Everyone grinned as Suzy’s face turned red before she gave her sister a disgusted look. “You tramp,” Suzy mumbled before motioning for Beth to continue.
“Anyway, before Nick came along, I had joined a dating service. I met Seth through it, and we went out a few times casually. After I had found out I was pregnant, I made another date with him just to prove to Nick that I wasn’t ready to settle down.” Shaking her head, Beth winced. “I know it sounds bad, but it was a confusing, hormonal time. Nick just happened to be at the restaurant where I met Seth, and he proceeded to tell him that he was living with me and that we were having a baby together. Seth didn’t waste any time getting out of there. I actually have to give him credit for remaining polite even when his face showed that he was appalled.”
“That’s my man,” Mia said happily. “He can hold it together no matter what the circumstances. And don’t feel too bad, Beth. I managed to embarrass myself in the course of dating him as well. My meddling mother bought him for me at a bachelor auction!”
“No shit.” Emma gave a thumbs-up, looking impressed. “Heck, I thought I was the only one who had to deal with crap like that from her mother. Mine tried to pimp me out all over our home state of Florida from the time I was eighteen. It was actually earlier than that, but it sounds kind of bad to use the words pimp and sixteen in a sentence, doesn’t it?”
“What about now that you’re with Brant?” Claire asked.
Twisting her lips into a wry smile, Emma answered, “Oh no, that man can do no wrong where my family is concerned. He could probably kick their cat and piss on the front door and they’d shove me aside while pulling him in and clapping him on the shoulder. My mother is thrilled that I’ve finally met a man who ‘meets all of my needs.’”
“Ugh, tell me she doesn’t mean sexually?” Crystal shuddered. “Our mom,” she added, pointing to her sister, Ella, “pretends that we were born from Immaculate Conception and frankly that’s one of her lies that I’m more than happy to believe.”
Ella wrinkled her nose. “You’d all have been my age with the V-card as Suzy calls it if you’d lived with our mother. When she walked in on Declan and me in bed together while we were dating, I didn’t think I’d ever recover.”
“I’m surprised Declan was able to get it up again after that,” Crystal added.
Looking like a woman well satisfied, Ella added, “He NEVER has a problem with that—and I mean never.”
Gwen was so wrapped up in the conversation around the table that she jumped when their server put the pizzas that they had ordered on the table. She had been nervous about joining a bunch of strangers for lunch, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much fun or felt such a kinship with a group of women. She loved how they spoke so freely as if they knew that no one at the table would betray their confidences. Even with her earlier worries about her relationship with Dominic, she felt lighter now. Not that she necessarily would, but she could see herself talking to any one of these women about her problems without being judged. She had a feeling that there were many unofficial therapy sessions held during the lunch hour. She had just taken a bite of her pizza when Suzy said, “Gwen, we all want your ass.”
“Pardon?” she choked out around the food in her mouth.
Claire nodded her head, looking at her enviously. “I seriously envy your body. I don’t know how to say this without sounding—weird—but you have the best backside.”
“It’s true,” Beth added. “If I gain a pound, I just get a fat ass. I’ve never had that perfect, round Jennifer Lopez butt.”
“I even got a tattoo on my lower back as a way to bring some attention to mine. I mean, it’s there and all, but it doesn’t stand out. I’m not sure why it matters to me though since no one but me sees it,” Crystal mused.
“I like my butt okay,” Emma added next. “I mean, it’s nothing to write home about, but Brant seems to enjoy touching it—a lot.”
“I’ve always been happy with mine, for the most part, until we became friends,” Mia teased. “Now, when we’re together, I can’t stop looking at yours. I’ve even thought of asking you if I could touch it before, just too see how it felt, but I figured that might give you the wrong idea. I’m totally team penis.”
“I’m team penis, too,” Suzy tossed in, “but I stare at your ass whenever you’re around. I mean, if you were in a room full of women with their boobs hanging out, you’d look wouldn’t you? I keep trying to get Gray to admit that he checks out the size of other men’s peckers when he’s standing next to them at a urinal, but he claims that never happens. He says it’s guy code that all eyes are to face forward.” Winking, Suzy purred, “I’ll tell you one thing, whoever is standing next to my man is going to leave that bathroom with a major case of envy.”
“God, yes, mine, too,” Gwen moaned, before slapping a hand over her mouth.
Crystal tossed her napkin and crossed her arms as she glared at Gwen. “So, it’s big, and he knows what to do with it. You totally suck, and I’m also reconsidering this whole friendship thing with everyone at this table.”
Suzy took a drink of her iced tea before zeroing in on Crystal. “Don’t you worry, girl—we’ll get you a big one of your own. Last time I checked, there was another GI Joe available.”
“Gage is really cute, too,” Ella jumped in. “Declan says he’s a bit of a . . .”
“Man whore?” Emma chimed in. When everyone gaped at her, she shrugged, saying, “What can I say? Brant and I talk about everything.”
When lunch was over, Gwen found herself doing something that she rarely did. She walked out of the restaurant first and grinned peacefully knowing that the ladies behind her were looking at her butt with envy. Yeah, what a difference a good group of friends could make.
* * *
“So, how long until you find out if Gwen has a bun in the oven?” Gage asked, as tactful as ever.
Dominic settled further into the passenger seat and rubbed his fatigued eyes. It had been a long day of overseeing the security setup at a new customer site. It was already almost midnight, and they had just left Charleston. He really just wanted to close his eyes and catch a nap, but he knew that along with being nosy, Gage was also trying to make conversation to stay awake. “I don’t know,” he finally answered. “She hasn’t mentioned it lately.”
“How long does it take to find out?” Gage asked, sounding as if he had no clue. To be truthful, Dom didn’t know either. Like most men, other than maybe a doctor, he didn’t know that much about how a woman’s body worked.
“Hell, if I know,” he admitted.
Dominic could hear the other man’s brain working as he drove down the unusually quiet interstate road. “Well, if they have a period once a month, then it’s probably less than that. How long since the first time you two slept together?”
Thinking back, Dominic replied, “Two or three weeks. She did say something about just having had her period so maybe another week, I guess, before she would know.”
Gage grunted in answer before snapping his fingers. “Hey, what about that pregnancy detector thing that they advertise on television? It says you can find out five days early.”
Shaking his head in amazement, Dominic said, “First off, put both of your hands on the wheel and watch where you’re going, and second, why are you able to quote a pregnancy test commercial line for line? I turn the channel when shit like that comes on. No wonder you’re always telling Mac and me to go buy tampons. I thought it was an insult, but you’re probably an expert or something, aren’t you?”
“Fuck you, Dom,” Gage muttered sounding embarrassed. “For your information, I lost the remote to my television one night and was stuck watching commercials and all. You have no idea how many chick products they advertise during the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. All I have to say is that women have a lot of problems to deal with. It’s pads or tampons. Razors or some hair removal shit. Hormone pills for menopause, whatever the hell that is, and those damn split ends. And don’t even get me started on the wrinkle cream. If they don’t use that stuff night and day, apparently their skin will dry up like the Mojave Desert.”