Page 7

Charlee

“You look hot!”

Kelsey’s jaw drops. “I knew it would match your bracelet perfectly.”

“Thanks.”

I run my hands down the sides of my strapless emerald dress. It’s tighter than I normally wear, but I love it and after the dinner fiasco with my dad earlier this week, I need a night of fun. “You look pretty damn good yourself.”

“This ol’ thing?”

she teases and motions to her blue dress. The sweetheart-shaped bodice is barely enough to contain her ginormous boobs, and her red locks are down in soft waves, much like my own dark hair. My friend is a serious knockout. I just hope the spaghetti straps hold up better than the ones on her prom dress did. “I assume we’re taking precautions to avoid the big bad daddio and his band of badasses?”

“Yes, and I’m leaving my phone at home. I can’t be too careful.”

I wouldn’t put it past him to have Marco or one of his other men use it to track me.

“Smart as well as beautiful. This is why we’re friends.”

Kelsey grins as I lock up my apartment and follow her the back way toward our waiting cab.

“So, are you going to tell me more about this Shawn guy you’ve been seeing?”

I ask as we climb inside, doing my best to ignore the stale scent of French fries that hits me in the face.

“I’m not giving you any preconceived ideas. You can judge for yourself.”

Her eyes light up as she glances at her phone. “They’re meeting us there.”

“They? What do you mean by they?”

I’m going to strangle my friend.

“Don’t be mad.”

The smile that flashes across her face is the one I’m all too familiar with. She’s been giving it to me since the second grade and it usually means trouble.

“What did you do, Kels? Please tell me you’re not setting me up on a blind date?”

“Not exactly.”

She winces at my sharp tone.

“What does that mean?”

I toy with my bracelet to keep from wringing her neck.

“Well, I may have heard that Colby will be there tonight.”

Not buying that for a second.

“Oh, you heard, huh?”

My eyes narrow. I wasn’t born yesterday.

“Okay, fine. I may or may not have let him know you’d be there tonight.”

I sag back against the sticky vinyl seat with a loud sigh. This night is not off to a good start.

“What’s the big deal? I know you like him, and you’d never make the first move, so I did you a favor if you think about it.”

She shrugs as the cab pulls up to the curb.

“Yes, setting me up on a date without telling me is a huge favor. I should be thanking you.”

My sarcasm isn’t lost on her, but she just shakes her head and hops out of the cab. From the moment I follow her out into the long ass line, it’s complete chaos. There are swarms of people everywhere.

“This is nuts. It goes all the way around the block. How are we getting in?”

“Leave that to me.”

She grabs my hand and struts toward the bouncer at the door. Whatever she says has him grinning and glancing in my direction.

I tug on the side of her dress and ask against her ear, “What did you say to him?”

“Oh, nothing much. I just promised him that we’d flash him our tits later if he let us in.”

My steps falter. “You what?”

I cross my arms over my chest, as if covering them somehow helps. “No way. Not happening.”

“Relax.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m kidding. He’s a friend from my Poli Sci class and I helped him study for a quiz. This is how he returned the favor.”

All thoughts of our conversation leave me as we step inside. I’m transported into another world as the heavy bass of “Hysteria”

by Muse vibrates through my chest. There’s a purple haze of light that bounces off the black floors. Cages hang from the ceiling with a dancer inside each one. They move effortlessly with the music, drawing attention to their black bikini-clad bodies and matching thigh-high boots. The black and purple theme is continued throughout the place.

“Wow.”

My dad would kill me if he knew I was here, but this place is so worth it.

“Welcome to Orphic, babe.”

A smile lights up her face as she glances at her phone. “Come on.”

She leads me through a throng of sweaty bodies, up a set of stairs to a nearby table where a lone guy is waiting.

