Page 30 of Lies Beneath Secrets (Skeleton Crew #1)
CHAPTER THIRTY
Lauren
Three drinks in, and we haven’t even been here for two hours. Since getting that text from Lucas, Piper has been on one. She puts her phone on do not disturb and shoves it into her purse. I can only imagine the fight they’ll have when he gets back from his brother’s wedding.
“Time to live it up!” She kisses the air in my direction as she hands me a glass. I take it, then tap it to hers before swallowing the clear liquid. The familiar taste of vodka helps to dull my senses further.
“Have you ladies been drinking tonight?” A familiar voice comes to my side, and a bright light shines in my eyes the second I turn my head.
“Shit,” I hiss, closing my eyes, then blinking away the glare in my vision.
“Eli, what brings you here?” I ask, doing my best to see clearly again. He laughs at me and steps in a little closer.
“I had the night off and wanted to check this place out.” He extends his hand to me. “Need some water? You need to hydrate while drinking,” he lightly scolds me and hands a bottle to Piper as well. Taking the bottles offered, Piper puts hers in her back pocket, and I put mine in the purse she told me not to bring. Eli must think my taking the water was an invitation because he steps even closer to me. “I was hoping you would have answered my texts by now.” He’s sent me several text messages apologizing for his behavior the last time we saw each other. The night Conner and I…
“I’ve been busy,” I say shoving away thoughts of Conner that try to creep into my mind. We are here tonight to forget about the men in our lives. Or in my case, the man that was in my life. I almost reach for that water again for something to do, but Piper comes back to me with another shot glass. This one has something different in it. I don’t question what it is. I take it from her and drink it down in one gulp.
“I need to use the restroom,” I announce and place the glass on the bar before leaving the two of them. I have no clue where the bathrooms are but when I find a door, I push myself through it. I step into a hallway, letting the door close behind me. The music is suddenly muffled, giving my brain a chance to relax. It’s as though I can think again, even with the shots of alcohol. Things are fuzzy all over and with each step I take, it becomes more apparent that the noise might have been helping me. “Where the hell is the bathroom?” I do my best to walk in the heels Piper talked me into wearing, tugging again at the hem of the dress. Even with my height, it feels too short. The red material sits on my body like a second skin and hugs my every curve. Not something I would have in my closet. Piper didn’t even let me get away with wearing my glasses tonight. The contacts I rarely wear are actually behaving tonight so far, but I still find myself trying to push up my phantom pair of glasses. I pull the water out of my bag and open it up to take a drink as I walk down the hallway.
“What’s behind door number two?” I mumble to myself at the first door, then tuck the water back into my purse before I turn the knob, but I’m not the only one turning it. The door is yanked from my hand, causing me to fall forward with the action. I fully expect to smack face first into the floor instead of a warm body. My face is planted right into a chest, a hard chest at that. My hands, as if they have a mind of their own, drift along the chest I’ve fallen upon, and I find myself giggling. A smell I’ve come to know drifts over me, and I slowly turn my face upward to meet with a pair of familiar eyes.
“Something funny?” Conner asks before his hands go to my shoulders to right my wobbly frame.
“How cliché this is.” I laugh some more and take a step back, only to fumble my footing and fall right on my ass.
“Cliché?” The sound of his footsteps come toward me, then his hand comes into view. I nod my answer and suddenly feel a swirling in my stomach. Groaning, I look around the small room and spot the toilet on the far wall. I move past Conner’s outstretched hand and barely make it in time to relieve my stomach of the drinks Piper fed me at the bar.
“How embarrassing,” I groan when I’m done and drop back to the floor. I slide across the tile and lean my back up against the wall.
“Do you know where you are?” The question rumbles from his chest like I’m a child.
“What?” I look up at the man, narrowing my eyes. My head may be foggy, but his tone clears it up a bit, replacing it with heat and annoyance.
“I asked, do you know. Where. You. Are?” He slows down each word, not making them any less hard than they were the first time he asked me.
“Of course, I do,” I snap and push myself up from the floor. I stumble a little bit but when I get to my feet, I brace myself on the small sink. Jerking my purse up from the floor, I dig out the bottle of water and do a couple of rinses of my mouth before taking a few gulps down. “What business is it of yours where I am anyway?” I snap between drinks.
“It isn’t, but when a young girl wanders off in a place like this, they tend to not wander back,” he says to my back. “You heard about that missing girl.”
“What are you doing here then? Are you the guy who makes sure I don’t or do wander back?” I turn to face him, hoping he’s the latter.
“Neither.”
“And some nerve you have, scolding me like that. A guy who just straight-up ghosts someone without a second thought,” I scoff at him. Giving me the third degree when the prick just up and moves out of his apartment.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just move, I need to find Piper.” I do my best to step around him but stumble more than I did before. “What’s going on?” I say as my vision grows hazy, and my legs get heavy.
“Did you take anything?” he asks as we step outside the room.
“No.” It’s more of a whisper. With each step, I try to take my eyes drift shut, then I’m suddenly lifted in the air. I’m too tired to panic. Too heavy to try to move.