Page 8 of Rum & Coke

“So could I.”

“I have baggage.”

I chuckled without sound. “Don’t we all?”

She stared at me for a beat, and I knew my thirty seconds were almost up. “Okay, give me your phone.”

When I toldVinny I could use a friend, what I really meant was I needed a male figure in Colton’s life. I wasn’t planning on introducing them anytime soon because I wasn’t in the habit of bringing any strangers around my son until I felt as though they were good people, but in the short amount of time I was near Vinny, I liked him and wanted to get to know him. I didn’t know why. I had barely spoken to him. Maybe it was the look in his eyes that told me he was a good man, or maybe it was the way he didn’t grope me. All the Saddles & Racks guys seemed genuine and special in their own way. Especially Vinny. I didn’t know what his way was yet, but I wanted to find out. I hadn’t been interested in a guy for a very long time. My main focus was taking care of Colton and surviving. Parenting was hard—especially alone—and then to throw in his special needs … I sometimes questioned if I was strong enough. I’d cry myself to sleep, wondering where I went wrong, forced to show my tits for money to survive. Still, I made more money than my parents, and I only worked four days a week. There was no way I could stop stripping and get arealjob because of the money and the hours.

After I got home from the bachelor party, I lay in bed and replayed the night over and over in my head. It was by far the best bachelor party I’d ever danced at. It was fun teasing Gabe and not being touched. Usually, the guys would try to fondle me even if I told them no, but the more they’d feel me up, the more they’d throw dollars at me. Last night wasn’t that type of party, and I honestly felt as though I could hang with them for a beer or something outside of work.

Maybe Ishouldwork for Saddles & Racks. They couldn’t force me to sleep with clients; I was sure they had rules about that, right? Maybe if Vinny called, I’d ask him about it. That was, of course,ifhe called.

The next morning, I woke to the sounds ofPAW Patrol.

Colton amazed me every day. In six months, he would turn five, and I swore he had the smarts of a ten-year-old. He was able to control the TV easily, and he knew what he wanted and was able to find it on Netflix without any problems. He was also starting to read despite being unable to communicate liketypicalchildren his age. Therapy was helping him, and he was currently in an early intervention program, but after the summer months, he’d move on to a special needs kindergarten class. I knew that since he was progressing and meeting or sometimes even exceeding his goals, I was doing something right. Even if I had no idea what I was doing.

After getting out of bed, I used the bathroom before going into the living room to check on Colton. He was in front of the TV, a baseball in his hand, and the cartoon dogs on the screen. I kissed him on the head before I went into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and breakfast. He didn’t look up as I walked past because all of his focus was on the TV in front of him.

My cell phone started to ring, causing my stomach to dip in the hope it would be Vinny.

Instead, it was my mother.

“How was last night?” Sommer asked as we sat in the dressing room getting ready to go on stage.

“It was fun. Easy.”

“Were they hot?” she asked as she curled her long, blonde hair.

I stopped applying mascara and looked at her through the reflection of the mirror. “What?”

She rolled her blue eyes. “They have to be hot to be escorts.”

“Do they?” It made sense, but I still questioned it.

“I don’t think anyone would hire an ugly escort.”

I snorted. “No, I don’t think they would.”

“So, they were hot?”

I smiled, remembering all the guys, especially Vinny. “Yeah, they were.”

“What did they look like? Give me the details.”

“Why don’t you just look at their website?” Ginger asked from my other side.

“I have,” Sommer admitted. “But I want to know if they’re better in person.”

“I’ve never looked at their website,” I confessed.

Ginger poked at the screen on her phone and then handed it to me. “Here, look at their bios and tell us who’s cuter in person.”

I grabbed the phone from her as she went back to spritzing hairspray in her short, red hair. Everyone except Gabe was listed, and I realized Vinny used the name Duane in his bio. “They all are, but Gabe isn’t on there anymore,” I stated. They really were. The photos didn’t do them justice.

“Is that the one getting married?” Sommer asked, taking the phone from me.

“Yeah.”