Country Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book #8)(51)
My feet carry me quickly past the dormitories, out onto the old world cobbled walkway that leads past the Hallowed Grounds café, and a friendly face offers a warm wave from the table on the end.
“Hey, stranger!” I hop over and offer Sammy, my sister-in-Tennessee-arms, a quick hug. “I’m just on my way to Briggs Apartments across the street to do a quick interview for my marketing class. You want to come with?”
“Sorry, no can do.” She gives a coy little smile. “Tonight’s my big date night with Mr. Right, and, if I want to keep him, I’m going to need to get all artillery ready to fire, if you know what I mean. Can you recommend a good hairdresser? I’ve sort of made a last-minute decision on going the full Monty, hair, nails, cleaning up the landing strip if you know what I mean.” She gives a little wink. “If things go well, and I have a strong feeling they will, I’m thinking this evening is going to end with a—”
“Bang!” I finish it for her, and we high-five. “You go get yours, girl. I’m so very happy for you. There’s no way he’s going to let someone as fantastic as you walk out of his life. And once you land him horizontal tonight, you make sure you show him one wild time. We Southern girls may look and sound as sweet as peach pie, but we are sin through and through underneath those sheets. Make him beg for mercy, and then make him beg for more. By this time tomorrow, you are going to have him eating out of your hand”—I stand to leave—“among other places!” We share a wicked cackle as I quickly text her the locales of all my favorite hot spots. By the time that girl is through, she’ll look like the supermodel I already know she is.
Once my good deed for the day is done, I whip my way across the street and into Briggs Apartments for my sweet little treat with the owner of Sprinkles Cupcakes. I take the elevator ride up, and as soon as the doors whoosh open, my senses are taken over by all things heavenly chocolate.
“Holy, holy,” I whimper as I give a hearty knock to the door.
A familiar looking boy I recognize as the bartender from down at the Black Bear answers. He’s sporting jeans and a T-shirt that reads Sprinkles Cupcakes, Best Damn Cupcakes in Town, and I can’t help but smile.
“You must be Cassidy.” He offers a friendly nod. “Rox”—he shouts back toward the kitchen—“your girl is here.”
He leads me inside, and I’m blown away by the wall-to-wall restaurant quality equipment outfitting the oversized kitchen.
“Hey!” a redhead with her hair tossed up into a messy bun comes over, both her apron and her hands are covered with powdered remnants of something delicious I’m sure. “I’m in the middle of decorating a sheet cake if you want to come watch.” I follow her back to the kitchen where there’s a giant slab of marble on the center island.
“This is some place!”
“It’s someplace all right. It’s my boyfriend’s apartment, or at least it was initially. I sort of moved in because he has a working stove—something Prescott Hall severely lacked. That was before we were dating.”
“So, he just let you move in like that?”
“Actually”—a playful smile tugs at her lips as she peers over at him a safe distance away watching two men go at it in some kind of a cage fight on TV—“Cole is my best friend’s brother.” She waves me off a moment. “I know, it sounds so cliché. Trust me, I was the first to notice.” Roxy has a bit of an edge to her, and I like her already. “But it worked out just fine. Sure there was a little hiccup here and there, but Baya is our biggest supporter. My brother, Ryder, sort of wanted to kill him.” She smiles into the memory as if it were a good one. “But that’s to be expected. He’s rabidly protective when it comes to me. Now that I’ve bored you to tears, the least I can do is ask how WB is treating your love life.”
She fills a piping bag with baby blue icing and twists the top of the parchment tight.
I try to play it coy as if my love life is non-existent, but it’s no use. I can feel the confession clawing to the surface. “You’re not going to believe this, but I’m sort of seeing my best friend’s brother, too. Only she doesn’t know it—neither of them does.” I try to swallow down the rest of the story, but it bubbles right up to the top and out it comes. Every dirty detail.
Roxy looks downright gobsmacked once I relay the whole twisted tale.
“Boy, they really need better security down at the Black Bear if those kinds of shenanigans are going on in the restrooms.”
We share a quiet laugh.
Her eyes enlarge as she takes me in. “So, are you really going to tell him tonight after her birthday party?”
“You bet. I’m ready to slay this two-headed dragon and begin a real relationship with the man I love.”
“Only you haven’t told him you love him yet.” She wrinkles her nose. “Dude, you are about to dive into the deep end. Are you sure your friendship with this chick is strong enough to sustain this?”
“I sure hope so. I’ve got my neck on the line and everything to lose. And I can’t stand the thought of losing either one of them.”
She hands me the little blue bag of icing as if it were a consolation prize. “Go ahead and take this one. I have faith in you.”
“What do you want it to say?”