Page 76 of Desperate Games

“Go to work, Baby. I’ll pick you up at four.”

“Four? That’s right, it’s Callie’s recital,” I remember, and a smile spreads across my face.

He nods. And his hands slowly lower from my body.

By the time the doors slide shut, leaving me inside my office alone, I can finally breathe again.

By the time I’m in my office, door locked, laptop on, and my earbuds in, I’m already dialing the only lifelines that matter—my cousins-slash-besties, Clementine, Lucy, Cecilia, Cora, Lee-Lee, and Aella.

Shelly and Micky can’t make it, but that’s okay.

We leave my sisters out.

Not because we don’t love them, but because Julia’s already called twice today to check if I’m following the prenatal diet she typed up in Comic Sans and color-coded for optimal guilt.

Hard pass.

The video connects, and Clementine’s face appears first, luminous and smug as always.

“Hey girls, Cecilia! I am so glad you’re back from Cali,” she says to our cuz Cecilia, Uncle Luc and Aunt Maria’s daughter.

“Thanks. The West Coast sucks balls,” she says, and we all grin.

“Alright, we will catch up later,” Clementine says, like she’s the unmitigated leader of this conference call, and hell, maybe she is.

“Well, Andrea. Look at you, glowing like you just got railed,” she says.

“Oh my God—I did not get railed,” I hiss, plopping my head against my palm.

Cecilia pops in next, sipping iced coffee like she’s watching a scandal unfold.

“Shame. You look like you need it.”

I groan. She’s not wrong.

“What is wrong with me? My hormones are going crazy. If I don’t get some dick soon, I’m gonna bust.”

“Oh, honey, welcome to the perks of pregnancy no one wants to tell you,” Clem says, eyes sparkling, “Besides, I know exactly how to get that bad boy moving.”

Lee-lee perks up. “Do tell.”

“Remember the rosebud toys I gave you all for being my bridesmaids?”

I blink.

“The little pink one that looks like overpriced lip balm but is really an adult toy?” Aella whispers, looking around for I don’t know what—spy cameras inside her home office?

I panic and do a double-take around my own office before rolling my eyes.

Sheesh. I need to get a grip.

Ooh, yes, a good one on something long and hard.

I clench my thighs, willing my inner pervert to shut the fuck up.

Clementine grins like a devil. Aella snorts like she knows what I was thinking. Cora, Cecilia, and Lee-lee? They all laugh.

Heifers.