Tonight I am hosting a girls’ night in the guest house. Nyx, of course, will be here, Aly, and our new friend Molly is coming. Molly is a spicy little southern belle. She has bright red curly hair, and when she’s not trying to hide her accent, it is the cutest damn thing I have ever heard. The group of us is all a little broken in some way, shape, or form, but I think it’s bonded us together.
“Knock, Knock.” I hear called from the living room before they burst out into a fit of giggles.
“Be right there.” I hurry and throw on my bright pink fuzzy sweatshirt and run to the living room to find my best friends all standing there. All three of them have lingering snowflakes melting in their hair. Outside, the cute aesthetic lights that Graham hung for Nyx highlight the snowstorm hitting us. I can barely make out the sliding glass door that is only about twenty feet from the window.
Nyx has a stack of three pizzas and some breadsticks in her hands from our favorite place. All of them with overnight bags slung over their shoulders.
“Did you invite the boys and didn’t tell me?” I ask with a laugh.
“Fuck no! I need a break from Blue and Demon. Not that they have done absolutely anything to me, but I missed my girl time!” Nyx explains.
“She thinks we need snacks for later, and what’s better than cold pizza and wine?” Molly’s adorable drawl is out to play tonight, and I love it.
“We are going to get two glasses of wine into Kyra, and she’s going to pass out cold.” Alyra laughs as she speaks.
She isn’t exactly wrong, but I wouldn’t fall asleep because I am a lightweight; it’s more that I am not a night person. Oncethe sun goes down, I am ready for bed, even if that’s at like five at night during the winter.
“Ha, ha. So funny, Aly,” I laugh and take the pizza boxes out of Nyx’s hands and walk them over to the small island that splits off the kitchen from the living room.
Nyx, Aly, and Molly pull out the barstools on the other side of the island while I grab some paper plates and wine glasses out of the cupboard. Placing them on the island before I snatch the first bottle of wine out of the fridge.
“Mmmm, Sweet Revenge.” Nyx practically moans.
Sweet Revenge is a sweet red wine from a Michigan-based winery, and we buy stock in it. One of the nights we had a book release, Nyx and I bought like five bottles of the wine to help us through the heartbreak that was that book.
Molly grabs the bottle opener and pours out four glasses of wine before she holds hers up in the middle and says, “To the best girls a runaway could ask for.” We all clink our glasses together before taking a sip.
While I never imagined that I would be friends with a marine vet and a southern belle on the run from her family and crazy ex-husband, here we are. I could never have survived all that the last few months have brought us without them. Nyx is always by my side, even when it comes to being kidnapped.
Stuffed full of pizza and wine, everyone is starting to feel a little buzzed. The next thing I know, Nyx is pulling her black bikini out of the overnight bag she brought over from the house, yelling.
“Alright, ladies! I made sure Dee cranked up the hot tub before I came over, and I texted Aly and Molly to make sure theybrought bathing suits. So the only person left would be you, Miss Sunshine.” She says with a drunken giggle.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Nyx?” I look at her with a cocked eyebrow.
“Go change, babe. Time for the hot tub.” Nyx shimmies in front of me while she starts to strip down right in my living room. Lord knows that it's nothing I haven’t seen before, but I’m not so sure the other two want to see her butt naked.
I leave the room with a laugh to pull out my bathing suit. Fuck, I don’t think I have anything but my bikini from when I wasn’t so soft. I start to have a small panic attack, but then remember, it is just going to be my girls that are going to see me naked.
It’s fine.
Throwing on my mermaid printed bikini, tying back my short blonde hair, and grabbing a towel before heading back out to the living room with my girls. Aly and Molly have taken turns in the bathroom to change quickly as well.
Thank goodness for my polka-dotted robe, which I wrap around my body before we open the front door to the winter wonderland outside. The snow has slowed down; now it looks more like we live in a snow globe. The snow is falling softly around us. It sparkles in the lights hanging around the porch.
Nyx carries out the remaining bottle of wine and our wine glasses with a towel slung around her neck. Aly helps Molly across the snow-covered porch. All of us have our snow boots on, but Molly’s are more of a fashion choice than provide any grip against the snow. We ensure that she gets climbed into the hot tub before we strip out of our robes and boots and climb in behind Molly.
“So I have somethin’ I need to tell y’all.” Molly looks worried as she speaks.
“Darling, you know you can tell us anything.” I reach across the water to brush my fingers along her hand that is running gently back and forth along the top.
“Remember, shortly after Nyx and Kyra were rescued, and y’all came in, and I asked about Devil Dog?” Her voice is still pretty quiet, but we just confirm we remember, and she continues. “Well, I wasn’t askin’ because of any of your guys.” Her eyes dart between Nyx and me. “I may have had just a tiny one-night stand with David.” She blurts out so quickly I can’t be sure I heard her correctly.
“I’m sorry, did you say David? Like the broody old man who works with me?” Alyra exclaims.
“That’s the one.” Molly shrugs her.
“When did this happen?” I ask her while Aly and Nyx’s brains explode.
