Cinderella Liberty Read Free Page A

bean over the bowl and dropped—" He'd meant it as a joke, but Zippy sputtering on his mouthful of beer had Crash halting mid-sentence. "Oh my God. That's it? Is that what happened?"
    "Shh." Still coughing into his fist, Zippy glanced behind him, no doubt to see where the bartender was. Probably concerned because for this particular shift the bar was manned, as it were, by a female.
    Crash was close to busting a gut laughing, but he managed to contain himself. Mostly. He couldn't believe they were having this conversation at the O Club, but it was just too good to let go. "Oh, man. That is too funny."
    Zippy turned back, frowning. "As if you've never done it."
    "Held my phone in one hand to look at dirty pictures and jerked off into the toilet with the other? No. I haven't."
    "Shh!" Zippy shushed Crash again. "Jesus, Crash. Not so loud."
    To keep the man from blowing an artery, Crash leaned forward and kept his voice low as he said, "How about using your imagination, Zip? Or, I don't know, look at it once then put the damn phone down somewhere safe."
    "Can we let this drop now, please?"
    Crash ignored that request as a horrifying realization hit him. He'd borrowed Zip's phone. Not too long ago, actually. He'd had that damn thing pressed right up against his face.
    "Shit." Crash shook his head. This situation was definitely less funny after that memory. "I'm gonna remember to never ever touch your phone ever again. Jesus, God only knows what's on—"
    "I'll have another one and he'll have the same. Thanks." Zippy talked right over Crash as the bartender neared their end of the bar.
      She turned to get their beers from the cooler and Zippy spun on Crash. "Can we please talk about our plans for New York instead of this?"
    "Sure, let's talk about New York. So while we're on the boat, are you planning to watch some porn and snap in the dark in your rack with all the rest of the squadron right there, or you gonna hog the head so you can do it in private?"
    Zippy narrowed his eyes and shot Crash a less than friendly look. "Just for that, I'm not gonna tell you my news."
    "Aw, I'm heartbroken." Luckily for Crash and his broken heart, his beer arrived. He grabbed the bottle, dripping with icy condensation, and took a sip, letting the cold foam wash down his throat.
    Definitely worth stopping in for the ice cold beer alone. The fun of torturing his friend was just a bonus.
    "Fine. I won't tell you that my sister Trish and her hot friend Dawn are meeting us in New York while we're there."
    Now it was Crash's turn to narrow his eyes at Zippy. "Hot friend? Zip, this better not be a fix-up."
    "No, of course not. You want to be alone. Be alone. I don't give a shit. Don't mean I can't have a nice visit with my sister before we deploy."
    "Your sister and her friend. Why is she bringing a friend if she's there to visit you?"
    "Because I don't want her wandering around that friggin' city alone, that's why."
    "Okay." Crash had a sister of his own so he couldn't argue the point. Zippy was a New Jersey native, not a born and bred Southerner like Crash, but a man's instinct to protect his sister was universal. Still didn't mean he trusted Zippy in this situation. The man had been trying to play matchmaker for him for a month now. "But I swear, Zip, if I think you're trying to hook me up—"
    "I know. I know. You'll find your own damn woman when you're ready." Zippy lifted his beer and mumbled behind the bottle, " if you're ever ready."
    Why couldn't his friends understand his situation? Finding out the girl you'd been dating had been running around on you was enough to turn a man off relationships for a good long while.
    "Give me a damn break, Zip. It's only been a few months." Crash didn't think that was an excessive amount of time to take to recover. And it wasn't as if he hadn't gone out and had a few flings to soothe his male ego after that particularly devastating blow.
    "Whatever. I didn't say you had to date Dawn. Just be nice to the girl