Page 114 of The One With the Mountain Man

"Did you even do the tasting, or did you just start shooting?" Scottie was livid. Red faced, veins popping mad.

"Marley and Mack tasted."

And they appeared to be the only two women who weren't moments from passing out. Oh, they were drunk, but they were at the animated stage where inhibitions were gone and they could still speak in full sentences with words that sounded mostly correct.

"Christ. At least our women are smart." He shot me a look while he pulled off his baseball hat, ran his fingers through his hair a few times, and slammed it back on his head.

"I'm not sure smart is the right word, but they’re not medicating with alcohol," Travis grimaced as Joanne pet his face.

"You're so pretty, bro. Why don't you ever date any ladies? You're a nice guy underneath all your douchery."

His jaw popped. "Who do we need to get home?"

"Eve stays here." Aviana growled.

"Willow? Annie?" I asked. They'd joined the feeding frenzy. It was a two-handed massacre of Scottie’s carefully prepared appetizers.

"Imma take my apartment," Willow slurred.

Cool, we could get her to the bookshop no problem. "Annie?"

"Guest room?" She asked Aviana.

"Yasss my friend!" They high fived.

"I'll get Willow," Scottie offered. "Mackenzie will be fine."

"I'll get sleeping beauty over there. You've got your hands full with Joanne." I nodded at Travis.

While Scottie hunted down the remaining bottles of whiskey, Travis dug up some electrolyte drinks and demanded everyone drink.

"Hey honey, how are you?" I shook Karis awake. The hood to her onesie covered most of her face.

"I'm tired, not drunk, dick face." She swatted my hand away. "And I miss my kid and I don't know how to do anything."

"Gus is fine. I've checked in with Daisy every hour on the hour. It's good to have a sitter you can trust. And you know how to be a great mother because you already are."

She shoved the hood off her face and stared up at me. Her eyes were clear but a little red. No sign of drunkeness. "She's only seventeen."

"And she has four younger siblings, is a smart kid, and won't be moving away for at least another year." Daisy had a busy senior year coming up but needed a flexible part-time job. Karis had a kid who needed a babysitter that wasn't me. It was a match made in heaven.

"Just let me hire you to be Gus's nanny. He loves you; you love him. Easy."

"You can't afford me."

She shot me a glare then reluctantly sat up. "I didn't know Mack knew." She nodded to where Mack and Marley were still whispering over the last two slices of pizza.

"Oh yeah, she figured it out immediately, but she and Scottie kept it quiet." Thank fuck. I didn't want to have to kill my best friend.

"The circle is widening." She shot me a pointed look.

"You and them. That's not a widening circle." But it did make me uncomfortable.

"Is keeping it a secret important?"

"For a little while longer, yeah. She has a stalker, and no one knows where he is. She's safe here and I want to keep it that way."

Karis grimaced. "Yeah okay. Her eyes widened as Eve, Aviana, and Willow started screech-singing "Love Story" by Taylor Swift. "I seem to have missed a lot of alcohol."

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