I looked over to the stairs where Alexa and Erica were coming down in their dresses. Alexa wore a flowing coral dress that came down to her feet, with flats on. Erica wore a baby blue romper that made her petite figure have some of the best curves. I could never have pulled it off, so I had found the most ridiculous dress I could in her closet and went with it.
“Ready?” Alexa held my purse out to me. It was more of a clutch that she had put together to match my white accents.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
We made our way towards downtown in the Uber Erica had called for us. Max had offered to send his driver to pick us up, but I wanted nothing to do with a car that could potentially take to me where Greg might be.
I looked up at the club once we were dropped off. The line to get in went around the block. But of course, there was Max standing at the front door waiting for us and the bouncer ushered us into the loud music. I rolled my eyes and looked to Alexa who had this shy smile on her face, like it wasn’t her fault that her husband was standing at the very club I asked him to promise he wasn’t going to be at. I followed everyone in and ignored the groans of the patrons who were left in line behind us.
The club was dark, but lit by a dim blacklight that lit up my whole outfit like the fourth of July. The girls turned around to see what the other club goers were staring at since I was at the back of the group.
“Wow...” Erica spoke first and then whistled low in appreciation.
“Wow doesn’t even begin to describe that.” It was Jack’s turn to comment as we made our way to the bar where the rest of our normal group was hanging at. Jack made his way towards me, bringing me into a bear hug. “He’s an idiot if he doesn’t steal you out of this club so no one else can see you.”
I pulled away and I was thankful for the darkness that hid my rising blush.
“Two shots of Jameson and your best bourbon.” Jack leaned over the counter to place his order, and for some reason it was like we were the most important people in the club because we got our drinks in record time.
“That was fast.” I tried to talk over the music, but Jack leaned in closer so I wouldn’t have to shout.
“That’s Holden, he works at the bar down the road that Chase and I go to sometimes.” I nodded while taking the shot from him. We clinked our glasses together and tossed the Jameson back. The glass was taken from my hand and soon replaced with a glass three fingers full of a dark bourbon. “Don’t drink it all at once now.”
Jack shot me a wink and backed away so that we were now a part of the whole group. I looked around, and the only person who seemed to be missing was Greg.
“He’s not here yet.” Erica leaned down to whisper in my ear. Why wasn’t he here yet? Why would he come alone and not with the guys? Not that I was wanting to see him tonight, since I was supposed to be on the prowl for this date, but curiosity was peaking my interest.
I tried to peek around to the door to see if I could see him coming in, but nothing. I stood in the same spot for almost an hour, hoping and praying that Greg would walk through those doors.
“Sorry, we’re late. Dinner took a little longer than expected.” I heard Greg’s shouts and, somehow, I must have missed him coming in or he had somehow snuck in the back. And then it registered.We’re late.
I looked to his side where a tall blonde was standing. She looked stunning in her fifties-style dress and with her hair rolled and pinned back and bright red lips painted on. My stomach dropped seeing them together— her hand on Greg’s chest with his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
My grip on the glass in my hand felt like it should have broken it into a thousand pieces. All eyes were on me and then back to Greg. The smile on his face was one I wanted to wipe right off.That fucking piece of shit.
“Hi, I’m April.” The girl took her hand off Greg and waved to all of us. Muffled and mumbled helloes circled the group, except when it got to me. I didn’t know what to say, but the smile that was on Greg’s face soon fell as he made eye contact with me.
I licked my lips and shifted my feet, taking another sip of my bourbon before it was about to be wasted. I took a step towards the two and it was almost like the club fell silent. I paid no attention to anyone else, if they were saying something to me or not. My focus was on the April girl and Greg.
“Oh, darling.” I stood in front of them, my full attention on her. It wasn’t her fault she had ended up in all of this, but my temper was mixed with alcohol and I didn’t care at that point. “Bless your heart.”
I held my hand over my heart with a not-so-sympathetic look on my face that was quickly replaced by a knowing smirk. Her face fell and her mouth popped open like she was about to say something. I ignored her and turned on my heels to Greg; I was much taller than him in my heels, so as I looked down on him I felt like a scolding mother, but I wasn’t. I was a scorned lover instead and I wasn’t about to regret what I did next.
“Thanks for the text,” I lifted my glass, and tossed what was left of my drink into Greg’s face and turned to leave, slamming the empty glass down onto the bar. I ignored the yells of my name and slipped out of each hand that tried to grab for me.
I made my way to the dance floor. I needed a way to get rid of this anger that was coursing through my body, because I knew the moment I was alone, it wouldn’t be anger anymore. It would be heartbreak. Greg had done the one thing Tessa had told us not to do. He didn’t communicate with me. He showed up with a woman after going out to dinner with her and then had the audacity to bring her here and introduce her to everyone.
I found the first tall man I could on the dance floor. I grabbed ahold of his shirt and pulled him away from the woman he was dancing with. He didn’t have a ring on and, by the way he looked me up and down and grabbed for my hips, I could tell the woman clearly wasn’t his girlfriend. Even in my heels he had a good few inches on me. My body fell against his, his hard-on grinding against my stomach as we matched our rhythm to the beat of the song blaring through the club.
I turned around in his arms and shoved my ass against his front, sliding up and down. The moan that echoed in my ear just egged me on and I looked up from under my eyelashes towards where I had left Greg. There he was, staring at me with hooded eyes, but April was nowhere to be found.
I opened my eyes, making full eye contact with Greg. I grabbed for the man’s hands that were on me and brought them to my front, setting one on my thigh and the other on my breast. He nudged my head to the side and let his lips linger on my neck.
But, even though there were shivers running through my body, it wasn’t because of the man touching me, but the one staring me down. The one who had my heart and body and knew he fucked up because he was standing off to the side of our group of friends, alone, awaiting his punishment.
I turned around in the man’s arms again and brought my face closer to his. I turned my head around just slightly to see Greg making his way towards us. The man had both his hands on my ass, slightly lifting me off the ground, and his lips were lingering dangerously close to mine.
I was about to go in for the kiss, just to send Greg past the point of no return, but I was ripped out of the guy’s arms before I could do anything more. With one arm braced under my knees and the other securely wrapped around my waist, Greg hoisted me up in a bridal hold. The guy looked on as Greg pulled me closer to his chest where there was no room left between us. The guy tried to take a step towards us, but Greg growled at him. He sounded like a fucking bear, and I knew then that I might have pushed a little too far.
