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And now, I may be looking at the best one.
CHAPTER 14
FIA
“This place is unreal!” Shannon shouts over the loud music as we slip into the VIP section.
“It’s beyond. Did you check beside us?” Sean’s eyes flicker to the men at the table next to ours, looking right past me.
If anyone is going to find a hot man in a crowd, it’s always going to be Sean. My eyes follow his, but the men beside us only make the cautious wall I have up rise even higher.
The club is really fucking beautiful, don’t get me wrong. If I was with friends from home, I’d be soaking in the atmosphere. The music is perfect to dance to, and the sexy ambiance is top tier, but watching everyone around me like a hawk strips the fun out of what’s supposed to be a carefree evening.
Shannon reaches for the expensive-looking bottle of vodka that was waiting for us at our table and begins pouring shots.
“Holy shit, this is from our pilot!” she screams once she reads the note beside the bottle.
I feel my temper flaring. Is he fucking everywhere?
“I’ve got to run to the restroom. I’ll take mine when I get back,” I call out, needing a moment of silence.
“Oh, no, you’re not.” She yanks my elbow, stopping me in my tracks.
Shoving the clear glass into my hand, she gives me a sleazy nod. Thinking, I tap my shot with the rest of the group, letting the burning liquid shiver through my body.
Okay, maybe I needed that.
The thump of the club jolts through my heels and up my calf muscles as I begin my walk off the VIP platform. I thought coming out tonight would feel like a celebration, but the last time I went somewhere to celebrate, my night took a turn for the worse. I go out still, but only where I’m comfortable. I feel too anxious to be in spaces I can’t control.
I don’t know why I felt this would be any different.
“Fia, when you come back, will you bring some tequila shots?”
Shannon gives a gimmicky smile that releases before she can even turn in the other direction.
“How many?”
“Like, ten, your treat.”
My smile fades along with her façade. Nodding, I turn my back to her, unable to give an adequate answer. I saw how mischief gleamed in her eyes.
I knew coming out tonight was going to be a gamble. Shannon doesn’t actually like me, but after today, she knows she has control over me. Knows for any minor inconvenience, I’ll bend to placate her. Change myself to avoid the friction.
Inviting me wasn’t genuine. It was tactful.
Scooting past the table beside us, I mumble several “excuse me’s” to the men crowded into the small booth. Regret tightens at the base of my throat as I hold my breath past them. I shouldn’t have worn something so revealing.
“Sorry, excuse me,” I gripe, panic watering my eyes as my pulse thunders in my ears.
By the time I reach the stairs, the front of my body is toward the last man standing in the way of the exit. My feet drag as I approach him. Giving him my backside when there isn’t much covering it feels risky, but so does the front.
I make a fast decision and let the front of my body face his, looking down at my feet as I pass.
“Mmm, you can pass through anytime,” he mumbles.
When his arm trails just briefly past my hip bone, my insides jolt. The grime of his words makes me shudder as I rush past him to find the restroom. His objectifying feels all too familiar. The music pumps louder with every step, the lights flashing, all of it making me dizzy.
“Do you know where the restroom is?” I ask a woman walking toward me in a dark hallway, but her answer comes out as a mumble. I’m unsure if it’s because of her impaired state or mine.
