Page 20 of Carver's Obsession

Erica smiled, pleased that her sister was trying to make amends and was showing she cared about her. “How was work?”

“Hectic, like usual. But I love what I do.”

Kristina waved her over. “Erica, come meet Charlie and Emily.”

After the introductions, they all moved into the kitchen and started making dinner. With that many women, it got crowded, but she still enjoyed it. The kitchen smelled wonderful, and Erica could feel her stomach start to rumble with hunger.

For the next hour, they fed almost all the people. They planned on making their own plates and leave the rest out for the stragglers and anyone who wanted seconds.

Erica would answer a question asked directly to her but otherwise sat back and enjoyed the women. She could never see herself getting sick of this. She loved the idea of never being alone. A mere week ago, she planned to move on. She didn’t know where or how, but she would have been alone.

“Let’s get one of the guys to make us some margaritas,” Meg said.

A few women groaned.

“Is that bad?” Erica asked.

They laughed.

Jana smiled. “No, we all seem to get drunk easily, and then our men have to deal with us.”

Erica looked around the table. “Do they get mad?”

Willow snorted. “They like to pretend they are, but we know they love it when we misbehave because then they’ll have to punish us.”

“Ohhh, punish me, Baby,” Meg said and laughed.

“As you can tell. None of us are afraid of our men,” Emily said.

“But we love driving them crazy,” Charlie said.

“It keeps them on their toes,” Meg said.

“Let’s clean up. I suddenly have a hankering for some tequila,” Kristina said, grabbing her plate and walking toward the back door.

Everyone followed and got to work. The work got done quicker than normal because of all the help and the fact that they were all excited about poker and liquor.

They set up a round table. Alicia grabbed the cards and chips.

Willow came bouncing into the room. “I got Snoopy to make us margaritas.”

“Oh, I like his,” Meg said. “They have a little kick to them.”

The girls sat down, and not a minute later, a few guys came in with their drinks.

“Thanks, guys,” Alicia said.

“Girl, if you suck that down too fast, you won’t be able to play cards,” Kristina said.

Emily snorted. “Oh, I’ll be able to play. I just won’t be very good at it.”

Erica laughed.

The girls taught her to play poker for the next hour, and Willow taught her to cheat.

Erica couldn’t stop smiling, and it got worse as she worked through the second glass. She studied the cards in her hand and had a hard time focusing. “What happens if you can’t see the cards?”

The others laughed.

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