“Honey!” Wren says in an excited hush.
“I know, isn’t it so cute?” Hallie murmurs.
“You all make me sick,” Nat grumbles, but Willa ignores them.
“You should be allowed to get drunk this time,” she whines, and I bite back a laugh, because I intuitively know laughing at her will not go well. Instead, I pull her in close and lower my voice.
“I have to be sober to do what I want to do to you tonight.” Her eyes go wide, and her lips drop open. “Because I’ve been thinking about fucking a drunk Willa for a while now. Tonight’s my night.” I lower my voice and lean in until I’m barely whispering into her ear for only her to hear. “Don’t know if you know this, but the night you touched yourself in my bed, I sat outside and listened. Been looking to recreate that but make it much more enjoyable for both of us, honey.”
When I pull back, her lips are parted, her eyes wide, completely speechless.
That is, until she turns to Nat. “Shots. Lots of them.”
“Oh my god, that was hot,” Nat says. “I need to get laid.”
“I’m here whenever you’re ready, baby,” Madden says in his normal, joking,Playboyway, and when she gives him a look of utter disgust, then turns on her heel and tugs Willa to the bar, Wren and Hallie in tow, I can’t help but let out a bark of a laugh. Once the hilarity dies down, I notice Adam is watching me.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you laugh out loud like that. Seems like Holly Ridge has been good for you,” Adam says, grinning at me. I look from him to the bar where Willa is throwing back a shot like a champ and find myself smiling.
“Yeah, I guess it is.”
But I know that it’s really the blonde carrying a beer in one hand and a cocktail glass in the other as she walks the way that’s been good for me.
“There’s no way the pop princess can shake her ass,” Hallie says a couple of hours later. There are a few appetizers on the table, decimated, but despite all of our efforts to get the girls to eat and combat their drunkenness, they’re all long gone. And even though it’s happening from the other side of the table, I can tell that Hallie is baiting her.
“Are you joking me?” Willa asks, eyes wide and disbelieving. “Have you ever seen my sets? I very much know how to shake ass.”
“You know how to pop star dance. You never had to go to a homecoming dance in a high school gym and grind in the darkest corner so a teacher doesn’t come in and separate you.”
I think for a moment this will go poorly, Nat reminding her of things she never had, but Willa just rolls her eyes.
“Just because I was very much lacking in childhood experiences does notmean I don’t know how to throw ass, Nat.”
“I think this calls for a competition!”Madden yells, clear excitement in his voice.
“Oh fuck,” I groan, because Willa might be soft and sweet, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past few weeks, it’s that she cannot, for the life of her, step down from a challenge.
“Yes!” Willa yells, then grabs Hallie’s hand and tugs her to the jukebox, flipping until they find some song. Eventually, the familiar sound of “Low” comes over the speakers, and I close my eyes and sigh. On the other hand, Adam starts laughing loudly beside me.
“Oh, this is going to be good,” he says, not even watching the women, instead, watching me.
It’s going fine, the girls dancing and cheering, grinding on one another drunkenly and laughing until about two-thirds of the way through. I watch as Hallie stumbles and is caught by Willa, both of them bursting into a fit of giggles before Willa pauses and says something to Nat, whose eyes go wide.
“Do it!” Nat says, loud enough to be heard over the music. Willa laughs and shakes her head, but Nat says something else, clearly challenging my stubborn girl.
Then it happens.
Willa pulls out a chair from one of the lower tables and puts her foot on it.
Then she steps up.
Then she steps up again until she’s on top of the table, and she starts to dance, Nat, Hallie, and even Wren hooting and hollering, encouraging her as she gets more confident on top of the table.
“No way,” Adam says, but I continue to watch in shock as, with the beat of the song, Willa drops it low. I’ve never been more grateful that she’s wearing shorts instead of a skirt.
“Holy shit,” Jesse says.
“Okay, that’s my cue,” I say, shaking my head, grabbing her bag, and standing, hearing a chorus of men’s laughter behind me as I move to where Willa is dancing, standing before her with my arms crossed on my chest.
