Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“I always have my AirPods in––” Kendra saw Sam lean forward. “––when I get in line anywhere,” she said quickly. “And still, men tap me on the shoulder.”
Sam was still scowling.
“I promise, I would never leave my AirPods in when I’m outside alone.”
“Okay.” He calmed.
“I bet your daughter would never do that either.”
“No. She’s been raised to keep her head on a swivel. Being a black belt is a comfort to me as well.”
“Yeah, DJ, that’s my boyfriend, he wants me to take a self-defense class. He doesn’t like me being dependent on the mace he got me.”
“He sounds like a keeper.”
“I think he is,” she said with a sigh. “He went shopping with my mother last weekend, and I ask you, why would he do that?”
“Only one reason I can think of,” Kendra said, smiling, leaning her chin into her left hand, showing off a stunning pear-shaped diamond engagement ring.
“That rock doesn’t keep men away?”
“Absolutely not. It’s horrible. The only thing that discourages other men is when they see my guy. Once they clock the height and the muscles, they back off.”
“Same with DJ,” Kendra told us. “No one has ever approached me while DJ is with me.”
“Just be careful,” Sam stressed to both women. “Especially when you’re filling up your car. Only during the day.”
“Well, I have my own backup too,” Kendra said with a grin, pulling up a picture of a beautiful German shepherd on her phone. “This is Cosmo. Isn’t he cute?”
I would have said beautiful and huge. That was not a dog to screw around with.
“But still,” Sam insisted.
“Yessir,” Kendra agreed.
“I hear you,” Sloane chimed in as well.
We had a lovely dinner, where we shared what we were doing in Vegas—the tickets from the kids and Michael’s bachelor party—and I showed off pictures of our Kola and Hannah. Sloane showed us pictures of her and Bryce, and Kendra explained how she had met DJ when she accidentally walked in on a drug bust.
“It could have happened to anyone,” she said defensively.
“No,” Sloane countered. “It couldn’t have. You’re a trouble magnet.”
Sam glanced over at me, but I didn’t take the bait, as I’m a grown-up.
“I hated him,” Kendra went on. “He thought I was a hooker and a drug mule.”
Sloane was shaking her head. “Only you, I swear to God.”
“You should have heard him. He was such a pompous ass.”
“But then,” I prodded her.
“Well, once Bryce gets there, he asks his buddy, ‘what is Kendra, the girl I’m dating’s, best friend doing handcuffed and sitting with the rest of the guys out on the curb?’”
“This all sounds vaguely familiar,” Sam said, smiling evilly at me.
“Zip it,” I warned him and then turned back to Kendra. “Go on.”
“Then he was really sorry,” she said snidely. “Like I gave a shit.”
“But?”
“Well, then he was persistent, and very sorry, and come on, look at his picture again.”
The man was built nice and had a truly great smile. Of course, in all the pictures he looked like some kind of movie star, he was staring at her. It was very telling.
“And now you’re getting married,” I said with a sigh.
“Yes,” she murmured, looking at the very large diamond ring on her finger. “He seems to like me.”
Once we all got gelato, I got a text from Michael that said they were heading down to Fremont Street to walk around.
“Is that fun?” Sam asked our lovely dinner companions.
Sloane wrinkled up her nose. “If you’ve never been there, sure. I guess. But it’s a lot of crowds, street performers, sometimes the music on the stage is okay, but it’s not great.”
“You two should come with us to the Golden Tiger instead,” Kendra suggested, her eyes lighting up. “It’s a tiki bar. You would love it.”
“I dunno,” I said with a shrug. “We’re not as young as you two and––”
“They have a ska band tonight,” she told me. “And they make really good cocktails. The Scorpion is amazing, and the Painkiller, and they have this one called The Cabin Boy.”
“Let’s do that instead,” Sam stated. “I like this plan.”
“Excellent,” Sloane said, sounding genuinely pleased.
“We should tell them where we’ll be,” I apprised Sam.
“Even that Tony guy who called you a name?” Kendra asked, tipping her head sideways, all innocent.
“I didn’t love the fact that all the others laughed. And even though Michael didn’t, he also didn’t censure his friends either,” Sloane pointed out. “I mean, I know it’s his bachelor party, but really, Tony’s a homophobic piece of crap.”
“What?” Sam barked at me.
“Plus,” Kendra began, “I know that it’s Michael’s bachelor party weekend, but I feel like, your kids gave Sam the tickets first, before you knew about the drinking and debauchery for his brother, therefore, you and Sam could have a meal with them, but that’s it. That’s all the time that’s really owed.”