Chapter 35
Pulling out a chair for Linda, Richie surveyed the private dining room where they all were eating and smiled to himself. David and Tara had their heads together having a very animated conversation. Curious about what they could be discussing since their hands were flying along with their lips. Holding a cup of espresso, Tico was lounging back against his chair smiling as he listened politely to the woman Richie recalled being named Dana, with two others listening intently as they hugged their coffee mugs possessively. Both looking for all the world like they were struggling with nasty hangovers. Having run into Hugh in the hallway, he’d admitted that his date for the evening was in the shower and they’d be along shortly. The smile on the man’s face had said more than any words might have along with his confession that he wished she wasn’t married.
“So what are your plans for the day?” Asking his companion that may not be as beautiful as the starlets that he’d been dating, but was more grounded than any woman he’d met in a very long time. Not to mention that she was remarkable in bed. They had the day off and if he had his way it would be spent with the spirited woman currently engrossed in the menu.
“Huh? Oh. I have no idea.” Some of the girls had talked about going Christmas shopping before they started their drives home and others were flying out at various times, but she was in no hurry to go anywhere. Especially not when she had the attentions of Richie ‘fuck me now’ Sambora at her disposal and had tender privates to prove it. Not that she was complaining, in fact, if it wasn’t for working up a ravenous appetite, she would not have left his bed.
Lifting her head when she heard Anastasia’s voice, she smiled to herself that both Ana and Timmy were grinning and talking a mile a minute at one another. It was nice to see her having a good time with someone. As she checked around the room, she saw that most of her friends were there, some with the guys they’d apparently hooked up with the night before, others sitting together and talking enthusiastically. She didn’t even want to speculate who ended up with whom since she and Richie vanished early on.
“Linda, have you seen Lainey? Nobody’s seen her since she took off with Daniel last night.” Nikki asked, hating to disturb Linda whose goofy adoring grin was indication enough that she was even more smitten now than she had been for the last 20 some years.
Snorting quietly to herself, Linda couldn’t hide the grin, “yeah, like you’d expect her to surface this morning? Guess our angel’s getting her wings trim...,” bursting out laughing before she could even finish the sentence.
Nikki joined in along with Bean and Lynn, all three having arrived downstairs together since their Nickelback bed partners admitted that their girlfriends and/or wives were expected later in the day and they didn’t want to be surprised by an early arrival with a woman still in their respective beds. Since all three women were married, they understood the reluctance to screw up a long term relationship for a one night stand....and not one of them would ever admit to their own spouses that they’d strayed.
“Guess Daniel’s wife isn’t come in with the others then, or he’s treading on dangerous ground.” Eyebrows raised when they considered that Lainey didn’t have any experience with this sort of thing and almost turned to rescue her from the potential disaster when thoughts of being disturbed if they’d drawn Daniel as their bed partner stopped them in their tracks. That and being so famished that the sight of Rita’s stack of pancakes covered in blueberries and whipped cream waylaid any further consideration at staging a rescue.
Going over to sit with Rita and Paula, the five women began comparing notes from the evening before. Since both Paula and Rita had gone upstairs and passed out, they spent their time listening. About the time that Bean was half-way through her tale of Ryan writing a song perched on the bed she was in, Cassidy and Serene appeared looking far to cheerful and rested earning them both cat-calls for wimping out on the party.
Ordering breakfast, they all went back to their previous discussion, not one of them noticing that Cassidy was eyeing Linda with less than cordial glances even if they’d been close friends before the party last night. When the food arrived they all settled down to eat and the room finally enjoyed a measure of quiet.
It was at that point that Jon strolled in alone, Amber was upstairs sleeping and he didn’t want to disturb her after the rough time she had of it earlier in the morning. Wearing sunglasses against the light that was aggravating his headache that he wasn’t about to let on was by far the worst hangover headache he’d had in years. His baggy Dockers and his favorite t-shirt with the Tell Your Mom I Said Hi logo on the front along with a comfy pair of sneakers kept things from chafing when just the feel of cloth made his skin hurt. The hangover was that bad. Seeing the group of women, he forced a smile and turned to where Richie and Linda were sitting and joined them, ordering strong, hot coffee before he even made it that far.
“Hey bro, feeling better?” Richie cackled knowing that Jon was hurting bad just by the way he was dressed and moving.
“I’m fine, Amber’s the one that’s ill. So what are your plans for the day?” Clenching his jaw together at the sight of the food in front of the two of them. Focusing his attention on Richie’s face in hopes that he could pull this charade off successfully.
Nodding, Richie took a bite of the eggs, followed by toast and some of the fruit that came with his meal. “If you say so. I think we’re going to do some sightseeing and shopping. Linda here tells me she knows of this great shop that has clothes she’s convinced I’d loooooove.” Winking at her when she blushed furiously at his teasing tone.
