Page 15 of Going Deep (Odyssey #3)

G inger let herself into her apartment the following Thursday afternoon, sweaty and happy.

She’d found a park with a batting cage and had spent three glorious hours swinging her old Louisville Slugger .

She tossed her keys in the bowl by the door, then tucked the bat away in the front closet before heading to the bedroom.

She peeled off her clothes, grimacing at the sweat, and tossed them into the hamper as she stepped into the bathroom. She was reaching for the shower taps when the phone rang.

She stepped back into the bedroom where she’d left her cell phone charging, smiling when she saw who was calling. She put the call on speaker and headed back to the bathroom. “ Hi , Anna .”

Her friend giggled, a high, girlish sound. “ Stop it. I’m on the phone.”

Ginger rolled her eyes and reached in to turn on the shower. “ Did you call me so I could listen to you fool around with your husband?”

“Very funny,” Anna said, then whispered, “ Stop , she can hear you.”

Grant’s chuckle came through loud and clear. “ So ? I don’t care if she listens.”

Ginger shook her head and stepped into the spray, propping the phone on the high shelf just outside the shower stall where it wouldn’t get wet. “ If you guys are going to do it, put me on video chat. I’ve recently discovered a penchant for voyeurism.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Anna admonished. There was a smack and a squeal, then Grant’s laughter faded. “ Okay , he’s gone.”

“Bummer.”

“You’re as bad as he is,” Anna accused.

“It’s all my kinky new friends,” Ginger replied and began to wash. “ They’re a bad influence on me.”

“Are you doing anything tonight?”

Ginger adjusted to the lightning change of topic without pause. “ I was going to spend some time looking at jobs online, but I’m happy to put it off if you’ve got a better offer.”

“Well, it’s poker night, so Grant and Simon are both going over to Michael’s . I thought you and Lola might want to come over here for a girl’s night.”

“Sold,” Ginger said immediately. “ But don’t you play poker with them?”

“They don’t let me anymore,” Anna groused, obviously put out. “ I win too much, and their delicate little egos can’t handle it.”

Ginger snickered. “ Don’t worry, sweetie, we’ll have more fun without them. What time should I be there, and can I bring anything?”

“About seven, and wine. I’m making braised beef short ribs, so a bottle of red would be perfect.”

“Yum. You got it.”

“Awesome. Simon’s coming to pick up Grant , so you can ride over with him and Lola . I’m sure they’d be happy to give you a ride back later.”

Ginger ducked her head under the spray to get her hair wet. “ That works.”

“Okay, I’ll call Lo and tell her you’re coming. See you soon.”

“Bye.”

The call ended, and Ginger dumped shampoo on her head. Her friends had been busy all week—they had jobs, after all—and it would be good to spend some time with them. And if she happened to run into Michael , well, that wouldn’t be a hardship either.

* * *

Three hours later, Ginger leaned back in a lounge chair on Anna’s back patio and raised her glass in a toast. “ To the chef, and her braised beef short ribs.”

“And to Grant , whose punishment is our gain,” Lola chimed in.

“Punishment?” Ginger wondered.

“Braised beef short ribs are his favorite,” Lola said with a grin.

“Teach him to shut me out of poker night,” Anna muttered while Ginger sputtered wine. Under the table, Henry , Anna and Grant’s Mastiff mix, roused himself to see if it was worth licking up.

Lola sipped her wine serenely. “ Does he know yet?”

“He will when he gets home,” Anna said smugly. “ I did it on the grill so he wouldn’t smell it in the house.”

Ginger swiped at the wine she’d spilled on the table. Henry , seeing he wasn’t getting any, settled back down with a sigh. “ Uh , not that it’s any of my business, but can’t you get into trouble for stuff like that?”

“I don’t care, he deserves it. And it’s not like he won’t get any,” Anna went on. “ There are leftovers.”

Ginger peered into the pot. “ There’s like, one rib left in there.”

Anna winced, then shrugged. “ Worth it.”

Lola just shook her head. “ And people think I’m the chaotic one.”

“I don’t,” Ginger assured her.

“Thank you,” Lola replied, and lifted her glass. “ Great wine, by the way. French ?”

“Italian,” Ginger replied, amused.

“That was my second guess,” Lola said and drank.

“Okay, new topic,” Anna declared. “ Ginger and Michael .”

“I like that topic,” Lola decided.

“Me too.” Anna waved at Ginger . “ Spill .”

Her glass was empty, so Ginger reached for the bottle to get a refill. “ Spill what?”

“The dish, the dirt.” Anna paused for a sip of wine. “ You know, the what what.”

“The what what?”

Anna waved again. “ That’s what the kids say.”

“The kids do not say that,” Lola informed her.

“Sure, they do. I have teenage sisters, they say it all the time.” Anna looked expectantly at Ginger . “ Well ?”

“You might as well tell her,” Lola said. “ She won’t shut up otherwise.”

Ginger shrugged. “ There’s nothing to tell. We haven’t talked.”

