by Naomi West
There was something I wasn’t telling them, though: I wasn’t just out getting wild for fun, I was doing it to get Nikki out of my damn mind.
The girl had come into my thoughts like a damn invader, and I couldn’t shake her out. It seemed like every time I closed my damn eyes, her face was there. And every now and then I could swear I could still taste her kiss on my lips. She had a hold on me like no other girl had, and I wasn’t sure what to do.
So I decided to deal with it in the only way I knew how: by going out and getting wild as fuck.
“Yo, Tiger,” said Mace, stopping in his tracks and pointing ahead. “Those assholes look familiar to you?”
Me and the rest of the boys stopped along with Mace, the guys forming up at my sides. I looked ahead to where Mace had pointed. Sure enough, there was a group of about five to six preppy-looking dudes coming towards us. They were carrying on, drunk and annoying as shit, that special way only rich brats like that could be. And on their arms were some high-class-looking girls who looked like escorts or strippers or both.
“Those’re the guys from the club the other night, right?” asked Cutter. “Those little pricks who wanted to start shit with us?”
As they grew closer I got a better look at their faces. Sure enough, I recognized one of them as Marcus, the leader of the crew and the guy who was sweet on Nikki. Once they were about twenty feet away, they stopped in their tracks and locked eyes onto us. The guys looked at us with skeptical, threatening glares, while the girls couldn’t help but appear intrigued.
“Holy shit,” said Marcus, all cocky and booze-confident. “It’s those motherfuckers who took our table at my club.”
“You mean your daddy’s club?” I asked, using what Nikki had told me against him.
He scoffed. “Same fucking thing.”
Marcus and the rest of his boys looked us over.
“Heading out for the night?” he asked. “Strip’s not a bad place to be; more than a few gay bars, from what I hear.”
His crew snickered amongst themselves.
“Yeah, I’ll bet know you where to find all the best ones,” I said.
Now it was my crew’s turn to laugh. Marcus’ expression hardened and I spotted his hands turn into tight balls. I had to be careful; we weren’t in the club, and there was a good chance this could turn into a brawl right here in the middle of the Strip.
“Come on,” said Cutter, speaking low. “Let’s teach these rich brats a thing or two about respect.”
I held up my hand to my crew, making it clear that they weren’t to do a damn thing without my say so.
“You know,” said Marcus, “I don’t think we really made things square the other night. You pricks walked around my club like you owned the place; you were lucky as shit we didn’t fuck you all up right then and there.”
I snorted, the idea of these brats even lasting a minute going toe-to-toe with us totally laughable.
“Listen, little doggy,” I said. “I’ve got better things to do than trade words with you and your merry crew of shitheads, so unless you’re actually gonna bite, I suggest you stop fucking barking.”
My boys all said “ohhh” at the same time, and an expression of pure hate formed on Marcus’ face. His crew turned to him, all eager to see what he’d do next. And sure enough, the girls seemed more interested in us by the second; I could tell they were thinking they just might be on the wrong guys’ arms tonight.
Marcus knew he had to step up or risk looking like a total punk. I watched as he took a deep breath before stepping towards me, his eyes locked on mine.
“You’re lucky as shit that I don’t feel like dealing with your lowlife ass tonight,” he said. “Got better things to occupy my time. Got some primo pussy waiting for me.”
I considered making a crack about his boys’ asses being the ones he was more interested in being occupied with, but I let it go. Marcus was making it clear that he was all talk, and I decided to let him have his little victory, or whatever the hell he considered this.
“Yeah,” I said. “Got some girls to follow around like a lost little puppy, I bet.”
The words slipped out of my mouth. I couldn’t fucking help it.
“What did you say to me?”
He knew right away that I was talking about Nikki. But I decided to make it abundantly clear.
“I saw how you were with Nikki the other night. Girl wouldn’t give you the time of day. Makes sense that you’d be paying for your pussy.”
He stuck his finger into the air in front of him, pointing up towards my face.
“You keep her goddamn name out of your mouth,” said Marcus.
I couldn’t believe that I was taunting him so brazenly. Then it hit me that I was more interested in talking about Nikki than giving this kid shit. Ever since it became clear that she wasn’t going to call me, I’d been wondering just how I’d be able to get in touch with her again. Maybe poking at this little shithead was the best way to do it.
Marcus scoffed, stepping back to his crew.
“Girl like that would never go for a lowlife piece of shit like you anyway,” said Marcus. “Nikki’s got standards.”
“Wrong about that, asshole,” said Mace. “Tiger’s already hit that.”
Oh fuck. If there was gonna be a fight, it was gonna happen now. I watched as Marcus’ face turned from an expression of disbelief to shock to one of pure, unrestrained rage.
