Chapter 13

March 6th

Can a person hide under the covers until next year? Asking for a friend.

Paige looked at her diary and sighed. She spoke of taking risks just a day ago and now she was ready to hide until everyone forgot she existed. Max had dropped her off a short while ago. He didn't ask for his sweatshirt back and she hadn't offered. She didn't want to think of why she was still wearing it when, one, Max had a girlfriend. Two, he'd arrested her for prostitution. Three, he saw her tonight as one giant hive. The trouble was, he was so nice. He loved his niece. He rescued Paige and looked after her. And he was completely unavailable. Not that he'd want her after always seeing her at her lowest—multiple times.

Paige glanced at Dr. Fraser's number written in his hurried hand. She knew it was his because it was barely legible, a trait among doctors. Could he really want a date or was it just concern that she'd almost died due to body bronzer?

She heard her friends before they reached her door. She heard Leah's heavy footfalls and knew the neighbors would love that at three in the morning.

"Paige!" Leah was already screaming her name before they reached the door.

Paige closed her diary and slipped it under the couch cushion right as the door was flung open. Leah, Eli, and Amelia barged in with wild eyes.

"You're alive!" Amelia gasped as she started to cry even as all three of her friends flung themselves onto her.

Paige was shoved back against the couch as Eli, Leah, and Amelia hugged her tight and talked a mile a minute.

"Dracklen said you were near death!" Amelia sobbed.

"We couldn't find you anywhere and we thought you were getting your cherry popped, but then that hunk of a bartender found us and said he had to carry you out of the club and you were almost arrested. Again." Eli managed to say that all in one breath.

"But we had your phone and so we couldn't call you. We didn't know where you were or which hospital the cop took you to, but then someone texted me from some unknown number letting us know you were okay and coming home, so we raced straight here. What happened? And why do you smell so good?" Leah dropped her nose and sniffed Paige's neck.

"I'm allergic to the body bronzer. I swelled up like a balloon and couldn't talk and had trouble breathing." Paige noticed Leah leapt backward immediately.

"I'm wearing it. Oh God, do I need to call 9-1-1?"

"How about a really good shower and then come back and I'll tell you all about it."

Leah looked at her as if she didn't believe her. "Promise you won't start without me?"

"I promise. We'll wait for you."

Amelia asked her over and over if she was feeling okay as Eli raided the kitchen to put together some snacks. It didn't take long for Leah to be back in the apartment with wet hair and her pajamas on. She tossed a pair to Amelia. "Thought we'd have a slumber party."

"No pajamas for me?" Eli complained.

"I have some sweats you can borrow," Paige said before she pulled a tub out from under her bed. "These belonged to Benji."

"Your college boyfriend?" Eli asked as he took them from her. "Why do you still have these?"

"No idea. Every time I go to donate them, I feel bad because I essentially stole them. But I'd feel like a loser giving them back to him years later," Paige explained as she and Leah unfolded the futon style couch.

The chair in the room also pulled out to sleep one person. Eli claimed that one as soon as he came back from changing. Leah brought up her own blanket and pillow and claimed part of the couch while Amelia claimed the other side with the blanket and decorative pillow Paige always kept on it. Some might find it funny for people in their twenties to have sleepovers, but some nights they got so into a book or a movie marathon that it was just easier and safer than going home so late.

"Now, tell us everything," Leah said as she tucked the blanket around her feet and snuggled her pillow.

Paige started with Lenora and was tackled with hugs again.

"You did it!" Eli cheered.

"You go, girl!" Leah yelled.

"I'm so proud of you. You really put yourself out there," Amelia said with a smile.

"Lenora gave me Jeremy, her submissive as a gift. That's when things went downhill." Paige told about the kissing and then the screaming and the visit from the bouncer and doctor and finally Dracklen's race to a hospital. "And that's when we were pulled over by a cop for speeding and reckless driving."

"No!" Eli gasped.

"Oh, it gets worse." Paige took a breath and let it out. "The cop was, you guessed it, Detective Max Caldwell."

"Holy crap." Leah's mouth was hanging open as she blinked in disbelief.

"Yup. Now, let me tell you the rest."

Amelia nodded when Paige was finished. "You're inspirational. You have potential interest from Max and Fraser, and after you bring in Lenora, I'm sure your boss will fall to your feet. You're living the romance novels, Paige."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Yeah, if the main character is a perpetual virgin who can't get anyone to sleep with her."

Amelia shook her head. "Sex is just one part of any romance. Sure, in erotica it's a really big part. But even in erotica, and most assuredly in all other romance genres, it's the heroine's journey that's the most important. In December, you wouldn't have even spoken to your boss and now you've landed two major clients, demanded your dream job, and I'm sure garnered professional respect. You're a real-life heroine, Paige. Or at least on the journey to become one."

