Page 30 of Knockout (Whiskey Dolls 2)

“Was he gorgeous?” Sloane asked.

“Did he pay the check at the end of the night?” Asher chimed in, followed closely by Delaine, the newest member of the Whiskey Dolls.

“Did he hold the door open for you?”

“Oh screw all of that,” Alma exclaimed. “What we really want to know is whether or not the dude was well hung.”

“I withdraw my question,” Mac proclaimed. “I want to know what Alma asked. So what did it look like?”

“Same.” Delanie followed suit. “Did it have any kind of curve to it? I’ve heard the curved ones are a lot of fun.”

The room fell into a cacophony of laughter at the sweet, somewhat shy woman’s little tidbit.

“I have no clue what his dick looks like, curved or otherwise,” I admitted, earning boos from all my friends. “Oh come on! It’s not like I was going to put out on the first date, no matter how good it was.”

“Because you’re boring,” Alma grumbled, looking back to her mirror so she could perfect her slick black eyeliner.

“I’m not boring, ass face. It’s just not who I am.”

“All right, fine. Then how was the date? You still haven’t answered that,” Marin said accusingly.

“It was...” I trailed off, trying to think of a way to properly describe the night before.

“Oh my God,” Sloane squealed, jabbing her finger at me with a shit-eating grin. “Look at her face! She’s smiling like crazy. She had a great time.”

I did. I really, really did. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean anything was going to come of it. “I had a really nice time,” was all I could bring myself to say just then.

“Tell us about him,” Asher demanded excitedly. “Are you going to see him again?”

Here we go. “Seeing as he lives in my building, I think it’s safe to say that’s pretty much a guarantee.”

Mac clapped delightedly. “No way! That’s one hell of a coincidence.”

“It’s totally fate!” Delanie, the hardcore romantic of the crew, decreed.

“If only we were that lucky,” NSync-loving-teenager Layla moped inside my head.

“Where in the building?”

My next answer was really going to set her off. The poor thing was about to experience an overload of serendipity. Too bad I was going to have to burst her bubble right after. “Actually, in the apartment right above mine.”

Sure enough, the sound she made just then as she clasped her hands to her chest was one that would set off every dog in the neighborhood. It was so damn loud, everyone in the room cringed, and I worried my ears might start bleeding. “No.Way! Oh my God! I was right! This is totally fate!”

“Wait,” Sloane cut in, realizing what I’d just admitted. “You mean—”

Marin cut her off with a yelp. “Holy shit! You mean the asshole that’s been driving you crazy for the past four months?”

“Four months and some change,” I corrected. “And yes, the very one.”

Mac’s forehead puckered in a befuddled frown. “But I thought we hated that guy.”

“We do.” I caught myself and amended, “I mean, we did. Sort of. The whole thing is kind of confusing now. Turns out, he’s not the raging jackass I thought he was. He’s actually pretty nice. And he’s really funny. Once we got over the initial shock of being each other’s date, we had a great time.”

“So what does this mean?” Asher asked. “Are you two going to keep seeing each other now?”

Teenaged Layla pouted fiercely. “We agreed to be friends,” I answered, feeling a sharp pang at the wordfriends.

Alma whipped around on her stool and skewered me with a look. “What the hell?Friends?”

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