“So,” I hear Lucy begin, “what’s your name?”
Oh Jesus. Here we go. Now they’re going to bug this poor guy when all he is trying to do is get us up to the top floor. I give my head a little shake and hide a little laugh.
The operator looks at us with that frozen smile again, “Chris.”
“Know any good clubs in town, Chris?” She asks, batting her eye lashes.
I feel my cheeks beginning to heat up. All I can do now is pray that she keeps this civil and doesn’t go into her, “have you seen my friend Ember? She was just dumped by her boyfriend of four years” speech.
“See, our hot friend, Ember here, she was just dumped by her loser boyfriend of four years,” Lucy tells him.
So much for keeping things civil and avoiding my break up. Damn, I know her too fucking well. I look down with bright red cheeks. I am going to kill her when this is over.
“His loss,” Chris tells her, his smiling beginning to soften into what I would call a far more natural smile. It actually looks much better on him than that fake, frozen smile.
I finally look up and force myself to smile as Lucy pats my shoulder.
“We’re here to show her a good time, to get her out so she can live a little,” she explains, “we need some good places to take her.”
Chris’s gaze fixes on me. My face feels like it’s on fire. I cannot believe she told him that Jonah dumped me. No…wait…I can. Lucy seems to think I’m on the hunt for Mister Right. Or at the very least Mister Good For Right Now. Chris smiles and I fight through the embarrassment of my bitter break up to smile back. “I know a few places, but I bet you’d love Midnight’s.”
“Midnight’s? We’ll be sure to add it on our list,” I tell him. “Thank you.”
“Did I mention my hot friend, Ember here is single? That her boyfriend dumped her?”
I glare at Lucy as the elevator opens. “You’ll have to excuse her,” I tell Chris as I grab her hand, “she had a few drinks in the limo on the way here.” I practically drag her from the elevator with Cindy in tow, now laughing.
“See you soon, Chris!” Lucy hollers to him as she struggles to keep her bag on her shoulder.
The elevator doors close and I breathe a sigh of relief. “I ought to kill you for that.” I tell her, shaking my head. “You can’t just tell everyone in this town that Jonah dumped me. Jesus.” I give my head a shake. “We need to get to our room, they’re bringing our bags up. Just remember to tip the guy and for God’s sake,” I turn to Lucy and glare one more time, “don’t you dare tell this one that my boyfriend of four years dumped me and that I am single and ready to mingle.”
Cindy releases a little snort as we stumble to our room. “Come on, Em, even you have to admit that Chris was pretty hot. Did you see his fucking eyes? They were bright fucking blue!”
“Did you see my fucking cheeks? They were bright fucking red,” I snap. Honestly, I know that they’re only trying to help, but finding me a one night stand isn’t the way to go. Whether they want to believe that or not.
Lucy releases a little snicker. “Alright, good point. If you’re going to have a good time we can’t go embarrassing you all night and doing what I just did was wrong. I’m sorry. But we are here to cut loose and I want you to have a fucking blast.”
“Apology accepted,” I tell her. “I do plan on cutting loose, just not with the elevator guy, no matter how hot he is.” I let out a breath. “It’s not like I want to add sex in an elevator to my list.”
“Well, it could be fun,” Lucy winks.
“No, sex that lasts a minute usually isn’t worth it for me,” I laugh.
Cindy gives a little nod as I push our suite door open. “Not to break up this awesome sex conversation, but does anyone else want to check out Midnight’s though?”
I give them a nod as I shut the door behind me, “I’m game.” I begin looking at our way-out-of-our-budget room, and now I can see why it’s way out of our budget and why we’re going half broke to spend these few nights here. The room isn’t just a room. It’s more like four rooms put together. My eyes grow wide as I can’t help but to stare. “Do you see this room? Holy shit.” We rush down the hallway and into the living area where we find a big screen TV and a bar that’s fully loaded. “Well, now we know how the other side lives.”
“That’s it,” Lucy says, “One of us needs to figure out how to be rich. We need some brilliant idea to set us off.”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” I tell her, “I’m fresh out of ideas, I’m afraid.”
Cindy giggles as she tosses her purse on the fluffiest sofa that I have ever seen before in my life. She jumps into the pile of pillows and leans back, placing her hands behind her head. “I could get used to this.”
I give my head a shake. “Right now it’s well after seven. We have to get ready, that’s including me doing all of our hair and make-up, and eating. That will take much longer than an hour.”
“Well, we’re pretty much sitting ducks until they bring our bags,” Lucy tells me, flopping onto the couch as well.
“You both are pretty useless right now,” I laugh, having a seat with them.
“Let’s take a vow right now,” Lucy says sitting up. “The three of us. Let’s vow to make tonight the best night of our lives. Let’s be wild with no fucking worries. Let’s do things we would never do. Let’s live on the edge! For once in our lives, let’s be fucking crazy.”
Cindy immediately sits up smiling. “Let’s do it!”
