different people than they were back then. Maybe this was all in her head. Maybe there was nothing there anymore.
“Do you have a picture?” Hailey asked.
She pulled her cell out and scrolled through to the picture he’d sent of him in uniform at the ceremony where he was promoted to tech sergeant. She was so damn proud of him. He looked different in the formal uniform, so clean cut, serious, and proud. Not the badass edgy guy with a soft spot for her that she remembered. God, she’d worshipped him as a kid. As a teen too. The women passed around the picture.
“Total hottie,” Charlotte proclaimed. The women agreed.
The front door swung open again and her heart galloped madly. But it was just Josh, her oldest brother at thirty-three, well, second oldest technically by two minutes to his identical twin, Jake. Josh had gotten her a job as a part-time bartender at Garner’s Sports Bar & Grill, where he worked when she’d moved back home to start college two years ago. He was carrying trays of covered food, most likely from Garner’s.
“Hello, Happy Endings ladies,” he said with a charming smile that took all of them in, pointedly avoiding Hailey, before heading for the kitchen.
“Sluts!” Mad called after him.
Josh barked out a laugh, and she snickered. Hailey shot her a dark look. It was a callback to the name Mad had suggested for their book club, Super Lovers of Underrated Terrific Stories (SLUTS), just to razz Hailey. Happy Endings Book Club was suggested by another member and it stuck. Pretty tame.
“We should go,” Hailey said, standing and gesturing to the rest of them.
“You’re leaving already?” Mad croaked.
“You’re all set,” Hailey said. “Decorations, food. And you said yourself it was family only for the party.”
They couldn’t leave her yet. She needed her bitches to get through this. At least until Park arrived.
“Just hang out a bit,” Mad said.
Hailey shook her head and got her white wool coat from the front closet. She was probably eager to leave because of the feud she and Josh had going on that started with Josh as a paid escort for Hailey’s wedding planning business (a truly twisted story) and escalated to epic proportions when Josh had pulled a switcheroo, taking Hailey out to dinner, pretending to be his wealthy twin. Hailey had promised eternal vengeance once she realized she’d been played. Most recently in the feud, Hailey had whispered to some ladies flirting with Josh at Garner’s that he had an affliction that left him impotent and he’d had no luck getting a date since. The best part was, he had no idea why. But that shouldn’t mean they desertedher.
The women stood and gathered their beer bottles; most of them hadn’t even finished.
“But you have to finish your beer,” Mad said desperately.
Charlotte finished hers in one long swallow while the rest of them watched in awe. She daintily wiped her mouth with her fingertips and smiled. Charlotte was the kind of ballsy girl Mad would’ve raised hell with in high school. Except Charlotte was five years older and grew up in New Jersey. Whatever. She knew her now and respected her bold confidence and athleticism as a personal trainer.
“Impressive,” Mad told Charlotte.
Charlotte slipped on her black down jacket and pulled her long brown hair out of the collar. “Thanks.”
Hailey hugged Mad. “Good luck tonight.”
“Where are you going?” Mad asked.
Hailey turned to the group. “Happy hour at Garner’s?”
“I’ll go with you,” Mad said.
“That might actually be a good idea,” Hailey said. “That way when you return, you can make a grand entrance at the party. Maybe we can stop at my place after drinks. We can do your hair and makeup, and ooh, you can wear one of my dresses, and then it’ll be like ta-dah!”
