Chompin' at the Bit (Horse Play #2) (25 page)

Kyle laughed loudly, stepping forward to scratch the top of Bones’ head. “Dammit, Jim,” he said in an uncanny impersonation of DeForest Kelley. “I’m a puppy, not a doctor!” Everyone laughed, and Willow simply groaned, finally understanding that this was another
Star Trek
thing. 

“You guys are in serious need of a nerd intervention,” Willow teased. 

Once we were back inside, Jensen excused himself from my side. Bones continued to squirm in my arms, so I set him down. Happily back on his feet, he went from person to person looking for affection. As I watched him, everything still seemed kind of surreal; Jensen throwing all of this together really went above and beyond. While his total disregard for my wishes originally irritated me (but only a little), I couldn’t deny the fact that I was starting to enjoy myself. 

“Here, Madi,” my dad said from behind me, tapping my shoulder with something to get my attention. 

I turned around to see him holding out a small box topped with one of those shiny, green stick-on bows. “Dad, you know the rules better than anyone.” 

“It’s not for you, kiddo,” he said as I took the top off the box to find a brown leather collar with an engravable nameplate. Our phone number was on it, but the spot where our puppy’s name would go was left blank. “It’s for the dog, so I’m not breaking any rules here.” 

Arching my right eyebrow, I challenged my father. “You know, this whole ‘technicality’ thing that you and Jensen have going on right now is kind of losing its luster,” I joked before looking at the collar again and smiling. “It’s great. Thank you.” 

Jensen’s hand found the small of my back just then, and a glass of red wine appeared before me. “Thanks,” I said as he pressed a tender kiss to my temple. “Did you see what Dad got for Bones? I’m going to have his name added to it as soon as possible.” 

“It’s great. Thanks, Wayne,” Jensen said, acting like it was a gift for the both of us, not just for me. I was starting to feel like he really thought that all of these little technicalities would save him from a huge lecture later. 

Oh, who was I kidding? He was probably right. 

As we stood there, Bones came over and started sniffing at my ankle until I knelt down to pet him. Through my periphery, I saw Jensen drop down next to me. “So,” he said quietly, reaching out and petting Bones’ belly when he flopped to the floor clumsily and rolled over. “If you weren’t expecting a puppy …?” 

Oh shit
. He didn’t have to finish his inquiry for me to know what he was getting at. In fact, I was pretty sure he knew already, he just wanted to tease me a little more. Yeah, on my birthday. What a prince.

Keeping my attention on the dog, I forced a quiet laugh. “I don’t know what I was expecting,” I lied. 

Jensen knew me better than that. “Bullshit,” he challenged, nudging me gently with his elbow and almost causing me to topple over since I was only balanced on the balls of my still-bare feet. Before I wound up on my ass, though, his left hand wrapped around my arm while his right gripped my waist, catching me and offering me an apologetic look. 

Once I was balanced again, his right hand moved up the length of my back as I turned my head to finally look at him. “I thought …” I let out a gust of air, totally embarrassed about what I was about to admit—especially since that wasn’t even close to what he had planned. “I thought you were going to propose.” 

The look in his eyes told me I was right; he already suspected as much. That didn’t stop the smug smile from crossing his face, though. “And you were going to say
no
?” he asked, pretending to be offended. At least, I
hoped
he was only pretending. “In front of all these people?”

I could feel my face warm, and I had to look away. Even though I knew deep down he was teasing, I was terrified of hurting him. He must have been able to pick up on it, because he placed his forefinger beneath my chin and gently coaxed me to look at him. 

“Hey. I’m only joking.” 

I shrugged, offering him a small smile. “I know. I just … I didn’t want to hurt you. And it looked so much like you were.” 

“Baby,” Jensen said, pushing himself to his feet and pulling me up with him. Bones whimpered, rolling back onto his belly before getting up and running off to find someone else to pet him. Taking my wine and setting it on the end table, Jensen turned my body to face his, cupping my face in his hands. “I love you. But I’m only just getting my life back on track after … some incredible misfortunes. We’re just not there yet.” 

“I know,” I assured him, feeling relieved to know that he was in exactly the same place as I was. It made it easier to breathe again, not having to worry about him surprising me with an engagement ring any time soon. “Which is why I was so scared.” 

