“I don’t want either of you girls in there alone, all right?” David asked. “Just stick together.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” Gretchen said and saluted. With our answering silence, she added, “Oh, come on, you two. Lighten up.”
Since David had been in the car since we’d picked her up, I hadn’t gotten to fill her in on how deeply rooted this argument ran. It wasn’t her fault we were so tense, so I turned in my seat and smiled at her. “How are things with Greg?”
“I think I’m finally ready to seal the deal,” she said. “God knows my vagina is ready.”
“Good God,” David said, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. “You haven’tslepttogether yet?”
“Not since he returned into my life,” she said. “I want to make sure he’s serious before I give it up.”
“You must be going crazy,” I said.
She sighed. “Last night he brushed against my boob, and I almost climaxed.”
David chuckled to himself.
“This is fun, both of us being in new relationships,” I said. “Are you guys doing anything for Thanksgiving?”
Gretchen rolled her eyes. “You know how I feel about holidays. They always sucked at our house.”
“Mine, too. High expectations, emotions running wild, plus too much alcohol—a bad combination,” I said. “David and I have no plans beyond Thursday.”
“Why don’t we skip the fanfare and just go somewhere for the extended weekend?” David suggested.
“Ilovethat idea,” Gretchen said. “Like where? Lake Geneva?”
David tapped his chin. “I was thinking somewhere warm, actually.”
She groaned. “That sounds heavenly. I’m already sick of winter, and it’s just starting.”
“Brian’s parents own a beach house near Miami,” David said. “I’ll bet they’d let us use it.”
“Will he be there?” Gretchen asked.
“Probably. He’s single, so I doubt he has plans,” David said. “Obviously, we’d invite him since it’s his house.”
Gretchen grumbled under her breath.
“Don’t like Miami?” David asked.
“Um, love Miami,” she said. “Don’t likeBrian.”
“Really?” David frowned into the rearview mirror. “Why not?”
“No reason, really,” she said. “Just that he acts like he’s God’s gift to women. And he wears way too much cologne. Liv, did I tell you he got huffy when I sent my steak back on our only date, even though I was very clear that I wanted it rare? He’s a bit arrogant, if you ask me. Thinks he’s all that because he’s hot, but, really, he needs to get over himself.”
“All right,” David said slowly, casting me a sidelong, semi-freaked out look. “We can go somewhere else that’s Brian-free.”
Realizing David was serious about leaving town, I turned to him. “We already told Jessa we’d spend Thanksgiving dinner at her house,” I reminded him. “It takes a lot of planning, so I don’t want to cancel on her.”
“So we’ll go to her place for dinner, then leave Friday morning.” He grinned at me. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”
Giddywas not a word I’d typically have used to describe David, but in that moment, that’s what he was. “Okay,” I agreed, a sucker for anything that made him smile that way. I turned back to Gretchen. “And Miami’s a great idea. You can play nice with Brian for a few days.”
“Fine,” she relented. “I’ve pretty much learned to tune out his flapping anyway.”
David laughed in a loud burst. “He does flap. I’ll call him up and let you guys know what he says.”
