“I love you, too.” I kiss the top of her head as we watch some princess show she wanted to watch. I feel myself nodding off by the time the episode ends. “Ready for bed?” I ask, picking her sleepy body up from the couch.
“Yes,” she says, yawning into my neck. I carry her to her bed, tucking her in for the night. I kiss her forehead before turning on the small night light on the nightstand.
“Sleep tight,” I tell her in a whisper before I leave the room, shutting the door behind me. I check the doors to make sure everything is locked up tight and then head for my shower and then into bed.
2
Lindsay
“Are you ready yet?” my best friend, Allison, asks as I finish applying my mascara. We’ve been friends since forever, basically since we were in diapers. Our moms have always been BFF’s, so it was inevitable that we’d be the same way with all the time we were together; it also helps that we’re only a few weeks apart in age.
“Yep,” I call out as I clean up my mess in the bathroom.
“It’s just Joe’s; you don’t have to look perfect,” she replies, referring to the local bar we’re headed out to tonight. We’re meeting a few other friends there for a drink or two. It’s ladies' night, and it has been one hell of a week at work. I’ve been a nurse in the ER going on six years now. I was hired almost immediately upon returning home from college and haven’t looked back since. I love it in the ER. There is never a dull day. We’ve always got patients to keep us busy; you never know what may come through the door. From patients with the stomach flu or a broken bone to major accident victims, we don’t see much downtime.
“All right, let's go,” I say, grabbing my debit card and driver's license from my big wallet and sliding them into a small little wristlet, along with some cash and my Chapstick.
“I can’t wait to get out on the dance floor and shake our asses off tonight,” Allison says on the way to the bar. It’s not far from my little two-bedroom house.
“I know. I need to release some steam, and a drink or two and some time on the dance floor sounds like the perfect way to unwind,” I agree with her.
“And not having to work tomorrow is the perfect excuse to let loose tonight,” she adds as I pull into the parking lot. Ladies’ night is sometimes more popular of a night than Friday and Saturday nights can be, and by the looks of how full the parking lot is already, tonight is going to be that way. “The one thing better that I can think of to let off some steam would be some good dick, but I don’t think that’s on either of our horizons tonight.”
“God, what I wouldn’t do with some good dick,” I agree with her. It’s been a while, okay, more like six months, since I’ve slept with anyone and the last person was my asshole ex, who really wasn’t the best when it came to sex. He was all about getting his own but not great with making sure I got mine all the time.
“I mean, I’m sure you could easily find a man or two that’d gladly take you home for a fun night between the sheets,” Allison says, bouncing her eyebrows up and down as she laughs.
“Not that desperate,” I tell her, “yet,” I add for good measure.
“Girl, you need to live a little. A good one-night stand might do you good. There’s just something about some no strings attached sex that will set you up for a few weeks.”
“Yeah, I’m still just fine for now. I’ve got a few different BOBs to keep me company on lonely nights,” I tell her, referring to my drawer of vibrators that have gotten their share of workouts over the past few months.
“Girl, tell me about it. Sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
We make it inside the bar, looking around for the group of friends we’re supposed to meet here tonight. I see a few of them already at a table. Since we live in a small town, it isn’t like I don’t know just about everyone here, and just like high school, everyone is grouped off. Allison and I stop off at the bar; Joe’s working tonight.
“What can I get you ladies tonight?” he asks, wiping the bar top in front of us off before placing down two cocktail napkins.
“I’ll take whatever light beer you’ve got on tap,” Allison tells him.
“I’ll have a raspberry mojito, please.”
“Coming right up,” he says, reaching for a glass to put under the beer tap to fill Allison’s order. I watch him mix up my drink next, already salivating over how good his mojitos are. “You ladies want a tab tonight?” he asks, setting my glass down in front of me.
“Yep,” Allison says. “And we’ll be over there.” She points at the table that already has six or so people around it. It’s hard to tell from this angle if they’re all at one table or if some of them are part of the next table and just chatting with our group.
We reach the table and find our friends Becky, her husband Todd, Rob, David, and his girlfriend, Trisha. At the table next to them are some other guys, Tucker and Lee, who were a year ahead of Allison and me in school, along with a couple other guys I don’t know, but recognize as firefighters that work with Tucker and Lee. Working in the ER, we see the paramedics and firefighters regularly.
“You made it!” Becky calls out, hopping off the barstool she was perched on to give me a hug.
“Of course!” I call out over the music already playing. “Wouldn’t miss ladies’ night for anything.” I set my drink down on the table and say my hello’s around the group. Allison moseys her way over to Lee and Tucker’s table. She’s been flirting with Lee for months. The two of them just need to get it over with and hit the sheets. I’m actually surprised that they haven’t already, especially with how pro one-night stands she is.
“Are you ready to shake your asses?” Allison asks Becky and me a few minutes later when the opening chords of “Champagne Night” by Lady A comes on.
“Let’s go!” Becky yells as she tugs on our arms. I laugh at my friends’ excitement and follow both out onto the dance floor. We sing along to the songs as we shake our asses and sway to the music. This was precisely what I needed after three long days in the ER.
The DJ changes things up and slows things down. Before I can escape the dance floor, I feel a set of hands slide along my hips, sending tingles straight to my core. “Dance with me?” A voice I’d know in my sleep fills my ears. Tucker.
I turn in his arms, sliding my own around his neck as I rest my head on his chest and we start to sway around the floor to the song. I don’t even really hear the sound of the music with my ear pressed against his chest; all I hear is the pounding of his heart.
“How have you been?” he asks after a minute or so of swaying.
“Good, just busy with work and everything,” I tell him, looking up at him and into his chocolate brown eyes. “How’s Paisley?” I inquire about his daughter. She’s so damn cute.
“A spitfire, like always. Hounding me like crazy to get her a puppy for her birthday next week.”
“Every girl needs a puppy,” I tell him, trying to help his daughter out.