Blackout: A Romance Anthology

by Stephanie St. Klaire

  “Whatever. Enough about him. It’s gonna be great, you know that, right? You and Parker were meant for each other and not a single one of us would have missed it for the world.”

  “Thanks, Rach. It means a lot to us to have you all here, I hope you know that?”

  “Of course, we do. Members of The Crew don’t get to get married without the rest of us there. Yes, it’s an unwritten law, but it is still just the way it is.”

  Her smile says something, but I’m not sure what. “I know getting married on a Wednesday and having a bachelorette party on a Tuesday isn’t the norm, but I think it will be worth it!”

  “I know I brought it up before but a Wednesday, Rach? Really? Is it a special day or something? Why won’t you tell us why you picked a Wednesday? I mean the day of the week doesn’t matter, but it’s so random.”

  Her shoulders lift to her ears and she smiles a sweet smile that says she has her reasons, but for some reason, she isn’t sharing. I’ll let it go because she is the bride after all.

  “Well, the day of the week doesn’t matter. All that matters is you two getting hitched. Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday it doesn’t matter, you’re gonna be the most beautiful bride Vegas has ever seen.”

  Before she can answer, Emmett and Amelia appear in their white oversized robes, champagne flutes in hand and relaxed faces glowing from their pampering.

  “You guys, if your treatments were as good as mine then you’ve been to Heaven and back too.” Amelia, our sweet five-foot-two school teacher, looks up at the stunning five-foot-ten fiancée of the World’s Sexiest Man as if it was all her doing and as if she might just be an angel.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Mellie. You’re scaring me,” Emmett says, taking a step back.

  “Is this what your life is going to be like every day now that you’re marrying Josh?” Emmett shakes her head and pulls the sweet doe-eyed Amelia into her side.

  “I think you’ve had too much champagne already. Why don’t we get you back to the room so we can sober you up and we can all get ready for our night out,” she says, taking the glass out of Amelia’s hand and turning her toward the locker rooms.

  Audrey and I follow after them giggling and locking arms, just like we were walking the halls of our high school. I’d stay right here for the rest of the night if I could. I’m not sure if it’s leaving the warm tranquil spa for the bright lights and noise of Vegas, what else the rest of the evening is sure to bring, or knowing I just promised my best friend that I would be nice to Reece, but something has me feeling anxious.

  When we reach our lockers Emmett squeals, swinging around to face the three of us. “Okay, ladies! You have two and a half hours to shower and change into your little black dresses because we have a private meet and greet with Nicolette Gwen at six o’clock!”

  “What are you talking about? You sure you haven’t had too many glasses of champagne already?” I say grabbing the flute out of her hand and placing it on a nearby table.

  “You heard me. Josh and I met Nikki at an awards show after-party and when she found out we were going to be here she said to make sure we came by before the show and not only would we get to meet her, but we could watch soundcheck, get a tour backstage and then stay for the show!” Her smile is beaming, her eyes are big as saucers and it’s clear she’s just as excited as the rest of us are. It’s nice to see the Hollywood life hasn’t jaded her yet.

  “Oh my gosh, Emmett! That’s amazing! Thank you so much! Eek!” Amelia jumps up and down in her excitement grabbing Audrey and swinging her around the serene space, luckily we’re alone and not disturbing anyone.

  “Did you call Nicolette Gwen, Nikki?”

  “Ha! Leave it to Rachel to keep it real.” Audrey laughs out of breath from her dancing. “But for reals, did you call her Nikki? Are you guys friends?”

  Emmett blushes but doesn’t answer her.

  “Shut. Your. Face,” Amelia says giving Emmett a playful nudge of the shoulder. “You’ve been hanging out with one of the biggest pop stars in the world and you didn’t think a group message was in order? This can never happen again. Understood?” The teacher in her has taken over and Audrey and I can’t stop the laughter when it hits us.

  “Yes, Miss Anderson,” Emmett answers as if she’s one of Amelia’s students.

  Amelia wraps her arms around Emmett’s waist and squeezes her tight. “Thank you, Emmy.”