Something must have occurred to him right then because his smile widened. “Although, I bet I’d have gotten myself out of trouble if this had been an engagement party as opposed to a birthday party.” 

Unable to keep myself from laughing, I used both hands to push him away playfully. “Oh, you think so, do you?” 

“Hey, I didn’t make the rules,” he said, trying to defend his actions as he pulled me into his arms. 

I instantly stopped trying to push him away, instead wrapping my arms up around his neck. “No. But you sure as hell did a good job breaking them.” 

“Good job, huh? So, that means you’re happy with this turn of events?” 

I hummed, stepping up onto my tiptoes to place a feather light kiss on his lips. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that just yet.” I lowered my voice to just above a whisper, purposefully keeping my lips a hairsbreadth from his. My desire for him rose slowly as his grip tightened around me. Had it not been for Kyle’s boisterous laugh, I probably could have gotten carried away.

Kissing him one more time, I smiled and pulled my face back to look into his eyes. “Let’s see how the rest of the evening goes, shall we?” 

Jensen was about to answer—with something cocky, I was sure of it—when I felt Willow’s tiny hand wrap around my right wrist, forcing my arm from Jensen’s neck. “You can’t hog her, Jensen. You get to see her every day.” 

Chuckling, Jensen released me from his embrace, his hand sliding over my ass as Willow led me away. There was no way it was an accident, either—not with the way his eyes followed me as she pulled me to the kitchen where the rest of the women had congregated. It would seem that I was a little too wrapped up in Jensen because I hadn’t noticed the crowd in the living room thin. 

Lilah, Janet, and Jillian were all standing around the island picking at the trays of food that had been laid out. There was a little bit of something for everyone; crackers and cheese, fruit, veggies, some kind of pâté, and even a variety of finger sandwiches. 

“Madison, sweetheart!” Janet greeted me excitedly, taking my hand once I was near and pulling me into her side before wrapping an arm around me. “Are you enjoying yourself, dear?” 

Nodding, I mirrored her hold on me and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “I am. I’m so glad you’re all here.” 

Willow joined us at the island within a few seconds, and in her hand was a bottle of Patron. Flashbacks to the night of Lilah and Kyle’s rehearsal dinner flashed through my mind—as did the memory of the next morning’s hangover—and I groaned. 

“Will, I don’t know if—” 

She wouldn’t let me finish as she scooted away and hopped up onto the counter behind me. Short girl problems. She was probably digging around to find shot glasses. There was really no use fighting her, because I knew that once I did she would pull out the
“Aw! But we never do this anymore!”
card, and I would feel obligated. This just saved me the grief. 

“Shot glasses are on the top shelf, buried way in the back,” I told her before removing my arm from Janet and opening the fridge. If Willow brought Patron, I was willing to bet she bought a few limes too. I found them sitting on the top shelf next to the milk and grabbed them, the cutting board and knife, as well as the saltshaker. 

After returning to the island, Willow hopped down and brought the glasses over, setting one in front of each of us. I looked over at Janet, kind of shocked to see that her eyes were sparkling with what looked like excitement.

Was she going to do shots with us? Awesome.

I cut the limes into wedges and left the pieces on the cutting board, pushing it until it was central to us all as we circled the island. “Okay, ladies,” I announced, grabbing the bottle and pouring shots. “Bottoms up.” 

All together, we licked the salt from our hands and slammed our shots. We each grabbed a lime wedge and bit into them before setting the remains off to the side. 

Before any of us could recover, Willow was quick to pour another round for everyone. Laughing, Janet salted her hand again before passing the shaker clockwise around our little group. Never in a million years would I have imagined standing in my kitchen doing shots with Jensen’s mom. Even more surprising, was how much I was enjoying it.

Conversation flowed, and soon everyone took turns sharing how they met their significant other—I gave the abridged version for Janet’s sake. First, Willow chimed in about how her crush on Brandon when we were all teenagers evolved into an epic love story. Willow had been convinced that her feelings for him were unrequited, but I knew Brandon returned her feelings tenfold. No matter how many times I tried to tell her as much, it wasn’t until he finally asked her out that she finally believed me. 

