Page 97 of Nobody's Girl

“Jess is putty in my hands. I’m sure to win this bet, my friends,” Griffin boasted.

“Cait’s been taking me with her eyes for the last hour,” Phoenix said. “I got this one in the bag. Hang it up, guys. I’ll have her screwed in the cab.”

The bartender’s ears were on fire. Were they talking about some kind of bet they’d made about screwing his cousins?

“That Kel is a feisty one, but I can see it in her eyes. One more drink and she’ll be coming with me wherever I tell her to,” Ethan added. “Get ready to pay up, men. I think I know when a woman is into me, and Kel is into me bigtime!”

“First one to get the deed done has to post the time on the others’ phones with a text,” Phoenix said. “It’s obvious we’re all going to get some tail tonight. But it’s who gets it first that matters. So the plan is set, and all we have to do is see who gets their girl to give it up first.”

The bartender hurried away to let his cousins know what the men had planned for them. He was pretty sure not one of them really was going to be going home with any of those men anyway. They were good girls, after all. But he felt compelled to let them know about the bet.

Slipping into the ladies’ room where he’d seen them go, he covered his eyes and called out, “Kel, Cait, and Jess Flannigan, are you all still in here?”

“What the hell are you doing in here, Marty?” Kel shouted at him.

“I have news you three need to know,” he told her.

“Let’s go to the back office,” Kel said as she grabbed their cousin by the arm, tugging him with her as they all left the ladies’ restroom. “You can uncover your eyes now, Marty.”

He pulled his hand away from his eyes and looked Kel in hers as they went into the small back office where no one was. “Those men you three girls are talking to have a bet. A terrible bet.”

“About what?” Jess asked as she leaned on the old desk that was dusty from no use. She crossed her arms over her chest, waiting to hear what her cousin had to say.

“About sex and you three and who can get who to give it to him first,” he said quickly.

All three women’s jaws dropped. Kel went red in the face. Cait went pink, and Jess went pale as she whispered, “No. Griff seems so sweet!”

“Mine too,” Cait said with an air of disbelief. “Phoenix seemed so genuine. So real. And he didn’t say a thing about wanting that from me.”

“They all think they have you all in the bag. It’s not a matter of who will get laid; it’s a matter of who will get laid first. They’re all that confident that you three will be giving them what they all want. And it’s all to win a stupid bet.” Marty gave them all nods of his head as he shook his finger at them. “You three must’ve been putting out some signs that you’d be picking up what they were putting down. If you get my drift?”

“I was more flirty than usual,” Cait said. “But only because Phoenix looks like a demigod from a time long ago when people rode around shirtless on the backs of wild stallions in the middle of tall grass the color of sand.”

“Dear Lord,” Kel said as she rolled her eyes. “You’ve been sniffing the glue again, haven’t ya, Cait?”

With a slap to her sister’s arm, Cait retorted, “I was five. Will you ever let me forget that?”

“For the love of all that’s holy. Ethan looks like a Viking king. And I was falling for his bullshit because of it,” Kel said. “Well, I should’ve known better. No man with those fantastic looks and that build who tells a woman he could really take charge of her if he so desired is looking for a girl like me. What a fool I feel like!”

Jess mumbled, “Griff’s the cowboy I never knew I wanted. He’s the Marlboro man mixed with Brad Pitt from that movie where he cut off a bear’s finger and wore it around his neck. So perfectly, wonderful, kind, sweet.”

“And full of shit!” Kel shouted. “We have to get even with the bastards. I say we all act as if we’re set on going to some filthy motels with them all, then pull a fast one on them. Are you with me, girls?”

Jess held her hand out, then Cait put hers on top, and Kel placed hers on top of theirs. “These men like to play games, sisters. They have no idea who they’ve chosen to play them with, have they?”

“They have not!” Cait chimed in.

“We’re going to make them cry like little bitches!” Jess added, earning herself frowns from her older sisters.

“Cry?” Kel asked. “Why do you always have to take it to that level? We’re not going to hurt them. I doubt the heartless asses could even be hurt. We’re merely going to screw with their libidos and leave them with balls as blue as Neptune’s hair. That’s what we’re going to do. It’ll be fun.”

“You’re a scoundrel when you want to be, Kel,” Cait told her. “I’m with you. We have to make out hardcore to get them to believe we’re all in. Then, BAM! We’ll disappear. I love it!”

“Me too,” Jess agreed. “At least I’ll get to see what it’s like to kiss Griff before I have to annihilate him.”

“But remember,” Kel cautioned them all. “Don’t get too into it. We can’t let any one of them win this awful bet they have going. No matter what. It’s our pride at stake.”

“The dreaded Flannigan pride,” Cait said. “Oh, to lose that would be a shame, wouldn’t it now?”