Total pages in book: 225
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
I gasp. And she knows it’s because she spent another night with Craig, Adam’s best friend.
“Just a booty call.” She waves her hand.
Yeah. Booty call number five if I haven’t lost count.
“Could it be? Is my breast friend in danger of finding herself in a situationship?”
“Hush; this is about you. Adam is living life in his new life. It’s absolutely fair to expect forehead kisses and clit kisses and whatever else he can give you to make sure you’re fulfilled.”
I palm my face in exasperation. “Inside voice!”
“Sister, you’ve been his live-in nursemaid and chauffeur for months. Asking for more than a peck on the cheek from the man you’re planning to marry doesn’t make you an asshole. He’s given you permission to get your freak on, so now… let’s get this show on the road. You’re getting laid tonight.”
“No way. Shush.”
“Yes way,” she declares. “I can see you shaved your legs today. But what about your pits? Your hoo-ha?”
“I’ve kept up on the lady-scaping. Out of pure hope. All along. Nothing to do with the hall pass.”
“So, no baby unicorns need to die today. It’s been a genocide lately thanks to your dry spell. Let’s save some lives.”
“Stop it. You’re not the boss of my vagina,” I say, too loud, too.
She tries to fight off laughter while she sips her drink. I take a gulp of mine, followed by another gulp.
And now we’re exchanging looks loaded with feelings.
I look away so we don’t dissolve into puddles of emotion. If I shed a tear, she’ll bawl. If she does, I’ll bawl. It’s better we avoid eye contact for a minute.
“Seriously,” I go on, staring at my nails. “I just wanna celebrate with you tonight. Enjoy having my hair down for the first time in months. Have a girls’ weekend with zero stress. I’ll think on that hall pass stuff later. I just wanted to vent about it a bit; not act on it.”
“Well, I’m here any time. Sounds like you’ve been holding back on the venting, and you know that’s my job as your breast friend to be that ear, right?”
“Right. Ditto,” I say and give her a look, which she immediately reads.
“Craig’s just a booty call. He has a big dick and he doesn’t have any expectations, so it works.”
I raise my hands. “Fine, I’ll drop it.”
“And I’ll drop it about the hall pass too. But before I do… if you meet a hall pass contender tonight you could use it, couldn’t you?”
I massage my temples and sigh with exasperation.
She gets right up in my face. “Answer?”
“Technically, yes. And he wants me to. He gave me a list of guidelines. But I won’t. It’s too soon. I’m still processing. Personal bubble, sister.”
She takes a step back and smiles. “And what are these guidelines?”
“He doesn’t wanna know about it. Other than knowing I’m going to accept the offer, so it takes the pressure off him.”
“Which puts pressure on you. Man, he pisses me off sometimes.”
I freeze.
“Forget it,” she waves her hand. “Tell me the rest.”
“Um… he doesn’t want it to be anyone he knows. I also can’t use the hall pass on the same person twice.”
“He doesn’t want emotional attachments to happen,” Alannah surmises. “Makes sense.”
“And he doesn’t want it happening in our house, either.”
“Reasonable.”
“Can we drop it? I wanna have fun tonight and celebrate with you. I didn’t mean to hijack your celebration. I’d like to forget about all my drama for the night. Let’s let the rest of the night be about Alannah who just got well-deserved recognition in a male-dominated environment. Alannah, who I’m so, so proud of.”
“No problem.” She waves her hand. “I’m more than happy to be the center of the universe. But just sayin’… if you do happen to meet someone with Hall Pass potential tonight, even better.”
I roll my eyes. “Not happening tonight.”
She aims a big, beaming smile at me and then puts her hand on mine with affection. “Ready to dance?”
“So ready.”
“One more thing.” She leans in closer.
“What?” I ask.
She smiles, looking me right in the eyes, not blinking as I feel her grip my engagement ring and pull it off my finger.
“Alannah,” I mumble.
“Just in case,” she says, and then she puts my engagement ring onto her finger and extends her hand, admiring it.
My eyes roll.
“You never know. You might at least collect a phone number or two. Right? So, let’s go dance and see if there’s any filet mignon on offer.”
This place does feel like a meat market.
She and I slipped away from our group to the quieter section at the long, sleek, sparsely populated bar ten or fifteen minutes ago, but the place is filling up, the lighting has gone dimmer, and the thump of the bass is rising in volume and intensity.
I’m ready to succumb to that bass, realizing just how much I need a carefree night. To laugh with my friends, getting lost in a world of fun instead of feeling trapped by a bleak reality ridden with guilt and uncertainty. I down the rest of my drink before I hop off the bar stool.