Free 9781631052323ForeverKindofCowboySullivan by Sandy Sullivan Page B

party?”
    “Oh,
yeah.” Mandy
laughed before she groaned as she rubbed her temples for a second. “God, my
head is killing me.”
    Callie
laid a hand on Mandy’s arm. “Alka-Seltzer and ibuprofen. Does wonders.”
    The
look Mandy gave her said she wished she could curl into a ball and just die. “Your dad’s recipe?”
    “Worked
for me. I
feel okay now. Not perfect, but okay.” Callie tapped her fingernail on the
table. “So spill. Tell me what I said to Jeremiah.”
    “What’s
going on with you two anyway?”
    “Nothing.”
    With
her head tilted to the side like she didn’t believe her, Mandy said, “Nothing
my ass. The man doesn’t growl, for God’s sake, when some guy wants to do body
shots from between your boobs without a reason.”
    Callie
smiled. Jeremiah growled? “So tell
me. What did I say?”
    “You
said, ‘ This is my party and I’ll do body shots if I
want to. You didn’t want what I offered, well maybe one of these other guys
does.’”
    “What
did he say?”
    “He
didn’t say anything, just moved back to his corner and watched you for the rest
of the night, although he did make sure you got home. I’m pretty sure he drove
you there himself. The last I saw you, he was putting you in the front of his
truck. Since you made it home okay, I assume he took you there.”
    “He
took me home?”
    “Yeah. You were waving to all the
other men who saw you outside, but he was the one who poured you into his
vehicle to make sure you got home all right and didn’t get taken advantage of
in your drunken state.”
    Anne
brought two plates heaping with scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast to
their table. “Eat up, girls.”
    “Oh,
Lord. I don’t think I can eat this greasy food,” Mandy replied, holding her
hand over her mouth.
    “Here
are two ibuprofen and some Alka-Seltzer for your
stomach.”
    “What’s
with you old people and your remedies? That’s what my dad gave me this
morning.”
    “It
works, don’t it?”
    “Yes,
ma’am.”
    “Then
hush.” She handed Mandy the glass. “Drink up. Quickly. You’ll feel better in about five minutes. You need to eat.”
    “Okay.”
Mandy downed the entire glass, shuddering with the last gulp. “Oh, my God. That’s nasty shit.”
    “Yeah,
but you’ll feel better.”
    “I hope
so. I hate hangovers.”
    “I’ve
never had one before, but I didn’t care for mine either,” Callie replied. “I
hit the toilet first thing this morning as soon as I opened my eyes.”
    “Your
phone call woke me up from mine.”
    Callie
took Mandy’s hand to squeeze her fingers in shared misery. “Sorry.”
    A small
smile spread across Mandy’s lips. “It was totally worth it. I actually got a
few phone numbers myself.”
    Callie
started eating the food in front of her, talking in between bites. “So tell me
what else Jeremiah did.”
    “Not
much of anything. He glowered most of the night as he watched you spreading yourself
kind of thin around the men in the bar. You had them hanging all over you,
especially when you were doing body shots. He didn’t like seeing you doing that
at all was my guess.”
    “Well,
tough shit.”
    “My
thoughts exactly.” Mandy sipped at her coffee, simply sighing after she swallowed. “I love coffee
and I actually think I might be able to eat some of this food now.” After a
couple of tentative bites, she started eating with gusto. “This is really
good.”
    “I need
my jolt of java every morning before I go to the station, otherwise I’m a
bear.”
    “So,
tell me what’s the deal with you two anyway?”
    “Nothing
much. We
were friends, or so I thought. You know, acquaintances
or whatever you want to call it. He asked me out Friday.”
    “Like a
date?”
    “I’m
not sure what the hell it was. We went out to dinner, then went back to my
house and watched movies. It wasn’t a big deal, but he did ask if I wanted to
go out Saturday too after I suggested another date, to hang out at the bar,
play pool.