“And any lap will do,” Luke said. “That’s actually how she got her name. She’s very smart, very sweet, and very needy, so I named her after Molly Hooper on Sherlock.”
Beside Michael, Ellie squealed. “My cat’s name is Watson!”
Since she remained tucked into Michael’s side, he tried not to let his jealousy ride him. It wasn’t that hard since even as Luke and Ellie started comparing notes on their pets, Luke kept shooting little glances at Olivia, obviously trying to figure out what she was thinkingand what kind of impression he was making. Since her expression remained completely blank, it was really anyone’s guess.
******
“Girls have cooties.”
Ellie’s nose burned as she nearly snorted sangria. It was kind of potent sangria. But still, listening to Adam very drunkenly, very seriously tell Jake that girls had cooties was hilarious.
Sitting on Adam’s lap, Angel was looking a bit ticked off. Possibly because she couldn’t get drunk, or possibly because her fiancé and baby daddy had just said she had cooties. “We do not!”
“Yes, you do,” Adam insisted, turning his head to face her. “It’s proven scientific fact; women have more germs on their hands than men do.”
“Probably because men ask us to put our hands in such strange places!”
Adam made a little growling noise, his hand on Angel’s belly as he tipped her back slightly to press his face towards her neck. “I’ll put your hands in a strange place.”
“Oooookay, and Adam’s officially wasted,” Jake said, laughing as he took Adam’s arm to pull him back upright.
He wasn’t the only one.
“What the hell is in this sangria?” Ellie mumbled, lifting up her glass and staring into it like it had all the answers. The fruit floated and bobbed, but did not reveal their secrets.
“What?” asked Michael leaning in closer.
Like he wasn’t already super, duper close. Arm around her, legs intertwined, hands held. Pretty much all over her, really. She liked it.
“You like what?” he asked, sounding a little bit more exasperated.
Ellie giggled, and it seemed kind of far away. Like, weirdly far away and disconnected. “Oh my god, I’m drunk!”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Sharon said from where she was laying on the floor. Ellie frowned. When had she gotten down there? “What the hell was in the sangria, Justin?!”
On the other side of the sectional from Michael and Ellie, Justin was given his own giggling girlfriend a foot massage. She and Hilary had finally stopped screaming at the television around the end of the third quarter when it became very obvious the Redskins didn’t have a chance in hell of a comeback, despite having gone into halftime with a slight lead. Looking up from his task, Justin shrugged.
“Moscato, peach brandy, and fruit.”
“Oh my god, there’sliquorin it?!” Ellie stared at the glass in her hand in a kind of horror. No wonder she was wasted. Which suddenly struck her as funny and she started giggling again. “I didn’t mean to get this drunk!”
“Why is that funny?” Michael asked, sounding confused. He’d only had beer. No secretly super strong sangria for him. Ha, say that five times fast!
“I don’t know,” Ellie confessed, giggling harder, which in turn made him chuckle.
Turning to her other side, she looked at Luke, who was very nice to look at. Not as nice to look at as Michael, but still very nice.
Michael sighed and turned his attention to his soon-to-be business partner as well.“Sure you still want to get involved with this crazy bunch? This is a pretty good look at the kind of people you’ll be seeing at a BDSM club, even if we’re not doing anything kinky right now.”
Luke just laughed. “I’m having a good time. It’s kind of nice to see a lot of strong personalities getting along so well.”
“I’m not a strong personality,” Ellie confessed, her giggles fading away into a little bit of sadness.
To her surprise, Michael’s arms tightened around her. “I like you just the way you are, beautiful. And you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”
She snuggled into him, appreciating his words, taking another sip of her sangria. Because it was tasty and she was already drunk so whateeeeeeeeeeeeever. On the other side of Michael, Luke was looking around the room, taking in all the couples and the non-couples. Olivia was sitting next to Jared and Leigh, chatting with them, while Jake was in an armchair, frowning disapprovingly at Sharon’s prone form. If he kept scowling while she was around, his face was going to stick that way.
Ellie giggled again.
