“She’s shy. And it’s not ‘toast crap’, it’s French toast.”
He snorted. “Right. I think she’s just being nice, but whatever, I can gather the boys.”
“Not a crowd,” I warned. “She said Luna wants it to be small.”
“Luna, Luna, Luna. You are whipped, my friend. And taking Tabitha up on her invite only to try to get in tight with Luna is sketchy as hell.”
“I know that,” I said irritably. “Why I’m bringing you and a couple of your friends. That way she’ll have other options. Decent dudes, Lucky. Got it? Besides, I am just getting to know everyone. Not trying to have sex.”
He started laughing again, even harder than before. “Right. I’ll see how many are available. Free booze?”
How many was not a phrase that seemed to indicate a couple friends. “Like two. Max three. And yeah, I assume there will be alcohol—”
He hung up.
I frowned and stared at my phone. Already I was getting a bad feeling about this. I should never have trusted Lucky to invite a few guys. We had many of the same friends, and I’d taken a shortcut to avoid texting people because I’d wanted to empty a few more boxes before I headed upstairs. I wasn’t finished unpacking.
Eh, too late to worry about it now. He’d figure it out. Besides, it was short notice, so how many guys could he round up that fast?
Answer: a hell of a lot, as I found out a few hours later.
I managed to get through the contents of a bunch more boxes and then showered off the dust and sweat before pulling on some khaki shorts and a T-shirt. As my hair drip dried over my shoulders, I remembered I’d intended to make an appointment to get it cut, since school would be starting in a little over a month.
Before that, I’d have administration days and meetings and all that fun stuff and I’d have to tuck my Wildman Jack look away until next year. Winter break wasn’t long enough to go full-on bearded or to let my hair go. The curls were out of control in this humidity, and hell if I used product in it. I was about ready to shave all the shit off.
I stopped in the kitchen to grab a bottle of…well, not wine, since apparently, I didn’t have any. Why hadn’t I gone grocery shopping yet? I didn’t even have beer, a fact I’d not noticed until this very moment.
What I did have was a dubious looking bottle of coconut rum. I didn’t know where it had come from. I certainly didn’t drink that stuff. But it was rude not to bring an offering, and I was already running late.
Hmm, maybe Lucky could—
Nah, I’d asked him for enough already. Last thing I needed was for him to bring a keg to Luna’s shindig.
To try to make the rum look like a better hostess gift, I slapped a bow on the side of the bottle that had fallen out of a box of Christmas crap and been trampled underfoot. I rubbed the footprint off and tried to perk it up then shrugged.
It was the thought that counted, right?
I tucked it under my arm and stepped out into the hallway, smiling as I heard the music coming from upstairs. It wasn’t loud, just enough to indicate people were enjoying themselves.
Hopefully, I would too.
I grimaced as I headed down the hall then upstairs to the roof. My foot looked stupid with my bandaged toe sticking out of my sandal but it was too damn hot for real shoes. Not to mention I wasn’t stuffing it into a toe box quite yet.
Just before I opened the door, the music switched to that Luna-style sexy stuff that had lured me the first time I saw her.
I grinned. Auspicious sign.
I opened the door and blinked at the softly lit space. There were colorful pillows and flickering candles and that low, erotic music offset by easy feminine laughter. A few women were roaming around or clustered near each other in the oversized round chairs that doubled for sun worshipping. The table held a serious spread of food, most of it light and summer-friendly. A lot of watermelon and delicate finger food.
My stomach growled. Where were the meat and potatoes?
Then Luna stepped forward in a loose romper-looking one-piece thing the exact color of the cantaloupe in the fruit platter, and I forgot all of my hunger needs except one in particular.
For her, backlit by candles and with the breeze fluttering in her long hair.
Surprise made her smile falter. “Caleb? What are you doing here?”
Tabitha popped up from a seat near the wall that surrounded the rooftop space. “I invited him. Hope that’s okay. And…oh.” She lifted her hand to her mouth on a self-conscious laugh. “Guess I was too late there, huh?”