It helped with the dead animal feel in her mouth, but she desperately wanted a shower.
And her toothbrush.
Luckily, Jinx wasn’t paying attention when Ivy came out, so Chloe sprinted for the bathroom and slammed the door in her face with smile. The fact that she rarely was allowed a long shower made her linger a little longer than she normally would.
A twang of homesickness started to grow, but she sloughed it away with an orange blossom scrub she’d found on the counter. Talk about high end cosmetics. Some were from the spa, but the ones offered by the hotel were just as luxurious.
Scrubbed pink as a lobster, she finally gave into the pounding from Jinx. She shrugged on her robe of glory and made a turban with her towel for her hair. A plume of steam escaped as she opened the door. “So impatient.”
“Dude, you were in there for days.”
“The day you have a two-year-old is the day I’ll feel sorry for taking extra time.”
“Bah.” Jinx gathered all her toiletries and sailed through the door. “If you used all the hot water, I’m cutting off your hair and selling it on eBay.”
“Is everything violence with you?”
Jinx turned around with a tight smile. “I said cut your hair, not scalp you, didn’t I?” And she shut the door.
Ivy was sprawled on the bed nearest the window. She swung her crossed ankles. “She’s in a surprisingly good mood this morning—well, afternoon now.”
“Not sure how you guys do the living together thing.”
“Eh. We just stay out of each other’s way on the shitty days. Otherwise she’s barely home anyway.”
Jinx worked more jobs than she did, and that included motherhood.
“So, my sister mentioned nails. There’s a cool mani-pedi place on the seventeenth floor we can try. There’s a bunch of eateries there too. Hydrate up for tonight.”
Chloe sat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah, the concert will definitely require that.” She was excited to see Brooklyn Dawn. They were one of her favorite bands. Oh, to be lush and blond with hair down to her ass. Not to mention having men drool over her. Lindsey York was amazing, and her voice was kickass.
There’d been a time when she’d longed for that kind of life. Dating a rockstar had been thrilling at first, then reality had splashed a bucket of cold water on that dream. She’d hated wondering where Snake was every night—hated that trust was in short demand.
She’d never had proof that he was unfaithful, but she’d been too afraid to dig for answers. He’d tried desperately to get clean so many times. She wanted to believe in him. Longed to believe in him with each hopeful smile he’d given her.
Swallowed every lie. For her own sake, and for the life that had been growing inside of her. Axl hadn’t been planned, but he was the very best of both of them. Snake’s charm and crooked smile, her helpfulness.
Ivy rolled to a sitting position and snapped her fingers. “Earth to Chloe.”
“Sorry.”
“Axl’s fine.”
Chloe rolled her eyes and gave her friend a sheepish grin. “For once it wasn’t Axl.”
“Oh.” Ivy nibbled on her lower lip. “Snake?”
“Yeah. Usually I’m too busy to think about him to be honest. I’m not used to being free to do what I want.”
“You deserve to have some freedom and some fun. Sunday we can go back to being responsible people.”
“You’re right.”
“See? I don’t get to hear that one often.” Ivy stood up and wiggled her hips until her shorts straightened out. “We may not be gambling types, but we are definitely exploring types. And we don’t even have to leave the hotel. Which is a good thing.” She picked up her phone. “It’s, ummm, one-hundred-and-fourteen degrees outside.”
Chloe flinched. “That’s hideous.”
“Yeah. So, air conditioned hotel it is. We’ll get all beautified and find some new outfits.”
Chloe scrunched up her shoulders. “I brought stuff.”
“Come on. When do you get spoiled? This is a once in a lifetime thing.”
“Nick is just being nice.” And he already spoiled her son plenty.
“Our mere thousand dollars’ worth of—”
“Thousand?” Chloe spluttered. “More like three.”
“It’s chump change to him. He probably spends that on guitar strings.”
Chloe hauled her suitcase onto the bed and pulled out shorts and a very cute Target top. This was plenty for her. She didn’t need three-hundred dollar shirts. “That’s not the point.” Where the hell was her bra?
“Just check your phone, would you?”
Chloe stopped digging and looked up. “What about my phone?”
“You got a text. I didn’t look at it really. Well, I