I glared at my best friend. “Do I get to shower?”
“Make it quick—military style! I’ve got a surprise for you!”
“More surprises?” I didn’t disentangle myself from James yet. There were just certain things that Raleigh didn’t need to see—even if he had seen it before.
“Yep! You only get married once, Clark. Now IguessI’ll give you some privacy. Meet me downstairs in ten minutes.” When he reached the door, he turned back. “And I’m not afraid to physically drag you out of that shower if you’re late.”
James squirmed beneath me from oversensitivity. “You’re killing me, love.”
I apologized, climbing off him. He sat up and reached for the tissues on the nightstand, grumbling. “I should have suspected something when Angel asked me for a key.”
“Oh, no—you fell for it.”
“Fell for what?” James crawled out of bed.
“The innocent act,” I explained. “You have to be careful around Angel. He’s sneaky.”
James chuckled behind me, following me into the ensuite bathroom. I didn’t think I could be any more astonished than I already was, but I was proved wrong the second I flipped the switch. Bright white light bathed the room, glinting off of sparkling gold accents. Twin vanities with backlit mirrors spanned the wall to our left and as I advanced into the room, my jaw dropped. Black marble walls encased the deep soaking tub and the glass-enclosed shower that could have been a bedroom on its own. A door to the side closed off the toilet.
“Whoa…” I breathed.
James only smiled, reaching into the shower and turning it on. Water burst from the rainfall showerhead, instantly hot enough to start fogging the glass. “Don’t get any ideas, Ryder,” he told me, tugging me into the shower behind him. “I know this place is nice. I don’t want to spoil it by having Raleigh drag us out of it while we’re naked and wet—get that look off your face, we are not doing that!”
“I’m just filing it away for later!”
James shoved me under the spray, combing my hair away from my face to get caught by the water.
At least we were wrapped in towels the next time Raleigh burst through the door. I scrubbed at my hair with a second towel, and James vampire-sped himself dressed.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I scolded Raleigh, who stood in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Like what?”
“Like you and Angel don’t fuck like rabbits. You forget our bar was right under your bedroom. You can hear a lot when the music’s not playing.”
A smug grin curled Raleigh’s lips. “Just get dressed.”
Damn, he was being demanding for a casual night.
Or…
As he drove us to the Hopyard, I started to notice things. He was paying close attention to his phone, and his leg bounced like he’d just snorted espresso. He was scheming something. I peered over my shoulder at James in the back seat, and his narrowed eyes at the back of Raleigh’s head confirmed my suspicions.
The Jenkins men were up to something, but I wasn’t going to ruin the secret.
We pulled up in front of The Devil’s Hopyard, and that familiar buzzing started in my veins—the one I felt when I knew I was in for a wild night.
I loved it. Imissedit. Salem could get crazy, but not as wild as a night behind the bar at the Hopyard. It was one of the most iconic bars outside of the Strip, and thanks to social media, it had only grown in popularity and eventually became a tourist magnet.
I hadn’t been back since the day I laid my vest on the bar top and made the days-long drive to Massachusetts.
Nothing had changed. The exposed brick was still the same dark rust red, splattered with crimson paint to mimic the look of blood. Yellow caution tape crisscrossed the front door, the mock-spiderwebbed glass adding to its spooky nature.
The sign, though dark, still appeared ominous: The Grim Reaper stood over a nest of skulls, the bar’s name spanning either side of the image.
I always thought that returning to Vegas would feel a lot like coming home. For a long time, Vegaswasmy home. After my parents moved away from Salem, Raleigh and the Hopyard became my family. They were everything to me.
But that was before I met James. It wasn’t until he appeared beside me and slid his hand into mine that the scene felt complete.Hewas my missing piece.
