Giving Fat Louise a kiss on the cheek and a hug as she patted her baby bump, she then turned to Killyama.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Ginny gave her a mischievous look and did it anyway. Killyama stood stiffly as she received her hug and peck on the cheek. At least she didn’t beat the hell out of her. Giving her friends the chance to say hi first, T.A. stepped forward, holding her arms open. Ginny threw her arms around her, hugging her back.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you more,” Ginny whispered back. “Trudy, your hair looks amazing.”
“She looks hot, doesn’t she?” Sex Piston bragged.
“We’re missing the game,” Killyama said, going back on the bed and taking a slice of pizza from one of the gigantic boxes sitting in the middle. The hotel room had two queen-sized beds and a couch. There were pizza boxes on each of them and several bottles of tequila sitting around the room.
“Kentucky is losing.”
“They’ll catch up,” Ginny said as she and T.A. held hands and sat on the edge of the bed.
Giving them writhing glances, Ginny took her shoes off, then climbed onto the bed. “You guys started without me?”
“Bitch, tequila waits for no woman.”
Ginny nabbed two chicken wings and two pieces of pizza, putting them on her paper plate. “Who was suckered into buying this time?” Ginny leaned sideways to grab one of the tequila bottles just out of Killyama’s reach.
“We all bought our own.” T.A. snatched another bottle away from Killyama’s reach.
“Since when? Not one of you bitches have paid me back.”
“I told you I’d pay you back when I find an ATM,” Trudy said, trying to sneak another one away from Killyama.
“You don’t even have an ATM card.” Killyama snorted in disbelief.
“Yes, I do.”
“Then let me see it,” Killyama said, calling her bluff.
“I left it at home. Come on, let me have one of the bottles.” Her sister gave a pout that made Fat Louise proud, sneakily trying to reach for the bottle again.
“Don’t make me take out my taser. I’ll let you have one when we get home,” she said snidely.
“Be nice, Killyama. Let her have it,” Ginny said, opening her own bottle to take a drink.
“Why should I?”
“Being nice has its own rewards,” she said piously.
“Who in the hell told you that shit?” Sex Piston angrily pointed a slice of pizza at her.
“Pastor Dean.”
All in the hotel room started cracking up.
“That’s convenient.” Wiping a tear of laughter away, Crazy Bitch continued a game of tug-of-war over the tequila bottle with Trudy.
Ginny settled herself comfortably on the bed next to her sister, sitting cross-legged and propping the tequila bottle on the inside of her thigh. Taking a bite of her pizza, she gazed lovingly at the women gathered around her.
“I heard you had fun at your graduation party, Crazy Bitch.”
The women stopped laughing and drinking.
Ginny swallowed her bite of pizza around the lump in her throat. It wouldn’t be first or the last milestone she had missed since being reunited with Trudy. Ginny had to constantly remind herself that it was yet another price she had to pay for her actions when she had been too young to understand some ramifications were lifelong.
“Willa told me that thumb trick worked like a charm on Jenna.” Ginny gave a small laugh, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
“Didn’t work as well as biting a motherfucker’s lip off, but you have to work with what’s available.”
“Yes, you do.” Ginny took another drink of her tequila, trying to wash the memories of Carter Dawkins away.
“How are you liking working for The Last Riders?” Sex Piston astutely changed the subject.
“I love it. It’s less work than the diner and I get to work with Willa most of the time.”
“She make some more off those bourbon cupcakes? Crazy Bitch and Killyama both swear they were ninety proof.”
“More like a hundred.” Ginny informed them, thinking of the innocent woman’s reaction when she had suggested that she should buy a lower-proof bottle or a flavored extract after two more batches had failed. Crazy Bitch, Trudy, and Killyama had reaped the rewards from the failures. Fat Louise was pregnant, and Sex Piston was breastfeeding and had complained about having to miss out on the cupcakes that Ginny had renamed from drunken to obliterate.
“You like her a lot, don’t you?”
Ginny heard the faint tinge of jealously in her sister’s voice.
“It makes it easier when we have to go long periods without seeing each other.”
Trudy reached out, placing a hand on her knee. “At least it’s better since we’ve become friends with Beth. Hammer nearly killed us when he found out about the stunt we pulled at the gas station, becoming friends with her. He still gives us hell about it.”
“He was only letting you meet a couple of times a year. I told him I was tired of my bitch missing her baby sister.” Sex Piston shrugged. “It works a hell of a lot better this way. You get to see each other more, and we can keep track of what’s going on with each other. Plus”—her expression softened—“I was able to add another bitch to my arsenal.”