“Millie!” One of the girls I saw here last week rushes over to greet me. “I’m so glad you came.” I try to remember her name since she clearly remembers mine, but my mind is far too scrambled. “I was going to invite you back here at the cemetery, but I didn’t want to disturb you and your parents. I assume they haven’t come with you.” She smiles at me awkwardly.
“No, I um…I left them at home.” I feel like a fish out of water as I take in my surroundings and start to get a little overwhelmed. There are way more people here than there was the last time I came, and I’m not seeing any sign of Dev.
“You want something to drink? The bar’s free,” one of the other girls offer.
“I’ll grab myself some water in a second,” I call out to her over the music. “How rude of me, we haven’t even introduced ourselves. I’m Peyton, this here is Freya, and over there by the buffet is Alicia and Eden.”
“They’re both in the family way…” An older lady who’s sitting on one of the chairs, seemingly oblivious to all that's going on around her, stops what she’s doing to look up at me. “You were that poor young man’s girlfriend, weren’t you? Sit down here and Rocco, will you turn that racket down?!” she yells out as she taps the chair beside her, and I’m surprised when he does as he’s told.
“I was, umm?—”
“Freya, get this girl something strong… The honey Jack Daniels goes down perfectly.” She smiles at me, and Freya looks at Peyton with a smile before heading off toward the bar.
“Wait…I…I’m not actually old enough to drink. I’m only eighteen.” I realize how pathetic I sound as soon as the words leave my mouth.
“That sort of thing doesn’t matter around here, sweetheart.” The old woman glances over to the other side of the room, and when my eyes follow hers and I see the guy who grabbed my ass at the diner, snorting a line of something from a busty woman’s tits, I quickly look away.
“Get her the drink, dear.” She nods cleverly at Freya before getting back to her knitting.
“This is Anita,” Peyton formally introduces the woman.
“I’m neither a whore nor an old lady, just an advisor to these young women,” Anita sighs as she continues to work her needles.
“I’ll bear that in mind,” I assure her, looking around the room and trying to spot Dev.
“Has anyone seen Lettie yet? Oh… Hi.” One of the other girls returns from the buffet table with her paper plate loaded with food.
“Alicia, this is Millie, she’s–”
“The girlfriend.” Alicia finishes chewing on whatever she’s eating and interrupts Peyton. “I remember you from the other day. I’m so glad you came. Corey was always talking about you.”
“Is that all you’re having?” Anita leans forward and examines the plate of the next girl who joins us from the buffet table.
“It’s all I can stomach.” She blows out a breath as she takes a seat.
“Need I remind you that you're eating for two now, Eden? You should take some advice from Alicia, she’s always stuffing her face.”
“Hey.” Alicia looks horrified, and Peyton shakes her head at her while the girls all struggle to keep straight faces.
“Need I remindyouthat when I was at Eden’s stage, I couldn’t stomach much either. Trust me, you’ll make up for it when the second trimester hits,” Alicia warns Eden.
“Baby, is that all you're eating? Polly made your favorite pasta.” The club member with long flowing hair looks over Eden’s shoulder at her plate.
“Wrath, you know I’m struggling. Can we not make it a big deal?” She looks up at him and begs.
“The baby doctor said you need to eat, little and often, remember? I’ll grab you some of that pasta.” He kisses her cheek.
“The baby doctor has a name,” Eden reminds him as he heads off toward the table.
“He’ll also have a toe tag if you keep batting those pretty little lashes at him,” Wrath calls back at her.
“Ahhhh, Dr. Knowles.” Alicia rests back in her chair dreamily, then startles us all when she crunches her teeth into an apple. “Nowhe’sworth getting pregnant for.”
“Dr. Knowles?” Peyton looks intrigued.
“Oh, he’s perfection,” Eden whispers, checking Wrath is far enough away not to hear her. “Handsomeandthe perfect gentleman. There’s no way my brother is gonna allow you to go to him when you're knocked up, too.” She laughs. “Wrath took one look at him and almost dragged me out the door.”
Peyton laughs, and when her eyes drift over to where the president of the club is standing, I watch her laughter fade.
