“Leslie,” Penny said as she rolled her eyes.
“Do you have a problem with her?” I said laughing a little.
“To be honest, she hasn’t been very much help,” Penny confessed. “Leslie also insisted that we all drive to Vegas together. I, of course, refused. Mairead, being the sweetheart that she was, went with her in a car. This works out fine anyway, because I only arrived a few minutes before you did.”
“Driving sounds fun,” I said while daydreaming of four girls packed into a convertible while blasting music down a desert road. Penny shot me a look as if to ask: whose side are you on?
When we arrived at the hotel, it was much more lavish than I expected. The bellmen took our bags up to our rooms as we checked in to get our keys. Then we roamed the casino for a minute before making our way up to the suite.
The room was gigantic. It was three times the size of my apartment with sumptuous fabrics, plush couches, and a panoramic view of Las Vegas. My favorite part, however, was the piano in the center of the main room. As soon as I pressed one of the keys, it started to play on its own.
“This suite is amazing, Penny,” I said in awe. “How much money am I giving you for this?”
“Don’t worry about it,” she smiled. “My father visits her regularly, so the room was complimentary.”
“Wow,” I gasped. “You did fantast–“ Suddenly, we heard a noise on the other end of the suite.
“What was that?” Penny asked.
“It came from the next room,” I said cautiously. Then we made our way into the master suite to see that clothes were spread out all across the floor, bed, and armchairs. Most of them seemed to be different colored lace thongs and animal print braziers. We looked around the corner to see a full figured girl curling her long blonde hair in the mirror. She turned to us, revealing her massive, bare breasts.
Penny’s Ruin
“Hi, ladies!” cheerfully said the blonde.
“Who in the hell are you?” Penny asked in a fit. That was when Mairead came out of a steaming room with a towel wrapped around her waist.
“Jill! Penny!” Mairead screamed as she rushed toward us. “This room is amazing! Around the corner there, is a sauna!”
She tossed her arms around the two of us while I returned her embrace. Though all of us looked much more mature than we did four years earlier in high school, things started to feel like old times. It was great to have the three of us back together again, especially to keep my mind off of Walker.
“Hi!” said the naked blonde in the mirror. “I’m Leslie, Mairead’s roommate from college.”
“Sorry, Les,” Mairead said as she pulled away from us. “I was just so excited to see them, I should have introduced you first.”
“No worries!” squeaked Leslie.
“How are you guys here already?” Penny asked flatly as the blonde continue to curl her hair in the mirror.
“Leslie got us here a couple of hours ahead of schedule,” Mairead said. “Luckily, they let us have a key from the front desk since you put my name on the reservation.”
“Right,” Penny said as she looked at the floor in disgust. It seemed as though she had regretted doing so. “And I see that you guys have helped yourselves to the master suite.”
“Sorry!” Leslie called from the bathroom. “Those thongs and bras are mine. Still debating which one to wear later this evening for the nude stuff.”
“That was supposed to be a surprise!” Penny exclaimed as she stamped her foot.
“Oh,” Leslie said as she turned toward us while looking like a deer caught in headlights. “Sorry.”
“What are we doing?” Mairead asked with a big grin on her face.
“I got us tickets to the Aussie-Man Review,” Penny said as she reached into her purse and pulled out four white tickets. I had nearly forgotten that Penny lined up a series of things for us to do over the next couple of days.
“No way!” Mairead laughed as she glanced at the tickets in Penny’s hand. “You are too sweet for all of this.”
“As long as the four of us stick together,” Penny said. “Then I’m totally fine with whatever.”
“About that…” Mairead said while looking a little nervous.
“What is it?” Penny demanded with a scowl.
“Cade decided to change his bachelor party date,” Mairead explained with a look of reluctance. “They are staying in this hotel just a few floors below us.”
“You can’t be serious!” Penny screamed. I knew that this would cause a full-blown ginger meltdown, so I quickly intervened.
“Penny, it’s fine,” I said with my hand on her forearm. “The boys will do their thing and we’ll do ours.”
“I don’t care what we do,” Leslie said as she stepped from the bathroom. “I just wanna see come cock tonight.”
The Show
We spent the next hour getting ready before heading down to the lobby for our limo ride to the show. I wore a little black dress and the sash that Penny forced on me in the airport. I put it on without asking, in an attempt to cheer her up. Though I could see the scowl was still present on her face, a lightness started to take over as soon as we hit the warm night air on Las Vegas strip.
“Do we have champagne?” Leslie asked the driver as soon as she was let into the limousine.
“Of course, miss,” he said while gesturing to the bottle in front of us. “Would you like me to pour you some?” However, by the time he had finished his sentence, a cork made a loud popping sound and bubbles began pouring all over the seat.
“Sorry,” Leslie squinted while trying to stop the flow with the palm of her hand. “I always forget that happens with champagne.”
After we climbed out of the limo, and then we were escorted to the show. A long line of ladies poured into the venue. We followed behind with Mairead in the front with her gifted sparkling tiara seemed to glimmer even in the dark theater.
