My legs bounce erratically up and down in the Uber all the way over to 10th Avenue, and my hands can’t stop fiddling. I try to quiet the noise going on inside my brain. This is the start of my new life, again. I’m free.
I failed to mention the darker details to Maddie, the recent nights when Jamie would have complete breakdowns, shouting and smashing the apartment up. After days upon days of reflecting on our relationship, the realization dawned on me I had completely lost myself.
Maddie was concerned enough about me already, which is why I needed to concentrate on breathing to calm the rising panic coursing through my body. I promised her, her bubbly best friend would be back, and that is what she will be getting.
I tap my fingers on my wrist, trying to ground myself to the present. Despite the freezing temperatures outside, I notch down my window a couple of inches and take a deep breath. The cold air makes my nose run. The fumes of the traffic almost choke me.
Facing the window, I close my eyes and continue to breathe, calming my thoughts. My body instantly starts to relax into the leather seat. I can control my anxiety if I catch it quickly enough, like right now. It’s always there in the background, waiting to creep up on me.
“Si, are you ok?” Maddie whispers with a smile.
I place my hand on top of hers and let out the deep breath I had been holding in.
“I will be, promise. Just need to get my head in the zone and get ready to party with my bestie.” I flash her the best fake smile I can muster. She seems to sense this as she slowly nods, not wanting to press me any further.
Maddie was the first person I met when I moved here seven years ago. I remember tiptoeing into my new dorm with just a small pink suitcase of all my belongings. Not wanting to disturb anyone in the middle of the night. Maddie leaped straight out of bed screaming with excitement, wrapping me up in the tightest bear hug I think I had ever had in my life. I knew in that moment we were twin flames. They do say every Scorpio needs an Aquarius in their life.
The Uber coming to an abrupt stop shakes me from my thoughts. “Thank you, have a good night,” I say as I open the car door, the cold air almost taking my breath away.
“Mads, hurry up! It’s fucking freezing. I need a better alcohol blanket,” I shout over the Uber as I wrap my arms around myself to keep from shivering. Also partly to hide the fact my nipples are way too obvious in this dress. Ugh, my brain is starting to sound like Jamie. Shut up, shut up, shut up.
“Well, it’s a good thing I got us VIP passes, so we don’t have to stand in that.”
Her perfectly manicured finger points to the queue of people winding along the sidewalk. Maddie steps in front of me, her high heels clicking against the tarmac, and links her arm through mine. “Let’s go get our party on,” she shouts for the whole street to hear. A laugh escapes me. She is always the party starter.
“Too right”
We head towards the red carpet leading to an oversized gold door. Excitement is jolting through me. God, I need a shot of tequila, pronto.
We breeze past the queue of people freezing their butts off, waiting to gain entry into the club. The place is buzzing, and the music is filling the streets. We pass the big burly bouncers our ID cards. The bald older man snatches it from my hand, stealing a quick glance at it, then my face. With a grunt, he thrusts my ID back out.
I flash him a big smile and walk through the entrance, following the red carpet. The warm misty air of the club wraps around my body and stops the shivering. With Maddie’s arm still linked through mine, we hand our coats to the barely legal woman chewing on a pen in the booth and she passes over our tickets without even so much as a glance in our direction. I shoot Maddie a side eye as we turn on our heels and make our way through the next set of glass double doors.
The beat of the music hits me first, almost taking my breath away as the bass slams through my body. We stand on the sidelines of the club and I take it all in. Yep, this place is faaancy. But not in a pretentious, boring way, no. This place is exciting and sexy. This place is wow.
The walls are painted a deep red, with massive crystal chandeliers reflecting the strobe lighting. The dance area is in the center of the room. Black flooring, speckled with glitter, surrounded by black leather booths with gold tables – solid gold, I would bet. This place is dripping with wealth. It is filled with unimpressive, mostly dark-suited men with hooded eyes that are standing by the dance floor, watching, like lions hunting their prey.
