Page 98 of One Night Only
“You know,” I hear him say, “if you girls come here, I’m sure we can work out some half-price drinks.”
“No,” Annie says loudly as Soraya and Claudia squeal beside her. “This is a girls’ night. We’re fine at our strip club.”
Paul comes back on the screen, looking like he’s trying not to laugh. “There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not glad I married you.”
“I’m hanging up now,” she says. “I don’t think we’re allowed phones in here.”
“Don’t have too much fun,” he says and she disconnects.
“How have we never met him before?” Claudia asks, staring at Annie as though she purposefully kept him hidden.
“Let’s call him back,” Soraya says, trying to grab the phone.
Annie holds it out of her reach. “No, we’re not doing that.”
“Just because you married one brother doesn’t mean I can’t sleep with the other. I don’t need your permission.”
“No, but you might need Sarah’s.”
Both Soraya’s and Claudia’s heads whip toward me. “What!”
Annie slaps a hand over her mouth, but she doesn’t look guilty. “Oops,” she says, giggling.
“Oh, thanks,” I say as Soraya’s mouth drops open.
“You slept with him?”
I look around the table, the alcohol making it hard to lie. Screw it. It’s not like any of them are going to remember this in the morning anyway. “Twice.”
“Twice?” This time it’s Annie who looks shocked and Claudia uses her distraction to steal her phone again. “When was the second time?”
“The night before the wedding.”
“Oh myGod.”
“I’m ordering more prosecco,” Soraya announces, turning to a scantily clad waitress.
Claudia stares at me, wide-eyed. “Are you guys dating?”
“No.”
“Are you—”
“I’m not doing anything,” I interrupt, snatching the phone from her as she tries to ring Paul back. “Annie, can you put this in your bra?”
“I’m not wearing a bra.” But she tucks it into her purse, snapping it closed.
“You never sleep with the same guy twice,” Soraya insists.
“I do too! It’s not a big deal.”
Claudia frowns. “In a way, because you slept with his brother, is it like you also slept with Paul?”
“It isnotlike that at all,” I say as Annie starts giggling again. “And for the last time, nothing is happening. Stop laughing, this is your fault.”
“You like him,” Claudia says drunkenly but she doesn’t push it as the lights go down again and the next act begins.
We stay for another hour, spending so much money that we blow our entire budget for the night. As the person living closest to the club, Soraya invites us back to her place for drinks while Claudia gets the name of Amy’s wax girl and then, finally, we wave goodbye to the tough-looking security guards and pile into a cab.
