Chapter 17 #2
We’re at The Chandelier and I just watched you walk by.
Along with every goddamn man in this casino.
And several women.
HANNA
Come play.
ALWAYS ANSWER
I’m not coming within a ten-foot radius of you until I get some food in my system.
She tucked her phone into her clutch and took another swig from her flask, determined not to think about anyone but the girls in front of her for the rest of the night.
* * *
“This was such a lovely dinner,” Sara said, glowing under the low lights in her white dress. “Thank you girls, so much!”
“I’m ready to shake some ass!” Maricela shouted over her seventh margarita.
“That’s our next stop,” Hanna laughed. She pulled out her phone to send the obligatory Venmo requests, but damn, her vision was already blurred. “What’s twenty percent of whatever this number is?” She held the bill out to Taylor.
“It’s eighty-three,” a low voice boomed over her shoulder. She jumped in her seat, surprised to hear Logan in her ear.
“My love!” Sara threw her arms around Matty’s neck, four tall figures slinking around their table, each a ticking time bomb by the looks in their eyes.
Hanna twisted in her seat, throwing Logan the half-smile she’d practiced all week.
“Thanks, Finance Bro,” she said, signing the receipt.
He pulled her to her feet and wrapped her in a hug while everyone watched. Hanna felt the eyes of every bridesmaid on them and adjusted her face, smiling warmly despite the image of Sloane's perfect highlights in her mind.
“Hannyyyyyyy,” he laughed against her. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Is it?” she asked, sober enough to be confused by the lilt in his tone.
“Of course it is!”
Milo appeared behind Logan and reached for her clutch that sat behind her on the table. He leaned in closer, his heavy eyes dropping to the sliver of black lace peeking out from under the ridiculously low neckline of her red dress.
“What’s up, Arizona?”
“My eyes.” She adjusted the dress, pulling as much of the fabric over her cleavage as she could. His lips spread into an absolutely evil grin as he retrieved the flask from her bag.
“You like?” He took a swig and tucked it back in.
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Local shop. My brother works with them from time to time.”
Hanna pushed her chair back in and he handed her the clutch. He wore all black, a look that did something absolutely tragic to her nerves.
“What are you drinking?’’ Logan asked.
She waved her hand. “Bourbon, you wouldn’t like it.”
“And you would?”
“She’s broadening her horizons,” Milo said, his syllables slipping and sliding.
Two hands landed on the small of her back at the same moment. Milo and Logan both pulled their hands away as if they’d touched a hot stove.
“Oh, good fucking lord,” she muttered.
* * *
“So let me just understand the lay of the land here,” Taylor screamed at her over the thick bass of what might have been the seventh Pitbull song to play since they'd arrived at the nightclub. “Logan is single and clearly trying to make nice. Milo is single and definitely trying to fuck you. And you’re over here with me when you could be grinding up on either one—or both—of them?”
Hanna nodded. “Nailed it!”
“Okay, two things. One, I am so proud and also so disappointed. And two, they’re both heading this way.”
Taylor turned her back and ordered another drink at the bar, but Hanna knew she would be listening to every word. Milo squeezed behind her—tapping her hip as he did—and landed next to Taylor against the sleek black bar top.
“What do you want to drink?” Logan asked, his messy blonde hair longer than she’d ever seen it before. Definitely single.
“Don’t buy me a drink,” she insisted.
“I want to! A peace offering.”
“That’s sweet, Lo, but we don’t need it. Let’s just agree to be friends, okay? No more rehashing the past.”
Milo dropped a glass of something on the rocks over her shoulder. Logan’s eyes slid from the drink in her hand to the drink in Milo’s, and whatever math he did, he didn’t like.
“Friends?” Logan asked.
“Yes, Lo. I’m tired of being enemies.”
“Fine! Okay. But friends dance, right?”
“Oh,” she said, glancing frantically at Taylor.
“I’ll hold your drink, babe! Go nuts!” Taylor grinned and collected glasses from them like trading cards, lining them neatly in a row on a high-top table. Hanna loved her, but in that moment, she could have strangled her.
“You too, big guy!” She pushed Milo—who seemed a little too pleased—in their direction.
Hanna followed Logan toward the dance floor where Sara and Matty had been circling one another for at least thirty minutes. The only person who loved drunk dancing more than Sara was Matty.
Sara spotted Hanna and pulled them to the middle of the floor. The other bridesmaids surrounded them and the boys bopped around behind.
They danced and sang until they were covered in sweat, and for the first time in a really, really long time, Hanna was just having fun. Not worrying about anything—or anyone—else.
