Cassandra nods. “Yes, he was there.” She doesn’t say anything else. Clearly, she doesn’t want to talk about it. I wonder if she doesn’t like Carter. He’s been nice enough the small handful of times I’ve been around him.
The waiter arrives again with five more drinks. He smiles. “Five Santa’s Little Ho mixed drinks for you ladies.”
I roll my eyes while the three of them laugh.
After the waiter leaves, Izzy smiles “So, Melis, will threesomes become a part of your regular routine?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. It was definitely great, and I’m glad for the experience, but those aren’t the kinds of guys I want to spend time with.”
I sigh. “I’m not twenty-two with all the time in the world for crazy experiences. I genuinely want to find someone. I’m just not sure he’s out there. He may not exist.”
Rayne gives me a sad smile. “Except Africa guy.”
I’m hit with a wave of sadness. I would give anything to feel half of what I felt for Declan with any other man. We barely spent any time together, yet he consumes so many of my thoughts, both clean and dirty. He awakened something in me that I didn’t know was there.
I sigh. “He’s on the other side of the world. It doesn’t matter. I think that maybe I’ve built up the attraction in my head. Maybe I’m misremembering it.” I’m not. I was desperately attracted to him. I know because I’ve never felt that way before or since, and if I’m being honest with myself, I still feel it because I still think of him often.
Rayne gives me a knowing look. We’ve been friends for nearly thirty-five years. She knows what’s going on inside my head.
Just then, the waiter returns. He’s got five more drinks. “Another round for you ladies.”
I narrow my eyes at Cassandra as I speak to the waiter. “What do we have this time?”
“We have Red-Headed Sluts, but I was instructed to use Pineapple Juice instead of Cranberry Juice so we can call it a Blonde-Headed Slut.” He says it with a completely straight face.
Even I can’t help but join in on the laughter this time. Cassandra is crazy, but I can admit that I’ve come to appreciate her crazy.
Thanks to Cassandra, I have way too much to drink. The last thing I remember is her talking me into going to Darian and Jackson’s house.
Jackson
It’s early in the morning and I see Melissa walking down the stairs of my house looking like she’s at death’s door.
She holds her head and moans when she sees me. I’m on the far side of our kitchen island. I have a bottle of Advil and a bottle of water waiting for her on the near side. She grabs it, nods in gratitude, and then takes a few Advil and the whole bottle of water in one shot.
She looks up at me. “I don’t even remember coming here last night. I don’t remember seeing you, assuming I did.”
I nod. “It’s a good thing you don’t remember. You’d be humiliated.”
She covers her eyes. “Ugh. I’m sorry. Damn Cassandra. She got me drunk. Tell me what I did.”
I shake my head. “I’ll let Cassandra fill you in on those details. Just know that it was highly inappropriate, and you owe my wife an apology.”
She lets out a deep breath in regret. “Absolutely. Is she here?”
“No. She had an early meeting. I stuck around to talk to you.”
She nods. “I’ll apologize when I see her at the wedding, if not before.”
“Thank you.” I pause for a brief moment. “What’s going on with you? This isn’t like you. I’ve never seen you behave or talk like you did last night. Something’s wrong.”
She gives me a sad look. “Jackson, I’m not your problem anymore. You don’t need to do this. We don’t need to have this conversation.”
I can’t believe she’d say that to me. “Melissa, we were married for nearly twenty-five years. We have three sons together. Three grandkids. We basically grew up together. How can you possibly think that all of a sudden, I don’t care? I don’t see you as a problem. I see you as a person I care about that’s clearly hurting and is clearly going through something. Talk to me.”
Tears well in her eyes. I move to the other side of the island and take her in my arms. She briefly sobs into my chest.
I rub her back and whisper, “Talk to me.”