Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Candy
Candy was excited to be seen out in public with her two hot roommates.
Xyxy was in a simple but effective two-piece set, composed of a halter neck top that was corseted down the middle and a skirt that was somehow even shorter than Candy’s.
Yule was dressed a little more conservatively, though Xyxy’s influence was pretty obvious.
She wore a lilac dress that accented the pretty, pearlescent blue of her skin, with long, billowing sleeves and a deep cut that exposed a swath of bare skin.
“I’m buying your drinks tonight,” Yule declared, looping her arm through Candy’s once they climbed out of the shuttle taxi. “You’re not allowed to let anyone else buy drinks for you, okay? No matter how hot they are.”
“Right. Tonight is for you. We’re gonna spoil you and you’re gonna have a great time.” Xyxy grabbed Candy’s cheeks and pressed a solid kiss to her forehead. “I love you. I’m sorry last night sucked ass but tonight is gonna make up for it, I promise.”
Honestly, last night hadn’t even been that bad. Her time with Votra had definitely overridden the sour taste Dren had left in her mouth, but who was she to deny her friends’ gifts? Free drinks and all of their attention on her was exactly what she needed.
It took Candy a second to recognize the commercial district that she’d been in just the night before.
Xyxy led them to a club on the busier side of the district, a massive building that stretched across half of the upper level.
An archway of gleaming neon lights marked the entrance, a line of club-goers wrapping around the building.
But Xyxy wasn’t fazed. She strode past the line and approached the bouncer, a crimson skinned drucaro with an even darker red mullet and four arms thicker than Candy’s head.
“Jorai, my beloved,” Xyxy sang as the bouncer was letting in a group of aliens in flashy silver bodysuits.
“I was hoping you were gonna be here tonight.”
“How convenient,” Jorai said, draping a set of arms around Xyxy’s waist as Xyxy dropped a kiss to her cheek. Both sets of dark, pupil-less eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. “You’re gonna get me fired if you keep skipping my line like this.”
“Yeah, but… I brought Candy.” Xyxy fluttered her mascaraed eyelashes at Jorai, and all four eyes landed on Candy.
“Oh shit! You’re Candy?” Jorai didn’t drop her hold on Xyxy as she thrust a hand out towards Candy. “You guys shake hands on Earth, right?”
“Sometimes.” Candy grinned, shaking the black nailed hand offered to her. “It’s a little formal for meeting a new friend but, uh, good for you for knowing.”
“Humans are so weird.” Jorai glanced over Candy’s shoulder to Yule, who looked remarkably uncomfortable. “Hey, Yule.”
“Jorai.” Yule breezed past Jorai and let herself into the club, eliciting a snicker from Xyxy. Candy couldn’t wait to hear what that was all about.
Jorai’s arms around Xyxy dropped. “Okay, go on in before you piss off everyone in this line,” she said, ushering Xyxy and Candy into the club.
As they walked in, the overwhelming bass of the music hit them, and Candy squinted against the strobing lights as her eyes adjusted. Xyxy made a beeline for the bar, Candy following her and Yule joining them shortly after.
“Can I get three shots of cinqos, please?” she shouted against the music.
Candy and Yule leaned against the bar on either side of her. “What’s the deal with you and Jorai?” Candy asked Yule, leaning across Xyxy to make herself heard.
Yule’s immediate look was one of disgust. “We slept together once and it was a terrible experience.”
That Jorai? Candy couldn’t endeavor to understand how someone with muscles the size of her head and four massive hands could be bad in bed. “No way.”
Xyxy immediately downed one of the shots that the bartender gave her, passing the other two to her friends. “Come on. It wasn’t that bad.”
“Do I need to remind you that she called out someone else’s name while I was literally inside her?
” Yule clicked her tongue with irritation and tipped back her shot.
She hated to say it, but Yule’s story was making her feel better about her own dating life.
She took her shot as well, pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually pretty decent.
It was almost cinnamon-y, with a warm spice that lingered at the base of her throat.
Candy grimaced. “Was it her partner’s name or something?”
“Nope.” Yule ordered another round of cinqos. “She’s just… really hung up on someone.”
Candy couldn’t help but notice Xyxy squirming a little, taking her shot the second it hit the bar.
“And now our poor, sweet Yule is relegated to the life of lusting after a gay man,” Xyxy sang, earning her a smack from Yule’s long, slick tail.
