Stripped Down (Tap That)

Rick had known via Sullivan she was a trophy wife to her doctor husband, who was a dozen years older than them. That she had gotten a divorce was interesting. Sullivan hadn’t mentioned it. But then again, Sullivan was wrapped up in his grief these days. He hadn’t been sharing much of anything. “Never turn down family offering to help, Sullivan. And I hope she’s happy.”

He meant it. He didn’t really harbor ill will towards Sloane for what had happened when they were teens. Life moved on after high school and people changed. Grew up. Rick threw back his shot and let it burn all the way down his throat. He was grateful for the warning though. It would have sucked to have run into Sloane on the street one day. He just might still be capable of drooling over her.

Axl clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re happy she’s single, aren’t you?”

Yes. He wouldn’t mind a crack at her. One night with his teenage fantasy. But he scoffed because he’d never admit that shit out loud. “No. Of course not. I wouldn’t wish divorce on anyone.”

Unfortunately, his friends had known him too long.

“Stay away from my sister, asshole,” Sullivan said. “She doesn’t need your manwhore self messing with her head right now.”

“It’s not her head I want to mess with,” he said, grinning.

Sullivan’s nostrils flared. “Don’t push me, man. I’ll knock you the fuck out. That divorce did a number on her.”

So she hadn’t wanted the divorce. That was also interesting.

“When does she get back?” He wasn’t concerned about Sullivan’s threats. He wasn’t really going to go there.

“Couple months. She’s wrapping everything up in Minneapolis.”

“Interesting,” Rick said, because it was. “Does she need an apartment? I have one opening up in my building. Tell her to call my sister.” The shop he owed had several apartments over it and a tenant was moving out in several weeks. He was intrigued by the idea of working with Sloane overhead. In the shower. Naked. He cleared his throat.

“Man, still crushing on the cheerleader,” Axl said, lifting his eyebrows. “Dude, that’s pathetic.”

That was a little too close to home for Rick’s comfort. But he was determined to act indifferent. “What’s pathetic is how your dick is going to look up on stage next to mine.”

Axl snorted.

Lilly shook her head. “I should have known I just condemned myself to three months of posturing, penis talk, and a constant need to one-up each other.”

“That’s what you get for being one of the guys,” Sullivan said, pushing a shot glass over to Lilly.

Rick heard her sigh. But she took the shot like a champ.

He caught her eye and gave her a smile. Hey, at least they were together in their long-standing crushes on an O’Toole sibling.

* * *

“Happy Birthday!” Emily said, giving Sloane a big hug. “Oh, my God, this is so much fun!”

Sloane thought fun might be overstating it just a tad. Or a lot. Like a big-ass lot.

Sure, it had all the elements of an awesome thirtieth birthday party. Male strippers, old friends, and cocktails.

Cocktails which she was sipping faster than she should be because nothing about this particular night was standard fare.

The strippers were guys she thought of more as brothers than sex symbols, and the drinks were being poured by her father. Add in that the whole strip show was for charity in memory of her sister-in-law who had passed away a year ago almost to the day, with her brother still visibly wearing his grief, and none of it felt like a celebration of the big 3-0.

What it actually felt like was the very definition of awkward.

A sad, weird little mix of shit that didn’t belong together. Like her life. Like her and Tom, her newly ex-husband. And his brand-new boyfriend, Javier, who was so damn good looking it made Sloane feel even more inadequate than she already had when she learned her husband had been pretending to be straight for the entirety of their marriage. While dating Javier for the last six months of it.

Which no one here knew. Not even her father or her brother.

It was just not something she wanted to talk about. Or admit. How did you love someone for years and not notice something that fundamental about who they w

ere?