Char slaps my hand away from my hair as we inch forward in the never-ending line. “You look great. Stop fussing!”
I can’t resist pulling my dress down once more, feeling like my ass cheeks are about to make an appearance every five seconds.
Charlotte took the pleasure of selecting our dresses. For herself, she picked out a black body-con and stiletto Calvin Klein heels. She paired it with a dark smoky eye and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail.
For me, she chose a gold satin slip dress that feels like luxury. Thank goodness I had my own pair of black heels to wear tonight, or I would have been stuck wearing the same worn-out Converse I wear almost every day. She did my makeup—a little too dark for my preference, but I let her have her fun with a dark brown smoky eye and bright red lips. My soft brown locks are loosely curled down my shoulders.
The line moves forward a little, and we continue to scoot closer to the entrance. Fireflies is packed tonight, as always. There’s at least twenty people ahead of us, and we’ve already been waiting for over thirty minutes.
The music is getting louder as we approach. It’s crazy how you just get accustomed to the music once you’re inside. While outside though, I feel like I should cover my ears at times because it’s so loud.
Char is rapidly typing into her phone, and she’s biting down on one intense smile.
“What’s all that for?” I circle the air in front of her face.
Her eyes shoot to me so fast that I worry she might strain those muscles.
She clutches her phone tight to her chest, which is rapidly rising and falling. “Um, so you remember Cam?”
I roll my eyes at her, wondering where this is going. “Yes.”
She asked like I would have forgotten that smile. Every single person in Nikki’s noticed him.
After another quick text, she focuses on me again. “So, Cam set me up with this guy on his team. His name is Reed. He has the biggest smile in his selfies and this way about him that makes you want to rip your clothes off but also want to take him to family dinner to show off.” She closes her mouth when she realizes how crazy she sounds, and I laugh. “Anywaaay, Cam gave him my number, and we are going to meet up tonight. I don’t know, Lu. We really just clicked, you know?”
“That’s great, Char. I can’t wait to meet him.”
I suppress all the words I want to say, like, Charlotte, the one isn’t going to be some guy from some sports team who is here to promote his game. True love doesn’t exist. Better you start accepting that now.
I’ve given that speech to her one too many times. But she refuses to think that soul mates aren’t real. She will always believe in true love and fairy tales. I guess maybe it isn’t so bad for one of us to be an optimist in that department.
The line moves forward again, and now, we are only a handful of people from the entrance. Char’s Prince Charming says they’re already inside.
I stow my phone in my clutch. Trying to have some fun involves not checking my phone every five seconds, which is damn near impossible when I’m away from Jack.
“Next,” the deep, booming voice of the bouncer calls to the last two people ahead of us.
He checks their IDs, and the other bouncer stamps their hands and pulls the door open. Music pours out, filling our ears. And they take off inside, eager to melt into the crowd.
We step up to the wall of a man and hand him our IDs. Which I don’t think even matters. Because he looks at them for all of half a second before handing them back to us.
He waves us through, and the other bouncer stamps our hands and opens the door for us. Charlotte nudges me with her shoulder, and her eyes widen with a mischievous look. Music envelops us, and we welcome it, stepping into the chaos.
The first step inside feels like walking into a different world. The floor is digital. It reacts to your step, lighting up from the slightest pressure. It creates quite a light show throughout the whole club. On top of that, everyone is decked out in their best outfits, elevating the whole experience.
A waiter cuts us off, heading for a table. Straight blonde hair cascades over broad shoulders. Poking out of the impeccable locks are pointed ears. The theme for the staff tonight must be something related to fae.
Flashes of work pop into my mind, getting soaked from dropping a coffee cup, as I start to regret not applying here. This has to be the most fun place to work.
We try to make our way to the center of the floor, where the bar is, to get our first drink. Char must be texting Reed with how locked into her phone she is.
A guy bumps me with his shoulder, and I stumble back, almost losing Char. I reach out and hook my arm around hers to keep us together. This crowd is intense.
