“This is going to be awesome. Can you imagine Bert’s face when I tell him what we did tonight?” Jess bounced on her toes a little. Her new husband would probably be thrilled.
“Did you see the teacher? He could kill us with one punch! This is going to be work! And hard.” Sam narrowed her eyes.
“It’s a fun class, I made sure.” I leaned over, touching my head to my knee. When I sat back up Sam was glaring at me. “What?”
“Okay, Miss I-Can-Touch-My-Head-to-My-Leg. I’m sure this will be a blast.” Sam laughed. “If I have a heart attack, tell Alex I loved him.”
“Will do.” I stretched out over the opposite leg.
“Is it just going to be us?” Jess sat down on the floor and started her own stretches.
“Nope. We have a few more people coming.” I leaned forward and brushed the floor with my fingertips.
“Who else?” Sam dropped to the floor next to me.
“Friends.” The doorbell rang and I hopped up off the floor. “I’ll get it.”
I could hear voices through the door and my smile grew. Yanking open the double doors, I threw myself at my cousin, Daniel, my face breaking into a smile. Laughing, he spun me in a circle.
“Cathy!” He kissed my cheek before setting me back on the ground. We’d become very close over the last couple of years.
“Why don’t you twirl with me like that?” Chadwick, Sam’s loyal assistant, asked. They’d been openly dating for a year now, and I loved seeing them both so happy.
“Because you don’t have all that blond hair to spin around.” Daniel made a tsking noise. “You keep cutting it too short.”
“Not to mention it’s red.” Chadwick rolled his eyes. “And I look like a Muppet if I don’t cut it.” He leaned forward and kissed my cheek.
“You look great.” I led them back into the house. “And dapper as always. I’m loving the tie.” I flicked the pink plaid silk with my fingers. Chadwick was my favorite shopping buddy.
“I thought you were with the guys!” Sam stood up and hugged Daniel before glaring at Chadwick. “You lied!”
“I most certainly didn’t.” Chadwick rolled his eyes. “We were there and now we’re here.”
“Yes. Too much testosterone.” Daniel laughed.
“Cathy asked us to come to this first, but there was no way I was going to be here while Sam got waxed.” Chadwick shuddered. “Did she hurt anyone?”
“She was very well behaved.” I winked at him.
“Oh my. So you were serious about the pole dancing?” Daniel walked around one of the poles, a hand on his chin. “This could be interesting.”
“Very serious. Now go change!” The doorbell rang again. “Got it.”
The guest list wasn’t very long, but I’d made sure the important people would be there. Sam’s surrogate mother, Patricia, arrived with Lady Adriane and Heather, the Duchess of Marion. It might seem weird to invite Adriane, one of my brother’s exes, but she and Samantha got along well.
Opening the door, I threw my head back and laughed. All three of them were wearing feathered boas in bright colors.
“We brought one for everybody!” Patricia held up a bag.
“You have no idea just how perfect that is.” I hugged them each before leading them back to the room. I pulled a bright pink boa out of the bag and wrapped it around my shoulders. Our instructor had turned up the music and was doing hip gyrations near one of the poles. He totally did look like Gene Simmons, minus the creepy face paint.
“Oh my.” Patricia put a hand up to her heart.
“Oh my doesn’t cover it.” Heather cocked her head to the side. “I think I’ve been married for too long. I don’t remember ever seeing a man move like that.”
“You didn’t go to the right places.” Adriane wiggled her eyebrows before heading for the center of the room and stretching. I’d told everyone to bring workout clothes so there wouldn’t be any wardrobe crisis, and it seemed that constant nagging and list making was paying off. Everyone had brought what they needed for the night.
“Let’s get ready to shake this house!” The instructor clapped his hands together, his French accent making it hard to understand him. “Loosen up! Get your blood pumping!”
“What did he say we’re going to do to my house?” Samantha leaned toward me.
“Just move!” The music filled the room, making the windows shake. I’d forgotten how much I loved to dance. It didn’t take long before I was letting go of Princess Catherine and dancing like Cathy—and it felt good. Free and fun. I bumped butts with Patricia, wrapped a boa around Chadwick, and laughed as Daniel did the YMCA.
I downed another glass of champagne while joking with Jess about the wedding and the new moves we were learning. Tonight was my one chance to relax and have a good time, so I wasn’t going to play it safe. There were no reporters or photographers to catch me in a bad light. It was liberating. I could already feel a nice buzz from the alcohol and was enjoying myself more than I had in years. Good friends and fun would do that for a person.
Samantha was watching Patricia wiggle and shake while trying not to laugh, and almost knocked over the table with the snacks and drinks. I saved the bottle of champagne while Jess grabbed the tray of cheese. Deciding it would be better to consume the alcohol than risk it being wasted on the floor, I poured the rest of the bottle into my glass before going back to the dance floor.