“We’re so close!” Mairead said as she hugged Penny. We were seated at a swanky dinner table that was just feet from the stage. A shirtless waiter in black dress pants and a bow tie approached our table. He was extremely handsome with perfectly trimmed dark brown hair and thick lashed, almond-shaped eyes.
“Hello, ladies,” he greeted with a bright, white smile. “My name is Calvin and I’ll be your service this evening. Is there anything that I can get you?”
“We’ll have a bottle of Rosé,” Penny said.
“And I’ll have a bottle of Calvin,” Leslie moaned as she raced her hands down the waiter’s abdominals.
“Coming right up,” Calvin said as he winked at Leslie.
“I think I’m wet already!” she exclaimed. I looked over at Penny, who furiously rolled her eyes at the blonde.
Ten minutes later, with our wine glasses full, the show started on the stage. A review of well-built Australian men swept the stage. They danced to the songs we loved in high school as they stripped down to their thongs and g-strings.
The show made a turning point about forty-five minutes in when an extremely muscular dancer took to the stage. His skin had an even tan, and he was wearing a leopard print loin clothing.
“Alright, ladies!” he announced as the crowd went wild. “We have many of you here who are celebrating tonight. However, this show we have someone who is marrying her high school sweetheart.”
Suddenly, a spotlight was glowing on Mairead. She threw her hands in the air as the dancer made his way down the stage steps toward our table. His hand reached downward, picked Mairead up with ease, and lifted her onto the stage.
Penny, Leslie, and myself were all screaming at the top of our lungs as a slow hip-hop song pounded the room. Mairead was thrown onto a plush red mattress where the dancer crawled on top of her. Then he began to make slow, grinding movements on her as she laughed and flailed on the floor beneath him.
When the show finished, Mairead stumbled down the stairs, nearly falling until I reached for her. Then a crowd the dancers pulled all four of us o
nto the stage. They were grinding their wet, muscular bodies against us as confetti was shot into the air.
By the end of the night, my jaw hurt so much from smiling that I could hardly feel my face. All of us were drunk as we stumbled out of the limousine at the steps of our hotel.
“Look at these sexy girls,” I heard a familiar voice say as we turned around. Cade was standing with another guy near the casino entrance. They were both wearing tank tops designed to look like tuxedo shirts.
“Hi, baby!” Mairead said drunkenly as she stumbled toward them.
“Woah, there!” Cade smiled as he leaned down and kissed his fiancée on the lips. “You smell like cheap wine.”
“We had lots of it,” she said with a giggle. Even though Mairead was drunk, seeing them together again was undeniably charming. “There were even naked men on a stage who were touching me.”
“Wait, what?” Cade laughed.
“They weren’t naked,” Leslie scoffed with her eyes squinted. She appeared to be the drunkest of us all. “I didn’t see a single fucking cock!”
“Are you drunk, too?” Cade asked me.
“A little,” I answered honestly.
“Well, keep an eye on that one,” he said playfully as he pointed at Leslie.
“I’m calling Calvin!” Leslie screamed as she searched in her purse for her phone. “A stripper gave me his number!”
“Let’s go inside,” Cade suggested. “The other guys are playing blackjack.”
We made our way inside of the sliding door panels when I saw two other guys in matching tuxedo tanks walking toward us in the room. One of them was so familiar that he caused my entire body to tense. Suddenly, I felt as though I hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol in years.
He was just as tall as I remembered, but much more muscular. His tank top only made him look more ripped, but his styled hair and light scruff on his face made him delicious. My heart pounded as I met the handsome and grown up face of my high school crush, Allen Dunbar.
Fountain
“Jill?” Allen asked as he stepped from a roulette table. I couldn’t believe how amazing he looked. I always thought that Allen was cute, but now I found him completely hot. His arms were meaty like the football players from high school. Even his grin seemed to shine in a way I wasn’t used to with him.
“Allen,” I said softly. “Wow, you look great.”
“Me?” he laughed. “I think we should be talking about you. How long has it been?”
“About four years,” I said.
“Has it been that long?” he asked. “Time goes by so quickly after high school.”
“I know,” I agreed while looking at his ripped body. Then his eyes caught mine. The alcohol had impaired my judgment, causing Allen to catch me checking him out– so I improvised. “I like these tank tops,” I said as I touched the fabric.
“They were my idea,” he smiled. “I know that they’re corny, but we needed matching clothes.”
“I love it!”
“No, you don’t!”
“Have you seen what I’m wearing?” I said while rolling my arms along the bright pink sash. “I don’t think it gets any cheesier than this.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Allen laughed.
“I’m gonna puke!” Mairead yelled across from us.
“Let me help you, babe,” Cade said as he placed his arm on the small of her back.
“I’ve got it!” Penny said while rushing forward. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate another girl helping her out in the ladies’ room.”
“No!” Mairead called out to Penny. “Take me to the suite and fast!”
“The bride-to-be has spoken,” Penny shrugged as she gently held onto Mairead’s arm and guided her away from the casino.
“I’m... leaving... too...” said Leslie as she wobbled down the floor.
“I should go with them,” I said.
“Stay!” I heard Penny yelled to me. “Only one of us should suffer!”
“I guess I’m staying,” I said to Allen.
