Page 7 of Wish I Might
“She’s so mean,” Bailey complained.
Chloe laughed and grabbed Bailey’s hand to drag her off the bed.“Come on, birthday girl.I’m hungry.”
In the living room, Gwen was already stretched out on one of the two white sofas that flanked the enormous—and now lit—marble fireplace.She held what looked like a hot fudge sundae, complete with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry on top, and a room service cart with dome-covered plates was parked beside her.
“You couldn’t just push the fucking cart in?”Bailey demanded.
Gwen shoved a spoonful of ice cream, dripping with fudge and whipped cream, into her mouth.“Nope.”
“Why is the fireplace on?”Chloe wanted to know.
Gwen swallowed her ice cream.“Ambience.”
“It’s June,” Chloe reminded her, and flicked the switch to kill the leaping flames.“We don’t need ambience that comes with heat.”
Bailey lifted a dome off a plate and found Chloe’s club sandwich and fries.The second plate held more fries, and the third yielded her oysters.“Where’s my fucking cake?”
Gwen rolled her eyes.“It’s on the table already, weirdo, with the champagne.”
Bailey looked at the coffee table, where champagne sat chilling in a bucket beside three crystal flutes, and a whole layer cake sat on a delicate china platter.
“I said asliceof cake,” Bailey told Gwen.
“No, you didn’t.”Gwen waved her spoon.“You said, ‘I want cake, vanilla cake’, and that’s what you got.You’re welcome.”
Chloe stepped around Bailey to snag her sandwich and the ketchup bottle.“Cool, now we can all have cake.”
“Says who?”Bailey demanded, picking up the platter.“I don’t have to share.”
“If you eat all of that you won’t have room for oysters,” Chloe pointed out.
Bailey considered that.“You can have one slice to share.”
“So generous.”Chloe settled into a corner of the empty sofa, her legs crossed under her, and opened the ketchup bottle.“Okay, you’ve got your cake and your champagne.Let’s hear this wish.”
“Hang on, let me pour it out.”Setting the cake down—well out of the reach of her friends—Bailey poured champagne and handed out flutes, then picked up the cake and a fork and sat on the sofa next to Chloe.
With the platter balanced on her lap, she dug in.“That,” she mumbled around the first bite, “is good cake.”
“It’s not better than this sundae,” Gwen said and shoveled in another dripping spoonful.“It’s real hot fudge.”
“Okay, I’m getting one of those,” Chloe decided.“Since greedy over here isn’t sharing.”
“I am not,” Bailey confirmed, forking up another bite.The cake was fluffy and light, the frosting thick and sweet.“You get none of this cake.”
“Greedy,” Chloe said again and dipped a fry in the puddle of ketchup on her plate.“So?”
Bailey sipped her champagne and found it went beautifully with the cake.“So, what?”
“Your wish,” Chloe prompted.
“Oh, right.”Spotting a smear of frosting on the side of her hand, Bailey licked it off.“Well, I decided to follow your lead.”
On the other sofa, Gwen blinked.“Your wish is to have sex with Jesse and Knox?”
“No,” Bailey said with a laugh, then paused.“Although I wouldn’t object.”
“I would,” Chloe put in.