  “You’re welcome, now let’s get out of here and get ready and I’ll tell you all about Nikki.”

  “You know you’re calling Nicolette Gwen, Nikki, right?” A chuckle is her reply to Audrey’s flabbergasted question. “You guys aren’t even married yet and this is your life. Hold on tight, Emmy, your life is about to flip upside down.”

  Her smile falls, but she puts it back in place just as quickly as she lost it. If only the light in her eyes hadn’t dulled. She doesn’t say anything in reply, but I see the turmoil going on behind her eyes and I feel for her. Why she’s marrying Josh, I have no idea, but it’s clear she isn’t ready to talk about it.

  CHAPTER 3

  Reece

  “I swear, if they aren’t ready in the next five minutes, I might lose my shit,” Josh says not quite under his breath from his perch at the bar on the other side of the violet felt-topped pool table where the rest of us are playing a game of Eight Ball.

  “Dude, you better get used to it, you’re gonna be married to one of those women before you know it.” Parker holds up his glass of Jack with a nod to the fiancé who we all still can’t believe is engaged to Emmett.

  Josh rolls his eyes. “Emmy never takes this long. It’s because they’re all in there getting ready together. The more there are of them, the longer it takes.”

  “Who would want to rush out of this place, I mean we kind of have everything we need right here,” I say after sinking the green six ball in the side pocket.

  “It’s not bad, is it?” he replies with a smirk.

  “Not bad? This place may be what you’re used to, but the rest of us don’t usually stay in penthouses with our own gym, pool tables, multiple floors and enough rooms for everyone. It’s not over the top at all,” Miles comments while opening another bottle of beer.

  “If that’s your way of saying thank you, then you’re welcome,” Josh says to Miles, but he doesn’t mean it. He knows we’re all grateful for everything.

  Miles walks over to Josh putting his arm around the action star. “Thank you, Mr. West. The place is great even if the private elevator is a little over the top and even if Reece is the only person who gets to play pool.”

  “Eight ball corner left,” I say, to the guys and without looking away from them, I gently tap the cue ball into the black ball. There’s no need to look down at the table to know I made the shot and have won yet another game.

  “Asshole,” Miles grunts with his arm still around Josh.

  “Who’s an asshole?”

  As always, her voice sends a charge through my body and stabs me in the heart. I don’t see her often and she rarely speaks to me when I am around, so anytime I hear her voice it does something to me. My back is to her and I hate to turn around because every time her face falls or turns cold at the sight of me, another piece of my brittle dead heart breaks.

  The guys, who are facing her, look at me knowing they don’t want to fuel any fires and that telling her I’m the asshole, even if it’s over a game of pool, will be just the kindling she needs. Miles, being Miles saves the day.

  “Who else, Rach. Look at this guy.” He squeezes Josh’s cheeks as though he’s a chubby toddler. “Mister Hollywood here with his perfect teeth and hair. We were all there for the brace face years. The Crew knows what a little twerp he was and now his face is gracing the cover of magazines as the Sexiest Man in The World. This makes him an asshole.” Letting go of his face and leaving Josh with a pat to one of his cheeks Miles meets my eyes and I silently thank him.

  All these years and we all still work together like a w
ell-oiled machine. No need to even speak in code, we just know how everyone in the group works. Miles can be unpredictable at times, but when it comes to me and Rachel, everyone treads lightly, even Miles.

  Not even the guys know what happened, but they know I would never have broken her heart if I had had any other choice.

  “Nah, Miles. Our little Joshy Washy isn’t just an asshole, he’s a pretty asshole.” Her witty reply is so her.

  “Aw, come on Rach, why you gonna do me like that? You’re better than these idiots.”

  “I am better than these idiots, I have to walk around all night in these stupid three-inch heels. That right there makes me better than all four of you.”

