“That’s Lauren’s husband, Chris. Hands and eyes off,” Hillary tells the Charlie girl, a hint of sharpness in her voice before we walk into the club. I chuckle at that.
The music is already pulsating as we make our way through the crowd. It’s some pop song and a rapper segues into it. This place is huge with two floors from what I can see. There’s more people here than I think were in my entire high school..
“Let’s head to the bar,” Hillary shouts over the music to us. We all follow behind her and squeeze ourselves in between the people. I feel my arm wrap around Lauren’s waist, and she smiles back at me. She feels good in my arms. She smells like candy, and her long, dark, wavy hair cascades down her back. I try to ignore the looks both her and Hillary are getting.
“What are you guys drinking?” A bartender approaches us wearing the same hairstyle that Collin was wearing. What’s with guys and girls hairstyles?
“Let’s do shots!” Hillary says sneakily.
“I’ll just have a beer,” I tell her and she pouts.
“An amaretto sour for me,” Lauren tells her.
“Oh, come on you guys. We aren’t in high school, so don’t be sticks in the mud tonight please!!!” Hillary shouts.
“Come on Scott, live a little. You too, Lauren. One shot won’t kill you,” Aidan urges us.
Lauren looks at me trying to read my expression. Hillary and Aidan look like we’ve killed their puppy dog.
“I guess one is okay,” I tell Lauren, and she smiles.
“Fine, one shot,” she tells Hillary who does some type of shimmy dance before telling the bartender. When the bartender spreads our drinks out before us, we pick them up to do a toast.
“To new beginnings,” Hillary lifts her glass and turns to Aidan.
“To fast cars and beautiful women,” Aidan adds.
“To life,” Lauren adds with a beautiful smile. “I’ll drink to that.”
Chapter 29
I wake up, and my head is pounding. I feel like a building has been dropped on my head. I sit up in bed, Lauren is lying across it still asleep, and it’s 8:00 am. My throat is dry and I feel like I’m dying of thirst. I get up and pour a glass of water from the sink. I try to gather my thoughts together. What happened? The last thing I remember is being at the club, we were toasting. How much did I have to drink? I head out of the room and down the hallway. I smell breakfast. I go to the kitchen and see my mom already getting it started. Caylen is in her high chair, and I give her a kiss and steal one of the grapes she’s eating.
“I’m surprised you’re up so early.” My mom laughs an amused giggle as she takes her famous homemade biscuits out of the oven.
“I don’t even remember anything that happened.” My brain feels so foggy.
“You drank that much?”
“I don’t know…” I mutter sitting at the table.
“I heard you all come in around three this morning,” she tells me and I scratch my head.
“I hope the car is okay.” I chuckle but I know someone had to have stayed sober enough for us to get home, or maybe we left it at the club. I hope it’s not sitting in a tow yard.
“Do you know if Hillary and Aidan came back here?"
“No clue. I only heard you and Lauren.” She turns her attention back to the food. I run my hand over my stomach. I hope we didn’t do anything to be embarrassed about. My mom wouldn’t tell me if we did though.
“Here, take this up to Lauren,” she says fixing me a plate full of bacon, eggs, and a biscuit.
“You want to go up and see mommy?” I ask Caylen and she giggles and shakes her head.
“Cookie,” she squeals, and I laugh.
“If Lauren is hung over, I don’t think taking Caylen up there would be the best thing,” my mom suggests. Yeah, that makes sense. I head back up the stairs popping a piece of bacon in my mouth.
When I reach my bedroom, I see Lauren sitting up wearing a flirtatious grin.
“Hey.” Her face is flushed pink and a magnificent smile stretches across her face.
“Good morning.” I walk over and sit beside her and hand her the plate of food. She gives me a soft kiss on my neck and giggles. She seems to be in a fantastic mood this morning.
“You know why it’s so good?” She snickers before eating a piece of bacon. I look at her closely. She’s so beautiful with the sunlight reflecting off her hazel eyes, she looks almost angelic.
“We must have had a really good time last night.” I laugh, and she looks at me with an arched brow.
“Yeah,” she says running a hand through her tangled hair.
“I have to get up, or I probably would sleep all day.” She mutters with a smile.
“How much did I have to drink last night?” I am waiting for her to answer when she sits up in bed and her smile falters.
“You’re kidding right?” She asks bemused, and I frown at her.
“No, I don’t remember almost anything from last night.” When I say this her smile leaves completely.
“What?”
“I remember taking a shot, and after that, it’s all a blur.” I see her noticeably gulp and the color in her face drains.
“Uhm… what’s wrong?” My heart starts to race knowing that what she says next will not be good.
“You didn’t take that shot, Chris.”
“What do you mean?” I ask her, and her eyes dart from mine to her lap.
“You didn’t drink anything…” she trails off, and my stomach drops. I know exactly who doesn’t drink….
10 hours earlier
Cal
“Babe, are you going to take your shot?”
Collin’s a fucking prick! He’s kept me shut out for I don’t know how long it’s been. Looks like I’m out right on time, though. Lauren is staring at me with her eyes wide and looking completely fuckable.
We’re in a club. Damn, that was fast. I look around. I can’t help but grin at what perfect timing this is.
“Scott, take your shot,” I look and see Aidan, Chris’s annoying best friend is here with Hillary standing at his side slutting it up like she usually does. Too many people to deal with when I don’t know how much time I have.
“You okay, Chris?” Lauren is looking at me curiously, and I smile widely at her to let her know that everything is okay.
“Yeah. I’m fantastic.”
Her eyes narrow in on me. My eyes roam over her body, and I try to kick out the thought of Collin’s hands all over her. She’s going to forget about him as soon as I get her by herself. I feel around for my wallet and hand the bartender my credit card.
“Let’s dance.” I grab her hand and lead her onto the dance floor leaving behind Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
“You like to dance?” She is surprised and should be because Chris’s lame ass would just sit at the bar all night.
“Oh yeah. Big dancer.” I circle my arm around her waist and pull her against me. She looks at me a little confused, and I turn her around so her back is against me and move her body to the music. She’s stiff at first but slowly melts into me. I run my hands along her hips as she begins to sway. What the hell have I missed? I almost feel bad for Chris— if this is how it is for him—well almost. She turns around and throws her arms around my neck. The music is loud, and the energy is off the charts. Damn my girl looks good. The way she’s moving her hips almost makes me lose my train of thought about how the hell Collin’s blocked me out, and how I can keep him out longer. I need to talk to Helen.