“Roll over,” she said.
I flipped to my back, but she pushed at me until I was on my side, facing away from her.
Not a second later, she buried her face in the back of my shirt and folded her arm over my abs. Her knees nudged mine until I bent them and hers shifted in to spoon me.
I twisted my lips, taking in our apparent sleeping position. Not exactly what I’d had in mind, but it was more than she had originally offered.
When her hand pushed the hem of my shirt up and splayed across my bare stomach, I smiled to myself.
Resting my hand on top of hers, I intertwined our fingers. “For the record, you get this tonight because I’m done pushing my luck. But don’t get used to it. This has got to be the most emasculating way possible to sleep. I bet this is how Davenport sleeps with his mommy every night.”
With her hand cradled in mine, she couldn’t respond, but the shake of her body at least let me know she was going to fall asleep with a smile.
We both were.
IT WAS NINE IN THE morning when I pulled into Till and Eliza’s driveway. My car was still at the gym, so I’d had to swipe the keys to one of Quarry’s sports cars. If he could sleep in my bed without asking, surely I could drive his Porsche. And I didn’t give a damn if he wanted to bitch about it later. His cars were his babies. Which made peeling out of the parking lot feel so much better.
I had texted Ash and Eliza for an emergency coffee date this morning. They’d both responded immediately, and since Blakely was home sick from school, we’d agreed to meet at Eliza’s.
“Spill it!” Ash ordered as I flopped down on the barstool at the end of the long, granite island.
“Where’s Blakely?” I asked.
“Till’s watching TV with her in my bedroom. I’m giving them a few minutes together before I have to inform him that his baby girl is not actually sick at all. She started her period.”
“She’s eleven!” I cried, clutching my heart.
“Yeah. He’s going to lose his mind. He nearly had an embolism when he found her training bras a few months ago, so this should push him right on over the edge. But hey, he was the one who wanted a girl so badly. He’s gonna have to find a way to cope.”
Ash set a cup of coffee in front of me. “Ick! I’m so glad we have boys. That is one conversation I never want to have with Flint.”
Eliza slid the cream and sugar my way. “All right. Let’s move on. I need to save my strength to wrestle the chains from Till’s arms when he tries to lock her in her room for the rest of her life. What’s going on with you to warrant an emergency coffee date?”
I would have rather continued to talk about poor Blakely, who was clueless to the terror of adolescence that awaited her.
Eliza and Ash peered at me expectantly.
While I hadn’t even been properly caffeinated yet, I guessed there would be no use in trying to delay.
I took a sip of the bitter coffee, not even bothering with the condiments, and then swayed back to check down the hall to make sure Till wasn’t anywhere nearby. When the coast was clear, I sucked in a deep breath and then announced, “I slept with Quarry.”
I expected gasps of surprise, but I was nowhere near ready for the chaos that exploded around me.
“When?!” they shrieked in unison.
My back went straight as they both snatched their cell phones off the table, their fingers frantically tapping the screens.
“Uhh…who are texting? Don’t tell the guys! I don’t think anything is going—”
“When?” Ash snapped.
“Keep it down!” I whisper-yelled, checking for Till again.
“When?” she repeated, only half of a decibel lower.
“Jeez. Last night.”
“Damn,” Eliza groaned. “Not one of my days.”
“Mine either,” Ash replied. “Shit…looks like Sarah won.”
I cocked my head in question. “My mom?”
“Yep,” Ash confirmed, dropping her phone back to the island. “The pot has to be at least a grand by now. I’ll have to ask Flint to check the books. Not too shabby though.”
“What pot? What the hell are you talking about?” I glanced from Ash, who looked proud, to Eliza, who appeared slightly ashamed.
“Well…” Eliza started. “About a year ago, we started a small betting pool for when you and Quarry would finally hook up.”
My jaw fell open in horror. “You were betting on when we would have sex?”
Eliza knotted her hands uncomfortably. “It was just for fun. Nothing crazy or anything.”
“The pot was a grand and my mother won. How exactly is that not crazy?”
Ash chimed in. “Your mom is actually very competitive. She’s going to be pumped to find out she won.”
I slapped my hand on the countertop and spat, “You are not allowed to tell my mother I had sex with Quarry. Ever. Never. Ever. Ever.”
Ash laughed, throwing her hands up in surrender.
Eliza smiled tightly. “If it makes you feel any better, your dad refused to buy in. Slate too—but only because Erica bought so many days there wasn’t any left.”