“Oh, please do! We can’t finish these alone,” Mia says, pushing them toward me. I grab a loaded chip and fill my mouth. I sigh in happiness as the meaty, cheesy goodness explodes on my tongue.
Mia stands from the table and heads over to the bar. “Where are you going?” Sierra asks.
“To make us some margaritas!” Mia says in an obvious voice. “It’s 3:30 a.m., and we all have had shit nights.”
“Hear, hear!” I chant.
“Sign me up,” Cali grunts from next to me. All of the women are in relaxed, comfy clothes. It seems like none of us can sleep.
“How’s Gunner?” I ask Cali. I overheard someone talking about him getting hurt earlier when Axel and I came back.
“He’ll be fine. The bullet went clean through. He was already up and complaining about not being able to ride for a while,” she says, rolling her eyes.
Mia laughs from the bar. “Sounds about right.”
Cali and Mia talk about some article they both read, and Sierra is busy texting, so I lean over to Marley.
“Where’s Blaze? I thought you two were together earlier?” I ask.
She finishes her bite before responding. “We were. He dropped me off and helped me get the bags up to our rooms. Then he said he needed to go help Axel and Jax with something. Said to not wait up.” Marley shrugs her shoulders and grabs another chip. “Why?”
“Just wondering. Axel said he was going to be gone for only a short time. But that was around midnight,” I explain.
“Hmm, must have got caught up,” she says as Mia places the largest margaritas I’ve ever seen in front of each of us. Mia plops down in her chair and holds her drink up.
“To the amazing women of the HCMC” We all go to tap our drinks together, but Mia cuts us off.
“Wait, I wasn’t done!”
Pulling our drinks back, we look around at each other with a slight giggle.
“And to Jenna spilling her guts about the mind-blowing sex she’s having with Axel!”
“Cheers!” rings out from all the other women at the table.
I choke on the chip I just took a bite of and end up having a coughing fit.
“Oh, come on, Jenna, you have to spill. We’ve been so curious about Axel. He’s never let us set him up with anyone and has never had a steady girlfriend. But here you come out of nowhere, and he’s fawning over you like your vagina is made of gold,” Cali says very matter-of-factly. “Spill!”
I take a healthy drink of my margarita. It burns my throat on the way down. I should have remembered from the welcome-home party, that Mia’s cocktails are dangerously strong.
“To be honest, I haven’t done anything special—well, I don’t think.” I study my nails for a moment, trying to put into words whatever is going on between Axel and me.
“Don’t get me wrong, the sex is great—beyond great.” The girls all cheer and whistle. I roll my eyes as I feel a deep blush burn my cheeks and continue.
“But there’s more there. We are constantly being drawn together like two magnets. I feel safe and protected with him. I can’t explain it, but it feels… right.”
“Wow, sounds romantic,” Mia says as she rests her head on her hands.
“But as romantic as it is, I’m worried. We’ve only known each other for a little over three weeks. These feelings aren’t normal. We are supposed to go slow, right?” I ask honestly.
“Who says?” Sierra asks. “Because what I’ve learned from being around these men is that they love fiercely. Everything they do is quick. In this life, if you don’t reach out and grab what you want, it will be someone else’s a moment later.” I watch as all the other women nod at the table.
“Don’t overthink it, Jenna. We’ve all seen the way he looks at you,” Marley states.
“And how’s that?” I’m fishing for information here.
“Like you are a living, breathing angel.” She slaps my arm. “He’s obsessed!”
