for how bad you were in bed and accidentally knocking me up.”
“Hey!” I complained, peeling her arms off my neck and shifting her back into her chair. “I don’t exactly remember you being any better. I should probably warn Mark.”
“Trust me. He already knows better.” She shot me a wink and then stood up. “I need to get going.”
“What?” Lex complained. “You can’t leave. You’re almost engaged. This calls for champagne on Cal’s bill.” She lifted the empty pitcher. “Or at the very least another round.”
“I can’t,” Lauren said without the faintest hint of regret coloring her voice. “Judy and David have Jack for a few more hours, so I promised Mark if all went well here, I’d meet him for drinks some place”—her cheeks pinked all over again—“private.”
Jesus. She’d caught it bad. As far as I knew, the only time her face had turned that red was when Jack was three and packed his sword—a.k.a. a pink dildo—in his overnight bag he took to her parents’. It was a lot of fun when she’d lied and told them it was mine. I was told her parents still prayed for me every Sunday at church.
We all slid out of the booth, and one by one, we took turns hugging her, exchanging greetings, congratulations, and goodbyes in one simple gesture.
And then she was gone again. Unfortunately, that was how the majority of our interactions went with Lauren.
“I, uh, think we’re going to head out too,” Cal announced.
Vanessa peered up at him, a huge smile on her face. For all of her annoying qualities, she did love Cal something fierce.
“What?” Lex exclaimed. “You can’t leave. You just got here. We haven’t even ordered food yet.”
“Yeah, well, you two are on your own for dinner tonight.” His lips split into a wolfish grin, and if I wasn’t mistaken, his hand slipped down to his wife’s ass. “Vanessa and I have more pressing things to do at the moment.”
Lex curled her lip and balled up a napkin before throwing it at her brother. “Gross. Get out of here with that shit.”
He waggled his dark brows and then knocked his knuckles on the table. “Have a good night. I know we will.”
“See you on Saturday!” I called after him.
He spun to face me and pointed. “No pool, Hudson. I’m serious.”
I had no doubt he was. He was also getting a fucking pool.
“Okay,” I lied, lifting my hands in surrender.
He gave me a quick chin jerk and then ushered his wife out of the bar.
“He’s getting a pool, isn’t he?” Lex slid into the booth across from me.
I lifted my beer to my lips and mumbled, “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
“You in for another pitcher?” she asked, searching the bar for Carmen.
“Depends. You think we can drink away the fact that Cal and Lauren are both getting laid tonight and we’re two sad sacks alone at a bar, debating if we can split a second pitcher?”
She stared at me in all seriousness, her long lashes blinking over her deep-green eyes. “I mean, I’m willing to give it a shot if you are.”
I was, and only part of that had to do with the fact that I’d just found out I had to meet my son’s future stepfather on Saturday night.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Yeah. I could do another drink.”
We spent so much time at Huey’s that it didn’t require ordering anymore. Lex made eye contact with Carmen and, a few minutes later, a fresh pitcher of beer landed on the table between us.
Lex gave us each a cold pour, asking, “So, how do you really feel about the whole Lauren thing?”
I slanted my head to the side and eyed her curiously. “About the same as I felt when Cal told us he was going to propose.”
Her face lit. “Oh, so we’re doing shots tonight?”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “No, smartass. I’m fine with Lauren getting married. She’s my friend. You know it was never like that with us.”
“What kind of friend? The kind that gets a fifty-dollar discount or a whole damn swimming pool?”
I loved fucking with her, so I pretended to think about it for a minute. “Good point. You think I can get a two-for-one deal with my plumbers if I do her pool at the same time as Cal’s?”
Her eyes narrowed into slits. “That’s it. As soon as I get home, I’m forbidding Beep and Boop from ever speaking to you again.”
I feigned agony and clutched my chest. “How will I ever recover?”