Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 130380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
I nodded but couldn’t help but feel like my freakout was much more warranted than hers had been. Sure, Holden had been off limits for her, but there was no question ever about how he felt for her. We all saw it clear as day.
With Leo, we’d all seen him throw himself at every girl with long hair and a nice rack.
My stomach sank, and I felt two seconds away from vomiting.
The girls all gently consoled me until I got it together, and then Riley let out a sigh. “Honestly, I’m really glad you called. I’m not in the best shape either. My agent has pretty much confirmed that I have zero chance of being drafted, so it looks like this will be my last season playing football.”
“I’m so sorry, Riles,” Giana said softly. “I’ve been out of it, too. I’m in the biggest book funk of my life.”
Julep snorted. “No offense, G, but I don’t think that counts as an actual problem.”
“Do you know what it feels like? Have you ever gone through a slump when you couldn’t pole, when you didn’t want to pole?”
Julep frowned at that. “I have, actually. It’s the worst.”
“See?! I haven’t read more than a page since I finished that Elsie Silver cowboy romance two weeks ago.” She pouted. “I’m ruined.”
“Wow, so all of us are on the struggle bus?” Julep asked with a laugh. “I guess it only took one of us admitting it for the rest of us to follow suit.”
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.
“Oh, other than planning a wedding on my own since my fiancé is working twenty-four-seven now that the season has started, and the fact that I graduated four months ago and still don’t have a job?” She shrugged. “Not much.”
“You know what we need,” Riley said. “A girls’ night.”
“No,” Julep said. “Not just any girls’ night. The girls’ night.”
Riley, Giana, and I frowned in confusion, but Julep just grinned and waggled her brows.
“You bitches down for an impromptu bachelorette party?”
Mary
My text to the girls had been the equivalent of the Bat Signal.
Julep packed a bag and caught the next flight into Boston. I picked her up at the airport just as Riley and Giana were finishing up at the stadium for the day, and we were all shocked when Riley was so quick to blow off her class that night and Giana didn’t show up at the hotel with a book in her hand.
We checked into a hotel entirely out of my price range downtown, thanks to Holden and his big signing bonus, and after smothering each other in hugs and getting all dolled up, we piled into a cab and headed to an unknown location of Julep’s choosing.
When the cab dropped us off, we stared up at the sign with mixed emotions.
“Oh, hell no,” I said.
“Hell yes!” Giana combatted with a squeal and little claps of joy. Her eyes were that of a kid on Christmas morning.
Riley was quiet, but crossed her arms over her chest like she wasn’t thrilled with the idea either.
But one look at Julep told me we weren’t getting out of this.
“Come on, babes,” she said, linking her arms through ours. “Time to introduce you to chrome therapy.”
I was still groaning as she dragged us inside the pole studio, which was mostly dark save for some party lights. Loud, beat-driven music greeted us, along with the owner of the studio, who was wearing nothing but a black high-rise thong and triangle swim top along with high heels that were at least eight inches tall.
“Welcome to Spintensity,” she said with a wide smile. I noticed then that she had some impressive ink on her thighs and shoulders, and she seemed to appraise me with the same appreciation. “I hear we’re celebrating a bride tonight?”
Julep did a little spin and a curtsy. “That would be me.”
The instructor whistled, looking Julep up and down. “Does your future husband realize how lucky he is?”
“If you saw him, you’d be saying I’m the lucky one,” Julep combatted.
“Doubtful,” she said with a smile. “I’m Joany. I’ll be your party guide tonight. I take it from the notes that you’re seasoned,” she said, pointing at Julep before her finger dragged over the rest of us. “And you three are fresh meat?”
“The freshest,” Giana said excitedly, stepping forward like a sacrificial virgin. “Can you teach me how to climb the pole?!”
Joany laughed, exchanging a look with Julep before she waved us farther inside. “We can try. But first, let’s get you three changed into some shorts and start with walking around the pole.”
I thought she was kidding, but after she walked us through the studio set up and we each stood behind our pole of choice, that was exactly how the class began — by walking. Joany and Julep made it look effortless, of course, both of them strutting sexily in their heels. Riley, Giana, and I, on the other hand, were barefoot and still looked like we were the unstable ones.