Page 7 of Dearly Unbeloved
I carefully detach her fingers. It’s hard to be mad at them when I love them and their husbands. Besides, they’ve done well to make it this far, and I won’t be sorry to leave the club and not have to see Rose anymore. “Let’s go back to the hotel, and you can call your men.”
Jazz’s hazel eyes, so similar to Rose’s, light up. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” She raises an eyebrow, and I shrug. “Phone sex.”
Nope. Not drunk enough for this.
“Believe it or not, I, a lesbian, was not thinking about having phone sex with your husband.”
“He’s really good at it.”
“I believe you.”
“Yeah, I don’t need to hear about Liam’s phone sex skills. Let’s go,” Maggie says with a shudder.
Jazz purses her lips. “What about Rose?”
I nod toward the bar, where she’s still standing with the redhead. It’s not that I’ve been keeping tabs on her, I’ve justbeen… conscious of her location. “She’s fine. She’s with someone.” She’s wearing a white sparkly dress tonight, with long sleeves and a ruffled hem. It has a deep V-neck that stops right above her belly button, and I hate how good she looks in it.
Before I have time to blink, Jazz is dragging us over to her. “Rosie!” she shouts loudly enough that at least a dozen people look in our direction. Including Rose, who seems surprisingly laid back—until she sees who Jazz is dragging behind her, anyway. She spies me, and her lips settle into a thin line.
“We’re going back to the hotel so I can have phone sex with Liam,” Jazz says matter-of-factly, and entirely too loudly.
“Great,” Rose replies, looking a little nauseated. “I’m going to hang out here with Allie,”—she nods to the redhead—“but I’ll see you in the morning.”
Jazz turns to look at me, eyes narrowed. “You should stay, too.”
“No,” Rose and I both say in unison. So rare for us to be on the same page—I should take a picture.
“Stay. Enjoy yourself,” Jazz insists. “Do you have any hot friends?” she asks Allie.
“I can do better than that,” Allie replies with a laugh. “Hey, Court. Get over here.”
An identical redhead sidles up beside her. Twins. Shit, I might be too drunk for this.
“This is my twin, Courtney. Court, this is…” She trails off, looking at me expectantly.
“Sierra,” I say. “Hi.”
“Hi, Sierra. You look like my kind of fun.” Courtney grins at me. She’s gorgeous—they both are—but I really would rather head back to the hotel. “Let’s get some shots.”
I look up and see fire on Rose’s face. She’s pissed I’m even considering staying, and that’s good enough for me. I smile back at Courtney. “Shots sound perfect.”
5
ROSE
I’m so sorry, Rosie! I must have missed the part where I have to listen to what you say! - S
Why is the wind screaming? And so warm, and close to my face and… I force my eyes open and realize I’m smooshed against the pillow. It’s not the wind; my own breath is just so fucking loud.
Everything hurts. A crushing ache spreads from the very top of my skull, shooting down my body as I peel myself away from the pillow, groaning. My mouth feels like it’s full of dust and tastes like bad decisions. I sit up, my arm flopping uselessly to the side, hitting something that feels suspiciously like hair. I’m alert enough for it to scare me, but too hungover to do anything but shriek, flail, and immediately see stars because I moved too quickly.
“What the fuck?”
For the first time, Sierra’s voice actually calms medown. At least she’s not a stranger who’s likely to murder me.
“Why are you in my room?” Her voice is scratchy and deep.
“This is my room.” Although the rooms in the hotel are more or less identical, I can tell this is mine because the floor isn’t covered in clothes.
