Page 56 of Never Falling

"You know my sister. She's probably trying to figure out what she wants to wear." I started laughing.

"Oh, Foster. You're horrible."

"Hey, it's not my problem now. It's Oliver's." He grinned at me. "So Alice."

"Yes, Foster?"

"I just want you to know..."

"Yes, Foster."

"That I have two options for you tonight."

"Huh? What are the options?"

"Well, I was thinking, and I’ll give you two options for the lap dance."

"Okay. And what are those two options?"

"The options are one, I strip just my shirt. Or two, I strip my shirt and my pants." I stared at him with wide eyes.

"You what?"

"What? I'm just saying. Do you want it to be kind of sexy or totally hot?"

"Let me think about that," I said. I shook my head. "I feel like this is a really weird conversation for us to be having."

"Is it?" he said. "And why is that?"

"Because we're just..."

"We're just what, Alice?"

"We're just friends."

"And friends can't joke around?"

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?"

"Do friends strip for each other?" I asked him.

"I don't know. You tell me." We stared at each other for a couple of seconds, and I could feel my heart racing. I felt like I was on a game show, and this was the final question. If I got it right, I'd win a million dollars. But if I got it wrong, I'd walk away with nothing. I was about to ask him what he wanted to do when Molly opened the door and came out of the bathroom.

"Okay. So do you have any champagne? I think we should celebrate."

"Celebrate what?" I asked her in surprise.

"Celebrate our new friendship." She grinned. "I'm so glad I went to that speed dating event. And it's because I met you, which is crazy, because I was really hoping to meet a really handsome, rich man, of which I met zero. But at least I got a really great friend out of it. Several, actually." She smiled at me. "So yeah. That's something I'd like to celebrate."

"Yeah, that sounds cool. Though, I don't know if we have any champagne." I looked at Foster.

"I think I might have a bottle in the freezer I could take out." He nodded. And then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." I went to the front door and saw Rosalie and Oliver standing there.

"Hey, honey. We're not late, are we?"