Easy Nights (Boudreaux #6)

“I have to ask,” I say and bite my lip.

“You can ask whatever you like,” she says, and I can see that she means it, so I dive in.

“I’m just wondering, since you’re psychic, can you already tell the sex of the baby?”

She smiles softly and lays her hand over her belly. “Actually, yes, which is surprising because I can’t see the future. I haven’t told Beau that yet. I knew I was pregnant before I took a test.”

“You need to tell him, so you can tell us,” Callie says. “Because I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Boudreaux women like to buy baby stuff. It’s a good thing you and Beau have that huge new house to accommodate it all.”

Mallory tucks her long dark hair behind her ear. She recently colored it again.

“I love the new color,” I tell her.

“It’s actually my natural color. Since I can’t have my roots touched up while I’m pregnant I figured I’d go back to my natural color for a while.”

“I like it,” I say again.

“How are you and Ben doing?” Callie asks and all eyes turn to me.

“Hey!” Gabby calls to us. “We all need to be in on that conversation!”

“Well, then get your butts in here,” Kate calls back. Within minutes, Gabby, Charly, and Lena join us in the living room. Some share the couch, others sit on the floor.

It feels like a birthday party sleepover from when I was a teenager.

Except we have wine now, so there’s that.

“Okay,” Gabby says as she wiggles her bottom, getting comfortable on the floor. “Spill it.”

“Ben and I are good.” I leave it at that and take a sip of my wine.

“And?” Mallory says.

“Have you said the I love yous yet?” Charly asks.

“Yes.”

“WHAT?” Gabby exclaims, her eyes wide in horror. “And you didn’t call me?”

“Well, it was right before we were about to make love, and I didn’t think it was polite to ask him to hold on while I made a slew of phone calls.”

“That’s fair,” Kate says with a nod. “Keep going.”

“So not fair,” Gabby whispers.

“Yeah, keep going,” Callie adds. “How was the sex?”

“Come on, guys. It’s Ben. How do you think the sex is?”

“She has a point,” Mallory says with a nod.

“Seriously, Ben is hot,” Lena agrees. “Don’t worry, I understand he’s all yours, but I’m sorry, I’m a woman. I have seen him.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I reply, waving her off. “The man is ridiculously perfect physically.”

“As long as you don’t think he’s perfect perfect,” Charly says.

“He’s a human being, just like me, and he’s far from perfect. But he’s perfect for me.” I clear my throat, suddenly feeling emotional, which, despite feeling near the edge of tears over the past couple of weeks, is new to me. It’s been a long time since I let anything affect me to the point of tears, and I don’t know why I’m suddenly so weepy now. “I guess that I didn’t know how bad it was before until I discovered how good it can be, you know?”

“I totally understand,” Kate says with a nod and tears of her own.

“I know you do,” I reply and reach over to squeeze her hand. “And I feel stupid, like I should have known Ben was the one for me all along.”

“He wasn’t the one for you yet,” Mallory says quietly. “People fit differently in our lives at different times. You weren’t meant to be with him until now, because you weren’t the person you are until now.”

“I believe that,” I say slowly. “And I wonder if we’d dated a decade ago, if it would have stuck. We were both young, and like Mallory said, different people. The chemistry was always there, at least on my part. From what he’s told me, he felt it then, too. But would we have really fallen in love? I’m not so sure. And if we had fallen in love, the odds of it surviving through college are probably smaller.”

“I’m so happy for you,” Charly says and dabs at her eyes. “Watching what you went through was the greatest torture of my life.”

“I think it’s safe to say we all felt that way,” Gabby says and the others nod.

“Even though I didn’t meet you until after it all happened,” Callie says, “I knew that you’d been to hell and back. No one deserves that.”

“But everyone deserves to have an amazing person in their life,” Lena says and then smiles ruefully. “And now that I have Mason in my life, I actually believe it.”

“I told you that you wouldn’t be single forever,” Mal says, smiling at her friend.

“The important thing,” Lena says with a roll of the eyes, “is that Savannah is happy and safe.”

“Very happy and safe,” I reply with a satisfied grin. “And well sexed. I shouldn’t tell you guys this—”

“Now you have to tell,” Callie says.

“Absolutely. This is the cone of silence.” This is from Gabby, who nods solemnly.

“She’s cut off,” Callie says with a laugh.

“Seriously, talk,” Charly says.

“So, Ben has a piercing.”

There’s silence for a moment while they all stare at me, and then Callie gasps.

“No!”

“Yes.”

“What kind of piercing?” Kate asks, not catching on. “Certainly not his ears or his face. That’s not Ben’s style.”

“You’re right. Not on his face. He has a Prince Albert,” I blurt and then cover my mouth as if I can’t believe I just told them. But these are my sisters. I tell them everything.

“Holy shit,” Lena says.

“Does it do what they say?” Callie asks.

“Oh yeah.”

“Lucky bitch,” Charly says, but then shrugs it off. “Who am I kidding? Simon may not have his dick pierced, but he’s fucking amazing in the sack.”

“I’m so relieved to hear that, darling,” the man himself says as he walks into the room, followed by all of my brothers and Ben.

Ben, who is currently staring at me in disbelief.

“Oh, lord.”

“You told them?” he asks in disbelief.

“Well, I mean, maybe. But I didn’t tell them anything specific about the sex itself.”

“I think I’d rather you told them that,” he says and picks me up out of my seat, sits down and settles me in his lap while everyone looks on with a mixture of shock and swoon. “Hi, Angel.”

“Hi.”

“Which one of these assholes bloodied your lip?” I ask, immediately concerned at the cut on his lip, and the bruise along his jaw. “I’ll kick their ass and defend your honor.”

“No need,” he says and kisses my shoulder. “None of them did this. They can’t take me.”

“Standing right here, man,” Eli says with a smirk.

“I’ll tell you about it later,” Ben adds. “Did you miss me?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, sweet baby Jesus,” Charly mutters. “They’re in full-on mush mode.”

“You’re mushy,” Callie says to her. “Ever since you met Simon, your face goes all gooey when he walks in a room.”

“Is that true?” Simon asks Charly and pulls her to her feet so he can plant the kiss of the century on her.

“Well, maybe,” she admits. “Let’s go home.”

“Let’s. I have to remind you that I’m fucking amazing in the sack, despite my lack of metal.”