Page 21 of Letting Go
“I ordered a few rounds and told them to stagger the delivery,” MK explains when she notices I was looking for where the shots came from. “Speaking of rounds, don’t look now y’all, butthe wicked witch of west Tennessee looks like she’s starting early tonight.” MK lifts her head toward the bar.
I subtly turn to see who she’s talking about. Leaning against the bar is an obviously annoyed Chase Riley, rolling his eyes as his girlfriend Chloe goes off about something. “I bet Chase did something outrageous like smiled at the bartender or maybe held the door open for someone. How dare he!” MK mockingly says. Her husband and Chase are still best friends, but MK is not a fan of Chloe.
“I don’t get it; Chase is so nice. Why does he put up with her?” I ask the table. “We never fought when we were together but they seem to do that a lot, and they’ve only been dating for what, maybe six months?”
“Yeah, I think it started on New Year’s Eve, unfortunately for all of us that are friends with Chase.” MK grimaces.
“She must be just absolute magic in bed,” Brittany chimes in as we all break out laughing. “Men will put up with a lot of crazy for fantastic sex. I bet her crazy makes it even hotter.” MK puts her finger on her nose, forcing all of us to cackle with laughter.
“Uh oh, don’t make eye contact, you might melt!” Willa declares just a little too loudly, which does nothing to help our giggles.
“Speaking of melting, and definitely talking about my husband, I have to tell you girls the funniest thing from the other night,” Brittany says as MK shakes her head.
“No, stop, for the love!” MK protests but we all know Brittany is going to keep going. This is not the first time Brittany has brought up her sex life with her husband, who is also Drew’s cousin, and while MK always protests the story telling, she always loses.
“Oh come on, MK. Put on a sexy piece of lace lingerie, step out of your safe little box, and accept that orgasms are important in every relationship!” Brittany teases our friend.
“Listen, I’m all for orgasms, lots and lots of them, but Zander is basically Drew’s brother. It’s weird, y’all!” MK’s protests fall on deaf ears. I reach over and pat her arm, trying to hold back my laughter.
“What happened, honey? Tell us and ignore MK, she can put in some earplugs,” Willa says.
“Well, have any of you ladies read that shifter mafia romance that came out last month by CJ Adams?” Brittany slyly asks our table.
“That’s on my TBR list right now. Was it good?” I ask her.
“Oh girl, yes, it is so good, and it is hot. Like I would rate it a solid five on the spice scale. There is a scene during the full moon where the FMC explores breath play and I thought that could be a fun way to add some spice to my life, right?” MK’s eyes go wide as she processes what Brittany just said.
“And did you?” Lauren asks as she leans in toward Brittany.
“Our favorite book boyfriends are all basically written by women, right? But my husband is open to spicing things up, so I thought it could be fun,” Brittany goes on. “I guess I shouldn’t have assumed he would understand what I was saying when I suggested breath play. Y’all, we were sitting on the couch when I brought it up and he tried to put me in a damn headlock!”
We all dissolve in laughter, even MK was trying to catch her breath from crying so hard. “Did you tell him it’s called wearing a hand necklace, not going to wrestle-palooza?” I ask as I try to catch my breath from laughing so hard.
“That’s what I get for being fun. I get my ass put on the floor and pissed off at my husband. Needless to say, it did not end in his favor and no one got to play that night, breath or otherwise,” Brittany says as she wipes away tears from laughing so hard.
“Can you obnoxious heifers keep it down?” A snotty voice declares from behind me. I know exactly who it is without having to turn around.
“Hey Chloe, sorry, were we being too happy?” Lauren responds with mock concern in her voice. “I didn’t mean to alert the fun police!”
“If you’re still experiencing an allergic reaction to joy and fun, you might want to see someone about that,” Brittany adds as Chloe rolls her eyes at us. “It can be a serious medical condition with severe side effects of being a frigid bitch.”
Chloe shoots daggers at Brittany but before she can say anything, Chase interrupts her. “Hey ladies,” Chase says as he walks up to our table to pull Chloe a step back from us. “Are y’all playing nice or causing trouble?” Chase smiles at us, knowing us well enough that we won’t back down from Chloe starting a silly fight.
“We are just enjoying a fun girls’ night out, free from men and our babies. We wanted to welcome Vivian back home officially. We’re so happy to have our girl back,” MK speaks up. “I’d invite you to join us, but it’s ladies only tonight,” MK speaks directly to Chase, not acknowledging Chloe nor her obvious bad attitude.
“Just to be clear, not all of us are excited to have you back in town, or even want you here,” Chloe says as she blatantly gives me a dirty look. “In fact, I think—”
“Chloe! Seriously, enough, come on. I’m sorry Vivian, she didn’t mean that,” Chase interrupts his girlfriend.
“Oh no, I definitely meant it.” Chloe steps forward toward our table. “Your little clique might be rolling out the red carpet, but you should really remember who and what does not belong to you and keep to yourself. Or even better, go on back to Chicago,” she declares while she snakes a hand around Chase’s waist.
Chase rolls his eyes and tries to pull away from her death grip on him. “Stop.” Chase shakes his head at Chloe. “Excuse us ladies, we’re going to head out, sorry y’all, have a nice night. Come on Chloe, let’s go.” Chase turns to leave as Chloe looks at our table.
“I can’t wait to get out of here either, babe. The vibe is a bit trashy tonight,” she calls loud enough for us to hear.
“Damn it, knock it off, Chloe!” Chase reprimands her and yanks on her hand to pull her away from our table, raising his hand in an apologetic wave as he pulls Chloe toward the exit.
As they make their way to the exit, MK says, “I just don’t get it, I don’t get what Chase sees in Chloe. Ever since she didn’t make the varsity cheerleading squad in high school, she’s been just straight up mean and rude. She’s the one always causing a scene and yet she insults us? I mean, if she thinks the vibe is trashy, she should’ve felt right at home. I know Drew said that Chase only sees the best in her, but come on, there can’t be that much good in that much garbage!” Chloe used to be friends with all of us when we were younger but there is no love lost these days. I think she might just be a miserable person at this point or maybe has had too much bad Botox she can’t physically smile anymore.