Lilah then explained how she and Kyle met after she moved to Houston with Jensen. While she didn’t go into specifics on why she left Chicago, she did say that she regretted none of her past, because without it, she’d never have met her soul mate. I noticed Lilah’s eyes glisten before Janet reached across the island between them and grasped her hand, squeezing ever so slightly. It was almost as though she was trying to transfer some of her maternal strength to her daughter. Sure, Lilah might not have regretted her turbulent relationship with Robert, but that didn’t mean it didn’t still hurt to talk about it. 

Willow poured another round of shooters, clearly picking up on the vibe that Lilah might be in need of one. We toasted to the past shaping us for our futures and drank simultaneously before Janet spoke next. “I’m almost ashamed to admit how Henry and I met,” she admitted, setting her glass down in front of her. Why did her words suddenly make me nervous?

“Mom, you guys met in college. You moved across the Atlantic for him,” Lilah said, grabbing her wine glass and taking a sip before reaching for a few crackers from the nearby platter. “It’s romantic.”

Janet laughed, and there was an impish glint in her eyes that told me her meeting with Henry might actually rival my own when it came to censorship. To say I wasn’t morbidly curious for her to continue would have been a lie. 

“I was a freshman at Oxford,” Janet began, smirking slightly. “Henry and I met at a party.” 

Oh,
I thought to myself. Was that all? 

“I had just gotten out of a terrible relationship and wasn’t looking to meet anyone else—let alone date …” 

Uh oh …
I was suddenly all too aware where this was going. Janet and Henry
hooked up
at a party. My morbid curiosity quickly dissipated, and I instantly picked up my wine glass and chugged the remainder of it, hoping to use it as some sort of stand-in brain bleach. My wine was gone before I knew it, and I had just reached for the bottle to refill when Lilah finally caught on to what her mother was implying. 

“Mom! Ew!” 

Janet laughed. “Oh please. We’re all adults here,” she said, trying to justify her story—or lack-there-of since she never
really
finished telling it. “Besides, nothing happened. Your father was a perfect gentleman.” 

It was a relief to hear. I couldn’t imagine just how drunk I would’ve had to be to forget hearing otherwise. 

Jillian didn’t have a story to share since she was newly single, but said she loved hearing everyone’s stories and that they gave her hope that one day she would meet the man of her dreams. She definitely deserved a nice guy. If only I knew any single m— 

I hummed excitedly, my mouth full of wine. I quickly swallowed and reached across the island top to pat Lilah’s hand. “We should introduce Riley to Jillian!” 

Lilah loved the idea. “Yes! Oh, he would just love you to bits! You’re
exactly
his type!” 

Jillian beamed, listening raptly as Lilah told her all about Riley while Willow poured another round of tequila. After a few more shots, my body was starting to feel the effects, and soon enough the bottle was almost empty. The five of us were still circled around the kitchen island, laughing. 

“Oh no!” Willow cried out as she tipped the empty Patron bottle completely upside down over her half-full shot glass. “Madi, do you have anything good to do shooters with?” 

Pursing my lips, I turned to the cabinet where I kept my liquor. “Umm … Lemme check.” Upon opening it, I noticed that I had a bottle of vodka and another bottle of Patron. “Ooooh!” I said excitedly, pulling the tequila from the back of the cabinet. It was official: I was definitely on my way to inebriated. 

Willow gladly took the bottle from me so she could fill her glass, and we drank again. The rational side of my brain told me I was going to regret getting this drunk on tequila again, but the alcohol was effectively drowning her out. I was having such a good time; if my brain allowed for it later, I’d have to thank Jensen properly for not listening to me. 

“Okay, ladies,” Jillian announced. “If I plan to make it home tonight, I should probably stop drinking now.” 

“Oh psssh!” I protested animatedly. “You can stay the night! You can’t go. It’s my birthday, and I won’t take no for an answer.” 

Jillian looked at me strangely. “That’s really sweet, Madison. But I should go home tonight. Thanks, though.” 

“Fine,” I grumbled. “But you’re going to let me find you a ride or call you a cab or something. Now …” I slid her full shot glass toward her. “Drink up.” 

We had just set our glasses back down when I heard the clickety-clack of tiny claws on the tile floor. Turning around with a smile, I saw Bones join us from the living room where I could hear the guys talking and laughing up a storm.