“The fuck you just say?” he asked.
Kid looked about ready to pounce. But before he could, one of his boys shot out his hand and put it on Marcus’ chest, holding him back.
“Come on, man,” the kid said. “Shit’s not worth it. We got girls, we got booze; I don’t want to spend the night in fucking lockup.”
“Listen to your friend,” I said. “It’s lockup if you’re lucky, hospital if you’re not.”
“Fuck you,” said Marcus. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
With that, Marcus and his boys marched past us, some of his crew shoulder-checking us on their way past. I let it go, and I watched the pack leave, I spotted a few of the girls looking back, small smiles on their faces as they gave me and my boys a final once-over.
But there was only one girl on my mind that night. And I had no idea if I’d ever see her again.
Chapter 14
Nikki
The flight to Vegas the next day was tense, to say the least. Dad and I both flew first class, but that didn’t make the whole process any less uncomfortable. And throughout the entire trip I could just tell that Dad’s anger at me for hooking up with Tiger was boiling just underneath the surface of his cool exterior. Really, I couldn’t blame him—seeing a video of his daughter having sex would be traumatic for any parent.
“When we get to the hotel,” he said as the plane prepared to land.
“I know, I know,” I said. “No going anywhere.”
“Don’t take that tone with me,” he said. “In case you’ve forgotten, you’re in a world of trouble. Assuming I can meet with Marcus’ father and get this whole sordid business taken care of, there’s still the matter of just what I’m going to do with you for even putting yourself in this position to begin with.”
The plane hit the ground with a lurch and soon after, we disembarked. A limo awaited us our front, ready to take us to the very same hotel where I’d gotten into this mess in the first place. As we drove through the city I couldn’t help but notice how strangely different Vegas looked in the bright light of day.
Soon we arrived at the Goldman Hotel. Dad booked the penthouse for us, and as we stepped in I was overtaken for a moment by the sheer luxury of the space. The walls were all glass and allowed for a panoramic view of the city. The balcony was huge, with its own private swimming pool. The sun was beginning to set into the desert beyond, filling the sky with gorgeous purples and creams. It was pure opulence, Vegas-style.
“Now,” Dad said, once the bellboys had finished dropping off our luggage, “I’m going to be
meeting with Marcus’ father, Angus. He’s told me that we should be able to find out just who got into the security footage, and once we’ve figured it out, it should be a simple matter of tracing whoever accessed it.”
I plopped down onto the massive, half-circle couch that dominated the main room of the space.
“And what are you going to be doing while I’m gone for the day?”
“Staying put, right here,” I said.
“That’s right. Don’t even think about leaving the hotel room. I’m likely going to be gone for the majority of the night trying to get this all sorted out. Don’t go making things complicated for me by getting into trouble. Got it?”
“Got it.”
With that, he turned and left, leaving me alone.
I began pacing the apartment as soon as Dad left. As nice as the hotel room was, and as much as I knew I needed to obey Dad, all I could think about was how much I wanted to get out of there and find Tiger. After all, I’d gotten so caught up and overwhelmed by the fact that Dad had found out about us that I’d forgotten that I was carrying his child. I had no idea what I was going to do about all of that. If this was how pissed off Dad was that I’d just slept with Tiger, I could only imagine what he’d do if he found out that I was going to be having his kid—he’d probably ship me off to a damn convent.
An hour passed, and by the time the sun had just about dipped under the horizon, the lights of the city coming to brilliant life all around me, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to spend another minute cooped up in this penthouse. I needed to get out there and find Tiger—I needed to tell him that I was pregnant.
So, steeling myself, I grabbed my phone and headed out of the room. Down in the gorgeous lobby, I spotted the familiar face of Marcus. He was seated at the elegant bar, a scowl on his face. He was the last person I wanted to talk to, but as his eyes latched onto me as I walked past, I knew there was no way of getting around saying hello.
“Back in Vegas, huh?” he asked, taking a sip of his drink. “What’s the occasion?”
His question was a friendly one, but there was nothing chummy about his tone.
“Um, just here with my dad on some business. No classes for now, so I figured I’d get out of LA for a little while.”
Marcus’ next words came out in an abrupt shotgun blast.
“You know, that biker shithead friend of yours with the stupid tattoos? He’s a real goddamn prick.”
I was taken aback, to say the least.
“Uh, what do you mean?” I asked.
“Me and my friends saw him last night on the Strip. Fucking asshole tried to fight us right then and there.”
I couldn’t help but be a little bit of a smartass.
“So you guys were just minding your own business and he tried to beat you up?”
“Yes! I mean, no. I mean, who cares?”
A little smirk formed on my face. What’s more, this meant that Tiger was likely still in town, still around the area.