I move my eyes from Cindy to Lucy as I roll the words over in my head. I’ve never been one to be wild and crazy. I’ve never been one to just lose my head. I’ve always been the good girl, a goody-two-shoes, a perfect little angel. I was never the girl in her late teens who went wild and slept around. I wasn’t a partier even when I was in cosmetology school. I did things how they were supposed to be done. The good girl who graduated high school and went right into cosmetology school. I fell right into the line of being little miss perfect. I don’t want to be little miss perfect. At least not tonight. Not tonight in New York City on Halloween with my two best friends. I want to be wild, I want to do things without worrying about what will come tomorrow. I feel the corners of my lips tug up. “I’m fucking in. Let’s do this!”
Lucy and Cindy both yelp, practically jumping up from the couch as they both lean in to hug me. Ready or not New York City, here we come.
8 p.m
It’s eight o’clock and we have at least stuffed our faces and gotten dressed in our costumes. I’m working on fixing our hair as we speak. If Lucy would stop fidgeting, straightening her long hair would be a whole lot easier. I turn her head again to look straight ahead as I run the flat iron down a sectioned piece of her hair. Her dark brown locks are straightening easily, though. I brush out another section of hair and spritz a little heat protectant on it before running the flat iron over it. Cindy and I have been ready for at least ten minutes, but Lucy decided that she needed her eye brows waxed. Which meant that I need to get out my warmer, dig out the wax, warm it, find my sticks and muslin strips…you get the picture. Needless to say, her eye brows are on point and compliment the smoky eye that I’ve given her.
“I’ll give us one thing,” Cindy says, walking closer to me as she eyes my costume up and down, “we are fucking sexy.”
I let out a laugh as I force myself to concentrate on the flat iron and Lucy’s hair.
“When you said that you were going to be a gypsy I had no idea that your skirt would be this fucking short,” Cindy says, wiggling my skirt, making my little chains jingle.
“It’s longer than yours,” I tease. “Besides it shows off the boots,” I tell her glancing down at my knee high, high heeled boots.
“Which are fucking sexy,” she adds.
“If Jonah could see you right now he’d be kicking himself instead of cheating on you with that fat cow,” Lucy tells me.
I shake my head, “It’s not nice to call people fat.”
; “Fine, that selfish, ugly cow, Paige.” She corrects herself, rolling her eyes. “The girl is a troll, she’s evil.”
I laugh so hard that I snort as I run the flat iron down another section of her hair.
“She is! That girl is trashy and just…ugh. You cannot tell me that there have been other women doing the same exact thing we have done. That’s what best friends do. We dis the chick that the dude cheats with,” she tells us matter-a-factly. “It’s just a fact.”
Cindy nods in agreement. “I have to agree. While it might be mean, it is true because I’ve seen the troll. While we crush her like a bug in our heads, we are building you up.” She smiles as she pushes the hair off my shoulders. “I am super happy you chose this head chain as opposed to that bandana thing.”
I look up in the mirror and nod. It was a wise choice. The bandana looked awkward. Now I kind of feel like a sexed up Esmerelda with my long, dark hair falling down in waves. Which is what I was going for. While the skirt isn’t as short as Lucy’s or Cindy’s it is still short, well above the knees and flowy in a bright red. There’s a separate piece that’s bright purple that ties around the skirt as well. It has these cute little gold pieces that jingle when I move. Apparently Cindy thinks my jingling is hilarious. I will be the first to admit that this costume does make my boobs looks incredible. They’ve never been more pushed up before in my life. I smile to myself. It is Jonah’s loss. Paige can have him.
“So, we need a plan,” I say smoothing out the flyaways on Lucy’s head. “Do we know where we’re going, what we’re doing?”
“I say we just travel the city, find the busiest clubs and hop from one to the next,” Cindy says. “If we’re running around and exploring then who knows what we’ll find.”
“We can start at that Midnight’s place that Chris told us about. Most clubs won’t be open until later but I know we can find some lounges and pubs that’ll be open. Or we can just explore until they do open.”
“I say we explore until clubs open,” Lucy suggests. “That sounds fun! Who knows what we’ll get into!”
I laugh as I click off the flat iron and begin rolling the cord to pop it in its heat pouch. “Sounds like we’re wandering the city until all the good clubs open.”
“If any of us should meet a handsome stranger…” Lucy’s voice trails as she winks at me playfully.
I shake my head making the little gold discs on my costume jangle and cling together. “I’m not planning on meeting anyone. It’s Halloween. You know full fucking well that everyone will be dressed up and I am not running off with some random man dressed as a firefighter or a super hero.”
“I thought we already decided that super heroes are for little boys,” Cindy says, laughing.
Lucy’s eyes grow wide and shakes her head wildly. “No, no, super heroes can be sexy!”
I shake my head. “Either way, I won’t be running off with some random man.”
“Well, in case you do…” Lucy jumps from her seat and grabs one of her bags. She rummages inside until she pulls out three box looking things and a handful of condoms. “Each of you take a taser and some condoms.”
I laugh so hard that I snort. She wasn’t kidding about this whole taser thing.
“They’re small enough to fit in our clutches and they’re discreet,” she beams.
“And, don’t forget your cell phone and extra cash or credit cards in case we need a cab or a getaway.” Cindy tells us as she takes one of the tasers and a good handful of the condoms.
