“Sung you a song,” Nikki blurted and glared at Pipe.
I smirked against Star’s mouth and pulled back just enough to breathe.
I didn’t know if it was love yet.
But it was sure as hell headed that way.
“Drinking already?”I asked, eyeing the shots.
Star blushed but shrugged.“When in Rome.”
“Don’t pee on your umbrella,” Alice called.
Clove wrinkled her nose.“Who pees on umbrellas?”
Adley laughed.“I think she mashed two sayings together.”She tilted her head.“Though I don’t know where the pee came from.”
Alice tossed back her shot and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.“No one ever sees the pee coming.”
Star leaned into me, laughing.“This is absolute chaos.I can see how, with this being your normal growing up, you can sleep through anything.”
I chuckled and pressed a kiss to her lips.“You have no idea, babe.”
She lifted her shot and downed it, coughing just a little.Junior was already pouring another.
“You want one?”he asked me.
I shook my head.“Nah.”
I tightened my arm around Star and watched her grin, watched the color in her cheeks and the spark in her eyes.
I was happy to sit back and let her have the fun.
She’d earned it.
Chapter Seventeen
Star
The ceiling in Cole’s room wasn’t anything special.
Plain.White.A faint crack near one corner that looked like it had been there forever.I lay on my back, staring up at it, feeling pleasantly floaty in the best way.
The door to the bathroom opened, and Cole filled the doorway like he belonged there.I mean, he did since it was his bedroom, but you know what I mean.
“How are you feeling, babe?”he asked.
I closed my eyes and sighed dramatically.“Blissfully tipsy.”
The low rumble of his laugh wrapped around me.“I think you crossed from tipsy to drunk two drinks ago.”
I pushed myself up onto my elbows, and the room tilted just a little.“Those ol’ ladies are crazy, Cole.Even your mom.”
He chuckled and pushed off the frame, stepping into the room.The light caught him just right, and my breath stuttered.
He’d lost his shirt somewhere between the bathroom and here.
He stood at the side of the bed looking down at me, all broad shoulders and lean muscle, tattoos inked across his chest and arms like they were part of him instead of something added later.Familiar skulls and lines I traced with my eyes.He looked… unfairly good.
