Glo grinned back. Charlie tapped their shot glasses together and they threw back the whiskey. “I’m ready. Hit me, Scampi,” she teased, using Donny’s nickname for her.
“Everything happening between you and Asher, and do not leave out the good parts.” Sofie and Faith got comfy and Charlie cozied in, too. And there, the four of them smashed together on the ugliest couch ever to grace a living room, Gloria spilled.
She told her friends about Hawk. About Jordan. About Emily. About how Asher’s mom, Elana, made Gloria feel like family. About how Asher was great in bed and great against the wall and great skinny-dipping in the lake. She told her friends everything…
Almost.
The spanking thing, that was hers and Asher’s.
A girl couldn’t divulge all of her secrets.
*
Oh, man. Donovan was plowed. But he could get plowed and handle it like a champ. And he’d better, because the man was getting married tomorrow and it was Connor and Asher and Evan’s jobs to see that he sealed the deal come four o’clock. Which was…approximately fourteen hours from now.
Fourteen. That was a lifetime. Ash had gone on two hours of sleep more times than he could count. Coffee and cigarettes and whiskey were his compadres. So…maybe that wasn’t the solution for Donny, but Asher had faith his buddy could rally.
Donny had asked Alessandre to go to the mansion to check on Gertie. His friend obliged, taking the limo back to check on the pooch that’d been home alone most of the evening and likely needed to go outside. Donny told Aless they’d be right where he left them, at Last Chance, a bar on Alps Way.
Only the second the limo pulled away from the bar, Donny had announced. “Let’s go.”
Ash and Evan were currently downing their shots and Connor was simultaneously downing his and throwing money on the bar. But Donny was already out the door, heading directly for Library Park.
A Penis Bandit Reunion was in full effect.
“You know you’re an honorary member now,” Asher commented to Connor once they were outside.
“I’m good, thanks,” Connor said as he shoved his wallet in his pocket.
“Hey.” Evan stopped Connor with a hand on his chest. “Not optional, soldier.” Then that grouchy exterior faded into a smile and Evan clapped his friend hard on the back. “Don’t worry, it’s not like we’re going to get arrested.”
“Getting in the fountain nude is no longer frowned upon?” Asher asked. He enjoyed the brief look of horror that colored Connor’s face before he figured out Asher was kidding.
“What do you think he’s planning, anyway?” Evan asked, picking up the pace.
All three guys looked at Donovan, who, while he wasn’t running, wasn’t out for a leisurely stroll. At Library Park, he hung a hard right and walked directly to the fountain.
“Ah, shit. I was gonna keep my pants on tonight,” Asher muttered.
But Donovan wasn’t looking at the fountain; he was looking straight up at a wide tree with lots of low branches. His hands were on his hips and there was a gleam in his eye when he grinned over at Asher.
“No, man.” Evan approached with one hand out. “There is a reason we decided you weren’t going to the quarry. No climbing tonight. You fall and break your ass and then somebody else is gonna have to stand up front and marry Sofie. And only one of us standing here can do that legally.” He slid a glance to Asher and raised one dark eyebrow. “And I’m pretty sure this one isn’t single any longer.”
Ash smothered a smile. Much to his surprise, he liked that he wasn’t automatically assumed single. It’d been a while. No, correction—he had never been assumed to have a girlfriend. His mom knew—well, not knew but had a general idea—that he didn’t spend a lot of time alone. When it came to past relationships, he favored slipknots in his attached strings.
All of which had changed. Hell, he didn’t know if there were knots in the strings with Glo. They were more like one continuous loop he hadn’t found the end of yet.
“I am climbing this tree. This is the last tree I will climb as a bachelor.” Donny grinned, knowing how much shit he was full of and knowing his buddies knew it, too.
Asher stepped forward. “I’ll spot you.”
“Me too,” Connor said.
“What the hell?” Evan asked, looking grumpier than usual.
“I may be a new member, but my vote counts.” Connor shrugged. “You’re outnumbered, Grandpa.”
Evan muttered a creative expletive, and Asher laughed, throwing in, “Guess he told you.” Yeah. Connor fit in just fine. Donovan started up the tree. The man could climb. Asher had witnessed him climb forty or fifty feet straight up a sheet of rock when they were younger. Without gear. Stupid. But then, they’d done all kinds of stupid shit back then. Hell, Asher just recently stopped doing stupid shit.
Donny could handle the quarry, so no doubt this squatty library tree was not a challenge. But he surprised them all by stopping when he’d barely climbed ten feet off the ground.
“Hey.” He looked down, his black hair falling over his face, legs spread between two branches, arms holding on to the nearest limb. “Kids are trashin’ the library.”