Anna sat up straight, sloshing her wine. “ What ?”

“Not since Sunday morning, when he called to check on me,” Ginger clarified.

“He hasn’t called since? Not at all?”

Lola’s lips twitched. “ Anna , they had a scene and sex, they didn’t pledge their eternal troth.”

Anna’s eyes fired. “ It was her first time .”

“Actually, my first time was Jason Watkins , eleventh grade,” Ginger corrected. “ In his mother’s Ford Taurus station wagon.”

She paused for a moment, then added, “ This was better.”

Lola snorted. “ I should fucking hope so.”

“So much so that I’m going to play with him again this weekend,” Ginger continued.

“You didn’t tell us that,” Anna accused.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to,” Ginger admitted. “ The playing part, not the telling-you part. Obviously , I’d tell you.”

“Obviously,” Anna said.

“Explain the other part,” Lola urged.

“He mentioned it on Sunday morning when he called. I was a bit shaky,” she recalled. “ Kind of, I don’t know, tender, if that makes sense. Not physically, but…”

“I get it,” Anna said.

Lola nodded. “ Go on.”

“Anyway, talking to him made me feel better, and as we were winding down, he said he’d like to play again this weekend. Friday night. And it sounded good, but…”

“Shaky.”

Ginger nodded at Lola . “ Yeah . Which he seemed to get. So he said if I was interested, to meet him at the bar again, at nine-thirty, and we’d go from there.”

“Did he tell you what he was planning this time?” Anna wanted to know.

“Just that it would be different from last time.”

Anna frowned. “ Remind me again what you did last time?”

“Bondage, spanking, fucking.”

“The holy trinity,” Lola said with deep reverence.

“Please.” Ginger winced and held up a hand. “ I went to Catholic school. Can we keep the Trinity out of this?”

“Sorry,” Lola snickered.

“Well, that leaves a lot of options,” Anna sipped her wine, then put it down with a clink. “ Ooh , we’re going to be there Friday night. Maybe we can watch this time.”

Ginger winced. “ Oh , God .”

Anna’s laughter pealed out. “ Hey , I almost forgot! I made brownies.” She waggled her eyebrows. “ Double fudge.”

“Okay, you can watch me get naked and fucked,” Ginger decided.

They fell on the plate of brownies like starving wolves and cracked open a second bottle of wine.

“They say red wine goes with chocolate,” Anna commented, curled up on the living room rug. “ I think they’re right. No , Henry , you can’t have any chocolate.”

“Chocolate goes with everything,” Ginger mumbled around a mouth full of double fudge. On the rug beside Anna , Henry woofed his agreement.

“I’ll eat to that,” Lola enthused and rose to snag another brownie from the plate on the mantle, where they’d put it to keep Henry safe.

“You know what I haven’t done in forever?” Anna mused. “ Danced . I haven’t been dancing in forever.”

“You danced at your wedding,” Lola reminded her.

“Doesn’t count. That was respectable married lady dancing. Remember how we used to go dancing, Lo ?”

“Yeah, in our wild and single days.”

Ginger lay back on the floor and closed her eyes. “ Yeah , you’re so staid now. Every weekend it’s floggings and needles and butt plugs and bondage. Same old, same old.”

“Don’t say needles,” Anna begged.

“Sorry.” Ginger opened her eyes. “ You were saying?”

“Was I ?” Anna frowned, looking befuddled, and Ginger made a mental note to cut her off. “ Oh , right. Dancing ! We should all go out dancing.”

“Now?” Lola mumbled around her third brownie.

“No, I suppose not.” Anna sighed with disappointment, then brightened. “ We can dance here!”

Ginger pushed herself up on her elbows as Anna flew out of the room, Henry racing and woofing after her. She turned to look at Lola . “ Is she serious?”

Lola polished off her brownie. “ Probably .”

“Got it!” Anna came running back into the room, her phone in hand, Henry hot on her heels. “ Come on, dance with me!”

Ginger groaned and stayed where she was. “ Dance with Henry , I’m too full.”

“Party pooper.” As the opening bars of TEXAS HOLD ‘ EM flowed out of the phone, Anna began to bounce around the room. Henry , delighted with the game, bounced with her.

Ginger looked at Lola . “ She’s drunk, right?”

“Yep.”

Ginger watched Anna groove enthusiastically to the beat and grinned. “ At least she’s a happy drunk.”

And the song was a fun one. Ginger pushed herself up to sit on the sofa, singing along as she watched her friend dance with abandon. When the song came to an end, she clapped and cheered.

“Thank you, thank you.” Anna dropped into a deep curtsey, fell over, and almost hit her head on the floor.

Lola shook her head and went to help Anna . “ Come on, Graceful .”

Anna staggered to a chair. Henry immediately tried to climb into her lap. “ You’re just jealous because I’m a better dancer.”

“I am very not jealous of your drunken flailing,” Lola said with a snort. “ But I might be jealous of Ginger . Those are some pipes you’ve got there, sister.”