Page 28 of Backup Plan

Penny: And the party hasn’t even started yet…

Me: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure the party started Wednesday night.

Penny: No corrections necessary.

Me: Then maybe we find time to continue it this weekend.

A text comes through from Everleigh, and I flip over to read it. It’s a group text to a whole bunch of people, and I opt out of replying even though others don’t extend that same courtesy.

Everleigh: We’re all checked in. Keys are waiting at the front desk under your name. Party’s already in full swing! See you all soon! [champagne glasses emoji]

Penny’s reply to me comes in, too.

Penny: I don’t land for another couple hours. When are you getting in?

Me: We land in twelve minutes.

Penny: Hope to see you later.

Me: Hoping for that as well.

I’m not sure if she’s just being nice, flirting, or genuinely wants to meet up. I know what I want…but I also know her situation is complicated, and I know another night with her isn’t going to make things less complicated.

We land, and I share a car with Madden and Kennedy to the hotel. We head to the reception desk to check in, and it turns out my room is on the same floor as Madden and Kennedy’s.

“No wild sex,” I warn as we get onto the elevator and press the button for the thirty-eighth floor.

“No promises,” Madden says, tossing his arm over Kennedy’s shoulders and pulling her in close.

She shrugs and turns to press her lips to Madden’s.

“I think I liked it better when you two were enemies,” I mutter.

They both laugh.

“Enemy sex was pretty wild,” Kennedy says.

Madden glances down at her. “Not wilder than sex now. Though vacation sex is the best sex.”

Actually, sex with your older sister’s best friend is the best sex, but I refrain from that particular retort. And now I’m wondering if sex with your older sister’s best friend while on vacation might be the best sex.

Fuck, I’m horny.

I want Penny in my bed again, and I’m on a quest to make that happen.

The only problem is that Maverick wants to go out for steaks with all the guys, and Everleigh arranged some dinner for the girls.

So I have to meet at this damn steakhouse before I get the chance to see Penny.

Dinner is slow. It takes for-goddamn-ever as I tear through my steak in ten seconds flat.

Everyone else is still eating. Still sipping. Still enjoying.

“Dude, what’s going on with you?” Dex asks me. He’s the reformed bad boy of the Bradley siblings, a thirty-three-year-old defensive end who plays for the Vegas Aces and has a wife and kid now.

He’s on my left, and Madden, the brother a decade older than me, is on my right, but he’s talking with Maverick.

“Nothing’s going on with me. What’s going on with you?” I ask.