15 Kimber
“Are you… lost?”
Laci tilts down the studded glasses she’s wearing, eyeing me over the rims. “You do live here don’t you?”
I just keep staring at her, because this is surreal. Beside her is another girl I rarely speak to at Sins, Anita, who’s holding a shiny pink duffle bag and looking as uncomfortable as I feel.
“How did you get my address?” I ask, still looking between the two of them. I know they’re friends; I’ve seen them wandering around the club together when they aren’t with their partners. I think they were friends before S&S too.
“You can thank Tyson for that,” Anita pipes up, still looking between us.
Her hair is pulled back tight in a bun, and she’s wearing scrubs.
I want to say she does something in the medical field, but to be honest, I can’t remember if we’ve ever even spoken to each other. “He said you needed a girl’s day.”
“How did-”
I cut myself off and groan. Rich. I haven’t seen him in the few days since Euphoria, our work schedules clashing, and I had resigned myself to binge watching TV and sitting with Brutus whenever I’m off the clock.
And drinking… something I think will send Rich over the edge if he finds out. Realistically I know I shouldn’t do it, and he’s mentioned vaguely several times that he doesn’t approve, but I can’t stop it.
Now that I don’t have the distraction of the club, I just have work and my thoughts. When my thoughts can’t be silent, I drink.
Thank god I decided to not do that twenty minutes ago before these two showed up.
“Apparently Tyson doesn’t think he qualifies for a girl’s day,” Anita says, shrugging. “He and Russell had a whole argument about it. I didn’t realize Tyson did girl’s days.”
I blink at her. “Uh, I only did a girl’s day with Tyson once. He bought a fuck ton of clothes at the mall.”
Laci snorts, tapping her nails on the doorframe. They’re still standing out in the hall. “Charming. Can we come in now?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I think of the lackluster decor and the cramped little space. Don’t these two live with their partners now? The memberships for S&S are expensive, and a lot of the members work lush jobs.
Well, kind of. Emilio’s a bodyguard, which I believe served Laci very well in the past. Russell does tech work, so he’s kind of in everyone’s business. That’s part of the reason I know him better than Anita.
Glancing at their arms, I realize they came more than prepared. Who told them what the plan was here? Laci has a little rolling suitcase with her in the same shade of pink as her heels, and it matches the duffle bag Anita’s holding. I think that might be Laci’s too.
“Um, I guess,” I say, stepping back. Sitting around in sweats without brushing my hair suddenly feels like a bad idea as the two of them walk in.
Laci’s heels click on the tile in my kitchen, and Anita’s wearing sensible white sneakers.
They contrast each other in a way that’s almost comical: Laci’s tall, wearing stick-thin stiletto heels and a pink outfit that, paired with her beach blonde waves, gives her a very Barbie persona.
Anita wears glasses and has short dark hair, and generous curves that fill her out in all the right places.
Laci’s skin has a hint of red from being out in the sun too long, and Anita’s tawny skin has zero blemishes and compliments her hair.
Somehow they are polar opposites and still manage to fit together.
I shift away from them as Laci takes charge and begins putting things down in my little kitchen. I cross my arms protectively over my chest, unsure if I want them to leave or if I should just get out of here myself.
“You can stop looking like we’re going to attack you,” Laci says, pulling her hair back. “Girl’s day is supposed to be fun.”
“Usually people know they’re going to have a girl’s day,” I grumble. Anita drops the duffle bag, shoots Laci an annoyed look, and slumps in the nearest chair. “What’s all this?”
Laci clicks her nails on the table top before wiggling her fingers at me. “Let me see your nails. What do you prefer? Polish? Acrylics? I’m supposed to be working on dips.”
I give her my hand, staring at her like it’s a foreign language. “What?”
“Nails,” Laci says, glancing up. “How do you like them done?”
“You do nails?”
“I graduated just before summer,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows at me. “I have a booth at one of the local salons downtown. Foot traffic through there is amazing. I get so many damn tips. But I have a hard time squeezing people in since there’s so many walk-ins.”
I’m not sure why this is important at all. I glance at Anita, who’s working her hair out of the stiff bun, and she grins at me. “It’s me, I’m people. Laci has owed me a haircut for a month now.”
“And I’m definitely getting to that,” Laci says, digging out a bag from inside the suitcase. “So, we’re doing nails. I’ve seen your nails done before at the club. You like nails, yeah? I can do any set you want. Pick something hard. It’ll give me practice.”
