Chapter 56

Cami

I was on my second drink and already a little tipsy. Having worked as a bartender, Mercy knew how to mix a good drink. She also knew I needed something a little stronger. I’d lost two patients with parents who didn’t want to risk harassment from the media. They weren’t as worried about the current scandal as they were about future scandals.

“Stupid Mitch!” I shouted. “I wish I’d kneed him in the junk.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t,” Bentley replied, her voice a little slurred.

“Bastard needs a harsh kick in the nuts.” Mercy sounded sober but was still willing to jump on the knee Mitch in the junk bandwagon.

I decided to continue with that subject since it was a popular one. “I’ve heard it’s not as easy as people think to knee a guy in the nuts. It’s a move we rely on, but what if it fails? We should take one of those self-defense classes. Do you think they have one that teaches you to nail a guy in the balls properly?”

“I took a self-defense class,” Delaney announced. “They didn’t recommend going for the balls so much as the eyes and throat. It’s easier to get to the eyes.”

I cringed. “There has to be something less messy than gouging out his eyes.”

“You don’t have to gouge them out.” Bentley put two fingers out and made a jabbing motion. “If you poke him in the eyes, he’ll probably back off.”

That didn’t sound too much better. “I don’t want to poke anyone in the eyes.”

Delaney grabbed her purse and pulled out a black stun gun. She hit a button and sparks jumped from the end.

“I’ve heard those things don’t have enough kick to be of any real use,” Mercy remarked as she eyed the stun gun curiously.

“I love this stun gun,” Delaney told her. “I got it from a woman at my gym. It can knock someone on their ass. If you’d had one of these, you could have zapped Mitch in the junk. That would have ended the argument.”

I giggled at the thought. Even in my tipsy state, I recognized that zapping Mitch in the balls would have resulted in an even bigger scandal, but it still sounded fun. “I need one of those.”

“Me too,” Mercy agreed. “It’ll make me feel safer when I’m out.”

There was a brief pause because we were all worried about how much Mercy had shut herself off from the world since she’d been shot. We also knew she was working on her issues in therapy, so we tried to avoid bringing them up. It wasn’t as if Mercy didn’t realize she needed to deal with her problems.

“I’ll get you one the next time I see my friend at the gym,” Delaney replied.

“Just let me know how much it is so I can give you the cash,” I told her.

“Too bad we don’t have anyone to test this on,” Bentley mused. “I’d like to see if it’s as powerful as you say.”

“We can test it on my porn-addict neighbor.”

I giggled at Mercy’s suggestion.

Delaney looked intrigued. “The hot British guy?”

Mercy made a face. “He’s not that hot.”

Having caught a brief glimpse of him once, I had to voice my disagreement. “He is so totally hot. How is it that you can hate a man who looks like that?”

“Looks aren’t everything,” Mercy reminded us.

Delaney snorted. “I might agree with you if he didn’t also have that panty-melting accent.”

“And he seems nice,” Bentley pointed out.

“If he was that nice, I wouldn’t have to listen to his porn,” Mercy argued.

I grinned as a thought occurred to me. “Maybe it’s not porn. Did you ever consider the possibility that your hot neighbor has a lot of loud, kinky sex?”

Mercy shook her head. “I stand by what I said before. There is no way the sounds coming from my neighbor’s place are real. It’s been a few days since one of his porn marathons. I’ll bet if we sit in my room long enough, he’ll start watching it.”

“Let’s do it!” Delaney jumped up and practically skipped into the bedroom. I wouldn’t say I was close friends with Delaney, but she was Bentley’s cousin, so I’d known her for years. As an erotica writer, Delaney believed everyone’s sex life was her business, so it was no surprise that she wanted to listen to Mercy’s neighbor watch porn. She was probably already coming up with some kinky story for him.

Mercy rolled her eyes. “I get to hear it all the time.”

“Do you ever imagine what he’s doing while he’s watching porn?” I asked.

“No!” After her knee-jerk denial, she sighed and continued. “Not often. He is nice to look at, so I’ve had a few moments of weakness.”

Delaney raced out. “Now! It’s happening now!” She quickly darted back into Mercy’s bedroom.

I laughed and stood. “I’m going. You keep telling me about this porn, and now I’m dying to hear the proof.”

Bentley followed me into the bedroom, and we sat on the edge of the bed with Delaney between us.

“I can’t believe we are all listening to my neighbor’s porn,” Mercy muttered from her spot just inside the room.

The loud moaning stopped and then there were several slaps and squeals.

“Yes!” screeched the woman in the video. “I’ve been a naughty girl.”

There were several more slaps and squeals before she started moaning loudly again.