“You guys should’ve taught him a lesson, then,” I said. “Did you consider telling him just who your dad was?”
Marcus narrowed his eyes.
“Funny,” he said. “But you know what? If you’re gonna hang out with shitheads like that, then go right ahead. See how far it gets you.”
“Um, sure,” I said, now very eager to get out into the town to track down Tiger. “Anyway, good seeing you.”
“Wait!” said Marcus. “You, um, want to have a drink?”
What a mood shift.
“Nah,” I said. “I’m just gonna go for a little walk, probably spend the rest of the night in the hotel room.”
“Fine,” he said, already sulking.
I gave Marcus a little wave goodbye before hurrying out of the lobby and onto the Strip. The neon lights were brilliant and bright around me, and a sense of purpose pushed me forward. Tiger had to be somewhere nearby, and it was up to me to find out just where he was.
I decided to swing by the bar off of the Strip where Tiger had taken me during our night out. Stepping into the place, I felt every pair of eyes in the place lock onto me.
“Um, I have a question,” I said, stepping up to the bar and addressing the burly, tattooed man a behind it.
He looked me over, a lecherous smirk forming on his face.
“Yes,” he said, “it’s as big as you’ve heard it is.”
He then grabbed his crotch with one hand and gave me a wink. I shuddered.
“No,” I said. “I’m looking for a certain guy. Big guy, biker with tattoos.”
He snorted.
“Take a look around, sweetheart. Big guys with tattoos are the only type of customer I get. Aside from sweet little things like you, that is.”
Another wink.
“His tattoos were, um, different. They were like stripes.”
The bartender stopped what he was doing.
“Tiger stripes? You talking about Tiger?” His voice had a trace of worry to it.
“Yeah!” I said, “you know him?”
“Um, do you know him?” he asked.
“I do,” I said. “And it’s very, very important that I talk to him.”
The bartender’s sleazy confidence had been replaced by fear. It looked like he knew that he shouldn’t be saying things like that to a girl who knew Tiger.
“Shit,” he said, running his hand over his thinning hair, “sorry about being a perv. Uh, didn’t know you knew him.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “Just tell me where I can find him and we’ll call it good.”
He was clearly relieved.
“Don’t know,” he said. “He’s usually in here starting his evening, but not sure where he and his boys’ve gotten to.”
“You lookin’ for Tiger?” asked another biker, this one seated at the bar, a massive mug of beer in front of him. “He and the rest of the Big Cats went down to Sawdust, this bar a few blocks south of here. You go now, you might catch them.”
My eyes went wide at that.
“Thanks!” I shouted out, turning on my heels and hurrying out of the place.
The abrupt change in attitude struck me as a little funny. All it had taken was the mention of Tiger’s name for those bikers to get really polite, really fast. Tiger seemed to have more than a little pull in this town.
Following the directions on my phone, I soon reached the bar. But there was no sight of Tiger. I dropped his name with the bartender and, just like before, the staff was more than happy to help.
This bar led to another bar, then to another, then to another. Soon the evening was well on, and the Strip was getting wilder by the minute.
Eventually, my trail led me to The Silver Horse, a high-end strip club a few blocks away from the Strip. A titty bar wasn’t really my thing, but it was my last chance to find Tiger. Standing outside of the tall, garishly lit building, the logo a gleaming horse with a mean-eyed expression on his face, I took a breath and headed inside.
Here goes nothing, I thought as I stepped through the double doors.
Chapter 15
Tiger
Seated in the back of the strip club, I let my eyes drift over the pair of sexy-ass brunettes on the private table in front of us. The girls were giving it their all, putting on a show that was enough to make any man lose his damn mind. And sure enough, the rest of the Cats were under their spell. Their eyes were locked onto the girls as they writhed and undulated on the stage, running their hands over each other’s perfect bodies, occasionally leaning in for a sensual kiss. And whenever they did, the Cats let out a wild cheer.
To me, however, it was just all so boring.
I didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with me. Tiger a year ago would’ve been right there with the rest of the Cats, eagerly shoving bills into these girls’ G-strings, trying to figure out which one I was going to put the moves on that night. Strippers didn’t usually sleep with their clients, but I always seemed to convince them to make exceptions.
It wa
s Nikki. That fucking girl had gotten into my mind and wouldn’t leave. Despite the gorgeous bodies on display all around me, she was the only girl I could think about. I found myself imagining her on the pole in front of me, nothing on her body but a skimpy thong as she put on a private show, just for me.
I took a sip of my beer and closed my eyes, imagining her sexy hips swaying back and forth, imagining a sly little look on her face as she stepped off of the stage and came my way, imagining her reaching down and putting her hand on my stone-solid prick …