Erica

A mirage in the shape of my roommate and best friend stood at the bar when I got back to the hotel from the field. I knew it could only be wishful thinking when I saw the sleek bob and spiked heels. But when I saw the side of her profile, I barreled toward her. She caught sight of me just as I tackled her, spilling her wine and hugging the life out of her.

“Damn it, that was a fresh glass,” she chuckled as she hugged me back.

“Thank God you’re here,” I said with a shaky voice.

“Oh, babe, is the world kicking your ass?” she asked softly as she held me to her.

“You have no idea. The kids won’t play with me,” I whined.

“I had a feeling last time we talked. I’m at your disposal for the night. I have to fly back out tomorrow.”

I pulled back. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s a fly-through.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m sorry. But it’s the best I could do with your SOS.”

“It’s cool,” I said, smiling. “I’ve got you now. And I could use some fun. Hey, I’ve got an idea. Are you up for some company?”

“Sure,” she said, motioning to the bartender for another glass of wine.

I pulled out my phone and shot a quick text off to Alice and April.

“I have a feeling it’s going to be one of those nights,” I said as I ordered my first beer.

* * *

Two hours later, the four of us were primping in my hotel room. Alice and April had found a last-minute sitter, and the four of us planned on wrecking whatever available scene Scottsdale had to offer. Seeing Alice and Rowe in the same room only confirmed my suspicions. They were personality doppelgangers and had made quick work of becoming friends. April and I watched them go back and forth like a bunch of rabid squirrels while we took our time painting ourselves up.

“I’m too old for this shit,” April sighed.

“No, you aren’t. You don’t look your age, either.”

“Still, there’s got to be some rule for going to the club in your mid-thirties,” she said as she straightened her boobs in her dress. “I can’t even get these bastards to cooperate, let alone look perky.”

“There will be none of that tonight,” Alice said sharply as she glossed her lips. “We are not old. We are respectable married women with families who still have the ability to go and shake our asses on a whim. Don’t forget you’re the inventor of the booty opera.”

“The booty opera?” I asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” April said as Alice began to belt out “Bump N’ Grind” as if she were singing at the opera. Rowe cracked up and looked back at me. “I’m so glad you called these two.”

“Right?” I said with a giggle. “Okay, tell me how this booty opera works.”

“You just mix a little R&B, preferably the dirty kind, and sing it as if it was an opera. I do it to get myself out of a bad mood. It’s impossible to do it without smiling.”

In the elevator, twenty minutes later, we were singing Keith Sweat’s “Nobody” in horrible soprano, dressed to the nines, and laughing our asses off. As we walked out to the lobby, the girls caught sight of Rafe, Andy, and Ren at the bar. I braved a glance their way to see Ren’s eyes cover me in slow sweep as Rafe and Andy stopped their wives for a quick kiss and a warning to behave themselves.

Alice walked away with half her lipstick, her eyes in a fog as Ren and I stared each other down. He looked pissed . . . and hot in a simple T-shirt and jeans, his hat forever backward, as he sipped his beer.

Rowe leaned over with a “He’s so fucking the hell out of you right now in his head,” before she grabbed my hand and tugged me forward with further instructions. “Let him see that ass before you go.”

We walked through the hotel lobby arm-in-arm, hellbent on reclaiming some of our youth without distractions or talk of “mummying”—Alice’s rule—or anything else that brought the weight of our everyday.

“We’ve still got it,” April said as she sashayed out the door.

“We’re not old yet,” Alice chimed in agreement.

Rowe and I gave each other knowing smiles as we joined them outside. We were getting a lot of attention from the passersby, mostly ball players, as Alice spoke up.

“I’ll drive.”

“Nobody’s driving,” I said as our SUV arrived. “In fact,” I pulled out Ren’s credit card, the one I’d commissioned from him for PR related expenses. “Tonight’s drinks are on Ren Makavoy.”

* * *

Nine hours later . . .