Candy couldn’t believe she’d missed out on all of this. She expected a certain degree of messiness from Xyxy, but not Yule.
“Wait, who? Do I know him?” Candy asked, going through her mental rolodex of people she’d met since moving here.
Yule took her shot in lieu of answering, then pushed herself away from the bar. “I’m gonna go dance.”
“Without me?” A dark gray arm slid around Yule’s shoulder, an arm attached to a very drunk looking Qaed. His cheeks were flushed and his big, dark eyes were glassy. Yule stiffened so visibly under his touch that Candy could see it despite the darkness of the club.
Oh my God. The gay guy that Yule was in love with was Qaed? This poor, poor girl.
“Get your drunk paws off my girl,” Xyxy said, swatting at Qaed’s muscular arm. Qaed answered by pulling her closer, and Yule looked like she wanted to melt into the floor.
Candy couldn’t blame Yule for being flustered. Qaed looked hot. His muscular torso was barely contained by the skin-tight black crop top he wore. Fashionably baggy black cargo pants hung off his sharp hips.
“I was just saying hello,” Qaed said, raising his free hand in surrender. “I did not know that you three were coming tonight.”
“Candy had a really shitty date so we’re having a girls’ night,” Xyxy said, and Candy shot a frown in her direction.
Qaed cocked his head. “Your date with Dren did not go well?”
Candy narrowed her eyes at Qaed. She’d totally forgotten that this was very much his fault. “Just wondering, have you ever met the guy? He’s kind of unbearable.”
Qaed answered her with a grimace. “I have met him… maybe twice?”
She was actually going to kill him. “Okay, well do everyone in your life a favor and stop setting people up with him. He’s a terrible date.”
“Shit. Okay, understood. Sorry, Candy.” He peeled himself away from Yule, giving Candy’s forearm an apologetic squeeze. “Let me buy you another drink. It is the least I could do.”
“You can buy us all a round,” Xyxy said with a flutter of her long lashes.
Qaed snorted. “You were just as responsible for Candy’s shitty date as I am.
You are not getting a free drink.” He followed Candy to the bar, but honestly, she wasn’t sure she was ready for another drink.
She was already starting to feel a little fuzzy, and if she got actually drunk, she might find herself saying something she’d regret later.
She was, however, just tipsy enough that thinking about Votra for a second turned into the overwhelming desire to talk about her in general.
And she needed that to go away. She ordered herself another shot of cinqos and Qaed tapped his comm to the terminal at the bar.
“You know, if you will accept my opinion on something else… I know someone else who might be good for you,” he murmured, leaning his shoulder into Candy’s. God, he reeked of alcohol.
She downed her shot and put her shot glass back on the counter a little harder than she intended to. “Yeah, I don’t know exactly how much I trust your opinion right now,” Candy said.
“Okay, fair.” He raked his teeth over his lower lip.
“For what it is worth, though, I think you and Votra would be good together. Gods only know she needs someone who is not also married to her work.” The alcohol-induced warmth in Candy’s cheeks rushed to every other part of her body.
“She talks about you a lot. I have not heard her talk about someone so much in a long time. A really long time.”
Candy swatted him away. There was no way Votra actually talked about her. “We do work together. It makes sense that she talks about me a lot.” It was hard to imagine Votra having a conversation with anyone that wasn’t about work. That had to be all it was.
Qaed moved away from Candy with a shrug of his shoulder. “Just an observation. Enjoy your girls’ night.” Yule watched him particularly closely as he disappeared onto the dance floor, and Candy rested her hands on her hot cheeks.
Votra talked about her? To Qaed? What kind of things was she saying? She wasn’t allowed much time to spiral; Xyxy grabbed her hand and dragged her into the crowd, Yule following behind them.
Candy let her thoughts be lost to the rhythmic pounding of the bass-heavy music in her ears.
Xyxy’s hands found Candy’s hips, and she grinned, allowing herself to revel in the wave of affection that washed over her.
Her best friend was hot, the strobing lights reflecting off her sharp features.
Candy draped her arms around her shoulders and leaned in close.
“Thanks for taking me out,” she said, just loud enough to make herself heard over the music. “I love you.”
“I love you more.” Xyxy kissed Candy’s cheek. “I’m so glad you’re here.”