The circular bar sits in the center of the room, creating a circle of people around it. It’s fun as long as you’re not trying to cut through.
After a thousand, “Excuse me,” and, “Please move,” we finally manage to reach the barstools lining the counter.
The bartenders are working crazy fast, mixing, pouring, and serving. I have no idea how they keep up with all the orders.
A petite blonde girl hands a beer to the guy to my right and then focuses her attention on us.
She shouts over the music, but it barely reaches my ears, so I rely on reading her lips, “What can I get for you guys?”
Charlotte slides her card across the bar. “We’ll start a tab with this, please. And check our bags. Can I just get a Long Island iced tea?” She turns to me. “And for you?”
I look back to the bartender, glancing down at her name tag—Stacy. “Can I get a Wonder Woman? The drink.”
She abruptly nods, and with no hesitation, she is off to get our drinks. Char and I set our bags on the countertop, and when Stacy returns with our drinks, she checks our bags in and matches it with our phone numbers for pickup.
Char’s phone lights up on the counter, and I see the name Reed with a little pink heart next to it.
Wow, that was fast. I can’t help but chuckle to myself.
She reads it and leans as close to my ear as she can physically get. “He said he’s at the bar. Oh God. Do I look okay?” She pulls away, patting the skirt of her dress and combing her fingers through her hair.
“Perfect!” I shout to her, giving her a thumbs-up. “You look like the most expensive stripper.”
She giggles and smacks my shoulder.
I start to look around to see if I can spot those gorgeous brown curls from earlier. But the bartender is back with our drinks before I can get a good look.
Grabbing our cups and turning, we place our backs against the counter and begin scanning the crowd.
Something catches my attention in the corner of my eye—an aura of arrogance and sex appeal.
Cam and who I’m assuming is Reed are making their way over to us. Cam offers this big, goofy smile that I can’t help but smile back at. He lifts his arm and waves to us. They close the distance between us rather fast. Everyone seems to move out of the way for, as Char would say, the six-foot Greek gods.
Cam doesn’t stop feet away from me; not until he’s inches from my face. He leans down, placing a small kiss on my cheek before moving to my ear. “You look incredible, Laura.”
I’m not used to casual compliments, and a blush stretches over my cheeks.
He pulls away, and I mouth the words, Thank you.
Reed and Charlotte are being all cute and shy, meeting for the first time. But I will give it to her—they do have instant chemistry.
Cam leans against the bar next to me, pressing his shoulder gently into mine. I look up to him, and in the flashing lights, his jawline looks incredible.
He must feel my stare because his lips tip up, and he slowly turns to me. He nods his head at my drink. “What do you got in there? It looks crazy.”
He’s not wrong. It’s one of the reasons I like this drink. It’s vibrant blue with bright pink at the bottom. And when you swirl it, it blends into this gorgeous purple.
I clear my throat. “It’s a Wonder Woman.”
I’ve put about half of this down in the last five minutes. Mostly out of awkwardness. What else am I supposed to do? Just stand here?
I giggle with no clue as to what’s funny. If there were a picture in the dictionary next to the word lightweight, it would be a picture of me.
Being a lightweight has a big pro. It’s very cheap to get drunk. Con: I’m a drinker who totally falls for peer pressure. That means, I always go past my limit.
I finish the rest of my drink probably too fast. Cam offers his hand for my empty cup. And I let him take it. He tosses my cup into the trash.
He sways back over, stopping almost toe to toe with me. I drag my eyes over his fitted button-up shirt to his stark blue eyes.
My gaze drops to his lips without my command. Definitely signaling that the alcohol is starting to take effect.
His lips tip into a smirk, and he takes a step back, offering his hand to me. “So, how about that dance, Laura?”
I playfully roll my eyes and place my hand into his. Turning, I make a mental note of where Char is.
