Page 27 of Bad For Me (Rock Canyon, Idaho 5)

“I would never, especially since you so sweetly agreed to come to the bachelorette party,” Caroline said slyly.

“I said no such thing!”

“Really, ’cause I could have sworn—”

“That you were delusional? Yeah, I pretty much knew that.”

Caroline huffed. “Come on! You don’t have to look; I can blindfold you. We’re only going to the strip club for an hour or so after Becca comes over to Val’s and shows us some pleasure enhancements from her shop.”

Becca owned Sweet Tarts Boutique, a cute clothing shop with a black-curtained area filled with anything you could possibly think of to spice up a relationship. Most of the women in town loved it, even the ones who hated to admit it, but Callie had never found a reason to go in. Besides, she was more of a T-shirt and jeans kind of girl, and the clothes Becca sold were sleek and showed off a great deal of skin. Something she didn’t do anyway, not when people might start asking about her scars.

“So basically, everyone is going to be drinking while they look at sex toys and then get all riled up watching greasy strippers . . . and then what? Are we heading to a bar too, just to strike a rowdy brawl from the bachelorette checklist?”

“No. By that point, I imagine everyone will be so horned up, they’ll just want to go home and jump their honeys’ bones,” Caroline s

aid, amused.

“Nice, do you have to be so crude?” Callie ground her teeth.

“I could have said bone, singular.”

“Ugh,” Callie said with a groan.

“Okay, you have been in a mood all week, and I want to know what I did. Normally, you just snort and call me a pervert when I joke about this stuff, so what gives?”

The truth sat on the edge of her tongue—that she was interested in a guy and was struggling with her feelings. But she didn’t want to have any feelings for him, and if she told Caroline, they would start analyzing, and then it would be real. It was better to just ignore and avoid, and eventually, the feelings would go away. Like a bad cold, they just needed to work their way out of her system.

“I’ve just been tired this week. Lots of stuff on my mind. I might be coming down with something.”

Caroline was silent, and Callie knew she didn’t believe her, but in typical fashion, she didn’t press. “Okay, well, I still think you should come to the bachelorette party and be my sober buddy. Of course, Val won’t be drinking, but she doesn’t need alcohol to get crazy.”

“Somehow, the thought of a pregnant girl gone wild is even more disturbing than Becca bringing out the vibrators and strap-ons.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Caroline said, looking her way. “I think Becca’s hot in a Kat Dennings, Two Broke Girls way. She’s snarky, and she’s got great boobs—”

“Wait, you’ve checked out her boobs?” Callie coughed with laughter.

“Hey, I can notice if a woman is pretty or not,” Caroline said defensively. “Besides, I was just thinking, you know, that you might have noticed . . . too?”

Callie swung toward Caroline, her jaw dropping into her lap. “Are you asking if I’m gay?”

“In a back-ass-wards way, yeah.”

Callie couldn’t seem to shut her mouth; she was so damn surprised. Did everyone think she was gay? Not that there was anything wrong with it; she’d had plenty of gay friends growing up, and her cousin, Miranda, had been with her wife for years, but . . .

“I’m not a lesbian,” Callie finally said.

“Okay, I just thought—”

“What? That because I wasn’t jumping on some guy’s jock every weekend, that I don’t like men? I like men.”

“I’m sorry, I just—”

“Does everyone think I’m gay?” Callie asked.

“No! Like I said, I was just asking because, like you said, I’ve never seen you up on someone’s cock.”

“What’s wrong with being picky or discreet?” Callie said, her voice rising. “Just because I don’t advertise my conquests, doesn’t mean I’m not getting any. I am conquering all kinds of ass.”