Chapter 48
Calvin
Ilean back against the leather couch of the booth, draping my arm across it with my glass of bourbon in hand. Paul dragged us all to, what he refers to as, a ‘gentleman’s strip club’, but there is nothing about the way any of them are conducting themselves that can categorize them as such.
I was never a strip club kind of guy. I’ve only ever been to one once before when my cousin got married, but other than that, I never frequent them the way others did. Paul has disappeared to the back with one of the dancers and Kenneth is being attended to by a private dancer. Nothing about the environment makes me want to stick around. In fact, I am quite antsy and ready to leave since all I can think about is Nikita.
There is no one else that occupies my mind the way she does.
I have spent the last day wrapped up in her in every way possible, and all I want to do is to return to that. I can’t shake the way she feels beneath me as we fuck or the way she’d dig her nails into my skin as my name falls from her lips when she rides out her climax. I am bombarded with fresh memories of how she laughs when I make a lame (her word, not mine) joke or the emotion-filled look her eyes get when she speaks about the deeper secrets of her heart. I am far more interested in finding more ways to see that smile of hers than I am being here. While most of the guys here are happy to ‘escape’ their significant others, I want nothing more than to escape this party.
I glance at my watch, contemplating whether I’d be successful with an Irish goodbye. It is approaching one in the morning and although that is usually the time people would go out here, I am ready to catch a cab back to the hotel.
“Do you have somewhere to be?” One of the red-haired dancers drop down next to me on the couch, peering at me with a pair of big blue eyes.
“Yes and no.”
Her lips pull into a smile as she drapes her one leg over the other. Her nose and cheeks are littered with freckles and objectively, I can acknowledge that she is pretty. Her body is barely covered by a silk, black dress.
“You want to come to the back with me?” Her voice drops low and seductive as her arm drapes over the chair, her fingers brushing over my hand.
I bring my drink to my lips and down it, moving my arm from her touch, “No, thanks.”
“No?” Her eyebrow jerks up before she exhales in relief, “Thank God, ‘cause I’m exhausted.”
I lean forward and place my empty glass on the small, round table in front of us as I laugh, “At least you’re honest.”
I am the only one left at the booth as the others have scattered across the club. Some are taking advantage of the buffet, others have their eyes glued to the stage and both Kenneth and Paul are still in the back. There is something about that that doesn’t sit right with me. Like his brother, Kenneth embraces the environment. While Paul is a single man and can do what he wants, Kenneth is getting married in two days.
“You got a name?” The red-head asks.
“Calvin, you?”
“Sheree.” She extends her hand to me, “Good to meet you.”
I shake her hand briefly before she rests her elbow on the back of the couch, leaning her head against her hand. “You don’t look like you’re having a good time.”
“Neither do you.”
She laughs, “This is work, baby cakes, you don’t always enjoy it.”
“Fair enough.” I shrug, “I have somewhere else I’d rather be.”
Sheree narrows her eyes on me, a smile on her lips as she correctly deduces what I am thinking. “What’s her name?”
“Nikita.”
“Pretty name.”
“Pretty name for a pretty lady.”
Our attention turns to a stumbling Joshua, Kenneth’s cousin, as he reaches the booth. Leaning over, he reaches for the bottle of tequila that sits in the ice bucket on the table. He points at me. “What are you sitting around here for, Rhodes?” He twists open the lid of the bottle, extending his hand to give it to me, “Drink.”
“No, thanks.”
“Fine.” He takes a big sip, his face pulling in disgust as he places it back down, glancing over at Sheree, “Let me buy you a dance from this beauty then. Maybe that’ll wake you up.”
With a deadpan expression, I respond. “I’m good.”
“Then maybe I’ll buy myself a dance.”
I lean over and pick up the bottle of tequila, giving it back to him, “Or maybe you should go find the groom and get him to do another round of shots.”
His short attention span has this working in my favor, “Fuck yes.”
He grabs the bottle from me and stumbles towards the back. With the way Joshua is slurring his words and barely able to keep himself up straight, I figure I’d save Sheree from having to do anything to him.
“I owe you for that,” Sheree says, “The drunk ones are the worst.”
I rest my head back against the couch and turn to her, “I’d stay clear of our entire group then.”
“Thanks for the heads up.”
Shrugging, I grab my phone from my pocket, unlock it, only to be reminded that I don’t have any connection. There isn’t much of a bachelor’s party left with the way everyone is off doing their own thing and I am ready to leave. Hell, I was ready to leave as soon as we arrived.
“So, where is your girlfriend tonight?” Sheree asks.
“Bachelorette party.”
“You think she’s having as much fun as you are?”
I chuckle at the thought of Nikita having to be exposed to a night out with the likes of Kendra and Violet. “Probably.”
“How long have you two been together?”
Technically, we aren’t together, but there is no point in getting to all that with a stranger.
“Not long, but I’ve known her for years. I’m good friends with her brother.”
“Dating your friend’s sister? Nice.”
Since Jay is usually very protective of his little sister, he obviously didn’t see me as a threat by bringing her to Portugal with me. He was convinced that Nikita and I would never happen and to be honest, I don’t think anyone could have seen this coming. Hell, I was convinced that she and I would be a disaster waiting to happen, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
“I’ve always wanted a brother for that exact reason,” Sheree continues, getting comfortable on the booth with her legs now tucked underneath her. “Dating his hot friends? Count me in.”
“I’m not sure Nikita felt the same,” I say with a chuckle.
“No?”
“We never used to get along,” I explain, “She was the one person who had this innate ability to get under my skin.” I shake my head, a smile spreading on my lips at some of the memories of our previous interactions that, looking back, can be categorized as pretty childish. “She’s ridiculously stubborn and opinionated, but those are some of the things I enjoy most about her now.”
I am not sure why I am speaking so openly about Nikita to a stranger, but it feels good. Everything that used to irritate the shit out of me about her has come to be the things I enjoy. Beneath what she shows on the surface is a woman I hadn’t anticipated finding. Someone compassionate, thoughtful, and confident but not without those pesky little voices of doubt that creep up on her when they have no reason to. I’ve learned what makes her tick, what makes her laugh, and all the little things that make her who she is. There is so much more to her and I want to spend all my time learning all of it.
I never want to stop learning all there is to learn about Nikita.
Sheree’s laugh brings me out of the thoughts I hadn’t even realized I had disappeared into. “Wow, now that look right there.” She points at me, her eyes narrowing playfully, “You don’t see that in here a lot.”
“What look?”
“Of a guy in love. Guys come in here all the time, and I’ve seen all the looks there are to see, and trust me some of-” Sheree’s sentence trails off as her words repeat in my mind.
Of a guy in love.
In love? No - I’m not in love… right? How does one even know that? If you ask anybody how they know, the answer is usually ‘you just know’.
I’ll take vague as fuck for ten points.
But something about the possibility of loving Nikita sends a rush of exhilaration throughout my chest, zapping through my veins and reaching every part of my body. I am aware I have feelings for her. Very real - not fake at all - feelings for her, but love? Can’t be.
I turn to Sheree, cutting her mid-sentence while she is rambling on, “You think you can help me call a cab to get out of here?”