“Oh, God,” April gasped out next to me in bed, her southern drawl intact even though it came out as a croak. “I have to be a mom today,” she sobbed into her pillow next to me. “To twins. And not just any twins, twins who bite. Little shits!”

I chuckled and held my head as the onset of a headache hit.

Rowe chose that moment to rise from the floor, like a corpse next to the bed, and turned to me with raccoon eyes. Her lips peeled away from her teeth as she spoke.

“I’m so phukin dersty!” Her mouth was foaming as she stared at me with glassy-eyed desperation.

Scared for my safety, I quickly grabbed the hotel’s ten-dollar bottle of water from the nightstand and handed it to her. I heard every ounce hit her throat as she downed it with exaggerated gulps. Once it was empty, she handed it back to me and slowly sank back down out of sight on the floor.

From the other side of the bed, I heard Alice pipe up.

“If you guys are up, please help. I’ve been down here and awake for an hour, but I can’t get up. I think I threw my back out twerking. And I really, really need to pee.”

April chuckled as she ripped herself away from the bed. “Come on, girl, I’ve got you.”

“Oh, God,” Alice groaned as she was hoisted from the floor. “This is bad, so bad.”

April groaned in response. “Look the other way, Alice. You could gag a maggot. Your breath reeks of Fireball. I can’t handle it.”

I chuckled as I realized I was in the best shape of the four of us and may be able to handle looking at myself in the mirror that day. Usually, after a night of drinking like that, I had done something stupid enough to bury my head in the sand for a solid week. I didn’t remember twerking or doing unsolicited body shots like Rowe.

I was feeling pretty confident until I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and looked down and saw a text from Ren.

12:00 a.m.

Ren: I’m sitting in front of your room. We need to talk.

1:00 a.m.

Ren: Pick up the phone.

3:15 a.m.

Ren: Damn it, Erica!

I scrolled up to see the whole conversation. Bile rose in my throat as I saw that it had all started with me.

10:01 p.m.

Me: Unnecessary? I’m unnecessary. Isn’t that what you said? When we were together, you didn’t find these unnecessary.

And what followed was a perfect shot of my tits in a bathroom stall.

“OH GOD, NO!” I yelled as Rowe shot up from beside me.

“What, what’s wrong?”

I just groaned as I read Ren’s answering texts.

10:03 p.m.

Ren: What in the hell are you doing? I’m in a meeting!

10:06 p.m.

Ren: Jesus Christ, Erica, are you drunk?

10:08 p.m.

Ren: Where are you?!

10:16 p.m.

Ren: What are you trying to do to me?

“What time is it,” Rowe croaked from the floor.”

“Six thirty,” I said, horrified as I stared at the picture.

“I’m going to miss my flight!” Rowe shot up from the floor and quickly began packing. I got out of bed to help her as she started to shove her things into her carry on.

“I sent Ren a picture,” I said, mortified. “Of my tits.”

Rowe paused and then looked at me blankly before she threw her head back and laughed. “That explains why you were in the bathroom for half an hour. You must have been looking for the right lighting.”

“Got any room in that bag for me?” I asked.

“You’ve got beautiful boobs, girl. Own that shit.”

I hung my head in shame as a firm knock landed on the door. Rowe and I looked at each other with wide eyes.

“Oh, God. I can’t face him.”

“Oh, but you must,” she said with a chuckle as she started packing her purse. “Don’t back down.”

“Shut the door!” Alice screamed to April in the bathroom, seconds before I heard it close.

We were all scrambling as I gathered myself together as much as possible, pushing everything back into my dress, and then opened the door. Three very pissed off and very beautiful baseball players stood on the other side.

Ren’s eyes seared into me as I took a step back and opened it for them to walk in.

“Where in the hell have you been?” Ren snapped first. “We’ve been calling you for hours!”

“Alice.” Rafe knocked on the bathroom door with Andy on his heels, who barked out a curt “April, open up.” Both men looked ready for war, as the door slowly opened.

“Hi,” April said in a shitty attempt to hide her misery. “I was just about to call you two.”

