Shatter (True Believers #4)(50)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“Oh, shit, I like the sound of that.” Her hips moved against mine suggestively and her eyes darkened. “By the way, I have a buzz. I haven’t had a drink in so long the vodka went straight to my head.”

“Then we’re buzzing together because I drank enough rum to disinfect a small hospital.”

She kissed me again, gripping my face. “I was so mad at you!”

Her particular brand of anger seemed to work in my favor. “Tell me again.”

Kylie kissed me again. “I really was pissed.”

“Uh-huh.” I led her to a stool, sat down, and pulled her onto my lap. She felt amazing in my arms. “You feel so good, gorgeous.”

She was all long legs and tight ass, tiny waist and perky br**sts. Her hair hung straight down, falling over my arm, and when she wiggled to get more comfortable on her perch, I wanted to groan. Damn, f**king damn, I had never stood a chance. From that very first night when she had smiled at me so sweetly, her head propped up on her hand, I had been sunk.

“Mm. You feel good, too.” Her arms came around my neck and we kissed some more. And then some more again.

Someone kicked my stool and I could pretty much guarantee it was Miranda. “Yeah?” I asked her, turning to see her glaring at me.

“Dude, like show a little decorum. You’re in public.” Then she promptly got distracted when someone walked in the front door. “Oh, hello. That’s Chastity, and believe me, her name is an oxymoron. I’ll be right back.”

“Your friend seems nice,” Kylie said, snuggling up against me.

I laughed. “That is something I love about you—you’re very generous.”

“Wait until you see how generous I am later.”

And she said that.

Damn. I think I groaned. “You’re killing me. It’s been a long-ass two weeks.”

“I know.”

“Is everything okay down there? No, uh, bleeding?” Why did I feel self-conscious using that word? We were way past the point of needing to give a shit about modesty. “You feel okay?”

“No bleeding. And yes, I feel okay.”

I locked eyes with her, my hands tight on her waist. I wanted her to understand what I didn’t have the words to say. “I’m sorry,” I said gruffly. For being irresponsible and getting her pregnant. For the morning sickness and the heartache of the miscarriage. For not pushing harder afterward to see her.

“Me, too,” she whispered. “But I just want you to know that when I’m with you, my glass is full.”

Ah, shit, now she was being downright romantic. She’d remembered our glass-half-full conversation where I had insisted on the logic of a full glass. I drank in the sight of her, nestled on my lap, her face close to mine, the smell and feel of her wrapping around me, and I wanted to capture the moment, hold on to it. I’d always thought I was pragmatic, methodical, but Kylie had drawn something out of me that I hadn’t even noticed existed. I wanted to say something epic but I didn’t know how to convey the enormity of the emotion I felt for her. Maybe it was the rum. Most likely it was just that I didn’t have any experience with this feeling of not being whole without someone else.

So instead I gave her a soft kiss then said, “Hey, Kylie. So a neutron walks into a bar.”

She laughed. “Oh yeah? What did he do in the bar?”

“He asks the bartender, ‘How much for a beer?’ The bartender gives him a smile and says, ‘For you, no charge.’”

“Oh, Darwin.” Laughing, she lost her balance on my lap and almost fell off the stool. “Ack!”

“What are you two doing over there?”

I turned and saw that Miranda was still talking to her potential hookup, but that Jessica and Rory were watching us, Rory smiling knowingly, Jessica looking a little put out.

“We’re making up,” Kylie told her.

“Making out is more like it.”

“Jessica,” Kylie said, “a neutron walked into a bar. He asked the bartender how much is a beer and the bartender said, ‘For you, no charge.’”

Jessica’s eyebrows shot up.

Rory laughed. “Nice. I see you’ve been studying hard.”

“You are drunk,” Jessica said, a grin splitting her face. “Since when do you tell chemistry jokes?”

“I’m a bad influence,” I said. “Hey, Tyler and Riley just came in.” Jessica and Rory’s boyfriends had paused in the doorway and nodded when they saw us. “It’s a party.”

They both looked mildly curious to see Kylie sitting on me, but mostly interested in ordering a couple of beers.

“I can deal with this kind of Girls’ Night,” Riley said, giving Jessica a kiss hello. “Though I’m not sure how you all went from pajama dancing to this place.”

“Kylie and Jonathon needed to talk,” Jessica told him.

“Looks like it.” He eyed us and gave me a grin.

“Rory, we need to talk, too,” Tyler told her, nudging her so that he could slide under her on the seat and pull her down onto his lap. He kissed her. “See? I had to say that.”

“I have to pee,” Kylie announced, because that’s what Kylie did. She announced things. “Rory and Jess, you need to come with me.”

She hopped off my lap and grabbed both of them by the hand and dragged them away from their boyfriends and toward the restroom.

“Why do chicks do that?” Riley asked. “They move in unison like schools of fish. I have never once needed company when I went to take a piss. In fact, I can’t stand it when some ass**le tries to talk to me at the urinal.”

“That is weird,” I agreed. “But I think girls do it for two reasons. First, they can’t wait to communicate their thoughts and emotions. Two, they don’t want anything of importance to happen while they’re gone, so by taking their friends with them, they ensure it won’t.”

“I think you’re exactly right,” Tyler said. “They’re afraid they’ll miss some gossip or their friend will get hit on while they’re gone.”

“The three of us are right here; who is going to hit on them?” Riley asked.

“I don’t mean specifically now. I think it’s a learned behavior,” Tyler said.

“I imagine they get hit on a lot when they go out solo,” I said.

“Yeah, thanks for reminding me.” Riley shook his head and took his beer from the bartender. “Thanks. God, I hate these Girls’ Nights. Something f**ked up always happens.”