My glance quickly darts around the room, zoning in on the most important part of the club; the bar. I snatch Maddie’s hand as her gaze traveled the room; the excitement bubbling on her face.
“Wow, Sienna, this place is incredible and have you seen how hot all these men are? I have not seen one who isn’t a complete sex God yet.”
Looking or even thinking about men is the last thing on the planet I want to do tonight, but I’m not below plastering a smile for a tequila, or two.
“Let’s get this party started, shall we?” the DJ announces from the tall mirrored booth in the corner, as Eminem’s Real Slim Shady now blasts through the speakers. I turn and give Maddie a cheeky grin, and her eyes light up in amusement. “Shall we?” I say as I hold out my hand to her.
“Oh, we shall.”
The nights we spent reciting his every lyric whilst downing wine were about to pay off.
We beeline to the center of the dancefloor, shaking our hips, our hair flowing around us as we recite every lyric word for word. Clearly, most of these women are of a higher class than us because they all faded away to the sides of the floor, giving us ‘the look’ as they do, obviously not knowing a word of this filthy rap song.
We might be completely out of place here, but we don’t care. Thrusting our hands up in the air, we let out the last verse, both erupting into a fit of giggles as the DJ moves on to the next song. I slam my hands to my knees and bend over, trying to regain my breath. My lungs are burning from shouting over the music.
“Mads, we need to get some booze down us. That wine has worn off now.” She giggles in response, her cheeks flush.
“Si, I forget how British you are and then you go and say shit like that.”
I roll my eyes and spin on my ridiculously high stilettos toward the bar behind me.
My legs start to wobble. These damn heels. The world goes in slow motion as the bar comes closer to view, my ankle folds from underneath me and I start to tumble sideways. Squeezing my eyes shut, I shoot out my hands and brace myself for the inevitable impact of the floor. Pain radiates from my ankle.
My fingers jab into something rock-hard in front of me. Wait, since when did the floor have rock-hard chiseled abs?
An electric jolt passes through my body as a strong hand cups my left ass cheek, creating a burning sensation beneath. The air crackles around me and a strong musky aftershave assaults my nose. I squeeze my eyes tighter, not wanting to face the utter embarrassment. I can feel his chest rise and fall steadily beneath my hands. Bar the squeezing hand on my ass, he is still.
I trail my left hand slowly down, blindly searching for something to grab onto to hoist myself back up. My hand settles and grips onto the hard bulge I’m assuming is the table. I take in a deep breath, ready to make my exit and feel him hiss. No wait, that feels familiar. Realization dawns on me and I am 99.9% certain I am grabbing a rock hard penis, a fucking massive one at that.
I’m as still as a statue, not wanting to make this scenario any worse for either of us.
Okay, Sienna, we needed to get this over with. Rip that band-aid off and run away, far far away, and never return. With all the courage I can muster, I squint out of one eye, trying to assess who I’m dealing with. My hand is still tightly wrapped around a now throbbing cock.
I scan my way up his dark tux, his body a mountain of muscle. My gaze is met with the face of a man who could literally have jumped out of one of my smutty books. His liquid dark eyes search mine. I’ve never seen eyes so dark; it’s like they were piercing into my soul. I can’t stop staring, mesmerized by the hottest man I have ever laid eyes on. His jet black hair is just long enough to grab a fistful of on top, and shaved short on the sides. A chiseled jaw is emphasized more by the dark angel wing tattoo that spans up his entire neck. I hold in a breath and open my eyes completely. I need to get a proper look. As I do, he clears his throat. This quickly slams me back into reality, the one where I still have my hand on his cock, which is aggressively pulsating in my hand.
I snatch my hand back as if I had been scolded and push myself back. The grip on my ass only tightens as he tips me forward, bringing his lips down to my ear. His breath tickles against my sensitive skin, leaving goosebumps. My whole body shudders in response, heat creeping up my cheeks.
A fire ignites within me as his lips smile against my cheek, my eyes flutter closed and a small moan falls from my lips.
Fuck.
