“Mr. GQ.” Manning chuckles and slaps my shoulder. “Twenty-five fucking grand.”
I shake my head and look at Nico. “Listen, if she can’t afford it,” I start to say, looking around to make sure it’s just the three of us, and people aren’t eavesdropping. “I’ll pay for it.”
Nico shakes his head, laughing. “She already paid it,” he tells me, and now my mouth hangs down. “She also said she would double it if you let it go.”
I laugh now, putting my hands in my pockets. “I’m going to triple it if she actually goes out with me.” I look at Manning. “Time for me to get going.”
“Thank you,” Nico says, “and I look forward to collecting that seventy-five grand from you.”
I shake my head, laughing, and head out, not making eye contact with anyone. I get into the car and text Ralph.
Me: Did you take Layla home?
I start the car and make my way home, a text coming through as soon as I put the car in park.
Ralph: She said to tell you it’s none of your business.
I laugh.
Me: Tell her she owes me a date and to get ready. I’m going to collect it.
He answers right away.
Ralph: She said words I don’t want to repeat, but none of them were nice.
Me: Good. Tell her I like it when she’s feisty, and I’ll call her in the morning.
I throw my head back when the phone pings as I’m getting out of the car.
Ralph: BLOCKED, BLOCKED, AND BLOCKED.
Layla, Layla, Layla. I shake my head, walking into the house. You played your cards well the past four years, but tonight, you let one slip. She wants me. It’s time for her to admit it to me, and oh, am I going to have fun making her say it.
Chapter 5
Layla
Heat hits my face, and then a light, maybe a flashlight, is shone on me. My eyes try to flicker open, but then the brightness makes me shut my eyes again and groan. “What in the world is that hammering?” I roll over in my bed to lie on my back. The banging starts again, and this time, I pry one eye open, or at least I try to, but then have to shut my eye again. I put one of my arms over my eyes to block out the light and try to swallow, and that is the first indication that last night was either a good night or a bad night. My mouth feels like there is a cotton ball stuck on my tongue, and I roll over on my side. The cool sheets hit my naked body, and now I turn over and stick out my hand while my eyes are closed to make sure I’m by myself. The pounding starts again. “Oh, God,” I say out loud, trying to sit up, and the minute I do, the room spins, and I fall back down on my back. “I’m dying,” I say to no one since I’m all by myself.
The sound of my front door opening and closing makes me open one eye as I hear heels clicking all the way from the front door. The sound comes closer and closer to my room. “Oh, dear God!” I hear Candace shriek. “Why are you naked?” Her voice goes high, and I wince.
“I can’t do anything with you unless you close the shades,” I tell her, and I hear her walking over and closing them. Only when I don’t feel the heat on me do I open my eyes and see that she is dressed in tight jeans, a jacket, and heels. “Thank you,” I tell her, and she just smiles and shakes her head, walking into the master bathroom. “What are you doing?” I ask her and groan when my head pounds again.
“I’m getting you something,” she says and comes back with a glass of water and two Tylenol. “There you go.” She hands them to me, and I take them and swallow down the whole glass of water.
“You’re the best,” I say, and she crosses her arms over her chest.
“Why are you naked?” she asks me again, and I look down at myself.
“I’m not naked,” I tell her, and her eyebrows pinch together. “I’m wearing shoes.” I pick up one foot. “Okay, fine, I’m wearing a shoe.” I close an eye now and look around. The dress that I was wearing last night is lying across the floor with my panties right next to it.
“Why don’t you put on a robe, and I’ll go start the coffee,” she says, turning around.
“I swear if I were into women, I would give Ralph a run for his money,” I tell her, and she throws her head back and laughs.
“Except he has something you don’t,” she says over her shoulder.
“It’s called a strap-on. I can have one just as big as him, if not bigger!” I yell after her and then wince when my head pounds. I get out of bed, unstrapping the only shoe I have on and walk over to my walk-in closet to grab my white plush robe. I slip it on as I’m going to the bathroom, and I take one look at my face and wince. “What the hell happened last night?” Grabbing a towel, I clean the makeup off my face and tie my hair atop my head.
I walk out of my bedroom and straight into my family room. When I bought this house, I asked my realtor for one thing. I wanted a cozy home. I wanted to be able to have everything on one floor. I wanted a huge family room for gathering, and that is what I got. I immediately went in search of a couch because everyone knows that if your couch isn’t comfy, it’s useless. I found the perfect sectional couch with deep seats and more cushions than it’ll ever need.
I then got the table that now sits in front of it, and I spot the reason I woke up the way I did. “Who thought that was a good idea?” I walk over and pick up the empty tequila bottle and then see an Uber eats bag right next to my phone. “I can not be trusted,” I say and look over at Candace in my kitchen that is right off the family room. A white island separates the two rooms. The smell of coffee now fills the room. “Why did I think it was a good idea to order?” I peek into the bag. “Three double bacon cheeseburgers,” I say to her, grabbing the paper receipt that is hanging on the bag. “At one a.m.?”
“I need coffee,” she says before she turns around and looks at me. I sit on one of the brown cushioned stools at the counter as she sets a cup of coffee down in front of me and then grabs her own. She takes a sip and then smiles at me, and I can see that she is dying to tell me something, but I just don’t know what it is.
“Are you pregnant?” I ask her, taking a sip of coffee and waiting for it to finally seep into my veins and wake me up a little.
“I am not pregnant,” she says. “And I will not get pregnant unless I’m married.”
“You can still wear white down the aisle even if you have a kid.” I point at her. “It’s the twenty-first century.”
“Good to know,” she says and then leans back on the counter and puts her coffee cup down. “Now, let’s talk about last night.”
“Ugh.” I roll my eyes. “Can we not? I don’t even remember coming home.” I look around. “Like, how did I even get here?”
“I drove you home.” She fills me in. “You did the whole mic drop when we walked you into the door,” she reminds me, and the memories come flooding back. Well, some of them.
“You walked me into the house and didn’t think to help me change?” I shake my head. “Some friend you are.”
“You started singing ‘I am woman, hear me roar.’” She points at me, and another memory is put into place, and I laugh.