Journey to the Unknown

by Jacqueline Francis

  “I don’t drink.”

  Jasmin found his response strange because she’d pegged him for the partying type, the type who loved lots of booze and lots of women. Maybe she’d misjudged him.

  Candy pouted her lips. “You’re no fun.”

  “It’s supposed to be a girls’ night anyway,” Sandy pointed out, “so stop flirting and let’s go.”

  “Have fun,” he said with half a smile. “And, Jazz, don’t go walking around by yourself…and…call me if…if you—”

  “God!” Mandy shouted. “Would you stop being so overprotective? You’d swear she’s never been out on her own before.”

  Kevin didn’t embarrass her by telling them the truth; instead, he simply nodded. Everything he was doing tonight was throwing her completely off. What was his deal? Flirting with Candy one minute, then being protective of her the next? She didn’t get too wrapped up in it. It was probably the kind of protectiveness one feels for a little sister.

  “She’ll be safe with us,” Candy assured him. “She just won’t be sober.” She gave him a playful wink and one more flirty smile. “See you later.” She slung her arm around Jasmin and started heading towards the elevators.

  As soon as the doors closed Mandy turned to her. “Now, try not to look so nervous. If you want to get in, you need to look the part and if they sense anything suspicious, they’re gonna card you. The table is booked under my name, so hopefully they’ll let us in without any questions. Just act legal.”

  Jasmin gave a small shrug. “I am legal…in South Africa, so I shouldn’t even feel bad about this.”

  She said that for her own benefit, trying to justify it in her head. She was just going to have a few drinks and watch a strip show. No harm in that, right? Plus, this was Sin City.

  She couldn’t believe it. A few days ago, she was living in a bubble and now she was breaking laws. She felt like such a rebel.

  “Miss Fairfax,” Mandy announced when they reached the entrance of the lounge. “It’s my bachelorette party tonight, so you best have your sexiest dancers up there tonight.”

  She smiled an all too sexy smile and Jasmin realized that she was distracting the host from paying too much attention to her.

  “We only hire the best, Miss Fairfax,” he replied, his smile equally wide. “And you ladies have the best seat tonight.”

  He didn’t ask any questions and led them into the lounge. That was easier than she’d anticipated. A semi-circular red, velvet seat was reserved for them. The bar was on the far right and the stage was virtually ten feet in front of them. Mandy didn’t waste any time and ordered four Cosmos to start off the evening.

  Their drinks were delivered and Jasmin sniffed hers before she took a sip. Her first taste of alcohol wasn’t what she’d thought it would be, sweet with a weird aftertaste. The first one took a while to put down, the second was a bit better, but by the third she started losing some feeling in her tongue and it became much easier.

  “So the wedding is in less than a week,” Sandy said from her left. “Are you nervous about tying the knot?”

  “Not at all,” Mandy replied. “Trevor is the greatest man alive, my soulmate. He’s the one.”

  Jasmin tried not to roll her eyes at that. She didn’t believe in soulmates or The One. It was all airy-fairy hogwash that lacked any kind of factual plausibility. When people couldn’t explain something, they were inclined to believe that it is the workings of a higher power. Fate. Destiny. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in religion or divine intervention, but surely those supreme beings were busy and had better things to do with their time than play matchmaker to every person on the planet. She kept her cynical opinion to herself, though. Mandy was happy believing such nonsense, and Jasmin didn’t want to burst her bubble.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to settle down,” Candy said. “There are too many options and too little time. I like sex too much and I can’t put a limitation on that.”

  “What’s it like?” Jasmin asked, a little nervous to reveal her ignorance to them. “To have sex, I mean?”

  “OMG!” Candy grabbed her face and plucked a kiss on her right cheek. “You are just too adorable. Sex is amazing, Brandy! It’s hot and dirty and fucking mind-blowing. Well…if you have the right guy with the right sized equipment.”

  Jasmin had always believed Rachel when she said that sex was overrated and size didn’t matter, but now she was starting to doubt that. “What’s the right size equipment?”

  “Let’s wait until the strippers come on and then we’ll give you a proper lesson.”

