“Who’s bunking with Chris tonight?” Tom nodded toward Chris, all but devouring his date a few feet away.
Brad chuckled and punched Tom lightly in the arm.
“It’s been worse. At least I can crash in the bus.”
“Why don’t you stay in my room, Tommy?” Sue had left the dance floor and traded her empty cup for water.
“You planning on staying someplace else?” Brad hoped his question sounded casual.
“No. Well, I could stay at Ames’s again, but I won’t cuz I have to pick up Darryl and Lena tomorrow.”
Tom raised an eyebrow. “You need me to be your alarm clock?”
“No.” Sue giggled. “But it couldn’t hurt.”
“What couldn’t hurt?” Owen asked as he and Amy joined them.
“A human alarm clock,” Brad said.
“Oooh that would be great.” Amy’s cheeks were red as firetrucks and she slurred her speech. “I ave this friend? Phillipe? He’s from Ausalia.” Amy swayed then fell into an empty chair. “I told him I’d pay him to wake me up erryday with his acshcent.”
“Did he?” Asked Tom.
“No.” Amy frowned. “But it woulda been sooo nice.”
“Not uh.” Sue put a hand on Amy’s shoulder. “You need a man with a good brogue. A deep voice and a brogue.”
“You would like that verra much, wouldn’t ya?” Owen pressed his nose near Sue’s ear as he spoke to her with a decent brogue.
“Ahh.” Sue closed her eyes and teetered. Owen wrapped an arm around her waist as she leaned against him. Putting a hand against his cheek she said, “If only that was real. A real brogue in my ear every morning would be perfect.”
Brad pointedly shifted his gaze from Sue and Owen to Amy. Sure, Sue was basically using Owen as a book-end, but Brad wouldn’t have minded taking his place.
“I would never get out of bed.” Amy had a dreamy look on her face.
“Wouldn’t it be great?” Sue asked.
Amy nodded and the girls clinked glasses.
Owen steered Sue toward an open chair next to Amy and gestured for her to sit down, but she shook her head. “The band’s taking a break, Sue. We can dance again when they come back.”
“I know. But I can’t sit.” Sue shook her head again.
“Why not?”
“Can’t sit in this skirt.”
“Sure you can.”
“Nope.”
Brad took the opportunity to take in Sue and her skirt. He had made an effort all night to only look at her face. But when she had walked away to take a call earlier, he got an eyeful of leg. It haunted him. He let his gaze linger on her thighs for a moment then took in the rest of her outfit. The soft, glittery top shone under the dim lights. Despite the amount of leg on display, Sue’s outfit hinted at much more than it revealed. Brad debated what would have been worse – an outfit that gave away the farm, or this thing that took over his imagination.
“Sue, you shat in the car.” Amy gestured with her drink.
Sue laughed and pushed Amy’s shoulder. “I did not shit in your car.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “Not shat. Shat.” She glared as Sue laughed at her. “Sssshhhhaat. Grrrrr. Ssssshhhhhhaaa. Damn it!” Amy blew out a breath. “Esh aye tee!”
Sue didn’t stop laughing until she took a deep breath. “Yeah, I sat in your car. And it’s a good thing you have cloth seats, Ames, or that would have been a little cold.”
“Your bare ash was on my car sheet?” Amy asked a little too loud.
“Yes!” Sue giggled and lost her balance.
Brad rubbed his hands over his face and muttered “Christ, that’s too much information.”
Tom elbowed Brad. “Sue, you’ve gotta sit down.”
“Can’t. I’ll just lean.” Sue put an arm around Owen’s shoulders and sipped her water.
“Wait! I ave an idea!” Amy turned her whole body toward Brad. “Take off your shirt, Brad.”
“What?” He managed not to stutter, but he could feel the heat rise in his face.
“Take your shirt off so Shue can cover up. She says you have great abs.” Sue immediately dropped her head into her hands but Amy continued. “No one will mind if you take your shirt off.”
“Ssssh!” Sue hissed without looking up. Even though she had mostly covered her face, Brad could see her blush and grinned.
Despite, or maybe because of Amy’s ego-boosting admission that Sue had noticed — and talked about — his body, Brad still felt his cheeks burn as well. “I’m not taking my shirt off.”
“Why not? I’m curious. And I’m married. I never get to she real live abs anymore. At leasht not ones that don’t belong to me.”
Sue giggled and put a hand on Amy’s shoulder, forcing the woman to look at her. “Ames.”
“What?”
“Justin works out, too. We should make them both take off their shirts and compare.”
“Oooh! Then you can wrap up in the winner’s shirt!” Amy banged a hand on the table and almost knocked over a few glasses.
Sue grabbed Amy’s hand and kept her still. “That’s exactly what I was thinking!”
“Hey!” Amy turned her entire body again, toward Owen. “Do you work out?”
“Oh my God!” Sue slapped a hand over her mouth. “I was thinking that, too!”
Owen smirked and tugged on the edge of his shirt.
“Venn!” The women shouted at each other and immediately broke into laughter.
The guys all exchanged questioning looks around the table.
“They have this theory about their brains.” Tom explained.
“I’m sorry?” Owen took an empty seat across from Tom.
“They came up with this theory about their brains overlapping like a Venn diagram.” Tom made circles with the thumb and forefinger of each hand and overlapped them to demonstrate the concept. “They each have their own thoughts, but when they overlap, there’s trouble.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” Owen looked at Amy and Sue, both still giggling.
“No kidding.” Brad nodded.
“Ames! Ames! Where are you?” Lon, Owen’s bandmate, looked bewildered by the far side of the stage.
“Lon!” Amy shouted and waved her arms. “Over here!”
Lon gave a huge smile before he headed over. When he got to the table he sat down in the chair between Owen and Amy and pulled Sue into his lap.
Sue’s eyes went wide. She looked down at her lap then up at Amy.
Amy trained her gaze on Sue’s lap, then craned around to look down Sue’s back. “You’re good!”
“Yeah?” Sue asked.
“Definitely.”
“What’re we talking about?” Lon asked.
Brad leaned forward and picked up a glass of water, trying not to be obvious about checking out Sue’s hemline. “Sue’s snatch flasher.”
Sue’s mouth dropped open as she squeezed her legs together. “I’m not flashing you.”
“Believe me.” Brad locked his eyes on hers. “I know.”
Sue’s eyebrows flew up her head. She looked toward Amy.
“Snatch flasher?” Lon slapped a hand on Sue’s thigh. He looked startled at the clap of skin on skin. He slowly slid his hand up until he reached fabric. His eyes went wide for a second and then he smiled broadly. “Nice, Sue! I didn’t realize how short this skirt is.”
“I did,” Brad, Owen, and Tom said at the same time.
Amy and Sue broke into laughter again.
“What’s so funny?” Lon asked.
“Robin.” Sue gave Amy a high five.