Rafe charged past her, and I heard Alice yelp. Seconds later, she was walked out of the hotel room in a fireman’s hold over Rafe’s shoulder. “My shoes, baby, my shoes!”

“Fuck your shoes,” he growled.

Alice groaned before she caught sight of me and waved. “I had fun. Love you, guys! Thanks for the drinks, Ren!”

I winced at her parting words. I was a dead woman.

Rafe’s hand landed firmly on her ass as she yelped out again. “Hey, that’s sore, Hembrey!”

“It’s about to get a hell of a lot worse,” he promised as the door clicked shut behind them.

Andy stood in the doorway of the bathroom as his wife washed her face.

“Don’t even start,” she said as I caught the side of her glare in the mirror. “I don’t say shit when you make a new brew and invite the team over for half the night.”

“I’m not saying a word. But I did want to tell you that your son just cut another tooth,” he said with a smirk.

“Get out,” April ordered as Andy stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. I heard a shriek and then light laughter. I smiled at the door and then connected eyes with a man who looked like he was planning my burial.

Rowe chose that moment to speak up. “I’m all set. I’ve got to go.” I stood and gave her a hug. “Call me when you get back. Love you,” I said as she moved toward the door.

“Sorry we didn’t get a chance to meet, Ren, maybe some other time. Take care of my girl, okay?”

“Sure,” Ren said dryly as the door shut behind her.

I rolled my eyes. “Nice.”

“What is Alice thanking me for?” he asked with an icy tone.

I clamped my lips together and glanced at his credit card on the nightstand.

“Are you fucking serious?”

Throat parched, I put together a decent sentence. “I’m sorry. It’s not enough but it’s the truth. That was highly unprofessional, not to mention . . . that picture. Look, clearly this isn’t going to work out. I get it. I’ll call Zellner, and I’ll be gone by noon.”

Ren’s eyes drifted from my foot up the length of my legs to my skirt.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Ren,” I treaded carefully. “I don’t want to fight. I know you don’t think I’m capable of being sincere but—”

“Shut up, Erica. I need you to shut up.”

Livid. That was all I could see in his posture.

“I’m so goddamn tempted to brave your breath, lift that skirt, and fuck you until you cry, even with those two in the bathroom. So, I need you to stop talking.”

“We’re out of here,” Andy announced as they stepped out of the bathroom and saw Ren and me in a stand-off. April grabbed her bag and gave me a wink, which I returned with a smile. And then we were alone again.

Ren stood. “You’re staying because you said you would, and for once, when it comes to me, you’re going to keep your word.”

“Is that all?” I asked sourly as I stood and walked toward the bathroom to grab my toothbrush.

“What exactly were you hoping for, Erica, when you sent me that picture?”

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, he was at the door of the bathroom. “Erase it.”

“Not a fucking chance.”

“Fine, whatever,” I said, shoving a brush full of paste in my mouth before I spoke around it. “Probaby haven’t seeb a weal paiw in yebs anyway.”

“What?”

I spit out the toothpaste without washing it down the drain. I could see Ren cringe at the sight of it. I held in my laughter.

“I said, you probably haven’t seen a real pair of tits in years anyway. That picture was educational.” I shoved the toothbrush back in my mouth while rinsing the sink to put him out of his misery.

Ren studied me as I brushed, his eyes blazing.

I gave him wide eyes of my own. “What?”

“What is going on with you? You aren’t this irresponsible.”

I rolled my eyes. “I got drunk. Made a bad decision. It happens, and I can honestly say, at twenty-five, that was my worst. You know anyone else around here who might do stupid shit when they’ve had too much to drink? POT!”

I winced at the ache in my head as the kettle pressed his lips together.

“And don’t give me that double standard crap, Ren. I needed to have some fun. You’re quite the moody diva to deal with. By the way, we’ve got an appearance at the ball camp today, and you look like you could use a few hours of sleep.”

“I’ve got shit to do,” he said as he stared at the slit in my dress that revealed the side of my breast.

I gave him a seedy smile through a mouthful of foam before he turned on his heel and slammed the door.