Chompin' at the Bit (Horse Play #2) (28 page)

Well, it was comforting to know it wasn’t just
my
memory of last night that seemed to be missing. I reached for the bottle of Tylenol, shaking two into my palm before taking them, and then I shook out two more and set them aside to take to Madison. 

“Is Madi up yet?” Brandon asked. 

“Well, she was semi-awake before I came out here. I’m just going to run this in to her. We’ll be right out, and I’ll make breakfast for everyone,” I offered, knowing that the only true cure for a hangover would be to rehydrate and feed our bodies. After picking up the pills, the glass of water, and Madison’s coffee, I padded down the hall. Bones was hot on my trail, and I laughed when he quickly passed me, pushing the door open with his nose. 

When I crossed the threshold, I found Madison sitting with her back against the headboard and the covers pulled up to her waist. She looked toward me and a faint smile spread across her incredibly pale face. “You’re up,” I whispered, moving to the bed and sitting in front of her before setting her coffee on the night table and handing her the pills and water. 

“Yeah. I had to use the washroom and brush my teeth. My mouth felt all fuzzy and gross.” A queasy look contorted her face before she popped the pills in her mouth and washed them down with some water. “Thanks. What happened last night?” Bones jumped up, placing his front paws on the bed next to Madison, and she acknowledged him with a smile and a quick pat on the head. “Seriously. I don’t remember much … and I woke up naked. Did we …?” 

While I’d hoped maybe she’d recall something, it wasn’t really a surprise that she didn’t—she definitely had more to drink than me or anyone else. “I’m going to assume we had a good time?” 

She laughed, her face instantly twisting into a pained expression since her head was likely still pounding. Slowly, she set the water down on the bedside table before grabbing the coffee cup, sighing as she inhaled the rich aroma. “You’re going to
assume
?” she asked before taking a small sip. She grimaced at the taste because she wasn’t used to taking it black; I knew it would be best given our current state. 

“Even Kyle says he can’t remember much after Willow and Brandon turned in. Said you even goaded him into another round of shots,” I told her, lying on my side across the foot of the bed. 

Madison’s brows pulled together. “Well
that
doesn’t sound like me. I must have been pretty wasted.” She took another sip from her mug before setting it next to her water. “Is everyone up?” 

“Yeah. Willow let Bones out while we were still sleeping.”

Smiling again, Madison leaned down and kissed the top of Bones’ head since he was still up on his hind legs looking for attention. It was hilarious how his entire body moved as he wagged his tail excitedly. “Well that was awfully nice of Auntie Willow,” she cooed to him.

“Oh, God. Are we
those
people?” I teased, pushing myself back up as I grabbed her lower leg gently. “Okay, get up. I’m making breakfast. And after, we should probably clean up the backyard. If we can’t remember anything, I’m certain we were too drunk to even consider cleaning up before passing the fuck out.” 

“Ugh,” Madison complained, shifting to the side to stand up. “That doesn’t sound fun at all.” 

“Well, afterward, maybe you and the girls could go for a ride,” I suggested, pulling her into my arms and kissing her softly. 

Madison hummed in contentment against my lips. “Or,” she said, pulling back slightly to lock eyes. “We could all go.” 

Nodding contemplatively, I kissed the tip of her nose. “That sounds perfect. Come on,” I said, letting my hands fall to her ass and squeezing. I was sure everyone would agree that her idea was definitely better too. From what I had heard, Brandon knew how to ride, and I was pretty sure Kyle did too. 

Madison pulled out of my arms, smiling sweetly. “You go ahead. I’m just going to pull on some jeans and a T-shirt. These shorts might be a little too scandalous for breakfast.”

“Well, I like ’em,” I assured her, letting my eyes rove over her body appreciatively. 

She arched an eyebrow and shoved me playfully. “Yeah, well, you’re kind of a perv, remember?” 

“I don’t seem to recall you complaining about that before now,” I countered with a smile as she rifled through her dresser. 