I just keep staring at her, like I’ve stepped into another reality. I’ve avoided Laci for months since she started going to S&S with Emilio. I wanted him at the time, couldn’t have him, and made a string of bad decisions following that.
I step back automatically from her when she reaches for me, thinking of when she saw me at the club. Saw me with him.
“So I can be your guest,” Jonah says, gripping my wrist as we walk into Sins. I shoot him a knowing grin and nod, bowing my head longer than I really need to. His attention is totally focused on me and I’m drinking in the attention. “They don’t care about my info?”
“You passed the background test,” I remind him, reaching across with my other arm to rub his bicep.
I love that he’s so tall, so big. I have this thing for ridiculously tall men.
“An alias is at your discretion, but you don’t have to actually pay the membership fee until after your second visit. Until then it’s a trial period.”
He gives me a sly grin, moving his hand from my wrist to my back so he can tuck me into his side. “Don’t worry babe, by the time we reach the second visit you’ll be begging me to come again.”
I don’t know if that’s an orgasm joke or not, but I laugh anyway and smile at him. He fingers the lanyard around my neck with his free hand for a moment, before reaching back up to grip my hair. I follow the pull of his hand, giving him the smile I know he’s seeking.
We recently met at another club called Feel Good. I told him there were better places, so now we’re trying Sins. I know he won’t be disappointed here.
“Be good babe,” he tells me, tightening his hand, “obey, and we’ll be so good together.”
I want to ask him what that means, but his hand slips out of my hair and I look up. I told him we could explore while there’s a show in the theater, but when I look in that direction my heart stutters and stops.
Laci. And Emilio. I shouldn’t lust after the guy when he’s clearly disinterested, but my eyes linger on him despite myself. I try to step into Jonah’s grip, to show off a little, but his arm doesn’t even wrap around me.
Uncertainty pricks at my mind. Is he suddenly so distracted by Laci that I'm no longer important? I don’t know if my pride can handle losing two men to her in less than two months.
"Oh," Jonah says, surprised to see them. He looks between me and Laci like he’s not sure who he should focus on, and my stomach hollows. I’m not even good enough to keep his focus when I invited him to the damn club. "I didn't know you came here, Laci."
Laci leans away from him and into Emilio, who’s glaring daggers at Jonah. Em raises a brow, waiting to see what Jonah’s going to do next. With the way the three of them glare at each other it hardly feels like it matters if I’m standing here or not.
Something in Jonah’s eyes goes dark when he stares at Laci again, and finally his arm tightens around me. His voice is cold when he speaks. "So you two are together now."
Laci digs her nails into Emilio’s arm. Her voice is strong when she speaks, even if she looks like she’d like to curl into Emilio’s body and hide from this entire situation. "We are. Now pay attention to your partner. She’s looking a little rejected."
Surprised, Jonah glances down at me, and I try to not feel as put out as I do. I don’t look away from him as the couple moves on, and Jonah’s frown deepens.
His hand is back in my hair before I can process it, his grip tight as he tilts my chin up. “Sorry, babe. Just a little surprise is all. Why don’t you show me where the best tools are for some impact play, hmm?”
“Are you okay?” Laci asks, jarring me from the memory. She’s still sitting there, holding a nail file, looking at me with a frown.
I stumble back another step, and I can feel Anita’s eyes on me too. But I can’t look away from Laci. “You knew him.”
“Who?” she asks with a frown.
Just say the name. They don’t know. I swallow, tightening my arms around myself. “Jonah.”
She scoffs. “Ew, don’t tell me you’re still letting that prick drag you along? I can’t remember the last time I saw him so I’m assuming you came to your senses and realized that he’s a dickhead, right?”
My hands are sticky from the blood, even when the paramedics make me get up. It’s all red. “Yeah.”
“You don’t look so good,” Anita interrupts, shooting Laci a look. She drops her voice a little when she continues. “I told you showing up and forcing people to be your friend is awkward as hell.”
“This is how I deal with everyone,” Laci says, looking between us. “People typically feel better after self care. That’s the point.”
“Well we should’ve called first,” Anita hisses, before looking back at me and forcing a fake smile. “Or we could’ve just asked Tyson to call I guess. That would have been a good idea.”
“Well, we’re here now,” Laci counters, shooting me a look. I can’t tell if she’s annoyed or concerned, but there’s a headache forming and I can’t quite focus on her. I press one hand to my chest. “We can’t exactly have a redo.”