“I’m pregnant, Em.”
“Yeah, I know, that’s why I poured apple juice. Just because you can’t drink doesn’t mean you miss out on toasting. Throwback your juice like a real woman, Prego.”
Cassie rolled her eyes which made Kenzie smile. They held up their shots and made their rounds of toasts.”
“To healthy babies...” Cassie said.
“To drunken bitches…”
“To getting laid, except for Rox…”
“To Bogs finding a girl he probably doesn’t deserve but we’ll hope she doesn’t figure that out.” Roxanne winked at her. “You’re up, Kenzie, make it a good one…”
“Because I just have a feeling…” She shrugged and smiled at Roxanne. “To Roxanne and Jonah.”
“Good one, I got the same feeling,” Emory said. “Drink, ladies.”
The smooth burn of liquid went down too easy. Reminding her again she was drunk and would probably live to regret this shot. She glanced around to see the women licking their lips. They were obviously seasoned drinkers.
Roxanne twisted her lips and settled into the chair. “Remember the first time we did tequila, Em?”
Emory snorted. “Yeah, I woke up wearing someone else’s shirt with a half-eaten taco in my pocket.”
Oh shit, this night is not going to end well.
****
Bogs had skipped poker at his brother’s house. They were all getting together while the girls had their night at T and Cassie’s house. His intention was to stay in the truck and park down the street, unbeknownst to the women, including Kenzie. The threat for her with Dante was still there and he wasn’t about to leave her unprotected. The call from Trent, the one he’d been waiting on finally came through as he got into his car from dropping her off.
“What’s up, man?”
“Talked to Dante. He’s a classy one, isn’t he?”
Bogs snickered. “A well-dressed thug was my assessment.”
“Agreed. We’ve come to an understanding. I’ll be meeting up with him in a few days. The threat on Kenzie has been lifted.”
His chest actually relaxed. “And Taylor?”
Trent sighed heavily. “It will take a little more than finesse to fix that situation. The girl has a petulance for pissing off the wrong people with her mouth and antics. And then there’s the fact that she’s bat shit crazy.”
Bogs chuckled. It was apparent, Taylor was leaving a mark on Trent and not the good kind. “Think I can come up, bring Kenzie? Figure it might be some time before her situation is settled. Maybe it’ll smooth things over with her if you let Kenzie come see her?”
“Doubtful. The woman lives to be the bane of my existence. How she’s gotten this far in life is beyond me.” The muffled voices in the background echoed. He leaned his ear closer to the phone. “God, dammit, Taylor. Bogs, man, I gotta go. Come up tomorrow.”
“Later, man.” He hung up and wondered what the hell Kenzie’s best friend was doing to Trent. The man who usually possessed a laid back attitude to rival Bogs, almost sounded enraged.
With Kenzie in the clear, Bogs made his way to the office to catch up on a few things while Kenzie was with the girls. He was closing up his desk when a text came in with a picture. It was from Rox. A selfie with all the girls, clearly wasted except for Cassie. They were smiling or more like laughing. He noticed Kenzie with an open mouth smile aimed at the camera. Fucking gorgeous. The message had been sent in a group text to all the men. The caption “Sleepover, don’t come for us until morning. T, sleep at E’s.”
Immediately the texts began popping up.
T:Fuck no
Roxanne: Fuck yes, T. Cassie says we can
Stone: be there in 20
Roxanne: ok, 10:20 tomorrow morning
