A club remix ofGirls Just Wanna Have Funwas blaring through my brand-new speakers as ripped cowboys and gorgeous twinks grinded on each other in the middle of my sunken living room. Surreally, the Bashes—the older Norwegian couple I’d met at Emery’s wedding—were in the center of all this madness, slow dancing.
Like a spinning carnival ride, a flash of pale flesh and magenta caught my eye. A delectably plump woman I had never met before was off to the side, shirtless and being twirled by one of the hot pansexuals from Rebel Sky. Her bra was the source of the magenta. Pretty. I looked down at my T-shirt, made a few calculations, peeled it off, and then waded into the melee to present it to her.
“I believe this is yours, m’lady,” I said, or rather, hiccupped.
Handing it over left me quite unsteady, but Warwick—I think?—held me in place with a broad hand on my hip and a leering expression on his face.
Definitely Warwick.
The gal sent me a lopsided grin as she rubbed my belly. “I wondered where that went off to.”
Joaquin plucked the shirt from her fumbling grip. “We’ll save this for later,” he murmured in that hot accent of his as a stunning freckled cub—also shirtless—came up behind him and kissed his neck.
Jealous.
The four of them went back to entertaining each other, and I refocused on the Bashes, who were still slow dancing in my living room. I watched them sway together and kiss, then approach a cowboy couple wrapped around each other. I’d declined the Bashes’ earlier invitation to a three-way, but as they followed the two hot cowboys into my hallway bathroom, I wondered if I hadn’t been too hasty.
“Here,” Emery said, sloppily topping off my drink.
Oops. Red splashed on the floor. Good thing I chose finished concrete flooring.
“Love you, Em.”
“Love you too, Kessie.”
Ever since we met in high school, Emery and I had been like brothers. We’d supported each other through death, injury, and law school with nothing but naive gumption and the cheapest app builder we could find.
After twenty years of hustling and making deals together, I had joined Emery in semiretirement in the Central Texas Hill Country, where he’d gifted me ten acres of land. I’d officiated his wedding about six months ago, and now, after months of eighty-plus-hour work weeks followed by managing the construction from Austin, I was finally at the finish line.
I was exhausted but excited for what was to come. Not as excited as the loud foursome in my expensively appointed guest bathroom, but I was on the precipice of something new. I could feel it.
“What should I do next?” I asked as one of the bathroom cowboys saw God.
Em wobbly toasted me. “I dunno. Get laid?”
I gestured to the people dirty dancing in my living room. Warwick was bumping and grinding the plump cutie from behind, his hand fully cupping her breast beneath the lacy fabric of her bra. “I don’t know anyone here except you and Woody.”
The second cowboy’s cries joined the first.
“And Rowdy,” Emery helpfully provided. “Whenever he decides to join us.”
Oof. I had definitely not forgotten about him. “Where is he, by the way? He should be here by now.”
Emery lifted a meaty shoulder as Woody joined us, wrapping his wiry body around Em’s middle.
“You know him and his blink-and-you-miss-’em hookups,” Woody answered while soft, rhythmic grunts filled the hallway behind us. He pointed to the bathroom door. “Are people fucking in there?”
“Yep.” I hiccupped. “And according to your husband, I should be doing the same.”
Woody grinned, a rare and glorious sight. “Yeah, you should.”
Emery kissed the top of his head, murmuring, “Since they’ve christened the bathroom, you wanna christen the guest room?”
Woody tipped his face up and Emery kissed him softly. Then… not so softly. The two cowboys cried out in unison, which was then followed by Nordic whispers as Emery pulled away from the kiss. “We should go home. Stevie’s spending the night with friends and we can make as much noise as we want.”
Woody nodded as the bathroom foursome stumbled into the hallway. I exchanged a glance with Emery, then burst out laughing.
And, because this night wasn’tEyes Wide Shutenough, a familiar Grand Marquis rocked to a halt out front. Woody artfully distracted his man with a kiss while the elder Bashes and their brand-new friends laughed and spun each other in circles as they left the party.
