One Wild Ride (Lords of Mayhem 2)

“Are we really going back to the scene of the crime?” Hilary said.

“Crime? I met my future husband here.” Juliette shoved her lightly and she laughed.

“I kid, I kid.” Hil held her hand up in surrender, and Joey shook

her head.

Lunch hadn’t worked out with Evonne’s schedule, so they decided to ease the path to ambush with cocktails and dancing.

“Where is the ball and chain? I’m shocked he let you out of his sight,” Joey teased with a wink.

“Are we talking about me or you? You and Moose were holed up the entire week,” Juliette retorted.

“He was gone for a while.” Joey shrugged.

“A whole week,” Hil repeated.

“Someone’s got it bad,” Juliette taunted.

“Shut up,” Joey mumbled, putting on a finishing coat of red lip gloss. “I declare myself beautified and ready to party my ass off. You still playing DD, Hil?”

“Yeah, I have no desires to lose my inhibition. Lord knows I’d end up a sobbing, mascara-smeared mess.” Hil shook her head.

“’Rents still playing tug-o-war?” Joey asked, wrapping an arm to give her friend a quick hug.

“Yes, which is stupid. I mean, it’s not like I have to choose one of them to live with.” Hil rolled her eyes. “I understand my mom feels betrayed and Dad royally fucked up. But he’s still my dad. I can’t just cut him out completely.” Hil sighed. “I’m also not ready to cozy up to his home-wrecking hussy either. I mean how cliché, the secretary? It’s insane how I look at them now and think maybe I never knew them. Because if they were the golden couple they appeared to be on the surface, how the hell could this be going on?” She tucked a few curls behind her ears. “Makes me doubt my ability to judge people, and I don’t even know what I think about true love now. They were always my example…ugh.” She shook her head. “This isn’t where I want my head to be tonight.”

Juliette added a hug of her own. “There’s no way you could’ve known if your mother didn’t. Some people are good at playing a role, and your dad’s job took him away a lot. It made it easier.”

“I know that logically. But since when do emotions follow logic?” Hil concluded.

“Never, that’s why they fucking suck,” Joey said.

Juliette laughed. “Oh yeah, Moose is rubbing off on you. Any minute now, you’ll be hitting us with an eh.”

“Oh fuck you.” Joey gave them the middle finger, and they laughed. She didn’t mind being the butt of the joke when comic relief was needed.

“Evonne should be getting here soon, shouldn’t she?” Juliette wondered. Her brows drew together.

Joey frowned. “What’s up, Jul, you look worried.”

“Nothing, I’ve just been thinking about our last conversation a lot recently. I want to meet this guy, and I want to hear her side of it. If I even get the hint something’s wrong…”

“We go to operation lockdown,” Hil said. The determination in her voice left no room for argument.

“Operation, what?” Joey asked. “Did I miss something, because I know of no such plan?”

“Not a plan, just a concept,” Juliette said.

“Well, she’s a grown-ass woman, so I don’t know how we’d make her do anything.” Joey said. “I don’t want her to feel like she walked into the Spanish Inquisition. If we make her feel cornered, it could push her even closer to him.”

“I don’t care if we cock-block her ass to death and dodge her every move. We have to look out for each other. Besides, with Gadget’s skills it wouldn’t be hard,” Hil said.

Joey exchanged a surprised look with Juliette. “Whoa, we’re on favors territory?” Joey asked.

“Do we have another Mayhem love connection?” Jul said.

“No, nothing like that. He’s a great reference for my books,” Hil said, delivering a dismissive wave of her hand.