“Ah. Good, well, just wanted to wish the ladies a safe trip and give them Amber’s apologies.” Grimacing when the smell of the eggs wafted over towards him, swallowing hard he pushed his chair back “and I need to do exactly that.”
Grinning crookedly, Richie could see how hard Jon was struggling with appearing normal when he was a half step from embarrassing himself completely. “Or I could do it for you, bro” fully aware that when Jon put his mind to something, he was a bear to steer off track, even if it was for his own good.
“No, no. She asked me to do this for her.” Stepping towards the table of chattering women, Jon steeled himself with a sip of the coffee that was just handed to him. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he prayed silently that nobody had sunny side up eggs and if they did, they wouldn’t cut into them while he was standing there.
Smiling a bright, but brittle smile, Jon approached the table and kept his eyes focused above all of their heads, hoping the sunglasses hid the fact he wasn’t looking at a one of them. “Ladies, I hope every one of you had a good time last night. I just want to thank you for coming and doing your part to help with the surprise. Amber’s a little under the weather this morning, so she wanted me to thank you for her too and...” he gagged when a plate of eggs carried by a waiter passed right by him and were set in front of Cassidy. Swallowing down the bile that had risen, he gamely tried to continue “and sends her apologies for not joining you this morning.”
Watching him through narrowed eyes, Paula noticed how often he was swallowing, that his teeth were clenched even as his lips were moving. She knew that look and didn’t even need to see his eyes to know he was fighting hard not to get ill and was seriously hung over. “It’s okay Jon, you’re here, join us for breakfast.” Sweetly, well as sweetly as her devious mind could conjure, Paula invited him to sit.
“No, I, ah, should go back and check on Amber.” He looked down to face Paula and saw Cassidy’s sunny side up eggs running across her plate before she sopped it up with a piece of toast. Feeling the upheaval in his stomach beginning, he turned suddenly and headed for the door, praying he’d make it to the closest men’s room before he vomited and embarrassed himself thoroughly.
Seeing Jon’s distress, Richie rose “why don’t we join your friends at their table?” They were done eating and he hoped if they joined the table of women, perhaps they’d be distracted if Jon didn’t actually make it out of the room before he puked. It’d been a lot of years since he’d seen Jon in this shape and he suspected it’d be a lot more, but right now, the man was hurting bad. Linda had missed the whole scene with her eyes trained on Richie the whole time, but was willing to join them if he was.
“So what are your plans for the day?” Asking his companion that may not be as beautiful as the starlets that he’d been dating, but was more grounded than any woman he’d met in a very long time. Not to mention that she was remarkable in bed. They had the day off and if he had his way it would be spent with the spirited woman currently engrossed in the menu.
“Huh? Oh. I have no idea.” Some of the girls had talked about going Christmas shopping before they started their drives home and others were flying out at various times, but she was in no hurry to go anywhere. Especially not when she had the attentions of Richie ‘fuck me now’ Sambora at her disposal and had tender privates to prove it. Not that she was complaining, in fact, if it wasn’t for working up a ravenous appetite, she would not have left his bed.
Lifting her head when she heard Anastasia’s voice, she smiled to herself that both Ana and Timmy were grinning and talking a mile a minute at one another. It was nice to see her having a good time with someone. As she checked around the room, she saw that most of her friends were there, some with the guys they’d apparently hooked up with the night before, others sitting together and talking enthusiastically. She didn’t even want to speculate who ended up with whom since she and Richie vanished early on.
“Linda, have you seen Lainey? Nobody’s seen her since she took off with Daniel last night.” Nikki asked, hating to disturb Linda whose goofy adoring grin was indication enough that she was even more smitten now than she had been for the last 20 some years.
Snorting quietly to herself, Linda couldn’t hide the grin, “yeah, like you’d expect her to surface this morning? Guess our angel’s getting her wings trim...,” bursting out laughing before she could even finish the sentence.
Nikki joined in along with Bean and Lynn, all three having arrived downstairs together since their Nickelback bed partners admitted that their girlfriends and/or wives were expected later in the day and they didn’t want to be surprised by an early arrival with a woman still in their respective beds. Since all three women were married, they understood the reluctance to screw up a long term relationship for a one night stand....and not one of them would ever admit to their own spouses that they’d strayed.
“Guess Daniel’s wife isn’t come in with the others then, or he’s treading on dangerous ground.” Eyebrows raised when they considered that Lainey didn’t have any experience with this sort of thing and almost turned to rescue her from the potential disaster when thoughts of being disturbed if they’d drawn Daniel as their bed partner stopped them in their tracks. That and being so famished that the sight of Rita’s stack of pancakes covered in blueberries and whipped cream waylaid any further consideration at staging a rescue.