  It was barely a half-hour wait before the show started. In that time Jasmin consumed another drink and was a bit flustered when she saw the first dancer on stage. He was dressed like a sailor and one look at him proved why women loved a man in uniform. He was absolutely delectable.

  The music started and he gyrated his hips before ripping off his shirt. A scream burst out of her. She didn’t mean for that to happen, it was just the intense shock. His body glistened, muscles bulging everywhere. Everywhere.

  “Oh, my God!” Jasmin shouted. “Is that photoshopped?”

  Mandy giggled, almost falling over. “He’s right in front of you, in the flesh. How can he be photoshopped?”

  It just didn’t seem real. He was too perfect to be real. His pants were ripped off next.

  “It’s getting hot in here,” Sandy said, fanning herself. “Take it OFF!”

  He went full Monty and Jasmin actually gasped. It was huge, so much bigger than she ever thought a penis could be. And he swung it around like it was an arm or something. “That is a cock! That is an actual cock!”

  “And THAT is the right size equipment,” Candy said with a wide grin.

  There were a few dancers after that. A fireman and a pilot, but her personal favorite was the police officer. He was positively drool-worthy and he came to the table to grind up on the bride-to-be. Mandy pushed him away, saying that only one man grinds up on her. Reluctantly, he turned to the rest of them, smiling as he climbed onto their table. Thrusting his hips, he slowly slid his hand down his rock hard abs and into his underwear. Jasmin’s eyes widened as she stared up at this dancing Adonis and she felt trapped between fits of giggles and trepidation of what was about to come. He was about to release his man appendage and he was dangerously close to her face. She felt like she was watching a horror movie. Her face was buried in Candy’s shoulder, but she was still peeping, just waiting to see what happened next.

  Police officer pulled off his underwear and the crowd erupted with whoops.

  Sandy rubbed her hands up and down his legs. “Give us a helicopter dick!”

  Jasmin didn’t know what that was, but it became apparent a few seconds later. “How is he doing that?” She was equally flabbergasted and awe-struck. “My fragile, young mind will never be the same again.”

  Although the strippers were the highlight of her evening, the fun didn’t stop once it was over. They played a drinking game, taking a shot every time Sandy said something dumb or inappropriate and she could feel herself becoming more inebriated with every passing hour.

  “Okay,” Mandy said, “give us your best pick-up line…with a pout. Now that we’ve gotten you out of those sweatpants, let’s work on your flirting skills.”

  Jasmin thought about it for a few seconds. “Okay. I got one…Hey, stud. According to the second rule of thermodynamics…” She threw in the pout just then. “…you’re supposed to share your hotness with me.”

  There was silence around the table. Three pairs of discombobulated eyes were focused on her at once.

  “What the fuck?!” Candy shouted, abruptly ending the silence.

  Sandy slapped her shoulder, expressing her utter disappointment. “Who are you? Amy Farah Fowler? That is the worst pick-up line ever! It would only work on Sheldon.”

  “I saw it while I was doing some research and I thought it was really smart,” Jasmin countered. “A bit corny, but really smart. And…at t
he same time, it’s also…kinda sexy.” They still weren’t convinced and her drunken brain had to find a way to describe it just right. “Aw, c’mon. In every reaction, some energy is always lost to heat and…heat…” It was becoming a little harder to talk now. “…will naturally flow from a warm body to a cooler body, so…you’re supposed to share your hotness with me? Get it?”

  “You explained it,” Sandy said, squinting her eyes like the explanation made her head hurt. “And now I’m actually more confused. Flirting is not supposed to be smart. Playful, yes. Dirty, definitely. But it should never be smart.”

  “You know what?” Mandy said, sounding much more sober than she was. “When you get back upstairs, use that line on Loverboy and let’s see if he thinks it’s sexy.”

  Candy looked over at her then. “Speaking about Kevin. Is there…something happening between the two of you?”

  Jasmin snorted. “No! Kevin doesn’t even like me.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, the way he looks at you…I just thought…”

  The way he looked at her wasn’t something she should get excited about. It was merely his reaction to surprise. “Trust me, he has no interest in me.”

