Page 95

“No one forced you to drink,” Cathy replied, her voice scratchy.

“It’s still your fault,” Fe grumbled, clutching her head. “How the hell did we end up at your place, Lyds?”

Sitting at the kitchen table, Lydia’s head dropped to Cathy’s shoulder. Halle’s laughter rang through the room, causing the three suffering women to moan. “Do any of you remember what happened last night?”

“Nope,” they chorused unenthusiastically.

“Shall I tell you then?”

Lydia’s head snapped up, her eyes a sea of confusion. “How would you know?”

“Oh, because I was here,” Halle grinned wickedly.

“No, you weren’t.”

“Yes, I was. Harrison and I arrived around eleven. Just in time to see you three in full swing.”

“No, you weren’t,” Lydia repeated stupidly. Her mind was too tired to come up with something better. There was no way Halle saw her last night! No way! Oh buggering crap balls.

“Harrison is here?” Cathy asked, just as perturbed as Lydia.

“He’s nipped to the bakery to grab something nice and greasy for you all.”

“Ugh, please stop talking,” Fe interjected, her hand coming to her mouth.

“Yummy butter. That’ll sort your stomachs out,” Halle continued, delighted in the effect she was having on her best friend.

“You suck,” Fe replied before running to the downstairs loo.

“That was mean.” Reaching over, Lydia took Halle’s cup of coffee and drained it.

“That’s payback, sweetheart.” Grinning again, Halle poured more coffee for them all and settled next to Lydia.

“So, are you going to tell us what happened, then?” Cathy reached into her purse as she spoke, pulling out a compact mirror and face wipes. In a matter of minutes, she’d wiped her face and reapplied fresh make-up.

Lydia regarded Cathy in wonder. “How are you putting your face on right now? I can’t even lift my head!”

“Out of necessity, sweetie. Harrison does not need to be seeing me in this state.”

“Too late for that, Cathy,” Halle laughed.

Dropping her head to the table, Lydia braced herself. “Oh God, what did we do? Just tell us.”

Setting her cup down, Halle rubbed her hands together. “Let’s set the scene. It was a frosty night, and I’d just settled down with a cup of Ovaltine—”

“You don’t drink Ovaltine. Cut the crap and tell us,” Lydia huffed.

“Snarky! Okay, I really was settling down for the night, sans old lady drink, when my phone rang. Guess who it was?”

“Me?” Lydia raised her finger, head still on the table.

“Nope, my bestie. She tells me she’s just purchased a shit ton of sex toys that will be delivered to her house in two days’ time.”

“Oh shit,” Fe moaned, dragging herself back to the chair. “I spent so much money. I remember that!”

“Indeed. But we never got to discuss that because Cathy here took the phone from you and ordered me to come to her house.”

“Did you?” Cathy asked, looking a lot more human than the other two.