“See what I mean?” Mercy asked as she gestured to the wall. “It’s fake. Even we could do better than that.”

Delaney grinned and shouted, “Oh, Cami, you’ve been a very naughty girl. Now, I’m going to spank you.”

I did my best to hold back my laughter as I loudly replied, “I have been a naughty girl, but shouldn’t we get naked before the spankings start?”

“Spank me, too,” Bentley added. “Please spank me, Laney. I’ve been very bad today.”

Delaney began smacking her own hand as I moaned, “More. Please, discipline me more.”

“It’s my turn,” Bentley whined. “Spank me.”

“He turned it off.” At Mercy’s announcement, we all burst into laughter and raced from the room.

“At least, now you know that having an orgy will get him to stop watching porn,” I told her.

“I can’t see Mercy having an orgy,” Delaney added. “It’s been so long since she’s had a man that her vagina probably hung up an out of business sign.”

“My vagina still gets plenty of attention,” Mercy argued. “Why would I need a man when I’m so good at taking care of my own needs? I am fantastic in bed.”

We all giggled.

“I’m not knocking self-love,” I told her. “It is essential for a woman to know how to take care of her own needs, but some things are better with two.”

“Sometimes, they’re worse with two,” Mercy pointed out.

I’d have argued with Mercy had I not already heard the story of her ex who wanted her to learn to fake orgasms. There were times when a solo session was better.

“Some guys suck,” Delaney agreed. “Then, there are men like my Sebastian who are incredible in bed.”

“Mercy knows there’s good sex,” Bentley told us. “She’ll find a guy when she’s damn good and ready. Not just any man will do for my sister. I love you, Mercedes.”

Mercy laughed and grabbed the glass from Bentley’s hand. “No more for you tonight. I’m going to get you a nice glass of water.”

Bentley stuck out her tongue before collapsing back onto the sofa. “I know we planned this for you, Cami, but I needed this night. Getting ready for the next Reckless Release tour has been stressful. I’ve had two hotels cancel our reservations because they’re still dealing with repairs from storm damage this year. Each said it would be impossible to give us the space they’d promised for the band and security. Now, I’m scrambling to find rooms so the band doesn’t end up having to sleep on the bus.”

“You’re used to scrambling to make things work,” Mercy reminded her.

“You live for this stuff,” I added. “Even when we were in college, you lived for last minute deadlines.”

“She’s right,” Mercy agreed. “Stress is like food for your soul, Benny.”

“Look who’s talking,” Delaney said with a laugh. “Until recently, you owned and worked at two clubs.”

“I’m not doing that anymore,” Mercy argued. “I’ve given up my stressful lifestyle.”

Bentley snorted. “No one believes that. I don’t buy that you’ve just been working on your cookbook.”

“I’ve also been taking a couple of online classes, doing a little typing work from home, and I learned how to format books,” she admitted.

Typical Mercy.

“I’m the only person in this room who isn’t a total workaholic,” I announced.

“You’re addicted to your work,” Bentley insisted.

“No,” I argued. “I love my work. That’s true, but I am careful not to schedule too much. I only have five office days most weeks. If I had to give up what I do, it would suck, but I’d survive.”

“Do you think you’ll have to give it up if you keep dating Xander?” Delaney asked. “He’s only going to get more famous.”

I shrugged. “It’s possible. I’m not going to worry about it now. I just started dating Xander.”

“Is his dick as big as the fan sites say?” Delaney asked.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to ask that question,” Mercy told her.

“I’ve been dying to ask since I picked up Cami,” Delaney confessed.

“It wouldn’t have surprised me if you’d asked,” I added. “Instead, all you did was insist we stop for cake on the way over here.”

Delaney let out a contented sigh. “I love cake. I was also trying to wait an acceptable amount of time before I asked you about Xander’s dick. Despite what you all say, I have some self-control.”

“More than I thought,” I replied. “I’m impressed.”

“And speaking of things that are impressive,” Delaney prompted.

“Nice transition,” Mercy praised.

“Thank you,” Delaney replied with a grin. “How many inches? Tell me all the dirty details while you’re too tipsy to resist.”

After getting my laughing fit under control, I responded. “Do you remember that pleasure party you threw a couple of years ago?”

“How could I forget?” Delaney asked. “I threw it in the hopes of finding a backup for Justin.” Justin had been Delaney’s go-to vibrator for years.

“Do you remember that giant, lime green dildo?” I asked.

Delaney gasped and put her hands over her heart. “He’s as big as the Jolly Green Giants dong?” That was what Delaney had named the frightening dildo that appeared to be at least sixteen inches long.

“No,” I admitted with a laugh. “Not that big, but I had you going.”

Delaney frowned. “No one ever answers my questions.”