  I can’t wait any longer, I have to see what she’s wearing, but I can’t just swing around at the mention of her in heels. Instead, I slowly meander to the wall next to one of the five bars in the penthouse putting my pool cue back in its place. When I do finally turn around to face her, it’s a damn good thing I’m standing next to the bar so I have something to prevent me from crashing to the ground when my knees try to give out.

  Her blonde waves, cut shorter than I’ve ever seen them, just barely tickle the tops of her pale shoulders. Her peaches and cream skin that she wishes got as tan as the rest of the girls in The Crew has always been beautiful to me and I wouldn’t change a thing about it or her. Tonight, her legs are on full display and those heels that will have her feet killing her by the end of the night make them look ten feet long on her small five-foot-five frame.

  Knowing she’ll be out in the clubs all night in her perfect one shouldered little black dress she’s wearing doesn’t feel good, but I don’t have any right to say a word. She isn’t mine. That ship sailed long ago.

  “Hey Rachel, you look beautiful,” I blurt out without giving it a second thought. My out of the blue comment causes her to gasp in shock as the room falls silent.

  With skepticism in her voice, she says, “Thank you.” She leaves it at that and luckily Audrey and Amelia enter the room taking the attention off the awkwardness and tension precariously floating around us.

  “Looking nice, ladies,” Parker says, sauntering over to his fiancée and kissing her light enough to not ruin her makeup. “You look beautiful, baby.”

  “Thank you, honey. You look nice too.”

  Emmett enters the room with her arms up in the air looking ready to party. “Okay, bitches let’s do this! It’s five forty and we have to be at the theater a few minutes before six. These casinos are huge, and we might just make it on time if we leave right now. We ready?”

  “First, shots!” Mr. Hollywood commands rounding the bar and setting out eight shot glasses.

  “Josh!” Emmett threatens in a way that sounds like they’ve already been married for several years.

  “It’ll only take a minute, relax Emmy.” He pours tequila into seven of the shot glasses and then cracks open a Coke and drips just enough to fill the glass for me without question.

  This is one of the things that make this group of people so important to me. Around the same time things ended with Rachel I also stopped drinking. I didn’t have a reason to explain the changes I was making in my life, but they accepted my decisions and have never questioned me. Well, all but one of them.

  We’ve all gathered around the bar next to the pool table and the only open shot of tequila is next to the shot of Coke. With us all squeezed in tight Rachel’s arm brushes against mine and you’d think she had just put her hands down the front of my pants with the effect she’s having on me. It’s like I’m back in middle school and she just agreed to be my date to the Spring Fling.

  Josh raises his glass and the rest of us follow suit. “I know we’re all here for Parker and Audrey but let’s make tonight about The Crew. It’s been too long and it’s a shame it takes a special occasion to get us all together these days.” We all nod our heads agreeing with our handsome host and lifting our glasses up in the air. “To The Crew.”

  “To The Crew!” we all repeat back and then slam our shots.

  Rachel throws her shot back followed by a grimace and shake her head as if it will stop the burn. It’s adorable. She lets out a little whoop and somehow her level of cuteness goes up another notch. When her head shaking stops, she catches me watching her and her eyes hold mine for a beat before she turns to follow the other ladies to the door.

  For years now when the eight of us are together, this is the natural order of things. The girls gather together and tend to walk in front while the four of us take our time lingering behind them. We know our place and we’re just fine with it.

  We’re in the hallway waiting for the elevator and the speed in which the girls are chatting and laughing at their coded inside jokes hasn’t changed at all over all of these years. The four of us look at each other and just shake our heads. I swear when the four of them are together they speak another language. They’ve always been like this. It’s actually quite fascinating to watch.

  The ding of the elevator door doesn’t stop them. We all fill into the small space and the girls haven’t missed a beat. The four of us find our place in the back of the elevator and I let the girls’ chatter fill my head while I watch the hum of the hotel below us through the glass window behind me. This place is chic as hell and the glass walled elevators make sure you aren’t missing out on all the fabulousness no matter where you are.

  “So, what are we doing after our little backstage experience? I’m sure you ladies have it all planned out, but just tell me now if I wore this thong for nothing, because this fucker hurts,” Miles blurts out to get the attention off just the four of them back on the group.