Wow, it must’ve really been love at first sight—or first slip of the tongue. Because I can’t tell where Reed ends and she begins right now. I laugh and turn back around, letting Cam lead me onto the dance floor.
Into the abyss of grinding bodies I go.
Once he finds a spot he likes, he lightly places both hands on my hips, letting me move them as I begin swaying to the music.
My drink is really kicking in. Tingles have started dancing on my skin. I revel in the feeling and in the overwhelming sensations rushing through my body.
The beat is pounding in my eardrums. I swear I can feel it in my chest.
Cam’s grip begins tightening on my hips, but I do not mind in the slightest. In fact, I wish his thumbs would dig in just a little harder. He pulls me into him, closing the space between us. The next sway of my hips rubs right in line with his. And with this napkin of a dress between us, I can feel everything. I can feel the tightness of his jeans, of the want building in his pants.
His hands begin trailing up my sides, sending shivers in their wake. They slowly run back down. But they stop halfway, and his hands wrap around my hips.
My body reacts to him before I even know what happens. In one swift move, he spins me, smashing my ass against the front of his jeans.
A little out of breath from the shock of that and a little from how much I like it, I stop swaying. But soon after, my body catches back up, right as my breaths begin to quicken.
I push back, grinding my hips into his, falling back into line with the music. His fingertips dig into my sides, harder and harder, and pulsing sensations vibrate out from his touch. This man knows what he’s doing.
I throw my arm up and around his neck, pulling his head down to my ear, and he takes advantage of it. He slides his teeth over my earlobe, biting hard enough to make me whimper.
His deep voice overpowers the music in my ear. “You’re so damn sexy, Laura. Fuck.”
That should not have the effect on me that it does. I push my hips back a little harder in response.
I look up and see Char and Reed have joined us on the floor, still trying to morph their bodies into one.
The song ends, and we pull apart for the first time in what feels like forever. I turn around slowly, a little nervous to face him after we practically had sex a second ago. But his attention is on the group of guys that just walked up to us that I somehow missed due to my nerves. It must be some more of the team because Reed and Char are making their way over too.
Cam and some guy with curly, super-dark hair are talking, but I can’t hear a word over the noise. After a minute or so, the group heads back the direction they came, and Cam turns to me.
He leans down, purposely placing his lips on my ear. He flicks his tongue against my ear before asking, “Hey, want to go hang in the lounge for a bit? Get out of this crowd? Charlotte and Reed are going.”
I nod my head against his warm lips, feeling them move over my ear. He lightly runs his tongue along the edge, eliciting a moan that I wholeheartedly intended on keeping in my throat but it slipped past my parted lips.
He wraps his hand around mine and begins leading us through the sea of people toward the lounge doors.
They must’ve rented out a room for a bit because they aren’t free. But they are so nice. Leather seats line the wall. There’s a full bar, a TV, and whatever else you could really want for a break from the craziness on the floor.
We approach the doors, and I turn back to Charlotte, finding a beaming smile stretched on her face. I effortlessly smile back at her. I really am having fun tonight.
When we get to the room they rented, there’s about ten other guys in here. But only three of them have girls with them.
It’s a refreshing break from the booming noise on the dance floor. There’s just background music playing in here. We find empty spots on one of the seats, and Cam orders a few drinks for us.
A guy with shoulder-long brown hair comes to sit near us. “Hey, Cam, who’s this?” He nods to me.
Irritated that he couldn’t ask me himself, I stick my hand out. “Hi, I’m Laura.” Were my words a little slurred, or was that just me?
He takes my hand, holding for a second too long. “Nice to meet you, Laura. I’m Matt.”
His piercing blue eyes drop to my chest, and I can’t help the eye roll that slips free.
“Eyes up here, bud,” I correct him, no slurred words.
He tilts his head to the side, whistling. “Ooh, feisty. I like that.”
Cam sits up a little straighter, but he laughs before he says, “Matt, chill out. Stop trying to scare her off.”
