weight to help capture the win. She fell on top of the competition, Greg having no choice but to let his hand fall with the onslaught.
“Now, how is that fair?” Greg asked as his hand hit the table, still pinned beneath Christie as Sara fell away.
“Girls rule, that’s how,” Christie retorted, climbing off and slapping Greg’s back. “Ha!” She did a fist pump. “Okay. Bathroom. Sara, let’s go.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“You know, I could be a lot drunker, I think,” Sara said as they walked down the hall.
“It’s because I’ve made you drink one water for every beer. Almost. That’ll help—I’m not kidding.”
“Except I have to pee every five minutes.”
“Better than throwing up every five minutes, which is probably what lies in Sam’s future.”
“True words.”
After they’d used the bathroom, they met up at the mirror. Sara scrubbed the makeup out from under her eyes as Christie brought out lipstick.
“Greg’s kinda hot, huh?” Christie said nonchalantly.
Sara couldn’t help a sly smile. “He is definitely pretty hot, yes.”
“With a nice body.”
“A very nice body.”
Christie rubbed her lips together. With her middle finger, she wiped off a smudge of dusty pink before scanning her face. “And he’s got a good job. I think he gets paid well.”
“He seems nice. He seems like a good guy. Trust me, that’s worth its weight in gold. You need someone sweet that’s going to take care of you.”
“I don’t need someone to take care of me. I make my own money.”
Sara stepped toward the door, waiting. “I’m not talking about paying your bills. I’m talking about respecting you. Taking care of your heart. You need a man to put you first. Someone that’s going to guard you from the beasts of life.”
Christie snorted. “I think I’ll just settle for hot with a great body. If I wait for the guy you described, I’ll probably end up alone with twelve cats.”
“That guy exists. And while I don’t have proof, I do have a great collection of cartoons that are adamant about it.”
Christie laughed and grabbed a paper towel. “I gave my Disney collection away right after I decided I didn’t need to be saved.”
Sara pushed her and smiled. “Shut up, you still have it.”
Christie gave Sara a guilty smile. “Okay, yes, but that’s just because I secretly want to rock Prince Eric’s world.”
Chapter 9
A few hours and a lot of laughs later, things were starting to wrap up.
“You girls ready to go?” Greg asked, returning from settling his bill with the bar.
Sara finished her glass of water alongside Christie. Sam stood against the table, swaying dangerously. He hadn’t slowed his drinking, and his balance showed it.
“Sara, ready?” Sam reached out a heavy hand. Finding what he was looking for, he clumsily rubbed Sara’s back.
“Yeah, uh…” She took a step away. “I think I’ll just use the bathroom real quick. Christie, you have to go?”
“No, I’m good. I’m going to help Greg get Sam to the van.”
Sara nodded and started off, slapping Mikey on the arm as she passed. “At ease, disease!”
A smile lit up his face as he said, “I’ll wait for you.”
“Kewl.”
“Only dorks say cool like that,” Christie hollered, hooking a shoulder under Sam’s arm.
Sara shook her head and smiled as she made her way into the bathroom. She finished up as quickly as possible, only doing a quick glance to make sure she didn’t have makeup all over her face, before rushing out to catch up with the others. Two steps out of the door, she ran into someone heading to the guys’ bathroom.
“Sorry,” she muttered as she stepped to the side to let him pass. The large body stepped with her.
In confusion, she glanced up. A shock of surprise coursed through her. Duke’s handsome face smirked down at her.
“Hi,” he said, stepping closer.
“Oh, uh…” She stepped away, trying to edge around. “Hey. Jake’s here to take us back. So I gotta go.”
“Oh yeah?” He jostled in front of her, his body brushing hers. One of his hands reached for her, pinching skin as she wriggled away. His voice lowered intimately, but Sara could hear the edge to it, clearly frustrated that she kept trying to get around him. “I thought we were into each other at the beginning of the season. What changed? Not rumors, I hope…”
She smiled nervously. “Oh, no. No. I was just busy, is all. No biggie.”
“That’s what I thought.” His eyes glittered with lust as he stepped toward her, backing her toward the end of the hall.
“I have to—”
“Whoa, wait a minute, where