“Yeah, that’s how STDs are spread,” I reply sarcastically.
Mark clears his throat. “Although I do enjoy where our conversations go, this perhaps isn’t the right place for it.”
“Let’s go get a drink,” Will says, “and I can have a chat with Milo.”
“Fucking hell, I have no diseases!” Milo exclaims, giving Texas a look over his shoulder.
Now that the movie is over, we’ll have drinks and boring small talk where we’ll congratulate the actors and director on a job well done. Then, it’s the after-party, the real reason people attend things like this.
“Texas!” Peyton yells from across the room.
And I’ve lost my girl. They fly toward each other. We weren’t sure if she’d make it and assumed not since we hadn’t seen her come in, but she must’ve been late.
“Come on, use tongue,” Coop says, watching Tex reunite with her friend.
They’re hugging, not kissing like he wants.
“You’re a dick, Coop.”
“Oh, like you’d hate your girl getting down with another chick.”
“I’m not you,” I reply. Honestly, the thought of Texas’s lips, or anything else, touching anyone else makes me feel violent. I don’t share her.
“I need to get fucked up tonight,” I say, nodding toward the bar.
“All right! Now, you’re talking,” he replies, slapping me on the shoulder and shoving me forward. “You getting Tex drunk, too? She’s a fucking hilarious drunk.”
I smirk. “Oh, yeah.” Clumsy drunken sex with her is mind-blowing, and I’m definitely up for doing it as often as possible.
“Can’t believe you’ve settled down, man.”
“Neither can the old me, but she’s worth it. Doesn’t feel like a sacrifice with her. It feels right.”
“Dude!” he exclaims, stopping dead and looking around on the floor.
“What? What’s wrong?” I’m looking, too, but I don’t know why or what for. His phone maybe? “Coop?”
“Your balls dropped off, man.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake! I stand up straight and punch his arm. “Wanker.”
Cooper laughs, rubbing his arm. “Sorry, bud. Thought you’d swallowed a Jane Austen novel there.”
I’m less annoyed that he’s taking the piss and more proud that he knows who Jane Austen is. “It’ll be you one day, Cooper.”
“Bollocks,” he replies as we reach the bar. “We’ll have twenty-four shots of Sambuca, eight beers, and a glass of that pissy pink wine. That’s what Peyton drinks, right?”
“Rosè, yeah. You remember her drink?”
He shoots me a dark look. “Don’t go getting any ideas. I’m going to bang her again, but it’s purely business.”
“Business? Are you charging now?”
“Don’t be a twat. She makes me come times a million, and I know I do the same for her. Why fight that?”
He turns back to the guy grabbing an obscene amount of shot glasses for a first round. None of us even like Sambuca.
“Fucking just got the talk from my uncle!” Milo growls, slouching on the bar beside me. “Where’s Tex? She owes me.”
“With Peyton.”
“Pey made it?” He laughs. “Coop’s going home with blue balls tonight.”
“Least I still have some,” he snaps back, nudging me.
I don’t know how I’ve suddenly been brought into this.
“Whatever. Milo’s right. Odds of you getting in her pants again are slim. Just look at your behaviour. She doesn’t find that attractive, mate.”
Coop stares, like he doesn’t understand, and I roll my eyes.
“He’s not right. The sexy blonde princess doesn’t have to give it up again tonight. There are plenty of others willing. In fact, there are thousands who require no work at all. I click my fingers, and they lift their skirts.”
“Ah, the easy ones,” Milo sighs as he taps his heart with his fist. “God bless them.”
To think, a month ago, I was one of them…
I never thought anything could get better than having a lot of sex without the responsibility of a relationship. I was so wrong that I want to laugh now, but I know it’s something you have to figure out yourself. Milo kind of knows it from Lexi. Cooper? Well, I’ll take great joy in watching him go through falling in love.
We down a couple of shots when Tex and Peyton join us. Coop immediately makes a play for the girl who I have a feeling is going to screw him up in the best way. Milo and Texas are deep into an argument about the validity of The Lord of the Rings. It’s an age-old fight where Milo defends his favourite books and films, and Texas—also liking them—questions every point to piss him off.
She shrugs. “They should’ve just gone the other way around.”
Milo’s mouth is hanging open. “You’ve said some stupid shit on this topic before, Knight, but that—”
I tone them out and laugh at Tex trying to keep a straight face. Her lips twitch from the effort.
A shadow casts over my drink, and I look over at a very pretty woman I’m sure I’m supposed to know.
She leans her hip against the cool glass and rests her arm on top. “Hi, I’m Danniella.”
Danniella who?