arrive. Trix waves as I hand my lightweight jacket to the girl at coat check.
Lewis is at the bar. He smiles when he spots me then turns to the tender, probably adding my favorite cocktail to the order.
I try not to beam at him as I make my way across the crowded room to join my friends. I have news, and I don’t want to give it away because I can’t control my facial features. I heard back from the Gladstone Group this afternoon. They’ve given us the go ahead. I could jump out of my skin with excitement.
Lewis gets to the table at the same time I do. He places the tray of drinks down and hands Trix a drink that is layers of color. From yellow to purple to the same blue as her eyes. “For my sweet.”
“Thank you, babe.” She smiles up at him, the way she always does. Like he didn’t just hang the moon and stars, but started the big bang too. Of course, the big bang could be why she’s so enamored with him. I walked in on them once, and, well, suffice it to say, he’s got skills beyond carpentry.
I shake the memory out of my head. Gross. He’s my best friend and so is she and if luck had been on my side I would never have seen either of them naked.
Kiki takes a sip of her lime green margarita. “I’m so glad it’s Friday. I’ve been thinking about drinking since Tuesday.”
“Sounds like your boss is a real hard-ass,” I say, taking the drink Lewis offers me. A blue curacao margarita.
“She’s awful,” Kiki quips. “Demanding. Expects me to be able to read her mind. A real pain in the ass.”
I laugh and so does she. The amount of times I’ve been about to ask for something and she’s already on top of it takes some Jedi mind skills. “I have—”
“We have some news,” Lewis blurts over me, tucking Trix in close to his body.
I glance at Kiki who has the same I have no idea expression I probably do. She shrugs.
Trix presses her lips together, but it doesn’t hide the secretive smile stealing over her face as she and Lewis exchange a look.
“We’re pregnant,” he announces, beaming. Light seems to literally shine from him. Okay, clearly no one has stuck a torch up his sphincter and turned it on so that light shines out of every other orifice, but he’s so happy he glows.
“That’s awesome.” Kiki throws herself at them, wrapping her arms around both of them in a congratulatory hug that ends up with half her drink on Lewis’s flannel shirt. “Oops, sorry.”
“That’s okay.” Lewis strips the black and gray flannel off to reveal a simple white T-shirt. He hangs the wet item around his waist and ties the arms together. One of his brows angles up as he stares at me. “You okay?”
“I’m just…” At a loss for words. It’s one thing for my older brother to be having babies. He’s always seemed old. It makes sense. But now my bestie is too. “I’m speechless.”
“Bit of a shock, huh?”
I put my glass on the table so as to not repeat Kiki’s dumped drink and hug him. “Congratulations. I’m so excited for you.”
He hugs me back with one arm. “Thanks, Lilly Pilly.”
I hug Trix too. They’re both so happy, how can I not be happy for them? It’s not like it’s going to affect our careers.
“Hey.” A new voice joins the group. It’s deep and masculine and unfamiliar, but it sounds tall.
The man is tall. And kissing Kiki like they’re quite familiar.
“Dal.” She pushes him away with a smile. “Let me introduce you to my friends. “Lily, Trix, and Lewis.”
“Dalton James,” he tells us enthusiastically. So much so that my arm feels like jelly once he finishes shaking it.
“How long have you been dating?” Lewis asks them.
“A couple of weeks. ” Kiki clings to the man like the Velcro monkey I had when I was little.
“Why didn’t you tell us about him?” I ask. Tonight is… certainly full of revelations.
“It was new,” she says.
“Can I get you another drink, babe?” the new boyfriend asks.
“That would be great,” she replies.
All of us watch him walk to the bar.
“What’s the real reason we didn’t know anything about him?” I ask, hoping it isn’t because she feels sorry for me. I’m happy on my own, and okay, seeing her all gushy and cute about a guy makes me wonder what it would be like,