"The girls are with Julianne, so I thought why not." Smiling at her, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "I almost didn’t come in when I heard the music blaring."
She throws her head back and laughs. "Of course you did."
"It was so loud," I say and look around. "And I can still hear it but less."
"Because it’s the outside area," she says. "I was just out there with Becca. Which is why I’m here. We had a business meeting, and then she dragged me here."
"Well, then it’s my lucky night," I say, and she smiles up at me.
"If you play your cards right, it might get luckier," she teases, and I just shake my head.
"And why is that?" I ask.
"I won’t steal any of your food since I’m full," she says, and I laugh. She grabs my hand. "Come on, let's get some food in you."
We walk over to the table where everyone is sitting. Candace gets up and comes over to me, kissing my cheeks and giving me a hug. "I’m so happy you are here."
"Thanks," I say to her, my eyes looking for Erika as she sits in one of the empty seats. "It’s good to be out."
I walk to the empty chair beside Erika, and the waitress comes over and takes my order. I put my hand around her chair and lean back, taking in the conversations going on. She leans over. "Why are you so quiet?"
"I’m just …" I start to say as the waitress sets my plate in front of me. "I’m good."
I sit up and look around the table seeing everyone with their plates in front of them, except Becca, who smiles at Nico. "That looks good," Erika says, and I laugh.
"I thought you were full," I remind her, cutting a piece of the steak and holding it out for her.
"Are you giving me your meat?" she jokes with me, and I can’t help but laugh at her stupid joke.
She leans in and takes the little piece. "No more," she says, chewing and then orders a glass of sparkling water.
"How are you getting home?" I ask when we walk out of the restaurant an hour later.
"I have this thing called a car." She laughs, pushing me. "It comes with four wheels and everything."
"Suddenly, she’s a comedian.” I roll my eyes, when I spot her SUV. "You want to stay at the condo?"
"Nope," she says, coming to me and kissing my cheek. "I’m going to go home and sleep in my king-size bed." She turns and walks away from me.
"Will you text me when you get home?" I ask as she unlocks her SUV.
"Nope," she says, laughing as she gets in the SUV. I wait for her to drive toward me, and she stops the SUV and rolls her window down. "It’s going to be fine. It’s forty minutes.”
"Fine, I’ll call you in an hour and a half and wake you up," I threaten and glare. "Talk to you soon." I turn, walking over to my SUV.
"You’re a pain in my ass," she says. She picks up her phone and presses something, and my phone pings. "There, I shared my location with you. You can follow me like you do your Uber orders." She rolls her window back up, leaving me laughing by myself, and I do exactly that. When I see she parked her car, I text her.
Me: Good Night
Erika: Fuck Off
Chapter 10
Erika
The sound of the front door lock makes me open my eyes, and I wonder if I heard properly or if it was in my dream. I lean up on my elbow to see if I heard right, and then I hear the front door open and close. "Oh my god," I say, throwing the covers off me and looking down at my shorts and tank top. I glance around quickly to see if maybe there is a robe to cover myself, but I don’t see anything, and I also don’t wait. I rush to the door when I hear footsteps, and I almost turn and run back to get my phone when I see him walking into the house. He’s wearing track pants and a Dallas shirt, his arms looking unusually huge. His Dallas baseball hat is on his head.
I stand at the top of the staircase, putting my hands on the railing. "What the fuck?" I say, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "You are so lucky I don’t have a gun," I threaten, turning and walking back to my room. I look over at the clock and see that it’s just before 10 a.m. Usually, during the week, I’m up at six and on the treadmill for an hour, and then I do the bike. But on Sunday, I rest. It is a holy day, after all. When I bought this house, I wanted two things. One, a pool and grass and two, a big master bedroom. Well, the master bedroom was okay in size, but I knocked down the wall with the spare bedroom, giving me a giant master bedroom and seating area. I get back into my king-size bed, going in the middle where I sleep.