“Sorry to say this,” said one of the groomsmen to me. He tone was less than inviting. “But we’re headed to a strip club.”
“Sounds fun!” I said.
“On the old strip,” the groomsman said.
“Where the ground is always sticky?” I asked. All of the guys nodded in unison.
“I’ll pass,” I said, gruffly. Then I turned to Allen in preparation to bid him farewell. Just as I spun around, I caught him looking at me with an uneasy expression. Then he turned away to face Cade.
“Hey, man,” Allen said. “You know how I feel about strip clubs… Think it would be cool if I stayed here?”
“No permission needed,” Cade said stopping him. “We’ll text you on our way back so I can meet you at the room.”
“Thanks, man,” Allen sighed. The guys headed down toward the valet and Allen faced me again. “I hear that the hotel across the street has an awesome water show at midnight. Want to check it out with me?”
“Sure,” I said feeling my heart flutter. Allen reached down and grabbed my hand before we headed through the crowd. A tingly sensation rushed over my arms as I felt the warmth growing between our palms. Being with Allen in Vegas was like a hazy dream come true. “I didn’t know that you and Cade were so close.”
“We were in the same fraternity in college,” Allen said. “Cade got in because he played football for a couple of seasons. I, on the other hand, had a legacy from my older brother. Otherwise, let’s be honest, this would never have happened for me.”
“I didn’t think you’d want to join a fraternity,” I said. “In high school you were always interested in computers and audio visual components.”
“That’s because I wanted to edit film,” he said. “Which our fraternity also is associated with on campus.”
“That’s awesome!” I smiled. “Maybe one day I’ll get to see one of your films on the big screen.”
“That would be nice,” Allen said as he looked down at me. Our eyes caught one another’s again. It felt like high school had never ended, and we were continuing where we left off the night of our senior prom. “Where were you guys before this?”
“A strip club,” I laughed.
“With ladies?” Allen asked.
“Nope, just tons of beefy guys,” I said bluntly with a grin.
“Hot,” Allen joked.
“So why don’t you like strip clubs?” I asked. “I always thought every guy loved those places.”
“My little sister’s a stripper,” he said. Suddenly, I felt embarrassed for my lighthearted approach.
“I’m sorry,” I said with caution. “I didn’t mean to–”
“Don’t worry about,” Allen explained with a smile. “If that’s what she wants to do, then that’s her choice. Though I would be traumatized if I was watching a girl on a pole and suddenly her face popped into my head.”
“I completely understand,” I said. We made our way through a set of revolving glass doors before finding the bridge that led to the neighboring hotel. As we stepped over it, I felt the warm air of the desert night heating my skin. I only felt more flustered because I was standing next to Allen.
Our conversations jumped around from high school memories to the many things that we had in common from college. Allen even confessed that he nearly changed his study to geology after taking a couple of classes in general education. Then we talked about relationships we had over the past few years and how we were in better places after they ended. I did my best to avoid talking about Walker.
“Here we are,” Allen said as we stood in front of the fountain. Our view was dead center as speckles of people stood near the fence to the water. Suddenly, the lights turned off around us, leaving Allen and me alone in the dark. The boom of music sounded, and the lights came back on in a fantastic display with the water shooting high into the air.
“Looks like we made it just in time,” I said.
“Yeah,” Allen agreed. Then his
arms wrapped around me body, pulling me closer to him. “How are you so beautiful?”
“Me?” I asked, blushing. “What happened on prom night?”
“Not enough,” Allen said. I felt light and airy as he bent down and kissed me on the lips.
High School Never Ends
After the show ended, Allen and I walked down the strip, and back toward our hotel. The night was lively with cars whizzing down the boulevard, stammers of drunken people stumbling across the pavement, and the cheering of high rollers winning big.
Meanwhile, I didn’t let go of Allen’s hand the entire way back. While he felt much manlier than I remembered for four years earlier, Allen still had the same nerdish charm that made me fall for him before.
“I’m so happy for Mairead and Cade,” I said.
“Me, too!” Allen exclaimed. “They are two of the best people that I know.”
“Agreed! Especially after all of the things that they went to in high school with that crazy ex of his... If that were me, I would have lost my mind.”
“I would definitely still be in therapy,” Allen stated. “Particularly if I were Mairead. Still, she has great support. Cade has been an awesome guy in my life; he helped me become the person I am today.”
“You seem so different now,” I said to him. “I’m shocked.”
“Is this a good thing?” he asked while sounding cautious.
“Of course,” I said as I gripped onto his fingers. “Why would I have made out with you for the past hour if it wasn’t.”
“Nerd pity?”
“Is that a thing?”
“Trust me, it is. I’ve had my share of girls kiss, leave, and never text me back again.”
“That’s terrible! Shame on them.”
“So you’re not going to do that to me?” he asked playfully. Though a part of me knew that he was a bit insecure about it.
“No,” I said shaking my head and looking him in the eyes. “I promise.”
“Are you sure? I still watch cartoons.”
“Which ones?” I asked. “Like the ones for adults?”
Her Forbidden Love (Forbidden Ties Sequel) (Forbidden Ties Series Book 3) Page 2