“What are we doing, Yasmin?”
Her tongue peeks out, sliding over her lower lip. “I—”
Whatever she wanted to say dies on her lips as a group of giggling girls passes next to us, breaking us out of the bubble. We both jump apart like we’ve been caught doing something wrong.
“Hey, Nixon,” they say in unison, waving and winking at me. I’m not sure who they are, most likely fans or groupies or both, but I say hi regardless.
Yasmin takes a step back, pushing her hair behind her ear. She’s avoiding eye contact, and I can’t blame her. I’m not sure what’s happening here, but I know I’m not ready for it. Not with everything else I have going on right now. Yasmin is the kind of girl who deserves the world, and I can’t give that to her. Not when my own world is falling apart.
“I should go.”
My instant reaction is to ask her to stay, that’s the reason why I know I should let her go.
“Yeah,” I agree. “Goodnight, Yasmin.”
“Night, Nixon.”
I watch her climb the stairs and press her card to the door. There is a low buzz as the front door unlocks. She grips the door and stops. I think she might turn around. I wait for it. Long for it. Long for just one more glimpse at her eyes. For the solace and understanding I’ll find in them. But she just shakes her head, and goes inside while I keep staring at the closed door long after she’s gone.
Chapter Twenty
YASMIN
“Hey, sorry I’m la—” I stop in my tracks when I see Callie and Chloe twirl toward me. Both of them are dressed to the nines, with sexy dresses, silky hair and flawless makeup. “What is this?”
“You came!” Chloe rushes over and gives me a hug. “I thought you were ditching us.”
“Just got caught up after class.” I give her a once-over. She’s wearing a tight pink number that matches the pink strand in her otherwise dark hair. She calls it her rebel lock. I’m not sure what she means by it, but it looks cute on her. “You going somewhere? I thought we had our monthly tequila and tacos night.”
“About that…”
The two exchange a silent look.
“What am I missing here?”
Even Callie is wearing a dress. It’s less confining than Chloe’s, falling down in a straight line until just above the knee. The royal blue color makes her eyes stand out. And she even ditched the leggings this time around, instead opting for a sheer pair of tights. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in something that doesn’t cover her from head to toe.
“There’s this new club that just opened in the next town over so we figured we might go and check it out,” Chloe explains excitedly.
I lift my brows. “Without me?”
“We were waiting for you!” She grabs the strap of my backpack and pulls it off my shoulder. Forcing me to turn around, she gives me a little push between my shoulder blades. “Off you go, take a shower, and in the meantime we’ll find you something to wear.”
“This is an ambush!” I protest half-heartedly when Callie lifts my shower caddy and hands it to me.
“Just good friends taking care of each other. Go!”
Then with one push at my back, I’m shoved out of my own room.
My hips start swaying to the strong beat of the bass as soon as we enter the darkness of the club. Chloe winks at the bouncer who just let us through, barely glancing at our fake IDs before the door shuts behind us.
Different colored lights illuminate the space as the familiar tunes of top forty hits fill my ears. A group of giggling girls crashes into us as they’re leaving, barely giving us a second glance.
“Bar!” Chloe shouts at us over the loud music. Locking our hands together, so we don’t get separated, we move through the crowd toward the back of the room.
Just like the rest of this place, the bar is packed, but Chloe finds a way to squeeze herself between people and gets the attention of the bartender pretty quickly.
Seriously, that girl means business.
“A round of tequila shots!” She turns to wink at us. “Tonight, we’re celebrating.”
“Anything in particular?” I ask, barely hiding my laugh at her eagerness. She’s been bouncing on the balls of her feet almost since I got back from the shower but refused to say anything until we got here.
“My geniusness,” Chloe interjects, pushing a shot glass into each of our hands. “Bottoms up, girls.”
I tip the glass back, letting the lukewarm liquid slide down my throat. My whole body shudders at the burn as I bite into a slice of lemon Chloe produced from somewhere.
“God, this is strong,” Callie says, shivering and voicing my own thoughts.
“Only the best, since we’re celebrating.”
“Will you finally tell us what exactly we are celebrating?”
“I’ve finally had it with Karen. Having a sex marathon when she knew—you know, because I made a point of telling her?—I needed some peace and quiet to prepare for a quiz for my class was the final straw. And of course, it was just that day that I forgot to bring all the books I needed with me, so I had to get into my room to pick them up anyhow.”
There is a menacing glint in her eyes that has me wincing. Seriously, I never want to get on Chloe’s bad side, like ever.
“What did you do?”
Chloe signals the bartender for another round. “Oh, I might have added a little something to her shampoo.”
“Oh. My. God.”
“You didn’t.”
“That’s some serious Mean Girls shit.”
Callie and I exchange a look. Partly horrified, partly ecstatic.
“Oh, I did. I’m surprised you didn’t hear her shriek. I think the whole hallway shook when she saw her reflection in the mirror after her shower.”
I shake my head at her, laughing. “You’re so, so bad.”
“I can be even worse.” A self-satisfied smirk flashes on her face. “She deserved it, I couldn’t wait for her to catch an STD or some shit like that, which will happen eventually. You know I’m not a mean person, and I hate slut-shaming, but I’ve had it with her. I tried to play nice, I really did, but the more time passed, the crazier she made me. It’s insane.”
I can’t blame her.
“Does she know it’s you?” Callie asks, nibbling at the salt coating the edge of her glass.
Chloe shrugs. “Not like she can do anything to prove it, now can she?”
“True.” I nudge Callie. “See what you could have ended up with? You should be singing my praises.”
Callie pokes her tongue out at me. “That’s what you’d like to think.”
“Now, now.” Chloe shoves between the two of us, acting like some sort of shield, although I’m not sure who she’s protecting. “No need to get your girlmance all in my face.”
“Aww, look at her,” Callie says, trying to imitate Chloe’s stubborn, although slightly irritated pout.
“I think she might cry.” I laugh and lift my glass to her lips. “C’mon, chica. Let’s drown your sorrows in tequila.”