  “What about you? Do you like him?”

  The events of the day flashed through the intoxicated haze of her mind, causing it to spin with uncertainty and unanswered questions. “Only two percent of the time,” she replied.

  “So tomorrow we’re gonna have a blast,” Mandy said, pulling them out of their private conversation. “We’re gonna do a full tour of Vegas and you’re coming with us, Brandy. I’ll introduce you to Trevor and his younger brother, Dean. You’ll love Dean.”

  “Dean is yummy,” Sandy agreed. “Will you come?”

  “Sure.”

  “Cool.” Mandy took out her cell phone and tried with difficulty to focus on the screen. “Okay, so I have eight hundred and sixty dollars left of my budget, give or take, and three days left in Vegas so—”

  “Why are you so pedantic about this stuff?” Sandy groaned. “Let’s just have fun.”

  “I need a daily budget. How will I have fun if I run out of money?” She looked back at her phone.

  “It’s two hundred, eighty-six dollars and sixty-six cents…per day,” Jasmin said.

  “Whatever,” Candy said with a laugh.

  “No, she’s right.” Mandy leaned forward and looked at her like she was an alien. “How did you do that? And in your drunken state?”

  She shrugged. “I’m good at math.”

  Sandy also seemed intrigued by this. “So you can do that…all in your head?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay,” she challenged. “What’s four hundred and twenty-three multiplied by…eighty-two?”

  Jasmin laughed, because she really didn’t see the point of the challenge, but answered anyway. “Thirty…thirty-four thousand, six hundred, and eighty-six.”

  “She did that faster than I could type,” Mandy said.

  “You are drunk,” Jasmin pointed out.

  “So are you.”

  “Next one. What’s two thousand, nine hundred and…ninety-five multiplied by…eight thousand and seventy-six?”

  “Why are we doing this?”

  “Because, unlike your pick-up line, this is actually cool.”

  She smiled at the thought. It was nice that they appreciated the talent instead of teasing her about it like some of the kids did at school. It was nice to be considered…cool. “It’s twenty-four million, one hundred and eighty-seven thousand, six hundred and twenty.”

  Sandy looked over Mandy’s shoulder at her cell phone. “You’re unbelievable!”

  Candy excused herself and left the table. She didn’t come back. Jasmin knew exactly where she went. Kevin was all alone in their hotel room and Candy wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. Jasmin did her best to ignore it and focused on having fun with the other two ladies. This beat the calculator became a new drinking game. The bigger the numbers, the more alcohol they consumed. Needless to say, when the night finally came to an end, she needed assistance getting back to her hotel room.

  “Special delivery,” Mandy sang as she knocked on the door.

  Kevin opened it a few seconds later and even though she’d been looking at strippers all night, the sight of his bare chest caused her body to heat up to an abnormally high level. The silver chain around his neck drew her eyes to the rounded muscles of his chest and his perfectly sculpted abs.

  He shook his head when he saw them. “Oh, God. What did you guys do to her?”

  “Kevin,” Jasmin said unsteadily, struggling to stand on her own in her heels, “I have a pick-up line for you. Tell me if this would work…According to the stecond rule of therm-thermodynamics…you’re supposed to shhhare your hotness with me.”

  He gave a small chuckle. “It’s cute.”

  She turned to the other ladies. “See? He gets it.”

  “I think he’s the only one who does. And he said it’s cute, not sexy. But I have to admit, your human calculator trick was very impressive. That type of nerdiness is acceptable.”

  “All right, ladies,” he said, firmly grasping her elbow. “I think I’ll take it from here.”

  They said their goodnights and he closed the door, taking wobbly steps with her as they walked to the bed. “Kevin, I want you know that I’m really drunk…so I need you to try your hardessst to not take a’vantage of me.”

  “Damn.” He feigned disappointment. “Drunk girls are always my favorite, but I’ll try my best.”

  Her lethargic laugh came out more like a snort. She was glad that he took it for the joke it was instead of getting uncomfortable like he usually did.

