Page 10 of Ravaged For You

As I give Marie the glass of wine, she places her hand over her chest. “My heart is still beating,” she says dreamily.

I sit down beside her on my couch. “So is mine,” I reply.

“I can’t believe we got to see them so close up,” Marie continues. “I could swear that some of Drake’s sweat landed on me from the stage.”

“Ew. Gross.”

“No, it was actually amazing.”

I giggle and take a sip of wine before I reach for her shoulder. “You know what, Marie? It was pretty damn amazing for me as well. Exhilarating. Well, everything was great up until I saw all those groupies get into the bus with them.”

“What can you expect from rockstars?” Marie shrugs. “And, hey, I would love to be invited onto that bus.”

My mouth drops. “No way.”

“Yep,” she replies. “Just for one night. I wouldn’t mind being a groupie.”

I giggle. “Have some respect for yourself, Marie.”

“Yeah, but it would be so much fun.”

“I know what goes on in those buses, Marie.”

“Oh, do you now?”

I drink my wine. “Yeah, orgies and… stuff.”

She laughs. “Stuff? Very informative. You really are such a geek, Maddie.”

I check my heartbeat. “Yeah, I’m still beating super fast, though. That was a great night, no matter how it ended.”

“All thanks to me.”

“Yep. All thanks to you.”

Marie’s eyes dart to my kitchen counter. “Are those choc chip cookies?” she asks, sleuthing the results of my baking.

There’s a mountain of giant choc chip cookies placed on a plate in the middle of the counter. “Yep,” I reply. “I baked them today but I didn’t get the chance to put them away properly.”

“Can I try one?”

“Go ahead.”

Marie reaches for one and takes a bite and then her eyes roll back into her head like she’s experiencing a rush of endorphins. “Holy shit, this cookie is to die for. I should be counting my calories, but this is perfection. I didn’t know you were so good at baking, Maddie. You’re so shy to ever show off at the office. If you brought these in, then everyone will love you. Guaranteed.”

It’s so nice to have someone other than my mom to test the cookies on. Seeing Marie’s reaction makes me glow. Mom doesn’t like my cookies. She doesn’t like sugar. In fact, she basically doesn’t like anything that might dare bring you pleasure.

“You think people at the office will like them?” I ask my work colleague. “They’re actually my own recipe that I’ve developed through a lot of trial and error. I don’t know if I’ve struck the right balance yet.”

“They’re so good,” she says as she takes another giant bite. “You should definitely start some kind of online business selling these. I would buy them for sure.”

I blush. “I don’t know about that.”

“Come, let’s sit and talk,” Marie instructs, bringing me back over the couch, choc chip cookie crumbs dropping from her full mouth. “I feel like I barely know you, Maddie. We work together but we haven’t had the chance to have an honest deep and meaningful conversation.”

“Sure.”

“And don’t you dare get all shy and introverted like you usually do at the office whenever someone wants to chat. It’s just us here now.”