ire groaned in profound disappointment. "What do you mean ''about the same''? Like, the stamina? The positions?"
"How can two different men feel exactly the same?!"
"There''s gotta be a difference in size or something, right?!"
Noreen pped her hand over ire''s mouth.
This was mortifying!
And honestly, she really did think they felt the same.
She had beenpletely out of her mind that night and had even hallucinated that the man was Seth Harcourt.
Given that Seth was her only point of reference for sex, she figured her grief- stricken brain had simply projected him onto the stranger.
Once she was sure ire wouldn''t yell any more obscenities, Noreen cautiously removed her hand.
ire tsked. "You basically slept with a ghost."
Noreen was speechless.
When the food arrived, ire''s attention shifted back to the apron-d men, allowing Noreen to quietly exhale.
But the novelty soon wore off, and ire started critiquing them like a judge on a reality show.
"The guy on the right is too bulky. All show, no stamina. I bet he''s packing nothing." "That one over there definitely finishes in thirty seconds."
"The one in the middle has zero masculine energy."
After roasting half the staff, she let out a heavy sigh. "Honestly? None of them are even as hot as jerk Seth."
Noreen burst into a fit of coughing.
ire handed her a napkin. "Why are you so worked up? I''mplimenting your taste in men! Strictly aesthetically, of course. His personality belongs in a dumpster."
Total asshole.
"Fair point," Noreen agreed.
When it came to trash-talking their exes, they were totally in sync.
Meanwhile, across town.
The Half-Light Club.
"Achoo!"
Seth Harcourt sneezed violently several times in a row.
"Are you catching a cold?" Jude Wilder asked, looking concerned.
Seth shook his head. "Probably an allergic reaction to whatever perfume is in here."
Jude sniffed the air but couldn''t smell anything.
The VIP room door opened, and Healy Naylor strolled in.
Jude immediately chewed him out. "You''re the one who called
meeting, and you show this met
What''s your excuse?"
"My bad. I''ll take three penalty shots," Healy said, holding his hands up in surrender.
Jude craned his neck, looking behind Healy. "You came alone? Where''s the fiancée? Why isn''t she with you?"
"Her parents dragged her home for dinner," Healy replied, sinking into the couch across from Seth.
Jude nudged him. "You''re getting
married, and you''re still hiding her
us?
from me? I haven''t even seen
picture yet. Are we buddies o
what?"
"You''ll meet her eventually," Healy drawledzily.
He chatted with Jude for a moment before turning his attention to Seth.
"How''s Seth holding up?"
Seth looked entirely dead inside.
Technically, he had been a walking corpse ever since returning from Harborview City.
His face was a mask of cold, unrelenting apathy.
Hecked any trace of human emotion.
He looked like a pool of stagnant water-calm on the surface, but rotting from the inside out.
Jude answered for him. "He''s awful."
Absolutely terrible.
Healy didn''t ask why.
They were adults; everyone had their own demons.
Dn Wilder was thest to arrive.
By the time he walked in, Seth wet leaning back against such
magazine covering his f
It was impossible to tell if he was asleep or just ignoring them.
Dn took his penalty shots.
Judemented how long it had been since the four of them were all in the same room. It felt like a lifetime ago.
Halfway through the night, a knock sounded at the door. Assuming it was a waiter, Jude yelled, "Come in!"
A strikingly beautiful woman stepped into the room.
For a split second, Jude''s brain short-circuited.
He almost blurted out Noreen''s name.
It wasn''t until she stepped fully into the light that he realized it wasn''t her.