I let out a sigh and take a taser and some condoms for myself. “Safety first.”
“We’re really doing this,” Lucy jumps, “I cannot believe we are really doing this!”
“I cannot believe I am taking a taser and condoms from you,” I laugh, giving my head a shake.
“You just said “safety first” yourself,” Lucy says, smiling wide, waving her taser and condoms in the air. “Better safe than sorry.”
Cindy gives her head a shake as she places her taser and condoms inside of her little white clutch. “Well, we’re not getting very far right now. If we don’t get out of the door and start wandering the town we’ll have no idea where to go when all the good clubs open.”
I give her a little nod. “The good ones probably won’t open until ten or so and I am willing to bet there are going to be some wicked lines just to get in.”
“Oh shit,” Cindy says, “I completely forgot about lines.”
“At least we’ll have each other in long, boring lines.” Lucy teases as she is now stuffing her taser and condoms into her bra.
I can’t help but to laugh. I have a feeling this really will be one memorable night.
9 p.m
I really don’t know whether I want to kill or hug the person who invented stilettos. On one hand I look amazing but on the other hand my feet are already killing me. We’ve been wandering for I don’t know how long and it’s obvious that we’re nothing more than tourists in the city right now.
There is a lot to look at though. Different shops and pubs, and I’ve seen at least four clothing shops that I need to explore. It’s easy to get lost on just one block because there’s so much to see and do. We have to stop though because we’ve come across one club that says it’s opening at ten. Since there is already a line outside, we decide that it’s best to join in just to see what the buzz is all about. If there’s already a line of people in costume it has to be a little bit promising.
Lucy has been lecturing us on the best blow job techniques. Useful information for the woman who was just dumped by her boyfriend of four years. I’m trying to smile, nod, and pretend that I’m paying attention, but I’ve really been people watching.
There’s a person dressed as a rainbow unicorn, there’s a man dressed as a horse, and there’s a woman dressed as what my guess is Pikachu just in front of us. There’s a man dressed as Zorro behind us who’s been talking to his two buddies who seem to be the Lone Ranger and Tonto. I think that call that a bromance in the real world.
I fight off a little laugh as my eyes meet with Zorro’s for a brief moment. Shit. That was an accident. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I was supposed to be watching discreetly. Talk about being busted. Jesus, his eyes though…they’re bright blue. So bright in fact that I can tell that they’re blue underneath these dim street lights. I can hardly imagine what they look like in the daylight. I smile shyly and feel my cheeks fill with heat. He smiles and turns back to the Lone Ranger who nudges him and says something to Tonto. Great. Now they’ve all noticed that I have been staring. I’m willing to bet that they’ve heard most, if not all of Lucy’s blow job tips and tricks conversation. I look at Lucy and laugh. She’s still rattling on about how playing with their balls is a huge deal while giving a man head. It kind of makes me wonder who else has heard her conversation.
“What is so funny?” Cindy questions, looking around.
“I think Zorro, the Lone Ranger, and Tonto back there heard the best of blow jobs up here,” I giggle.
Cindy turns her head slightly and looks over her shoulder. “Fucking hallelujah. Do you see Zorro?”
“He’s wearing a mask, Cin,” I laugh.
“You can see his eyes, did you see those gorgeous things?” She swoons.
Lucy is now obviously staring at them. “I’m a little concerned with a man who willingly dresses as Tonto.”
I laugh again and shake my head. “They are right behind us, they can hear you!”
“So?” Lucy places her hand on her hip and gives me that “I don’t give a shit” look.
“I will give you one thing, Cin is right. Zorro does have some incredible eyes,” I say softly.
“Then maybe you should talk to him,” Cindy suggests.
“After the man just caught me staring at him? I don’t think so.” I can’t help but to look at him again. He’s leaning in saying something to the Lone Ranger and smiling. His eyes catch mine again for a moment and I grin.
“I was just dumped. Toda
y, might I add. I don’t think I’m quite ready to get back out there just yet.”
“It’s just talking to him, it’s not a fucking marriage proposal Ember,” Lucy tells me.
“He’s busy with his friends,” I tell her.
“So interrupt them. You’ve already been caught staring,” Cindy laughs.
I shake my head. “You two are absolutely no help.”
“That’s what we’re here for, to be of no fucking help and push you into the arms of Zorro,” she laughs.
“You better shut up before they hear us!” I scold, looking away from Zorro and his friends again.
“Em, I’m pretty sure they already heard us,” Cindy tells me glancing back at them casually. “Zorro has been making goo-goo eyes at you since he caught you staring. There’s no going back now, you might as well say hi or something.”
“Are we still planning on going to Midnight’s?” I make a feeble attempt to change the subject. “The place the elevator operator mentioned. Remember? That was supposed to be our first stop and we ended up getting side tracked.”
“The night is young, my dear,” Lucy tells me, placing her arm around me.
“So we’ll have a drink here and then head to Midnight’s?”
She gives me a little nod. “And anywhere else we want to go. I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan on stopping until the sun comes up.”
“Or until she passes out drunk and we toss her ass in bed,” Cindy laughs.
Take Me Home Tonight (Wild Nights Book 1) Page 2