“Do we really have to talk about this?” she whined.
“That means no,” Jen commented dryly.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever,” Donna huffed. “But do you have one now? And if so, did you tell Gammy about it? Was it weird? TMI?”
“Trust me, Gammy still doesn’t quite get the meaning of TMI. If anything, she was the one providing the TMI. She has a new boyfriend and…”
“No one cares!” Jen cried, and then her hands flew over her mouth. “Sorry! I’m so sorry! That was mean.”
“Geez, it’s like a mob mentality in here,” Donna murmured. “Shame on you. Dissing a sweet little old lady like that.” She batted her eyelashes at Willow. “Me? I love Gammy. So she has a new boyfriend, huh? Is he nice?”
“He’s a Romeo.”
“Oh, so like a player? A…what did they call them back in the day…a Casanova?”
“Is that a thing? Like a real word?”
“Of course it’s a real word! When have you ever known me to make up a word?”
Willow let the two of them argue that out for another couple of minutes and helped herself to another cookie.
“Hey! Why are you having another cookie?” Donna accused. “Why aren’t you eating the banana I gave you?”
“Um…yeah. I’m not putting that in my mouth.”
Jen nearly choked on her drink as she started laughing.
“Of for the love of it, just say it,” Willow said wearily.
“That’s what she said,” she murmured and then shook her finger at Willow. “You take all the fun out of it when you tell me when to say it!”
“Sorry.”
“Fine, but to make it up to me, you have to give us all the details about your time with Levi. All of them!”
Maybe it was the Flirtini or the sugar high from the cookies, but suddenly Willow didn’t mind sharing some of the details with her friends–not all of them. Some things were just between her and Levi. But she told them about their practice at holding hands and then kissing and then sharing a bed when they got to Gammy’s. By the time she got to the part of the story when Gammy had chosen to go home with Donald so the two of them could be alone, they were both sitting on the edge of their seats.
“So, you guys really did it?” Donna cried. “Was it amazing? Incredible? Awkward?”
Smiling, Willow finished her drink and said, “All the above. But then it got better. Way better. Off the charts better!”
“Oh my God! This is totally awesome!” Jen said, practically bouncing in her seat. “So…what happens now? Are you guys back to being just friends? Friends with benefits?”
“I just assumed that we’d go back to the way things were before we left…”
“Assumed? You what happens when you assume, Willow.”
She frowned. “No. What?”
Trying to hold back a laugh, Donna said, “You make an ass out of you and me!”
“Lame, Donna. Completely lame. Where’d you hear that joke, fifty years ago? Maybe you should…” Jen never got another word out because Donna shoved one of the penis bananas in her mouth.
All serious conversation stopped right then and there as the two of them made a mess of what was left of the bananas. Reaching out, she grabbed the cookie container and moved it out of the way. There was no way she wanted to see those go to waste. She felt a little gipped at having her story interrupted, but for now, she was okay with it. She’d tell them about where she and Levi were at when the time was right and everyone had calmed down. But for now, it was perfect just relaxing and laughing with her besties.
An hour passed by and they were all beyond tipsy when the conversation finally came back to the topic of where she and Levi left things.
“Well…” she said with a hiccup while giggling. “We are no longer faking it.”
Which caused even more hilarity.
“Oh, no! Did you have to fake it in bed with him?” Jen cried, practically falling off the chair as she laughed. “Faking it is the worst!”
“Fake it till you make it,” Donna hummed, smirking.
“Wait, fake what till you make what?” Willow asked.
Groaning, Jen slapped Willow’s leg. “Why must you always question these things? Don’t you think we know what we’re talking about?” She took a long drink of her Flirtini before slamming the glass down on the coffee table. “Because we do!”
“Do we?” Donna asked.
“Do we what?”
“Know what we’re talking about?”
Willow shook her head and knew she had to put a stop to this. Jumping to her feet, she whistled loudly to get their attention. “Okay, to be clear here, Levi and I are officially dating! Boyfriend and girlfriend. For real! No fake dating! No faking anything! The sex is great, he’s amazing, and I’m incredibly happy! Can we please move on? Sheesh!”
Two pairs of wide eyes stared back at her.
“Geez, relax, Mom,” Donna murmured.
“Yeah, you didn’t have to yell. We were just having fun. No need to get all testy.”
This time, they all laughed.
“Levi, the tap’s on the fritz again!”
“Levi, the fire inspector is here!”
“Levi, your accountant is on the phone!”
“Levi, Dex broke a tray of dishes!”
Yeah, and that was all in his first twenty-four hours of being back at the pub. He was exhausted–or should he say still exhausted–and it didn’t look like he was going to be catching up on his sleep any time soon.
It was Friday night, and he knew Willow and her friends were on their way in, but there was no way he was going to be able to find time to be alone with her. There was just too much to do. When he had agreed to go away with her, he really felt like it would be okay to leave the pub for a week, but now he knew why his grandfather rarely took any vacations.
And he knew his staff was amazing and nothing that happened was due to anyone being incompetent. There was just a lot of things going on at all times.
Okay,
