“That would be pretty wild,” Mark said and I felt my stomach start to tighten. Wild?
I thought he said that Adam acted all mopey going out without me. What happened to mopey?! Mopey was very different than wild.
“Better not make it too wild or he’ll be staying a bachelor,” Cam laughed.
“Oh come on,” Braden replied. “We haven’t all really hung together except to watch sports in months.” What was that supposed to mean? What would they be “watching” instead?
“No sports?” Mark asked. “Does that include nude co-ed mud wrestling?” I heard the others laugh, including Adam.
I guess that answered my question. Those f**kers were actually going to go watch other women get naked and … cavort. And God knows what else! I knew I shouldn’t be standing there listening, but I wanted to hear what my beloved had to say before I moved on.
“Sounds like a blast. Just make sure you don’t get me in any trouble,” Adam said and I wondered what exactly he meant by that. Was it “don’t plan anything that would upset Lily” or “don’t plan anything Lily might find out about?”
I stalked off to the parlor again. When I got there, the other three were engaged in an animated conversation about belly dancing lessons, so I just sat on the sofa dwelling and stewing and stewing and dwelling. Okay, deep breath, Lil. You are an open-minded woman and you trust Adam. Even if he goes off with his … friends and watches strange women shake their tits, that doesn’t mean he would cheat on you, or love you any less.
I really didn’t have a problem with him keeping his p**n collection. Hell, I would even watch it with him. So, why was this different? I knew the answer to that, though. Because a p**n o wouldn’t be giving him a lap dance. There was a whole lot that a person could argue wasn’t really “cheating.” And besides, we were about to get married. We were still in the scorching hot part of our relationship. Why did he need to see some other chick shake her tits?
So what was I going to do? Ask him not to go? No. I wasn’t going to do that, but he wasn’t the only one who could go out on the town in Vegas.
“Lily? Honey, are you okay? Jess asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“Sorry.” I realized then that I had been scowling and hugging my waist. My legs were crossed and the top one was bouncing frantically. My body language screamed “pissed off.”
“If you don’t want to take belly dancing lessons …” Gab began.
“It’s not that. I just overheard the guys planning a wild Vegas bachelor party for Adam.” By the looks on their faces, Gab and Jess weren’t any more excited to hear that news than I was.
“They’re probably just planning to hang out and have a few drinks together,” Beth said giving us a calm reassuring smile.
“There was mention of nude co-ed mud wrestling,” I noted.
“Oh my God,” Gab said making thoroughly disgusted face.
“Are you sure they were being serious?” Beth asked.
“I’m not sure about the nude co-ed mud wrestling but they were serious about having a wild bachelor party in Vegas.”
“Well, if they can go out and be ‘wild’ then so can we, honey,” Jess said, mirroring my own thoughts. “Vegas bachelorette parties can be fun too.”
“I’ll help you plan it,” Beth offered. “I’m an actual bachelorette, and I wouldn’t really mind having a wild time.”
We all felt like changing the subject, so we started talking about other things, including our last month working on opposite sides of the courtroom and plans for the new legal clinic. We were all really excited about having our own practice and taking on good, challenging cases. Yes, even me, who didn’t even think that she wanted to be a lawyer.
“I can’t wait,” Gabrielle said with a sigh. “My days of defending peckers and naked drunk drivers are over.”
“No more trials with fifty nuns as prosecution witnesses,” Jess agreed.
“And the offices are within walking distance of O’Malley’s, where we can finally all sit at the same table on Fridays after work,” Gab said toasting with her bottle of water.
“I’m jealous of all of you,” Beth said, surprising me.
“You can sit at our table too, honey,” Jess said.
“You’re not allowed to be jealous of anyone,” I teased. “You’re not only smart and gorgeous. You’re rich too. How is that fair?”
“Well, thanks, but I meant that I would love to do something like what you guys are doing. You know, opening a practice dedicated to fighting for just causes. There’s just something so exciting and romantic about that,” Beth answered, leaning forward and knitting her brows.
“Well, you’re going to help make that possible, Beth,” Gab reminded her. “Braden and I can’t fund this forever with our own money. We need someone with your skills to write for grants, organize fundraising events, find community support and make connections for us.”
“I know, and I appreciate the opportunity,” she said with a sigh. “I just wish I could be more directly involved.”
“Gab turned Cam and Jess into investigators, maybe you’ll wind up being one too,” I suggested. “That would be exciting I would think.”
“Oh yeah!” Jess said with a laugh and rolled her eyes.
“In the meanwhile,” Gab added, “there’s always fiction for romance and excitement. So, Lily, when do we get another dirty book from you?”
“I haven’t had a chance to really focus on it in a while, but as soon as the wedding is over and I’m settled in the new job, I’m really going to work to get another book out. I don’t want to go too long without releasing one.”
“Is Adam helping you research?” Jess asked, lowering her voice.
“Product testing,” Gab answered and quietly filled Jess in on the Bruno story. She was suitably embarrassed for me but also found it very funny. In retrospect, though, even I found it kind of funny now that I was feeling less traumatized.
“I’m really glad that I’ve been warned,” Beth said with a laugh. “Next time I doggie sit, my big girl toys get locked away. Losing my vibrator at this point would be a personal tragedy.”
“It’s just wrong that you don’t have easy access to safe, discreet sex,” I said. “I wish Mark would just ignore the Bro Code for one freaking night.”