CHAPTER 10 BEN
I jolt when I feel the bed shift beside me, but I don’t bother opening my eyes just yet.
I really should’ve listened to my dad about that whole behaving thing.
“Hey, baby. Ready for another round?” A woman’s voice is too close to my ear, and my eyes pop open. It’s then that I realize I’m not even at home.
And I’m definitely still drunk.
Fuck.
I glance at the clock, and it’s a little after three in the morning. I need to get home, get some sleep, and take care of Buddy in the morning before I head out to party all day.
The woman starts shifting down, down, down, and while normally I would never reject those sorts of advances, I really do need to go.
I also need to conserve some energy for the Pool Party.
“Sorry, babe, but I need to run.” I leap out of bed and pull on my jeans, and I locate my phone in the pocket. I order a Lyft after confirming this chick’s address.
“You sure you need to go?” she pouts, and I look over at her.
She’s pretty. Physically, she’s just my type—under twenty-six, long blonde hair, big tits, a sweet little ass. But there’s something about her that makes me feel like this is all wrong.
All the beer I had at the club tonight is clouding my judgment, though. I can’t figure out why it’s wrong.
Once I’m in the Lyft, my thought process hasn’t changed. Maybe I’m just getting too damn old for this shit, but it’s my brand at this point. How do I just…stop?
I blow out a breath and turn my attention out the window. I’m almost home. I shift my focus to the Pool Party.
Everything’s all set. I didn’t have to do any of the work, really. I just tell my people what I want and hand over some cash, and they make it happen. I’ve got a rapper swinging by, a couple local bands coming to perform, and a big headliner who will take the stage once the sun goes down.
Once I’m home, I get enough sleep to eliminate the drunkenness from last night. I’m a little groggy, a little slow, so I grab a morning soda from the fridge since I’m too lazy to make coffee. The caffeine isn’t strong enough, so I skip to an energy drink next.
That helps a little, and some scrambled eggs and bacon help, too, along with a few handfuls of cereal, but I still have a bit of a hangover. I feel like this is the first sign I’m getting old. I can’t handle the morning after a raging night like I could in my twenties.
How much did I drink last night? Who knows, but the cure is to start drinking again.
My dad comes by to pick up Buddy with another warning to behave myself, which I brush off with all the other warnings as I hold up a beer can to prove just how much I’m listening, and then I’m on my way toward Caesar’s in a different Lyft since obviously driving myself isn’t an option.
I pull up to valet and make my way through the hotel.
I’m stopped and recognized a few times on my trek toward the pool, so I sign some autographs and pose for pictures.
I answer questions about what I’m doing here, and then I finally make my way to where the party is being held.
When I get there, I find a burly guy posted by the gate into the Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis where my party is taking place today.
“Hey, I’m Ben,” I say.
He doesn’t say anything but opens the gate for me. I walk through it and take a look around the area that already has a bunch of gorgeous women waiting for my arrival.
I draw in a deep breath of the Vegas air as I think about how this really is the life, and some guy in a suit walks up to me.
“Ben, good to meet you,” the suit says. “I’m James, the manager here.”
We shake hands, and he takes me on a tour of the pool area and gets me a drink.
Everything is set. I don’t just throw parties for the hell of it—I throw them to raise money for a good cause, and today’s cause is the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
There are plenty of opportunities for attendees to donate today, whether it’s auction items that’ll go online later, drinking their asses off since I’ve already paid the bar tab and every dollar collected will go to the cause, or just monetary donations at different stations set up throughout the area.
I toss my shirt into my private cabana, and then the pool starts filling with more guests.
All women are allowed in, but the men have to be invited.
Each of my buddies is allowed to bring a friend or two with him, but otherwise, we’re filling the place with chicks.
My friends with padded bank accounts always open their checkbooks to donate because it impresses the ladies in attendance to see them giving to a good cause.
And as I mill around the crowd, well, mission fucking accomplished. The pool area is already filled with gorgeous women everywhere. Tits hang out of bikini tops and bottoms barely cover asses. There must be four or five chicks to every dude here.
I’ve got a beer in my hand, sunscreen on my body, and I’m laughing with friends as I greet them upon arrival. The music is pumping and hot women roam about.
It’s fucking heaven in here, and somehow it turns even more blissful as I spot a gorgeous girl from behind. She wears a black bikini held up by big gold rings on the hips, and my immediate urge is to stick my tongue in those rings.
My eyes travel down toward her ass. Holy fuck. I could bounce a quarter off that peach.
I see that she’s talking with my buddy Luke, so I head in that direction to say hello and introduce myself.
And when she turns to the side and I see who it is for the first time, I’m in for a real shock.
It’s fucking Kaylee Dalton.
Holy smokes.
But she’s too young and too, um…related to my best friend.
Unlike the girl from last night whose name I don’t remember, Kaylee Dalton most definitely isn’t my type.
Okay, fine—that’s not exactly true. She’s under twenty-six, which means she’s still in it to have some fun.
My incredibly scientific research has told me twenty-six is the golden age when women start to long for the sort of future I’m unable to give.
She’s got nice tits and a real fine ass.
Her hair isn’t blonde, but it’s long and wavy and a gorgeous shade of brunette that shimmers with golden streaks in the Vegas sunshine.
And she’s got these big blue eyes that seem so innocent until they connect with mine…and then it’s like I can see the wicked thoughts she’s having. There’s nothing illegal about hooking up with her now apart from friendship and teammate laws—the only two laws that really shouldn’t be broken.
Just because they shouldn’t doesn’t mean they won’t. I mean, laws were made to be broken. Right?
So even though she’s probably off-limits, I continue in my trek toward them just to be friendly. I like to touch base with everyone who attends my parties, and I’m still sober enough to make the rounds.
Luke and his wife stand beside Kaylee, and my mirrored sunglasses cover the fact that my eyes are staring at Kaylee’s hot tits.
“Everybody having a good time?” I ask, holding up my beer.
Shit. That same smell of hers I would know anywhere since I sit next to her every Monday night wafts to my nose. She’s different. She isn’t the dirty vanilla and baby powder strip club smell that came off that chick last night—that smell that comes off most of the women I hook up with.
She smells like a sunny morning mixed with apples and I want to take a bite of that peachy ass.
I wish I was wearing something besides fucking swim trunks because I can’t exactly hide the monster when he finds something interesting, and he’s very interested in that black and gold bikini and what it would look like on the floor with its owner writhing naked beside it.
Luke nods and holds up his beer, too.
“Thanks for having us,” Ellie says. “This is amazing.”
I nod. “Enjoy yourselves.”
I slip away before I start flirting with Kaylee, because I know it’s coming and then it won’t be long before she is coming and then I am coming and then if Jack finds out, he will fucking kill me for sleeping with his little sister who’s an entire decade younger than me.
I glance around.
He’s not here yet.
Still, though…the sister is off-limits.
Right?
I chug the rest of my beer and grab another one.
We’ll see.