He clicks his tongue on his teeth. “Fine—for now. Nice to meet you, Laura.” He then turns his attention back to some of the other guys.
Cam’s hand playfully glides back and forth on my knee, giving me an odd sense of comfort. “Hey, there’s a party at a hotel near here. Would you guys want to come?”
I look at Charlotte, who I can tell has already said yes. Because she’s practically giving me puppy-dog eyes mixed with an I’ll kill you if you say no face.
This is my one big night out, so might as well do it right.
I smile, turning back to Cam, whose eyes are locked on to my lips. “Okay, yeah, let’s do it.”
He meets my eyes for a moment before addressing his teammates. “Hey, you about ready to head out?”
One of the players with straight red hair answers, “Yeah, we’re just waiting for Kos. He ran to piss.”
Kos? My heart stops. There’s no way, right?
I laugh to myself at the utter thought that it could be Alec.
And anyway, Kos could be this guy’s full last name. Definitely not a nickname for Alec Kostelecky.
Cam stands up, and in my state of complete denial I join him, pushing all thoughts of my buried past away but falling short.
I can’t shake what his stare used to feel like on my body, what his soft lips on mine used to lead to, how his hand wrapped around my throat while he thrust into me used to make me beg him for more. How he was the only man I’ve ever loved. And the only man who made me so angry that I was ready to kill.
Soon, the rest of the room is on their feet, impatiently waiting for this guy, who I am praying is not Alec.
The hair on my neck rises as I hear the door click open and shut behind me.
I begin to turn, ready to see if it’s really him. Because there’s no way in hell it could be him.
Right?
He would be an idiot to set foot in this town again, to come near me again. I pivot around, facing my fears.
I slam my eyes shut, scared to look.
Please don’t be him.
Please don’t be him.
Please don’t be him.
I hear him mumble something, my eyes fly open, and all hope is lost.
The wind is knocked cold out of me as panic settles in my chest to remain hidden from him. I’m not confronting him, not after all of these years.
I spin to Cam, words falling from my lips without thought. “Look, I’m so sorry. I feel sick. I think I’m going to go home. I’ll call you.” I turn and take off for the door without giving him a chance to respond.
Alec still hasn’t noticed me yet as he’s turned to a couple of guys, so I quietly step behind him, reaching for the door.
All of a sudden, he’s pushed back into me. I stumble and lose my step. But warm, solid, familiar arms catch me, pulling me into a firm chest. I’m thrown back in time to the day we met, which was eerily similar to this.
His scent hits me, invading my senses in every way, with memories of our past overwhelming me.
Out of an old habit, I inhale deeply, bathing in the smell of him, of home.
But this isn’t my home anymore, and it never will be again. He steadies me and pulls back, getting a full look at me for the first time.
If he had anything to drink tonight, he’s completely sober now. His face drops, eyes boring into me.
“Lu? Is that really you?” His voice is so quiet that I barely hear it, but every word burns into my ears.
I’m frozen in his deep hazel gaze, locked in his arms. I want to run as fast as I can, but I also never want him to let go.
His voice grows louder, but it’s soft, caressing my heart. “Laura?”
I can’t do this. I can’t see him. I can’t—
Jerking out of his grasp, I bolt out of the door. I race down the hallway, hoping every turn I make will take me outside. I don’t stop until I burst into the cold air, which stretches over every burning cell in my body.
Heels click behind me. I can tell it’s Char before I even feel her grasp my shoulder.
“Are you okay? Oh my God, Laura, I had no idea. I swear. Just breathe. Come on. Let’s go.”
I can’t find the words. I don’t know if I will ever find them. What are the words for running into your ex-boyfriend? The only one you’ve ever loved. The only one you’ve ever wanted. The only one who ever destroyed you. And the only one who ever will.
Tell me what words describe the feeling of seeing the father of your son for the first time in years, the first time since he left you and your son all alone.