A cigarette dangles from his lips as he flashes Kelsey a wide grin. He’s got a military essence about him. His dark hair is buzzed close to his head, bringing attention to his deep blue eyes. A couple of tattoos peek out from underneath his black fitted t-shirt, but it’s the way everything else fades away to him except Kelsey that gains my approval. He’s looking at her like she’s his dessert, and my heart flutters. I’m envious, but happy for her all at the same time. Kelsey is an absolute sweetheart and deserves nothing less.

He kisses her on the cheek and then glances my way. “Who’s your friend, Wildcat?”

His southern accent has me going weak at the knees. He’s the complete package.

“This is my best friend, Charlee. Charlee, this is Shawn.”

Kelsey doesn’t take her hands off of him as she does the introductions.

“Pleased to meet you, Charlee.”

Something flickers behind his eyes when he says my name, causing my heart to stutter for an entirely different reason. I just can’t put my finger on what it is.

“Same.”

I offer him a polite smile.

The music changes to “Poker Face”

by Lady Gaga, and Kelsey about loses her mind. “Let’s go dance.”

She grabs me by the hand and drags me onto the dance floor. Shawn stays behind in his seat, watching.

Kelsey and I get lost in the music. Song after song, we shake our asses. It’s the most fun I’ve had in a while. All the stress of school and my dad fade away into the background.

I lose track of time, but soon the tempo changes to a slow sultry beat as “Closer”

by Nine Inch Nails vibrates through the speakers. Kelsey and I share a look and go back to dancing with each other when I see Shawn come up behind her. He puts his hands around her waist, pulling her ass back against his groin, and dips his head down by her ear. “Dance with me, Wildcat?”

he asks, just above the sound of the music.

Kelsey flashes me a look and I know she’s worried about me feeling like a third wheel, so I let her off the hook.

“I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

I’m a sweaty mess and need to clean up a bit.

Kelsey eases away from him and leans into me so that I can hear her above the music. “You want me to go with you?”

“I’m good. You enjoy.”

I gesture to her man who’s currently eyeing her butt like it’s candy.

“You know I will.”

She grins and turns back around.

I spin on my heels and stagger down the hall, toward the restroom. It ends up being all the way at the back of the club where it’s dark and secluded. From the dance floor, it’s pretty much invisible. This makes me nervous, so I pick up my feet and make it inside as quickly as possible. To my surprise, the stalls are empty. There was a line out the door earlier. I finish my business and do a makeup check in the mirror. There are only a few black smudges of mascara underneath my eyes, which is a miracle. I wet a paper towel and wipe any trace of my raccoon eyes away. Once I’m satisfied that I don’t resemble a drunken train wreck, I toss it in the trashcan and head out the door.

Everything happens so fast that I don’t have time to react. A hand is placed over my mouth and I’m tugged back against a hard body. I scream, but it’s muffled by his hand and drowned out by the noise of the music.

In no time at all, I’m taken through the back door and into the parking lot. The cold air feels like needles against my skin. Dirt scrapes against my shoes as I stick my heels into the ground and fight against him. This does nothing to slow him down. I end up losing both of my shoes in the process.

My fingernails dig into his hand and claw at the skin, drawing blood. Knowing I made him bleed is only a momentary victory. He never even flinches, just keeps dragging me off to a dark empty corner of the parking lot.

“You’ll pay for that.”

The palm of his hand digs into my cheek so hard that my teeth cut into the sides of the soft tissue. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth, but I keep kicking my legs out as hard as I can.

We come to a stop in front of a dark cargo van where another man opens the side door. My heart pounds against my ribcage. I can’t let them get me inside that van or else I’m screwed.

The one in front of me reaches for my legs, but I kick up and nail him in the nose. “Fuck! The bitch kicked me.”

The guy holding me grunts and pushes my body forward against the side of the van, caging me in from behind. His lips move against the shell of my ear, causing shivers of fear to ricochet up my spine.

There’s a slight prick in the back of my neck and the last thing I hear before everything goes black is him whispering, “Lights out, Princess.”