  This is what he does.

  Audrey gasps turning to point her finger into his chest. “Miles, so help me God if you don’t keep your pants on while we are with Nicolette Gwen, I will kill you! What you guys do after dinner, when we go our separate ways, is all you. As long as I don’t have to be there to see it, you do you, boo.”

  “The four of you can deny it all you want but you’re secretly hoping the four of us show up at some point to give you lap dances.”

  “Ew. You are so gross,” Amelia mewls, pretending to throw up in her purse.

  The elevator chimes again and the doors open up to the bright lights and dinging noises of the casino.

  “Mr. West. Ms. Ford. You’re right on time.”

  Waiting on the other side of the elevator door is a petite woman in a business suit. She has a tablet in her hand and looks like she is all business. All business. All smiles.

  “Miss Daniels, thank you so much for meeting us here. We’re all excited for our tour!” Emmett says, shaking her hand. “Miss Daniels, this is The Crew, everyone this is Miss Daniels.” She’ll be taking us on our tour and then off to dinner after.”

  We all say hello and without wasting another moment we follow our tour guide and Emmett who walks beside her chatting all the way there. We weave our way through the beautiful hotel that for it only being their soft opening is incredibly busy and leaving plenty of onlookers to gawk at the celebrity in our party.

  When we finally reach the theater, our guide looks down at her tablet and says, “So, you two must be Audrey and Parker, the lovely couple getting married tomorrow?”

  “That would be us!” Audrey says swinging their interlaced hands with glee.

  I haven’t been much of a mushy guy these last ten or twelve years but seeing these two so happy together really hits me in what little soft spot is still lurking beneath my emotionless exterior, at least when it comes to love.

  “Aw, so you aren’t one of those brides-to-be who wears the tiara and sash for your bachelorette party. Refreshing. I like it.”

  Rachel gasps in horror covering her mouth. The group turns to look at her thinking something must be terribly wrong and her delicate pale skin is turning a hot pink.

  “Audrey, I am so sorry.” The bride looks at her with a confused expression firmly in place. “Miss Daniels, I hate to burst your b
ubble, but we are just as basic as all the other bachelorette parties you see in Vegas day in and day out and I forgot everything up in the room. You guys start without me and I’ll be right back.”

  Everyone tells her to forget about it and that it’s not important, but she isn’t having it.

  “Listen, this whole thing is planned to the nth degree and my only real role as the maid of honor was to get all the silly party favors and I’ve failed at my one job. I’ll be right back and if I can’t get in after you guys start, it’s no big deal I can meet you at dinner.”

  Miss Daniels speaks up. “Ma’am we can send someone up to your room if you prefer? Just tell us what to grab and we can send someone to get that for you.”

  “Thank you but a lot of it is still in my suitcase and it will just be easier if I go get it.” Taking a few steps backward she says to the group, “Go! I’ll be right back.”

  Emmett and Amelia both offer to go with her but I know they’re dying to take this tour and meet Nicolette Gwen. So, I step in.

  “I’m the best man, I’ll go with her and we’ll be right back.” I pat my coat pocket realizing I also forgot something. “Besides, I forgot the cigars for later.” I can hear Rachel protesting, but I ignore her and move forward. “Miss Daniels, will there be a way for us to get inside or will we meet everyone at dinner?”

  “We’ll have someone waiting at this door right here.” She motions to the door about ten feet to her right.

  “Okay, we’ll be back.” I turn to an irate Rachel and find her just as I expected. Lips tight. Eyes narrowed. Her hands tightly fisted at her side. Unfortunately, I’ve seen her like this a lot over the last decade.

  Cursing under her breath, she turns and even despite her sky-high shoes she takes off at lightning speed, weaving in and out of the rows of slot machines and gaming tables. I know she’s hoping to lose me but try as she might she won’t succeed. I wouldn’t let her leave my sight for even a second. She may be fast, but my legs are long, and I catch her at the elevator waiting impatiently.