Page 41 of Panty Dropper

CHAPTER 20

Reagan

As soon as I entered the Dreamy Bean I saw Nadia seated at the same table we’d shared the day before. She’d texted me to meet her there before work and I assumed she must’ve wanted to do a postmortem on her date just like we’d done in college.

“Hey, Nad!” I gave her a quick hug and sat down in front of the drink she’d ordered for me. “Thanks! Soooo, how did it go with full-head-of-hair man?”

Her nose scrunched. “He hit on our waitress.”

“No, he didn’t.” I took a sip from the double mocha latte, extra whip cream and wanted to cry, it tasted so good. The coffee at Mrs. Beasley’s definitely left a lot to be desired.

“Yes, he did. I felt like the third wheel.”

“Ugh. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. Exhausting. But fine. What about you? How did it go at Southern Comfort?”

Part of me wanted to tell her that I’d gone home with Billy. If we were still in college, that’s exactly what I would’ve done. But something stopped me. It wasn’t just the fact that Nadia and I were adults now, because honestly, our dynamic hadn’t changed. It was because what Billy and I had shared felt special to me. Sacred, somehow. Not the word I ever would’ve thought I’d use when describing a casual hookup.

I wasn’t one of those delusional women that thought that one night together meant that we were going to walk down the aisle or anything. And I’d made it clear that’s all it was going to be. But there was something about being with him that felt extraordinary, in the truest definition of that word. And not just because the sex was mind-blowing. It was more than that. It was the man himself and how I felt when I was around him.

“It was fine.”

“Mmm, hmm,” she hummed before she sipped her coffee. “Is that all? Fine?”

I could see that she was fishing for more info, so I thought it best to throw her off the scent. “I took a picture with Kevin. He kissed me.”

Her jaw dropped. “He kissed you! I’m so jealous.”

Just like I never thought I’d describe a one-night-stand as sacred, I certainly never would have predicted that a smooch from a pig would be the kiss that would inspire envy.

“Is that the only lip-locking that went down?” Her right brow arched.

When I didn’t respond quick enough, she leaned forward and spoke in a quiet voice. “Word is you left the bar with the Panty Dropper himself last night.”

My eyes widened and I looked around the small coffee shop. People were seated, enjoying their beverages and treats. No one seemed to be paying attention to us. But, I still hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that someone was watching me, and now I was starting to think that I might be right.

“Who told you that?”

“It was on the Facebook page.”

“On my Facebook page?” Had someone hacked my account?

“No, the town’s.”

“Firefly Island has a Facebook page?”

“Of course it does.” She pulled out her phone and sure enough, there was a picture of me holding Billy’s hand as I climbed into the truck. Cheyenne was in the cab as well, but you couldn’t see that from the angle of the picture.

“I helped him take Cheyenne home. She was passed out.”

A single brow lifted. “He needed help taking his passed out sister home?”

Instead of answering I circled back to something she’d said. “Wait…what is panty dropper?”

She smiled slyly. “It’s a nickname that one Mr. William Comfort received in high school, and has lived up to ever since.”

His nickname was Panty Dropper? I guess it made sense, I’d sure as heck dropped mine. It didn’t bode well for me thinking last night was special, though.

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