“Allsteel, baby. But you already know that.”
I rolled my eyes at his sexual innuendo and then remembered I needed to get a move on. “Coffee and shower!” I ran over to the coffeemaker, poured myself a steaming hot mug of goodness, and spun around to run back out. I shouted a hurried goodbye to Rosita and the rest of the guys and, without giving it a second’s thought, stopped long enough to reach up and give Garrett a quick kiss before rushing off to shower.
It took longer than normal to get ready since I had to fight Garrett off and force him out of my shower, but it left me with an idea. As soon as time permitted, we were going to break in that shower… along with several other places in Garrett’s massive mansion.
“Wow. That’s just… wow.”
I’d just finished telling Corrine everything that had happened after my disastrous date with Steve and the ensuing events from the past few days. It had been nearly a week since Garrett and I started our… whatever it was we were doing, and it had been amazing.
Our weekly girls’ night in had finally arrived, and she was currently at the mansion since it was my turn to host. I decided it was finally time to fess up to what was going on. Garrett and the rest of the guys were in the studio working, andTrollswas playing on the humongous TV while Liddy shook her little booty and sang along. Corrine and I drank wine and chatted while watching and recording her every now and then.
What could I say? My little monkey was adorable.
“Right?” I lifted my glass and took a sip. “It was bizarre, I swear. I came into the kitchen that morning and he acted like… I don’t know. Like we’d been together for years. Infrontof everybody. It was like he was claiming me or something.”
“I’m happy for you if you’re happy, babe, but you have to admit, the one-eighty in his behavior is a little unexpected.” I couldn’t fault her for being suspicious. There was still a part of me deep inside that was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“I know,” I sighed. “And I keep telling myself to be careful and not trust it, that it’s too good to be true, but….” I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep breath before looking at my best friend once again. “I’m happy,” I said quietly. “I can’t remember the last time I felt this good.”
The cautious expression on her face slowly gave way to a small, genuine smile. “If you’re happy, I’m happy. That’s all that matters.”
I reached for her hand and squeezed. “Thanks.”
“But I need to know something really important.” She leaned in and lowered her voice, speaking with almost grave seriousness. “He’s an animal in the sack, isn’t he?”
“Fuck me” we heard coming from behind us. We both looked over the couch to find Ian had come up from the studio and was watching us with a disgusted look on his face.
“Language!” I scolded, shooting a look at Liddy to see she was too entrenched in her movie to pay us much attention.
He ignored me and carried on. “That’s something I definitely don’t need to know.”
“Sorry, baby.” Corrine smiled, not sounding sorry in the least.
Ian rolled his eyes, but I could see the admiration in them as he leaned over the back of the couch to kiss Corrie’s forehead. My heart warmed at the sweet gesture directed toward my BFF. She deserved a terrific guy who’d treat her like gold, and clearly that giant of a man was the one to do it. “This what you two talk about every time you get together?”
Corrie took a drink and shrugged. “Pretty much. Guys’ locker room talk is nothing compared to what women talk about. If you knew, you’d blush.”
“Notallof us are like that.” I scowled in her direction. “I don’t want to hear about your bedroom skills, and I certainly won’t be sharing Garrett’s.”
“Buzzkill,” Corrine grumbled.
“Thank you,” Ian replied flatly.
“What’s bedroom skills, Mommy?” Liddy asked.
Damn it. “Nothing, monkey.” Luckily the trolls on the TV started singing again, distracting my girl from the adult conversation.
I turned back to Ian and asked, “So how’s it going down there?”
“Pretty good. They’re on a roll. I haven’t seen Garrett this focused in years. They keep this up, they’ll have a new album in no time.”
That didn’t fill me with the warm and fuzzies. A new album meant another tour, more groupies, life reverting back to what it had been the past three years. Ian must have noticed my displeasure because his expression morphed into one of concern. “This time’ll be different, Gwen.”
The smile I forced didn’t reach my eyes. He had no way of knowing that for sure. But before I could absorb the news fully, Garrett appeared. “Dear sweet merciful Christ,” he declared. “What the hell is my daughter watching? Is that unibrowed thing singing Lionel Richie?”
“Daddy!” Liddy squeaked, forgetting all about her show.
Garrett caught her mid-leap and tossed her into the air, making her squeal with delight. “Hey, munchkin.”
