Need Me (Broke and Beautiful #2)(27)

Honey threw her purse on the kitchen counter and snagged a beer from the fridge, rolling the cool glass bottle against her cheeks to reduce her stupid flush. Bake something. Yes, she would bake something. It would give her something to do with her hands and give her an excuse to avoid her roommates.

No dice.

Roxy hopped up on the marble island, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Abby tried to execute the same move, failed, and took a stool instead. “Hey, I’ll eat whatever you make,” Roxy said. “That has been proven. But you’re going to talk while you cook.”

“Good thinking.” Abby crossed her legs, smoothing a hand over her striped pajama pants. “People are more inclined to let details slip when they’re distracted.”

“Yes.” Roxy nodded. “What she said.”

Louis came up behind his girlfriend, tossing his keys up in the air and catching them. “I think that’s my cue to bail.” He gave Roxy a quick kiss that immediately turned into an all-out tongue war Louis clearly wanted to win. When he pulled away, he looked satisfied to see Roxy’s bemused expression. “Call me before you turn your light off, ’kay?”

“ ’kay,” she breathed, keeping her gaze plastered to him until he disappeared through the apartment door. “I’m keeping him.”

Honey tossed a baking pan onto the counter, satisfied when Roxy and Abby jumped. “Corn bread or dark chocolate bark?”

Roxy snorted. “What kind of a question is that?”

“Dark chocolate bark, obviously.” Abby toed off her slippers. “Dark chocolate will replace the endorphins you released during sex with Ben.” When they both gaped at her, she blinked. “What?”

“You could have let me break the news,” Honey complained, removing a tub of shortening from the cabinet. She had a quick flashback to her mother completing the same movement a million times throughout her childhood and felt another unexpected pang of homesickness. Boy, that had been happening way too frequently lately. “Anyway,” she started, determined to shake off the odd feeling. “A lady doesn’t give details.”

They booed her. Which immediately made her feel better.

Honey poured a bag of dark chocolate pieces into a giant glass bowl and stuck it in the microwave to melt it. What could she tell them? Ben had basically taken any prior knowledge she’d had about sex and crushed it up against the wall, right along with her? He’d known what to do to make her climax, which didn’t sound like an uber-amazing feat unless you’d been with members of the opposite sex who couldn’t find a clitoris with a flashlight and magnifying glass. He’d played her body so effortlessly, so confidently. Part of her wondered if she’d just picked the wrong partners in the past, sorry Elmer, or if it was just Ben. Yeah. She had a feeling it was just Ben. Or Ben and her, specifically.

“Forget the microwave, you’re going to melt that chocolate all on your own,” Abby observed, earning her a high five from Roxy. “Was it that good?”

“You guys, it was . . .”

“Next-level shit?” Abby breathed.

Honey gave a solemn nod. “Next-level shit. And Roxy is starting to rub off on you.”

“Lucky her.” Roxy pulled her knees up to her chest. “So, Professor Ben, huh? Please tell me he slapped your ass with a yardstick.”

“Well it wasn’t a full yard . . .” Honey coughed into her fist. “But it was impressive. It reminded me of that scene in A Few Good Men where Jack Nicholson yells, ‘You can’t handle the truth’ at Tom Cruise. Except Ben was Jack Nicholson and my vagina was Tom Cruise.”

Roxy whooped a laugh. “What is it with this crew of dudes? They’re all hung?”

“We only need confirmation on Russell.” Honey took the bowl of melted dark chocolate out of the microwave. “Batter up, Abby.”

She split a frown between them. “Well, that would certainly be a weird thing to ask Russell.”

Honey and Roxy traded a glance. “No one said you should ask him.”

A long pause ensued. “How else would I find out?”

Oh boy, it appeared they had their work cut out for them with those two. Honey took pity on Abby and took the focus off her for now, but she resolved to have a chat with her later. Abby obviously had no clue Russell would probably walk on nails barefoot to get to her. Nor did she have a clue what a guy like Russell would likely do once he made it across that bed of nails. “I invited Ben over here, actually, but his mother is in town or something.”

“Really.” It was Roxy’s turn to look confused. “His mother? You’re sure?”

“Yeah.” Honey experienced an unwanted sinking feeling. “Why?”

Roxy swiped a finger through the melted chocolate and licked it off. “Not sure, exactly. I nosed around about Ben to Louis on your behalf. He wouldn’t give up too much, in the spirit of the bro code and all, but he made it sound like mom and dad were out of the picture.”

Abby tucked a strand of long brown hair behind her ear. “That’s too bad.” Honey watched as Abby surveyed the massive apartment, looking thoughtful. She knew her friend was insecure about having so much fortune foisted on her, when Honey and Roxy were more or less dirt poor. Probably didn’t quite understand what it meant to have parents out of the picture. At least not in the way Roxy, or possibly even Ben, did. Honey’s heart gave a hard squeeze, even as she began to doubt his story for leaving that night. Had it really been his mother, or something else? Maybe he’d just latched on to the first excuse he could think of to get away from her?