really cool.
By the time we were outside, I did a twirl and laughed when Coop caught me and began dancing me backward. “Did you have fun?”
“Did I have fun?” I stared up at him. “Yes, I had fun.”
He chuckled. I bounced up on my tiptoes and kissed him and then worked my way through each of them until I got to Archie last when we were by the car, and I kissed him fiercely. “Best. Birthday. Ever.”
Everyone was laughing, and I glanced over at Rachel. When I turned to her, she raised her eyebrows and then I pinched her.
“Ow,” she snapped with a laugh and swatted me. “What the fuck?”
“That’s for throwing me under the bus in there.”
“Girl, you need to seize opportunity when it’s in front of you, and they were actually curious. So send them a song. Maybe nothing happens. Maybe something does. But you would never know if I hadn’t said something.”
She wasn’t wrong, and at the same time, I was elated.
“You up for driving home?” Ian asked me, and I eyed my car. I’d just gotten this. Did I want anyone else to drive it?
“Actually,” I said and looked at Archie, “do you mind? I am kind of giddy drunk on the music and the meeting and the everything…”
“Done,” he said, and Jake tugged me into the backseat while he gave Rachel a gentle nudge toward the front. Archie snorted, but Coop followed and so did Ian. Jake and I were all the way in the back, and Ian and Coop were just in front of us.
Even with the seatbelt on, I nestled right up against Jake, and he hugged me and pressed his lips to my hair.
It really was the best birthday.
Even if the clock on the dash said it was after midnight and my birthday itself was over. The guys promised me all weekend.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gimme a Spanking
The drive back to the apartment kind of drifted by on laughter, sleepy snuggles, and euphoria. I hadn’t been kidding about feeling a little drunk on it all. Drunk even more on the fact that not only had I had a great time, I’d shared it with my favorite people. I found myself staring at Rachel’s profile, or what I could see of it. I wished with everything I had that I could make her happy. The guys might even accept her if I swung that way, or at least they would work on it.
Maybe.
Man, I was drunk. I giggled to myself. At Jake’s arched eyebrow, I’d just given him a kiss and snuggled closer. Despite all of that, I was still half-asleep by the time we got back to the apartment. I offered a bed or the sofa to Rachel if she didn’t want to drive home, but she just laughed at me.
“Hey,” I said as I hugged her tight. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I’m here and I really wish you’d let me help.”
“You help more than you know.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek and then blew a raspberry that made me laugh before she pulled back. “Have a great weekend. I’ll talk to you Monday. Just make sure you hydrate.”
“She’ll be fine, Angel,” Ian told me as I watched her go. “When she’s ready, she’ll tell you.” Yeah, except I had a feeling in this, Rachel was like me. She wouldn’t say anything until she was pushed. I let him tug me inside. It was almost two in the morning, and I was swaying on my feet. We washed up, checked on the cats, and I fell into bed, wearing a pair of panties and a clean T-shirt that Jake had dragged on me. As much as I thought about climbing one or all of them like a tree, I was out before my head hit the pillow.
Some vague part of my brain acknowledged the soft laughter and kisses as I sank into sleep still smiling. I roused when arms wrapped around me and then drifted back off with my nose pressed into Coop’s neck. The next time I opened my eyes, I was too hot. I was pressed right up against Coop, and the sleepy part of my brain said Archie was on my other side. I tried to doze back off, but it was almost too warm.
It took some doing, but I extracted myself, even though Tiddles gave an unhappy meow as he leapt off the bed. Yawning hard enough to make my jaw crack, I headed