“Not complaining. I was merely stating a fact.”

Laughing, I backed toward the door, watching as Madison slipped her thumbs into the waistband of her shorts. She shook her head, silently telling me that she wasn’t going to strip with me still in the room; she was such a tease—and I loved it. 

After leaving her again, I made my way to the kitchen where I dug around in the fridge for everything I would need for breakfast. After scrambling the eggs, milk, veggie ham and diced vegetables, I put them into a casserole dish and waited for the oven to preheat before I put it in to bake. While it cooked, I washed and diced some fruit for a fruit salad. 

“Well, there’s the birthday girl!” Brandon exclaimed, his announcement causing me to turn to see Madison enter the room with Bones at her feet, his tail still wagging as he looked up at her every now and again. 

“Good morning. Did you all sleep okay?” They nodded, telling her they slept fine as she crossed over to me. “Do you need a hand?” 

I had just scooped the last of the pineapple into the bowl and shook my head. “Nope. You go and relax. Breakfast is in the oven. Should be done in about twenty.” 

“How are you feeling?” Lilah asked Madison. 

She shrugged before answering Lilah as she grabbed her antibiotics from the counter and took this morning’s dose with her last sip of coffee. “Okay, I guess. My headache’s going away, but I feel a little queasy. I’m hoping breakfast will help.” 

“It will,” I assured her. 

Madison refilled her coffee mug, this time adding a smidge of cream and sugar to it and sat in her seat at the table. “So, Jensen and I were thinking that after we check on the condition of the backyard, we could all maybe hit the trails?” She brought her foot up onto the seat of her chair and hugged her leg to her chest. 

“You know how to ride, Kyle?” I asked, just to be sure. 

Nodding, he spoke. “Yeah. It’s been years, though.” 

“That’s okay. I’m sure we’ll find a good horse, plus it’s not like we’ll do anything faster than a walk or a trot,” Madison said, her lips twisting up into an excited smile. Her headache must have been getting better, because she was definitely looking and sounding a little livelier. 

When the fruit salad was done, I placed it on the table before grabbing plates and cutlery. Just as I finished setting the table, the oven timer went off, indicating that our brunch was finished. I quickly grabbed the two potholders, setting them on the table so I could place the casserole dish on them without fear of ruining the wood. 

Out of courtesy, Madison and I waited until everyone else dished up, and I watched her closely to make sure she wasn’t still feeling a little ill. The color seemed to be returning to her face, and thankfully she seemed all right as she scooped some of the breakfast casserole onto her plate. “Thanks for breakfast,” she said before taking her first bite. 

Based on the way everyone was devouring their food, it was clear that they must have been feeling a smidge hung-over; they were just masters at hiding it.

Everyone pitched in to clean the kitchen before we all migrated outside to deal with the backyard. Upon stepping through the patio door, I noticed we’d forgot to turn off the lights the girls helped string up yesterday afternoon, and some of the vases of flowers had tipped over on the porch. That was about the worst of it, thankfully. The two empty bottles were tipped on their sides on one of the corner ledges of the hot tub, and all of our wine and shot glasses were scattered in the other three. 

Madison had knelt down to pick up some of the toppled vases, saying how she was hoping to save the flowers so she could display them in the kitchen before they wilted, and Kyle offered to tidy up the glasses and bottles while Brandon and I helped the girls take the strings of lights down. Lilah and Willow laughed and joked around like they had known each other for years, and it pleased me to know that my sister and Madison’s best friend were getting along. It made me optimistic that, by befriending Madison and Willow, the void Kaylie left could be filled. 

Kyle and Brandon got along just as well as their spouses did. Of course, there was less giggling between them, and more dirty jokes and lewd behavior—typical guy stuff. Our lives continued to fuse in a way I never even realized was possible. It was new to me, and I couldn’t believe I ever thought that what I had with Kaylie was in some way comparable. 