That. That was exactly why she’d been looking forward to that weekend. She needed to move her body and shake off some of the shit from that past year. She didn’t even care that Logan tagged along, or that Milo watched. It was just for her.
“We need to get you laid!” Sara yelled over the thumping speakers.
Hanna rolled her eyes, the alcohol settling in. “We really don’t!”
“Please,” she laughed. “Where else do you have a pick of guys who won’t bother you after tonight, and who aren’t at risk for homicide if someone else touches you?” Sara’s eyes flashed over Logan and Milo, who were at opposite sides of their circle, both intently watching them.
“What about him?” Sara yelled, tilting her head toward a guy dancing a few feet away.
He was about as boring as a Vegas club rat could get, but he was dressed nicely and didn’t have a girl clinging to him. And besides, maybe Milo and Logan both needed a reminder that she didn’t belong to either of them.
“Hanna! Come on! Do it for me. When was the last time you even tried to pick someone up?”
She tossed her hair as she danced. “College?”
“Let’s fucking go, Hanna!” Marciela yelled. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, baby!”
Before Hanna could stop her, Maricela shuffled her into the guy behind them, his glazed eyes lighting up at the attention. He wasn’t bad-looking at all—the tall, dark, and handsome type—but he also appeared to be on another planet.
Sara gave her a pleading look, desperate to see Hanna have some fun after watching her mope around those weeks leading up to the trip. She gave in, rotating her hips in his direction, letting him wrap his hands around her shoulders as he pulled her toward him, booze-soaked breath against her neck.
She would not pretend that the contact wasn’t enjoyable. But more enjoyable was the look on the two shocked faces across the dance floor.
While Logan looked decidedly miserable, a spark of something she didn’t recognize in Milo’s eyes intrigued her.
She reached an arm up and touched the face behind her, holding eye contact with Milo the entire time her hips were drifting into the stranger. His hands gripped her thighs and she was sure her dress was riding up, but she didn’t care.
“What’s your name?” he yelled over the DJ.
She shook her head, spinning around to face him and touching both arms as she twisted to yet another remixed pop hit.
“No names,” she said, his eyes widening.
“You’re hot!” he yelled.
“I know!” she yelled back, laughing as he tried to comprehend what game she was playing. She spun again, grinding against him.
“Where are you staying?” he asked against her ear.
“I guess that depends,” she replied, wrapping her hands around his neck. His mouth instantly covered hers. Sara and Marciela both screamed behind her, thoroughly satisfied, but she knew from the second his lips touched hers, it was over.
His tongue slipped into her mouth and it sent her reeling backward.
Shit, is kissing ruined forever?
“Hey!”
“Thanks for the dance,” she called before winding her way back toward Sara, where she was greeted with more screams and laughs.
“What the hell?”He yelled from behind them. Her new friend was definitely not amused with her teasing. She turned back around and shrugged.
“It wasn’t for me,” she said.
“That’s fucked up,” he grumbled, standing over her.
“You’ll get over me, babe. I promise,” she sighed, rolling her eyes.
He moved closer, reaching for her, and she backed up, shocked at the aggression.
“You got a problem, man?” An arm snaked around her shoulders in a motion he’d pulled thousands of times over the years. She glanced at Logan, who towered over the drunk asshole. Even though she knew for a fact he couldn’t throw a punch to save his life, he still pulled off moderately intimidating.
“Yeah, your girlfriend is a whore.” He tried to puff his chest out a bit, but he looked like a child compared to Milo, who popped up on the other side of her.
“What was that?” Milo asked.
He glanced between them and made the smart choice.
“Whatever, man,” he mumbled, disappearing into the crowd.
“Are you okay?” Sara asked.
“I’m fine. Hardly a first,” Hanna said, shaking her head.
Sara grabbed her hand. “Do you wanna go?”
“You stay here! I’m fine. I’m gonna get some food.” She glanced at Milo, his fingertips already grazing her back.
Logan yelled, “I’ll go with her!” at the same time Milo rumbled, “I got her.”
Sara pitched forward, hugging Hanna tightly. “If you have a threesome with them tonight, Taylor owes me fifty bucks.”
“Oh my god, Sara!”
“What? I’ve got a honeymoon to pay for,” she giggled and kissed Hanna on the cheek.
“Come on, Arizona,” Milo said, wrapping his hand around hers and pulling her quickly.
She leaned against his back as he stopped to let someone pass him by, praying Logan didn’t see the way she melted into him.