Page 70 of Running from Drac

“Used to be. Once he started dating you, he wasn’t interested in beingfriendsanymore.” She air quotes the wordfriends while shooting a look at her two cronies, both of them rolling their eyes in unison. I think that’s the only facial expression they know. There’s a vicious bitterness in her tone; one I feel the bite of all the way over here.

“Well, I’m sorry he pushed you away, Pippa. That wasn’t my intention. I’ve always been supportive of your friendship.”

“Speaking of which. I overheard you having a heated conversation with him the other night. What was that all about?” she prods.

“He admitted to fucking another girl the night we broke up.”

“Did he? Did he say who it was?”

“I didn’t care. We were broken up.”

Another fucking eye roll.

“Why are you asking?”

She paints on a smile, one mirroring Everette’s and Tula’s. “Oh, I just wondered if it was Jinafer again? That’s all.”

The thought of it being Jinafer makes my skin crawl. “I don’t think he’s that stupid.”

“He’s pretty fucking dumb,” Poppy agrees. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“He’s an asshole, Amber. I’m just sad you can’t see it yet,” Pippa states, smiling deviously just as a bell chimes, and in walks Tula.

“Time’s up. Please make your way to the eucalyptus showers.”

It takes me a full five minutes just to get out of the clay. The second we are out, it hardens to my body, making it impossible to walk. Mallory and Poppy joke about being clay monsters while making growling sounds as they waddle across the room.

Pippa has completely stopped talking, and her two friends decided that they didn’t want to hang out anymore and ditchus completely. Now it’s just the five of us. My mother still barely speaking to me.

Pippa shut down immediately after talking about Eddie. It makes me wonder if she knows more than she’s letting on? Does she know who he slept with that night? I feel like she would tell me if she did. Then again, she has been acting strangely bitchy lately.

Shrugging it off, I slosh my way up to the shower, embracing the strong eucalyptus smell like I’m bathing in God’s water. The clay shucks off my body in thick clumps, disappearing down the drain. I feel cleaner. It’s almost therapeutic in a way. Under the spray, my thoughts wander to Eddie, and how I’ll feel being Mrs. Eddie Frazier. Will he come home to me every night, plant a big kiss on my lips, and then whisk me off to the bedroom to have his way with me? Our new experiments in the bedroom have me craving him like a drug. I can’t wait to be his forever, and for him to call me his every day.

“Earth to, Amber. Did you hear anything I just said?” Pippa questions, snapping her fingers in front of my face, waking me up from the Eddie trance I was in.

“No, sorry. I was thinking about Eddie.”

“I said we have to get to the massage parlor, otherwise we will lose our time.” Reluctantly, I remove myself from the water, and grab my robe, enjoying how the fluffy fabric feels against my freshly washed skin.

“Did you get clay in your girly bits? I think I am still plucking some out of mine,” my mother asks, making a fool of herself as she marches across the room. I laugh as she reaches up under her robe and nonchalantly picks a major wedge from her crack.

“Your mom can be so embarrassing sometimes,” Pippa whispers before plastering on another fake smile. “We didn’t need to know that, Mrs. Collins.”

My mother’s oblivious to Pippa’s insult. She’s too busy shaking the last bits of clay out of her vagina.

“Be nice, Pippa. You’re the one who invited her.”

“I know. I know. Sorry for that. She’s barely said two words to you.”

Shrugging, I reluctantly defend her by saying, “It is what it is. We haven’t had the greatest relationship since my dad died. So, she’s probably keeping her distance for a reason.” Changing the subject completely, I add, “You know I thought the bath was going to be gross, but it was rather relaxing. Thank you. And the showers... muah, chef’s kiss.” I pretend to do that chef kiss thing with my hands.

Pippa beams with pride. “I thought I might have to pull you out of that shower kicking and screaming with how lost in thought you were.

Tula suddenly appears in front of us. “This way. Follow me.” She leads us down a dimly lit hallway, with a series of doors that have erotic moans coming from behind them.

We all giggle as she leads us to the last two doors, and pushes me and Poppy in one, and Mallory and Pippa in the other. “They are all yours, boys.” Two men dressed in black scrubs stand by a table lit with candles. In the background, seductive yet soothing music plays on a cassette player. Yeah, they still exist, apparently.

“Did we enter a brothel?” Poppy whispers, causing both of us to giggle.