I had just unplugged the main power source for the lights when Kyle’s loud voice drew everyone’s attention to him. “Well, well, well,” he said, turning his head toward us and smiling smugly. “Do you two have anything to confess?” His eyes moved back and forth between Madison and me as we exchanged a confused glance, shrugging when we both came up with nothing. 

Kyle’s smile grew and he guffawed loudly, bending down to the ground and grabbing something at his feet. Through my periphery, I watched Madison stand slowly as we both inspected what he was picking up. At first, it didn’t seem like anything, but the straighter he stood, the longer the item he held in between his thumb and forefinger got. Then, there was suddenly more to the skinny piece of black string that he was holding. Madison gasped loudly while my jaw fell to the ground, both of us instantly recognizing her bikini top. 

Chapter 24. Did We …? Didn’t We …?

W
hat. The. Fuck? 

Willow hooted and hollered behind us, congratulating Madison on finally being sexually liberated enough for mild exhibitionism. “The backyard’s always where it starts.” She giggled, soon joined by my sister, and I didn’t need to turn to Madison to know that she was probably the brightest shade of red she’d ever been. 

My brain suddenly kicked into high gear, trying to remember how Madison’s top wound up on the ground, only to come up empty again.

“Oh-ho-ho-ho!” Kyle boomed, sounding a little like Santa Claus. He was definitely a little too jolly about whatever he spotted next. “It would appear this skimpy piece of fabric isn’t the only thing you two left behind last night.” 

He grabbed one of the empty bottles and dipped the neck into the hot tub, apparently afraid that whatever he was talking about might bite him. As his arm rose, and my swimming trunks came into view, I knew it was more likely about him being afraid of sticking his arm into water he now questioned the cleanliness of. 

“What the hell did we
do
?” Madison whispered. Her voice was so quiet, I was sure she was talking mostly to herself. I had no recollection of anything either, so I didn’t respond—mainly because I had nothing to offer in the way of an explanation. 

My trunks hit the side of the hot tub with a loud
slosh
before he dipped the bottle in
again
and came back with Madison’s black bikini bottoms. “Holy fuck,” I muttered, raking my fingers through my hair, still trying really fucking hard to remember what the hell happened last night. I had completely blacked the fuck out.

“Did the two of you screw in the hot tub?” Kyle’s dimples deepened as though he had already formed his own conclusion—not that it was a hard deduction to come to considering the evidence presented. 

“I-I—” I stammered, still not quite sure how to answer that question. As arousing as the idea of hot-tub sex was, I couldn’t imagine
ever
being so careless—drunk or not. 

 “Did we?” Madison was so quiet as she slipped her clammy hand into mine, and I had no answers, so I stayed silent. “Jensen?” 

I shook my head and turned to her, being sure to keep my voice down as I responded. “No. We wouldn’t have … Right? I remember having a dream … But, we were in bed. I think.” I paused, suddenly trying to recall the still-foggy dream. Yeah, we were definitely in bed.

Madison let out a quiet, unconvincing laugh and shook her head. “Of course. I mean, if we’d have done anything, we’d remember.” She still didn’t sound so sure; it was almost like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone. “I’d remember.”

It wasn’t until Kyle cleared his throat expectantly that we realized he was still waiting for us to comment on the fact that we had stripped in the hot tub after everyone had retired for the night. While it wasn’t
really
any of his business, I knew Kyle, and he wasn’t likely to relent. 

I had just opened my mouth to say something when Madison surprised me by stalking over to him and snatching her bikini top from his hand. “Since when is skinny-dipping a crime, Kyle?” she challenged, finding a bit of inner strength and narrowing her eyes at him. 

He arched his eyebrows, not giving any indication that he was ready to back down any time soon. “Are you sure that’s all that happened, Madikins?”

She didn’t even flinch as she yanked my trunks off the side of the hot tub and her bikini bottoms from where they still dangled on the neck of the bottle. “I’m pretty sure I’d know if I had sex in a hot tub, Kyle.”