Page 72 of Running from Drac

“Um, thanks, I guess.”

He reluctantly keeps his hands to himself, not exploring anywhere he shouldn’t.

“Mmm, oh god,” Poppy exclaims from the other side of the curtain.

“Poppy!” I screech.

“Shh,” she says happily. “Mind your business.”

It’s kind of hard to mind my business when the sound of skin hitting skin erupts on the other side of the room. Now it isn’t just her moaning, it’s him too.

“Are they?”

Renaldo laughs. “They are.”

“In here?”

“Mmm, hmm,” he says casually. “Could’ve been us, but alas, no happy endings for you.”

“I can’t believe this is even happening right now.” Covering my ears, I try to drown out Poppy’s excited moaning and Marco’s furious grunts as he finishes my friend off for what can only be described as the happiest of happy endings.

It lasts at least ten minutes before the sounds stop, and all I hear is the quick breaths of a very satisfied woman.

“Are you alive?” I ask her, just as the curtain whips open and she’s standing there, red-faced and glowing.

“Shut up.”

From behind her, I see Marco discard something rubbery into the trash, burying it beneath other things.

“Girl, you didn’t!”

She grins. “I so did.”

The two men, kiss our hands before leaving the room, but I notice that Poppy has a piece of paper in her hands. She opens it, blushes even deeper, then quickly tries to hide it.

“You little slut.”

“Hey now, don’t get jealous. I’m sure Renaldo offered you things too. I heard you say no.”

“And you didn’t,” I state, my mind reeling in utter disbelief.

“What can I say? Italian men love me.”

She happily gets off the table, practically skipping from the room. We meet Pippa and Mallory in the hallway. Both of them looking miserably disappointed.

“Ugh, I can’t believe I paid for that,” Pippa grumbles. “My masseuse was a tall German woman named Helga. She was rough as fuck.”

Mallory looks sheepishly away. “Mine was a girl too.”

“Yeah, but at least your girl was hot,” Pippa growls. “Mine looked like that principal off thatMatildamovie.Ms. Trunchbull, I think her name was. You can bet your sweet ass I denied any kind of happy ending.”

Poppy and I share a look, her cheeks deepening a strong crimson color.

“Oh shit. Did you guys go through with your happy endings?” Her eyes focus on the two men leaving the room, and she gasps. “Oh, you so fucking did. They’re hot as hell.”

She turns back to look at me. “Damn, it’s your last day as a free woman and you didn’t even let the hottie cop a feel? I’m disappointed in you, Amber. I thought you’d let loose more.”

“I’m getting married in two weeks, Pippa. I’m not about to jeopardize it.”