Kylie eagerly runs over to her and asks, “What is this for? Is this for something in the press?”
As Taryn explains who she is and where she works, Katelyn tugs on my shirt to get my attention. “Cade, what’s going on? Your father didn’t say anything about people interviewing us.”
“It’s fine. Just smile a lot and do your job. That’s all I plan on doing. Your sister seems happy about this, though.”
I see Katelyn shake her head and wonder why she looks so worried. It doesn’t take long to find out.
Chapter Twenty
Hailey
I cling to Meadow’s arm as she makes a path for us through the standing-room only crowd. Everyone seems drunk and it’s so incredibly loud that she can’t hear a thing I try to say to her. No wonder I don’t hang out in clubs much.
She turns her head and yells, “That announcement said something was happening at the front bar, so let’s go there.”
Nodding, I tighten my hold on her wrist and hope to God we don’t get separated. I have no idea where I’d end up if this sea of people took me away.
We have to stop about ten feet away from our destination when the crowd gets so densely packed that we can’t move. Looking back at me, she yells, “Hold on. I think I see a hole over there near the wall. We might not see everything, but it will be closer.”
Unsure if it’s possible to be closer to any of these people as their arms and legs rub up against my body while we make our way toward the wall, I weave through those body parts as they flail this way and that with excitement. Finally, I see that hole Meadow mentioned and breathe a tiny sigh of relief. If I can just get a few inches between me and the next person, I’d be happy.
“Tonight, as we celebrate the fifth anniversary of Club X coming back from being underwater, let me hear everyone give a cheer for the hottest club in town!” a female’s voice says over the sound system.
Meadow and I stop against the wall as the crowd erupts into cheers and yelling. Hundreds of drunk partiers all at once begin to chant, “Club X! Club X!” It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and after a few times, I start yelling it too.
“Look at you!” Meadow says in my ear.
I turn to look at her and smile. “I’m definitely a fish out of water here, but I figure I should try to blend in. When in Rome…”
“I’m just so glad you agreed to come. When Alex offered me the V.I.P. passes, I didn’t know if you’d say yes. It’s so great you did! And I love you in that dress!”
She hadn’t mentioned if Cade would be here, but I secretly harbored the hope he would since Alex had called Meadow to give her the passes. She didn’t know how he’d gotten them, but Meadow is always up for a good time, unlike me.
Tonight is different, though. I feel different. Spending time with Cade has made me feel like a new person, a more confident person.
Not confident enough to ask Meadow if she knew if Cade would be here, though. He told me he had work when I asked him what he was doing tonight, so I probably won’t get to see him. But maybe because he’s the manager of his own club, he had someone take over since his cousin has tickets to this place.
Of course, all of that stayed in my mind when I was talking to him and Meadow. It’s enough that I dressed in one of her tiniest dresses and her heels that are two inches higher than any shoes I’ve ever worn. I’m not brave enough to let people know how much I love seeing him.
“I don’t see Alex anywhere,” she says in my ear.
Her disappointment comes through loud and clear. From the moment she laid eyes on him that night at CK, she’s been talking about how much she hopes they’ll get together. I hope so too since he’s a great guy and she’s my best friend.
“How can you tell in this crowd? I’d be lucky to find my own hand while we were walking through all those people.”
“I know this isn’t your type of place, but isn’t it great?” she asks just as the woman on the sound system starts talking again. “It’s so alive!”
A little too alive for me, but I’m here, so I don’t want to ruin her time. Smiling, I point up toward the ceiling and say, “I think they’re about to announce something.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight at the main bar here we have the most delicious trio you’ll ever see. If you haven’t met them already, here are the twins Katelyn and Kylie, and sandwiched between them like you know he loves being is the famous, well actually, infamous Cade! Give them a hand and let them know how much you love all three of them!”
The crowd erupts into cheers again, and I crane my neck to see the three beautiful bartenders just described. The twins are stunning with bodies to die for, but I can’t see the other one. Just hearing that name makes me wish my Cade was here with me right now.
My Cade. I like how that sounds. But if we could be together right now instead of me being here and him being at work, I’d rather if we were at his place enjoying each other and the silence I never realized I loved until about twenty minutes ago.
Meadow grabs my hand and tugs me away from the wall. “Honey, we have to go. This place is getting too crowded. I feel like we’re going to get crushed at any moment. Let’s leave and call it a night, okay?”
I love that idea, so I hurry to keep up with her, happy I’ll get some fresh air and elbow room once we leave this bar. All around me, people cheer and the sound system begins to play the striptease song. Curious, I look back, wondering if those women actual take their clothes off when they bartend, and what I see stops me cold.
Meadow tries to keep me walking toward the door, but I yank her back next to me as I watch one of the twins and Cade standing on the bar. My Cade. His shirt is wide open, and the woman lowers herself down until she’s eyelevel with his zipper. As the crowd cheers her on, she stuffs her hands into his black pants and moves her face toward him. I can’t see what she’s doing, but everyone around us screams in excitement.
“Honey, why couldn’t you just leave when I wanted to?” Meadow asks sadly as tears fill my eyes.
I shake my head in disbelief. Cade doesn’t look unhappy that this gorgeous woman with enormous breasts is licking his stomach or whatever she’s doing. I can’t tell, but I can imagine what a woman does when her face is that close to his crotch.
He lied to me. He said he had to work at the club he manages. He never said he was a bartender and put on whatever the hell kind of show this is for a living. I asked him specifically what he was doing tonight since I didn’t want to say yes to Meadow to come to this place if he and I could be together.
Now I know what he had to do that was better than spending time with me.
The woman stands up to her full height and takes a bow on the bar while everyone around us cheers. All I want to do is leave. That and throw up as the memory of finding Malcolm with that woman in the bed we shared fills my head.
All Cade had to do was tell me the truth. Now I can’t help but wonder why he lied. Is he with this woman? It sure looks like they know each other well. Was he talking to her the other night? Was the name Dad in his phone just some decoy to hide that he’s with her?
The infamous Cade. Sounds like I’m the only person in this bar who doesn’t know who Cade March really is.