  The leopard print carpet was messing with her vision and making her head spin. They stumbled a few more steps and it became even more difficult to keep her balance. “This carpet is grabbing my feet!”

  It felt like her heel had hooked in the threads and she tried to twist out of it, but the quick spin threw her off. Somehow her leg twisted around Kevin’s and she tripped, pulling him down with her as she collapsed onto the bed.

  “Jeez, Jazz.” He landed on top of her with an oomph. “You gotta give me some warning before you do something like that.”

  “You smell good,” she said, burying her nose into the side of his neck. “You always smell so good.”

  A small groan echoed in his throat. He lifted himself up a fraction, but didn’t get off her. “And you smell like you had a really good time tonight.”

  “I did.”

  The weight of his body and the feel of his bare skin beneath her palms caused her breath to hitch, but she tried not to let it show. He was in no rush to stand up either and with his lips in such a reachable distance, all she could think about was the way they felt pressed against hers earlier.

  But then she remembered something. She tilted her head to look around the room. His bed was a mess, the ruffled sheets half hanging on the floor. “I thought Candy was here.”

  He stiffened a bit. “She was.”

  “She likes you.”

  “Yeah…she made it very obvious.”

  He cleared his throat uncomfortably and got to his feet, moving to the other side of the room to get her bag. For some insane reason, Jasmin felt the need to probe further. She wanted to know exactly what happened between them, but his tone and body language told her that the topic was off limits. It was easy enough to figure out, though. Candy was incredibly sexy and Jasmin doubted that any guy would be able to resist. From the way Kevin had flirted with her earlier, it was obvious that he was one of those guys. The state of his bed and the fact that he was half naked was the only evidence she needed to draw a conclusion.

  Jasmin decided to push it out of her mind. It wasn’t her business anyway. She lazily stretched her arms out on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, musing over everything that had happened that night.

  “I saw a cock today…like an actual live shlong.”

  “Yeah?”
<
br />   She couldn’t see him, but she knew he was smiling. She could hear it in his voice. He always sounded lighter when smiled.

  “Was it everything you’d hoped it would be?”

  “It was HUGE! And he was just swinging it around in front of my face.” She heard another chuckle and even though it was a struggle, she lifted herself onto her elbow for no other reason but to see those dimples. And there it was again—those girly tingles. “How big is your cock, Kevin?”

  He shrugged. “It’s pretty small. I actually have a syndrome because of it.”

  He walked back to the bed with her bag and knelt down in front of her, pulling her foot onto his thigh. “Let’s get these off first so the carpet doesn’t attack you again,” he said. “And then maybe we can get to the bathroom without injury so you can change. I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.”

  Her head was swirling at a phenomenal pace, but she managed to sit up completely and watched as he undid the straps of her heels. She’d only known him for a few days and yet something was happening between them. It wasn’t mutual attraction or lust. It wasn’t an instant connection that she’d always read about in books. It wasn’t deep or profound. It was simply two different people learning how to understand each other. And she liked it. She liked that there was someone actually taking the time to understand her. It wasn’t easy for him. He didn’t hide the fact that she irritated the crap out of him and yet he was still there, kneeling in front of her to unstrap her shoes.

  “You haven’t left yet,” she whispered.

  He looked up at her and released a heavy sigh. “No.”

  “It would have been easier for you to take the bus. I know you know that…but you haven’t left me yet.”

  “It’s…it’s not like I haven’t tried.”

  “But you didn’t go through with it.” She leaned down and traced her hand over the fine stubble on his jaw. “What does that mean?”

  He was quiet for a long while before he caught her hand and took it off his face. “I don’t know, Jasmin.”

  Drunk or sober, she couldn’t figure it out either. She could have left him at that gas station, yet she hadn’t. It was an irrational choice made by both of them. She couldn’t fully understand her own reasoning. She’d made the offer knowing that he was an all-round miserable guy. Complete polar opposites. She was happy-go-lucky and he was a constant buzz-kill. There was no reasonable explanation why he was still with her and when people can’t think of anything logical, they automatically assume that it must be the workings of a supreme being.