"I couldn't have said it better," Leah said to Amelia, who grinned in response.

"Paige isn't the only one. Amelia, you went to a sex club, flirted with the bartender, watched an orgy, got flogger lessons from an Amazon of a domme and danced like a slut with two men. I couldn't be prouder," Eli said, acting as a proud parent.

"You did what? Amelia, that's huge!" Paige said as Leah nodded. "Do you think you can talk to Felix now?"

Amelia blushed. "It's different when you have nothing invested in them. I didn't care if those guys tonight liked me or not. On the other hand, I care very much if Felix does."

Paige reached out and squeezed Amelia's hand. "Every day you're becoming bolder and finding confidence. You'll have Felix falling at your feet in no time."

"What about you, Eli?" Amelia asked, wanting to get the focus off her.

"I had a great time at the club but behavedmyself... mostly. I have no idea where I am with Kenneth. I've decided to just relax. I don't have to have a date every night. I'm talking to him more, but nothing too personal. I found out he does like to read, so that's good. Even if it's non-fiction." Eli made a face, and they all laughed.

"At least he's a bookworm," Paige said. "It doesn't matter what he reads as long as you two can curl up and read together, right?"

"Right. I might have said I love reading too, but I didn't go into my romance addiction."

"You gotta own that," Leah said, sounding offended. "Romance makes me happy. I'm not ashamed of it, even the dark kinky stuff I read. I read a shifter romance the other day that I ended up screaming about, in the best possible way, on the train. I told everyone there about it. Why should I be ashamed of strong characters? And I'm certainly not ashamed of sex. Everyone has it or wishes they were having it. So why should I be ashamed of reading a book where two characters go on a journey and end up in bed and in love?"

"You have a point," Eli said. "I was reading the cutest small-town romance during a break at rehearsal. Tonight, I'll tell him all about it and ask what he's reading. If he can't accept my love of romance, he's not right for me. I'll accept his biographies because, reading is reading."

"Speaking of tonight," Paige said with a yawn. "It's past five in the morning. We should get to bed. Thank you all for coming over. I thought I wanted to hide under my covers, but you all cheered me up."

"Finally getting some action will cheer you up," Leah quipped as she turned off the lamp.

"Friends to lovers trope. Get on over here," Paige joked.

In the dark she heard the blanket hit the floor. Then she heard Leah curse as she banged her knee on the coffee table, but then her friend was in her bed. Leah grabbed Paige as Eli cheered them on. "Geez, Paige. Your tits are hard. Do you have fibrocystic breasts or bad implants?"

"Leah, those are my knees. I sleep with them curled up."

Eli let out a howl of laughter. Amelia sounded as if she were in tears of laughter as she gasped for breath.

"Well, I guess I wouldn't make a good lesbian. I wonder if finding the clit is this hard for guys?" Leah asked.

"Girl, I'm gay and I know where the clit is. If they don't, it's because they're just selfish and can't be bothered," Eli said into the darkness.

"That's probably true. It's kind of hard to miss," Leah admitted. "Now, come here Paige. I'm making out with you one way or the other."

Leah pushed her back into the bed. Paige's breath caught. She'd never been kissed by a woman before. "Ow!" Paige cried out, grabbing her jaw in the dark. "You headbutted me in the face."

"My freaking forehead. You have strong teeth, Paige." Leah groaned. "Okay, I'm clearly not doing well tonight. I give up. Sorry, Paige."

Suddenly Paige felt the soft press of lips against hers. A tongue slid along Paige's lips and then gently pushed inside. It was completely different from the way a man kissed. It was just as confident, but it was sweeter, softer, and more of a caress. At least this one was. It was all for fun, but it was still enough for Paige's heart to speed up.

"There. Check off friends to lovers. Or at least kissing buddies."

"Amelia?" Paige gasped.

"Whoa, wait. Did Amelia just kiss you?" Leah asked somewhere in the vicinity of Paige's feet.

"Yes, girl! Wait until I tell Felix you kissed Paige. He'll leap over that counter and take you right then and there. That stuff always turns men on."

"I can't believe quiet Amelia kissed a girl before me," Leah complained as she stumbled her way back to the couch.

"Who said this was my first time kissing a girl?" Amelia asked.

"Damn. It's always the quiet ones," Eli said, after a beat, and they all laughed.

"Well, at least I tried one trope without something going horribly wrong," Paige said with a giggle.

They all laughed and finally the room grew quiet as they drifted off to sleep. Paige snuggled up, burying her nose in Max's sweatshirt, and fell asleep.