This is going to be a bachelorette weekend we’re never going to forget.
“Hold on, you guys.” Caroline turns to face all of us, an expectant expression on her flushed face. We’re standing in the wide hall that leads to the penthouse suite at the Wilder hotel, and we’re all crowded around her in front of the door, eager to get in.
At least, I’m eager to get in. First, I need to pee. And once that’s handled, I can’t wait to check this place out. Pick out my room. Unpack my stuff, hang my clothes in the closet. Eventually take a shower. Get ready.
Go meet Mitch.
Yeah. I mentioned to only a select few of the group that I’m meeting Mitch here this weekend. Caroline might be mad. This is supposed to be her weekend, and it is. I know it is. I am here to support her every minute of this weekend. But is she going to miss me for a few hours while they’re all out having fun?
Doubtful.
“Come on, open the damn door,” Stella yells at Caroline, making her laugh.
“Just—I want to say something first before we go inside. Thank you for taking the time off from your jobs, or being away from your boyfriends, and coming with me this weekend. We are going to have so much fun, and I just know this trip is going to be unforgettable.” Caroline beams at us, and I swear she’s getting teary eyed.
Which makes me want to get teary eyed too. In fact, I touch the corner of my eye and find it’s wet. Yep, I’m crying.
And I still really need to pee.
“You’re going to make me cry,” Candice—my soul sister—says.
“No crying allowed,” Stella says sternly, shooting me a look. Like she knows I’m guilty. I bet she saw the sparkle in my eyes, stupid tears. “This is a bachelorette weekend. It’s about wickedness and debauchery, not tears.”
Caroline’s laugh is watery. But she still doesn’t open that damn door.
“Jesus, Caroline, what are you waiting for?” Sarah pipes up. “Let us in!”
“God, fine. Don’t let me revel in my moment.” She turns and waves the card key in front of the reader, and the door opens—actually, it’s two doors. The moment we walk inside, my jaw drops. The suite is two stories, and the ceiling soars above us, exposing the second level on one side. The other side of the cavernous room is floor-to-ceiling windows, revealing the city before us. It’s late afternoon, the sun glinting off the windows of the other hotels and casinos, and I’d stop and check out the view but…
I rush around looking for a bathroom instead.
Once I’ve handled my business and washed my hands, I go out to admire the suite with everyone else. Downstairs there is a massive living room with buttery-soft leather couches and faux fur throw pillows. A massive big screen TV hangs on the wall, and the rug beneath my feet is plush and soft. There’s a pool table covered in purple felt, and while I’m not a big pool player—okay, fine, I’ve never played pool in my life—I kind of want to give it a try.
“Oh my gosh, the fridge is fully stocked!” Candice holds the subzero refrigerator door open wide, showing us all the goodies inside. Sodas, water, fruits and cheeses are inside, along with a variety of vegetable dips and hummus. There’s a bar at the end of the room, rows and rows of liquor on display. On the table by the window, there’s a giant flower arrangement consisting of mostly roses, with a card sticking out of it.
Caroline goes to the arrangement and bends her head, breathing deep. “They smell so good,” she says as she tears into the card and reads it. A little smile curls her lips as she turns to face us. “They’re from Alex.”
“Of course,” Stella says. “What’s the note say?”
Caroline’s cheeks turn crimson. “Just hoping we have a good time, blah blah blah.”
“Uh huh.” Stella strides over to Caroline and tries to snatch the card out of Caroline’s fingers, but her grip is too tight. “It must be good if you won’t let me see it.”
“It’s an—intimate message.” Caroline shoves the card in her pants’ pocket. “But never mind! Let’s all go pick out our rooms!”
We all ended up on the curved staircase to the second floor, where the bedrooms are. Caroline gets the master suite, of course. It’s huge. So is the bed. And the master bathroom is to die for, with a circular tub smack dab in the middle of the floor.
Stella nudges Caroline’s side as we all admire it. “Too bad Alex isn’t here with you,” she says with a snicker.
Caroline smirks. “We’ll have to come back sometime. Just the two of us.”
I’m a little envious at the prospect. I try to imagine me and Mitch in that bathtub. I bet he’d look good surrounded by swirling hot water and frothy bubbles. I bet he’d whisper all the dirty things he wants to do to me if we were in that tub together.
I go hot just thinking about it.
Sarah and Candice are sharing a room. Stella asks Kelsey to share her room. So that leaves me…all alone.
“No one wants to share with me?” I ask sadly, feeling left out.
“Um, you’re the one with plans to meet your mystery man this weekend,” Kelsey points out. “You might need that bedroom all to yourself, if you get what I’m saying.”
They all start talking when Kelsey makes that comment, and I briefly admit that I have other plans that don’t involve them.
Of course, they all have plenty to say about it. Lots of questioning ensues, and I sort of wish Kelsey had never mentioned it.
But I’m also glad to have it all off my chest and out in the open.
“This works out perfectly,” Stella says, an encouraging smile on her face. “So if you do bring him back to the hotel, you get your bedroom all to yourself.”
Now it’s my turn to blush. I imagined Mitch and I in the tub, but I truly wasn’t planning on bringing him back to the suite. Though now that I think about it…
“That’s not a bad idea,” I say.
Kelsey laughs and holds up her hand. I slap my palm against hers. “Thank me later when you’re all blissed out from the orgasms your Magic Mitch gives you.”
“He’s not going to give me any orgasms,” I say as I enter my bedroom for the weekend. Kelsey follows me inside. “I barely know him.”
“By the end of the weekend, I predict you’ll know him very, very well.”
Sending her an annoyed look, I go to the door and close it most of the way before I turn on her. “Listen, I don’t plan on having sex with him this weekend, so don’t say that around the other girls.”
“You don’t plan on it? Why not? Are you out of your mind? Didn’t you say this guy is ultra flirty?” Kelsey asks.
“Well, yeah.”
“And he has a nice body?”
I think of all his muscles. Those broad, broad shoulders. “Definitely.”
“A panty-melting voice?” Kelsey lifts her brows.
“I never said that.”
“Well, I get the sense that he just might.” Kelsey watches me as I set my small suitcase on the luggage stand and zip it open. “You gotta jump on that, El. When was the last time you got laid?”
I stand in front of my suitcase, counting back the days. The weeks.