Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Faye
“Please,” I beg. “I know the owner.”
The massive bouncer looks down at me skeptically. “Half the city knows the Lavoie brothers.”
“But I know him, know him,” I say, desperate to get inside.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.
It’s a massive party with a lineup around the block.
It’s already packed inside and this line hasn’t moved in the past forty minutes.
At this rate, it will be Christmas by the time I get in.
“Back of the line,” he says, shaking his thick head.
“You don’t understand,” I say, panicking as an overwhelming sense of dread takes over. “I have to get in there.”
“You and half of Toronto.”
I didn’t want to get too personal, but I’m quickly running out of options. I lean in and lower my voice. “I was… intimate with one of the brothers.”
He raises his giant eyebrow.
“I was intimate with one of the brothers too,” the pretty girl in the white dress at the front of the line says, raising her hand.
“I gave Ryan a blow job,” her friend says, inching forward.
The bouncer tilts his head, giving me a look of pity. “Back of the line, please.”
I huff out a breath and walk back to my spot, which is two-thirds down the line.
“No luck?” the guy saving my spot asks.
I sigh. “None at all.”
I’m shifting from foot to foot, looking around, getting that frustrated feeling while minutes pass and the line remains stationary.
This was supposed to be the night that changed everything. The night where everything was left on the table. The night to stop playing it scared.
But I can’t do any of that if I’m stuck in this freaking line!
I pull out my phone and text Owen for the tenth time, letting him know I’m outside.
The messages get delivered, but it says his phone is on Do Not Disturb mode.
Of course, it is. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Owen Lavoie.
Why would he have his freaking phone on in the middle of a party? That would be crazy.
I groan as I look around, hoping to see Owen walking down the street, or even Ryan or Jason. Instead I see another familiar face walking along the sidewalk and it makes my stomach drop. I feel the blood leaving my face when we make eye contact.
It’s Cassandra.
She’s prowling forward on red stiletto heels, a matching red dress clinging to her hard, toned body. She spots me at once and that bright red lipstick curls up into a wicked grin.
“Oh shit,” I whisper, trying to retreat into the line like that meme of Homer Simpson disappearing into the hedges.
But it’s too late. She’s coming over.
She grins as she stands over me with her arms crossed. “Stuck in the back of the line, eh? I love this for you.”
“I’m trying to get a hold of Owen,” I say, looking at my phone.
“Oh honey,” she says with a pitying look. “You need to stop trying. I’m getting secondhand embarrassment from watching you debase yourself like this. He’s not interested.”
Edward comes walking down the sidewalk a few moments later. He doesn’t notice me. I’m just a commoner waiting in line, so why would he?
“There you are,” he says, wrapping his arm around Cassandra’s. “Ready to go in?”
“Absolutely,” she says, giving me one last triumphant grin. “I definitely don’t want to stand out here with all the unwanted rejects.”
I drop my head and close my eyes as they walk away. The bouncers part and they head straight inside, Cassandra prowling in like she owns the place. I guess at this point, she kind of does.
I clench my teeth as I glance at my phone again. He still hasn’t seen any of my messages.
Maybe I should just go home…
Maybe this was a mistake.
I take a deep breath, settle back into line, and wait a few more minutes.