“I’m not drinking. Ginny, if you want it, go ahead,” Zoey offered, bopping her head to the music.
“Exactly how do you think you can give us rides home on that skateboard?” Penni joked, slapping her hand on the table and drawing the eyes of the customers at nearby tables. “Don’t worry about rides home. I’ve got it covered.”
“I’m with you with the rum, Gianna, except I’ll take mine in a mojito,” Penni gave her order to the waitress who was impatiently waiting. “And bring us a platter of the nachos. I’m starving.”
“We ate before we came here,” Zoey reminded her. “And should you be drinking with your heart condition?”
Penni shrugged. “The burger and fries didn’t fill me up, and if one drink will kill me, I don’t want to live,” she joked. “Besides, the damage to my heart was only short-term. I’ve had annual checkups since I had Wylie. I was lucky. Not only did I survive an amniotic fluid embolism when almost seventy percent of women don’t, but I don’t have any damage, other than memory loss, and Jackal swears I had that problem before.”
Once the waitress left, Zoey found another way to get the answer to the question she wanted to know.
“Who’s babysitting your kids tonight? Usually when you all go out, one or two of you will stay behind to babysit.”
Penni snickered. “The men are.”
“So, you are taking it out on the men that I didn’t leave Hannibal at the vet?” She had been hoping that the spur of the moment get-together wasn’t in retaliation. “I told you it was my fault.”
“Our husbands are in trouble because they lied to Grace, and because Stump was a dick to you, and they let him be when I made it pretty damn clear that you were our friend. I’m polite to Jackal’s friends, even though they’re all dicks. They put the club first instead of their wives.”
“Ice is one of those friends.” Grace stiffened at the insult to her husband.
“Ice is the exception,” Penni nonchalantly clarified, taking a chip out of her nachos.
“Max is, too.”
Casey’s attempt to exempt her husband from Penni’s dick list met with failure.
“He’s a dick, too. I’m not saying that Ice isn’t, too—maybe the biggest of all the Predators—but he’s the president; he’s supposed to be.”
Zoey stared down at the tabletop morosely. “I feel terrible that I caused this friction between you and your husbands.”
“Get over it.” Penni leaned back to allow the waitress to serve their drinks. “Order something stronger than cranberry juice. It’ll help.”
Grace helped herself to the nachos. “Look on the bright side. We’re having a girls’ night out and we’re all here. It’s been a long time since that’s happened.”
Zoey brightened. “That’s true.” She gave Ginny a warm smile. “I haven’t been able to get better acquainted with you since you moved to town and moved in with Gianna.”
Ginny smiled back at her. “I’m looking forward to it, too. I’ve been on the road so much with the band that I’m still trying to get used to sleeping on a bed that doesn’t move. It’s going to be hard until I can find another job, but I can understand the band wanting to take a year break.”
“It was either take a break or the kids and I were going on the tour with Kaden.” Sawyer shook her head when Vida moved the nacho platter toward her.
“I could help. I could put it out to my followers that you’re looking for a job.”
“That’s okay. I prefer to do it the old-fashioned way and search the job sites.”
“You could apply for Stump’s job at the furniture store. I hear his boss is hiring,” Penni suggested, motioning to the waitress for a refill.
“Not anymore. I talked to his boss. I stopped there before going back to the office this morning. He’s going to hire Stump back.”
“Do you ever not be nice?” Grace gave her a searching look.
“It’s good Karma.”
The table of women stared at her like she was an alien from outer space as the waitress brought each of the women a fresh drink.
“The karaoke is getting started. I get busy when it does, so I didn’t want to keep you waiting.”
Gianna gave the waitress an extra ten when she paid for the round of drinks. “I like a woman that is industrious.”
After the waitress left, she moved her empty glass away and moved the fresh drink closer. “I told you there is an opening at the bank. One of the perks of being the president is hiring.”
“I don’t have any banking experience. The only thing I’ve ever done is cook. I’ll find something. Until then, I can use the vacation.”
“The bank would train you….”
“I suck at numbers, and I really like cooking and cleaning.”
“I’m glad that Max didn’t meet you until after he married me,” Casey quipped with a roll of her eyes.