Going over to sit with Rita and Paula, the five women began comparing notes from the evening before. Since both Paula and Rita had gone upstairs and passed out, they spent their time listening. About the time that Bean was half-way through her tale of Ryan writing a song perched on the bed she was in, Cassidy and Serene appeared looking far to cheerful and rested earning them both cat-calls for wimping out on the party.
Ordering breakfast, they all went back to their previous discussion, not one of them noticing that Cassidy was eyeing Linda with less than cordial glances even if they’d been close friends before the party last night. When the food arrived they all settled down to eat and the room finally enjoyed a measure of quiet.
It was at that point that Jon strolled in alone, Amber was upstairs sleeping and he didn’t want to disturb her after the rough time she had of it earlier in the morning. Wearing sunglasses against the light that was aggravating his headache that he wasn’t about to let on was by far the worst hangover headache he’d had in years. His baggy Dockers and his favorite t-shirt with the Tell Your Mom I Said Hi logo on the front along with a comfy pair of sneakers kept things from chafing when just the feel of cloth made his skin hurt. The hangover was that bad. Seeing the group of women, he forced a smile and turned to where Richie and Linda were sitting and joined them, ordering strong, hot coffee before he even made it that far.
“Hey bro, feeling better?” Richie cackled knowing that Jon was hurting bad just by the way he was dressed and moving.
“I’m fine, Amber’s the one that’s ill. So what are your plans for the day?” Clenching his jaw together at the sight of the food in front of the two of them. Focusing his attention on Richie’s face in hopes that he could pull this charade off successfully.
Nodding, Richie took a bite of the eggs, followed by toast and some of the fruit that came with his meal. “If you say so. I think we’re going to do some sightseeing and shopping. Linda here tells me she knows of this great shop that has clothes she’s convinced I’d loooooove.” Winking at her when she blushed furiously at his teasing tone.
“Ah. Good, well, just wanted to wish the ladies a safe trip and give them Amber’s apologies.” Grimacing when the smell of the eggs wafted over towards him, swallowing hard he pushed his chair back “and I need to do exactly that.”
Grinning crookedly, Richie could see how hard Jon was struggling with appearing normal when he was a half step from embarrassing himself completely. “Or I could do it for you, bro” fully aware that when Jon put his mind to something, he was a bear to steer off track, even if it was for his own good.
“No, no. She asked me to do this for her.” Stepping towards the table of chattering women, Jon steeled himself with a sip of the coffee that was just handed to him. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he prayed silently that nobody had sunny side up eggs and if they did, they wouldn’t cut into them while he was standing there.
Smiling a bright, but brittle smile, Jon approached the table and kept his eyes focused above all of their heads, hoping the sunglasses hid the fact he wasn’t looking at a one of them. “Ladies, I hope every one of you had a good time last night. I just want to thank you for coming and doing your part to help with the surprise. Amber’s a little under the weather this morning, so she wanted me to thank you for her too and...” he gagged when a plate of eggs carried by a waiter passed right by him and were set in front of Cassidy. Swallowing down the bile that had risen, he gamely tried to continue “and sends her apologies for not joining you this morning.”
Watching him through narrowed eyes, Paula noticed how often he was swallowing, that his teeth were clenched even as his lips were moving. She knew that look and didn’t even need to see his eyes to know he was fighting hard not to get ill and was seriously hung over. “It’s okay Jon, you’re here, join us for breakfast.” Sweetly, well as sweetly as her devious mind could conjure, Paula invited him to sit.
“No, I, ah, should go back and check on Amber.” He looked down to face Paula and saw Cassidy’s sunny side up eggs running across her plate before she sopped it up with a piece of toast. Feeling the upheaval in his stomach beginning, he turned suddenly and headed for the door, praying he’d make it to the closest men’s room before he vomited and embarrassed himself thoroughly.
Seeing Jon’s distress, Richie rose “why don’t we join your friends at their table?” They were done eating and he hoped if they joined the table of women, perhaps they’d be distracted if Jon didn’t actually make it out of the room before he puked. It’d been a lot of years since he’d seen Jon in this shape and he suspected it’d be a lot more, but right now, the man was hurting bad. Linda had missed the whole scene with her eyes trained on Richie the whole time, but was willing to join them if he was.
For his part, Jon hit a dead run the second he passed through the dining room door with his bodyguard in close pursuit and barely made it into one of the men’s room stalls before he lost the remaining contents of his stomach. Unwilling to face anyone else with his head pounding and his stomach aching, he made his way back upstairs and after washing out his mouth, he stripped and crawled in bed with Amber. Thankfully, he thought, she was still asleep and none the wiser, curling against her, the scent of her and the softness of her skin lulled him to sleep and let him forget his hangover.
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