“You know what? Fuck ’em,” Katie replied, moving onto the waffle that was as wide as her plate. “That’s my motto. Because here’s the deal. They hate on you because you had mutual, consensual humping with some guys who weren’t even involved with anyone, while they worship the dirty-ass ground the guy walks on, like they slipped and fell into your vagina, for doing the same thing? That’s what we like to call dumb double standards, and what we in the business like to also call ‘Mind your own business.’ No matter how many times it’s explained to those kind of people, they aren’t going to understand. Never. Dude, that’s their problem. Not yours.”
“True,” Roxy said, nodding.
“Women are each other’s worst enemy, you know?” Katie continued. “Wives and girlfriends all the time come into the club, pissed off at me, because their husband or boyfriend came there on his own free will. Like, just because I strip, I want to get with their goofy ass husbands.” She rolled her blue eyes so far back I worried they’d get stuck. “And if doing that and having safe and fun times with available dudes makes me a slut, I have no problem getting that tattooed on my middle finger.”
Suddenly, without any one reason I could put my finger on, the back of my eyes started to burn, and I think I fell a little in love with Roxy and Katie at that moment.
These were my people.
Roxy’s gaze bounced from Katie to me, and her smile turned soft and mischievous. “Speaking of guys who are players, players, I have to bring up Nick.”
A strange pressure clenched my chest as I scooped up the last of my omelet. Nick. Oh, Nicky boy. I was so doing my best to not think of him and his parting words.
That you and I are the way we are.
What in the hell was that supposed to mean and why was it a shame? And why did he have to be so freaking hot and really shitty when it came to dealing with the opposite sex? Ugh. Double and triple ugh.
“Yeah,” Katie said. “Now let’s get to the good stuff.” She twisted toward me. “So you and Nick hooked up. Congrats on that. I imagine that was a good and decent hard fucking.”
The fluffy egg and diced bell peppers I’d just eaten almost got stuck in my throat. I swallowed quickly and then dragged in air. “What?”
Finished with her food, Roxy pinned me with a no nonsense stare that would’ve made my mama proud. “We know you hooked up with him.”
“Did he tell you that?” I blurted out.
Roxy grinned. “No, but you just confirmed what we already knew.”
My eyes narrowed. Dammit. “If he didn’t, then how did you know?”
“Because of what he said to you when he saw you Friday night in the bar,” Katie explained. “He didn’t expect you to come back. Therefore, that means y’all did the nasty. That’s his M.O.”
“You guys know about his . . . I guess, his rule?” I started to fiddle with the wrapper the straw had come in, folding it like an accordion. Although I had sincerely forgiven him, anger brewed. “Did everyone know about that except me?”
“Well, everyone who knows him does.” Roxy’s brows knitted as she studied me. “He didn’t set up ground rules or something before you all got down to business?”
This was such a weird conversation, when I thought about it. “Not really. At least not in a way that I understood what he was saying. Having a rule where a girl can’t go back to the bar after sleeping with him is about the dumbest thing I’d ever heard of.”
“You’d be surprised by how many chicks he’s hooked up with who’re totally okay with it,” Roxy replied dryly, and then leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table. “But as long as they’re cool with it, too, whatever, but man, when you told him off at the bar, it was freaking priceless. Don’t get me wrong. I consider Nick a friend, and we get along because we’re just friends, but I wished I had thought to record that.”
I’m glad she hadn’t.
“I’m so disappointed I missed that.” Katie sighed heavily. “But you gave him hell. He needs that. Hell, most people need that every now and then.”
“Oh man, and when he jumped over the bar to stop you from leaving?” Roxy fanned her face with her hand. “I need to get Reece to do that at least once a week for me.”
I coughed out a laugh. “Yeah, that was kind of impressive.”
“And I also missed that.” Katie pouted. “Such bullshit.”
Roxy grinned. “So are you going to give us the details?”
“Apparently you all already know everything.” I straightened out my straw wrapper and then began folding it again. “Not many details left.”
“There’s always detail,” Katie corrected. “But I don’t have to ask if he’s good or not, because one look at him tells me he’s good at it.”
A flush stained Roxy’s cheeks. “And that’s not the kind of detail we’re asking for. I know he went to see you after he left Mona’s Friday night. His car was in the condo parking lot.”
So he did drive a car. I shook my head. “He did stop by Friday night, but we didn’t do anything. He actually came over to apologize to me.”
Roxy’s brows climbed her forehead as she exchanged a look with Katie. “Say what?”
I glanced at the bedazzled girl next to me. “He came over to apologize for the way he acted.” I paused. “Obviously, that must be shocking behavior for him.”