He rolled his eyes and leaned forward, grabbing a roll from the basket between us and taking a bite.
“I know what you need. You need a good lay.” He pointed at me, while holding the roll.
I thought about Juliet and just how good that lay had been a few nights ago. I couldn’t place my finger on why it felt different the second time around, but I had never felt that in tune with anyone.Ever.I never wanted to try to make that emotional connection, but my mind and my body, and hell, maybe even my heart were doing it all on their own.
Maybe it was because we had been slowly getting to know each other after spending more time together. All the flirting and peep shows had been mixed in with actually working together, and we did it well. We made a good team. But now…
Now, all that was destroyed by some mystery pain in my ass with a vague but menacing message. I had their email memorized by now, their words leaving inky stains in my brain. They had ruined whatever I had going with Juliet. And my cold demeanorto protect us both had pushed her away. I wondered what she was thinking. Probably that she regretted everything.
“Earth to Chester,” said Will, snapping his fingers. I looked at him and then saw the waitress waiting expectantly in a too-tight corset and pouty red lips.
“Can I get you another bottle of champagne?” she asked, coyly tilting her head.
“I’m good, thank you,” I said with a shake of my head, knowing exactly what was going on behind her playful hazel eyes. It came with the territory of showing up at one of the nicest restaurants in Vegas, wearing an expensive suit, with an even more expensive tab. But I wasn’t interested in taking her back to my suite.
“And you?” she asked, turning to Will, who was in faded jeans and a black short-sleeved tee. I had to pay the hostess a hundred bucks to let him in the restaurant because he was against dress code, and had left his wallet at the venue.
“Nah, I’m good, sweetheart. I can’t get too drunk. I have a show tonight,” he said with a braggy smile.
“A show?” she asked, putting her hand on her hip and eyeing him up and down curiously. “Let me guess what you are…”
“A magician,” I said with a smirk, taking another swig of champagne.
Will shot me a look before turning back to the waitress, who was still trying to put two thoughts together in her too-bleached head.
“A comedian?” she asked.
“I could be. I could be anything you want, sweetheart,” said Will with a shrug.
The waitress giggled, adjusting her black circular tray on her hip.
“Whatareyou?” she asked. “Really.”
“A musician.” He grinned up at her.
“So bad news…” she said with a smile that looked like she was more than okay with that.
“Maybe.”
“I’m watching you,” she said, wagging a finger at him before turning away. “You too,” she added, her eyes landing on me and falling to my lips and lingering a second too long.
“Not interested,” I said bluntly.
She looked taken aback, and with a slightly disappointed look on her face, she turned and sashayed away with a sway of her hips that had Will’s eyes nearly popping out of his head. I rolled my eyes at him. Falling right into her trap.
“Dude, what isupwith you?” he asked, turning back to me. “She was nearly eye-fucking you.”
I waved him off and downed the rest of my champagne.
“Youcan have her,” I muttered, setting a wad of hundreds on the table. “Can we go now?”
“Fine,” said Will, popping one more forkful of lobster into his mouth. “I have to get to the venue anyway.”
We walked out the restaurant and through the sprawling casino that smelled of cigarettes and was chilled to an almost icy temperature. I sulked as we walked in silence. I knew I was moody and taking it out on Will, or anyone else in the surrounding area. It wasn’t fair to my friend, but he was just collateral damage on what felt like a plane going down in flames. I hadn’t told him anything about sleeping with Juliet again, or the borderline threatening email I had received.
“You sure you want to go tonight?” he asked finally, as we exited out the sliding doors and walked out toward the Las Vegas strip that was lit up like a Christmas tree.
“Yeah,” I said, putting on a forced smile. “When was the last time we were in Vegas together?”
