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Tina

“I thought you said none of the guys at the gym would touch you?”

Rosa smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “They don’t.” She takes the next left a little too fast and I yelp.

After the guy and his buddy drove off, Lucius aimed his glare at Rosa. It was like being a kid stuck in the middle of their parents’ argument, if you could even call what they did arguing. Basically, Lucius stared disapprovingly while Rosa yelled in Spanish before finally running out of steam. Now I’m in “Mom’s” custody, riding shotgun toward Dustin’s victory party, which I have no desire to be a part of.

Christian and Frankie’s house is up ahead now. A dozen people are on the front lawn hugging and laughing and I’m about to do the ultimate walk of shame. Fabulous. How am I going to face all these people knowing they know what we did? Ugh. Between the sex with Dustin and the other craziness, I’m not exactly in the partying mood. If it were up to me, I’d go straight to Dustin’s house and lock myself in the spare bedroom. As if he can sense me waffling, a text comes through from the man himself.

DUSTY: Don’t even think about running.

One message is all it takes to remind me nothing is up to me.

I eye Rosa. “Not only was the guy not afraid to touch, but he looked seconds from taking.”

She zips into the tiniest parking spot imaginable, taking years off my life, and cuts the engine. Neither one of us moves to exit the car. “Yeah, because he’s not from the gym.”

“So, what, you’re branching out now?” I run a hand down my face. “He seemed like bad news, Rosa. How did you even end up outside with him alone, anyway?”

She stares out her window. “Lucius and Christian were arguing about me and I needed air.” She’s looking down at her shirt as if remembering the stranger’s knuckles on her. The move had been so… claiming. Almost familiar. “When I got outside, he was just there,” she says, sighing. “It felt good to be something other than someone’s obligation.”

There’s a tap on her window, startling us both.

Lucius opens Rosa’s door and holds out a hand. She stares at it for a second before placing hers on top. A look I can only describe as relief comes over his normally blank face. “One hour,” he states, assisting her out of the car. “Then you’re in your room for the night.”

“Yes, sir.”

Rosa stomps off and I don’t miss how Lucius’ gaze lingers on her. Obligation or obsession?

I manage to stay undetected for two whole hours, keeping to the perimeter of the rooms. It helps all the focus is on the fight and the victor, who’s holding court in the large family room with an arm slung over the shoulder of none other than Blanche. I notice others from the Vegas office hovering as well, making the sting a little less… sting-y.

Occasionally, curious eyes are on me, and I hear my name get thrown around. Thanks to the photos of me and Dustin from the UFC fight, I’m more recognizable now. I hear Connor’s name in hushed tones once or twice too, but it’s the pitying looks from people who notice Blanche has moved into my spot that grate on me.

I finish my third drink, happy with the buzz I’ve accomplished, and place it on the counter. I skirt around a group of old-timers chatting it up, Gramps puffed up and proud leading the conversation. He waves and smiles at me but doesn’t step away or stop tooting Dustin’s horn. A small part of me wants to pull him aside and hoard his attention, but I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time and if being around Dustin and his family is the reason for it, why not let him enjoy it? I make my way down the hall to the large mudroom where I left my purse.

After ordering a ride, I text Gramps, saying I have a headache and I’ll see him later, reminding him Stan and Dee are his ride back home. I sneak out a side door to wait for my ride and find Rosa partially hidden in the shadows, blowing a puff of smoke from her mouth. “Are you smoking a joint?” I ask. My first thought is, Good thing I saw Lucius leave earlier. My second… “Where did you get that?”

She takes another hit, holding the smoke in her lungs for a few seconds before blowing it out. “My stranger wasn’t just a pretty face. Where you off to?”

“Back to Dustin’s place. I’m beat.”

“Fuck that,” she says, snuffing out the end of her blunt and slipping on a backpack I hadn’t noticed before. “Let’s go do our own partying.”

My ride pulls up to the curb and before I can argue this is a bad idea, we’re buckled up. “Change of plans,” she tells the driver, glancing at me, her smile spreading slowly, and I know before she even opens her mouth I’m in trouble.

The line to get into Ropes seems endless and I open my mouth to suggest we bail when Rosa directs the driver to drop us off at the back entrance. I shouldn’t be surprised; I’ve learned she likes breaking the rules.

“Very VIP of you.”

She winks. “Perks of knowing the owner.” The office she leads me to smells like cinnamon. She drops her backpack on the nearest chair then turns to size me up before going to the tall cabinet against the wall. She rifles through a row of garments inside, then hands me a skimpy dress.

I shake my head. “No way.”

“Yes, way.” She pokes her bottom lip out. “Please. I need this.”

She’s had a shitty day too and I’m a sucker for people who need me. I hold the dress against my body. This is gonna either be really good or really bad.