She smirks. “We can work with that.”
“Har! Seriously! I’m on pain meds!”
“Oh yeah? Good ones?” She waggles her eyebrows.
I bite my lip to stop myself from giggling. “No.”
“Well, then we need to get you a drink.”
“Right, that’s just what I need,” I groan, my voice laced with sarcasm.
“Get your ass out of bed. I brought you a maxi dress to cover... all of this,” she says, motioning to my leg.
I slowly move, and Niko wakes up. He leaps up and whines as he steps on his injured foot.
“Easy buddy. I know how you feel.” I help Niko down and look up at Harley.
“Come on. Your lazy ass slept all day. It’s almost the happiest hour of the day.”
I shake my head and look at my phone again. Shit. She’s right. It’s almost five. Those pain meds must have knocked me out.
I hobble to the shower and turn it on, letting the hot water wake me.
“I’m making you coffee,” Harley yells from the kitchen.
“Feed Niko and let him out,” I yell back as I finish my shower.
I decide to braid my hair in a sexy up-do. Harley comes in and makes me sit on the toilet so she can do my make-up while I sip coffee. Then she hands me the maxi dress. I put it on, and I have to admit, it hides my boot pretty well.
“Just for the record, I still think this is a terrible idea,” I say to her as we throw on coats and walk out to her car. “Where are we going?” I ask.
“Someplace fun,” she whispers.
“Seriously. I’m texting my dad,” I say as I hold out my phone.
“Tell him I’m taking you out, and we’ll be back later,” she insists.
I groan and text him verbatim what she said.
Dad: You sure you’re up for that?
Me: I think so
Dad: OK, then have fun
“Do we have Jim’s blessing?” Harley asks with a smirk.
“Yes, asshat. We have Jim’s blessing.”
“Then, it’s party time!” she yells as she cranks up the music.
I can’t help giggling. “I’ve missed you, beotch!” I shout over the beat of a rock song.
“I missed you, too!” she screams before belting out the lyrics.
We spend the rest of the drive singing along to our favorite songs. It’s like old times. I’d forgotten how much Harley means to me. That sounds silly, but it’s the truth. There’s a lot I had forgotten about over the past few years. Now that I’ve been here for a few days, it’s slowly coming back to me. I guess I always wanted to be someone else. A fancy LA starlet. But really, I’m just a Poconos girl at heart, and I’m beginning to think that’s not a bad thing.
I text Cole on the way to the club, and he agrees to meet me there. I figure it’s a low-pressure way to find out if I want to spend more time with him or not.
Harley lets me out at the door to the bar, and I find Cole standing in the entrance.
“Hey,” I say.
“Geez, you weren’t kidding. You sure you are up for being here?” he asks.
I shrug and smile. “I guess so. I mean Harley dressed me up, so I might as well make use of it.”
He holds out his arm for me that I greatly appreciate because I came without the crutches, which I am not regretting. He manages to get us to the bar and order us a round of a drinks, and then we find a little bar top table in the corner.
“Hold on, I’ll get you a stool,” he says as he walks over to a nearby table. I watch as he talks to two women and then returns with a stool for me.
“Thanks.” I take a seat.
“So, tell me what you’ve been up to,” he says.
I launch into a short version of my life in LA and being back here. He tells me about law school. I’m sort of surprised he isn’t dating anyone.
“I’m surprised you aren’t still with Tyson,” he says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I mean, everyone just assumed you two would be married someday.”
“Really? I didn’t think you knew about Ty and I.”
He shrugs. “I may have kept an eye on you after I graduated.”
My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “You did?”
He nods. “I always keep an eye on any pretty woman that interests me.”
I smile, but inside I cringe a little. Did he just see me as some sort of conquest that he hadn’t gotten to in high school? My creep radar turns on high as I look at him.
“So, no girlfriend for you then?” I ask, trying to change the topic.
“I was seeing a woman I met in law school. But I broke it off with her when I came home. Long distance and all.” He looks out at the dance floor. “You want to try to dance?”
“Uh, sure.” I hobble over the dance floor, and Cole wraps his arms around my waist. I grip his upper arms as we sway to the music. I glance over as Harley makes her way from the bar to the dance floor, holding a cup of something. She gives me a raised eyebrow, but I ignore her.
Cole’s hand travels down to my ass, and I am suddenly very aware that he expects me to do a lot more than dancing. I am very much regretting my decision to ask him to meet me here.
I grab his hand and bring it to the middle of my back. He gives me a smirk.
“Gonna play hard to get tonight?” he asks with a sleezy wink. I step back from him and glare.
“Really?” I respond as I place my hands on my hips. Fuck. My. Life. I decide I need to find an exit for this so-called date pronto.
Tyson
“We need a bros’ night out,” Parker declares from the couch after stuffing his face with pizza.
“I thought we were having a bros’ night in?” I reply from the recliner.
“Fuck that. In ten years, we’ll be super old and not go out anymore. We need to go get the pussy while we still can.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“What? You sayin’ you aren’t gonna be rockin’ some dad bod in a decade?” Parker asks with a laugh.
I toss a pillow at his face. “Fuck you.”
“Come on, there’s nothing good on tonight. Let’s go out.”
“Where?”
“How about Colby’s?”
I let out a deep breath. Colby’s was a bar not far from here. It was mostly locals. Tonight, they had a live DJ.
“Fine, let me change,” I groan as I get out of my comfy recliner.
“Meet me in the car,” Parker yells as he sprints to his room.
Ten minutes later, we’re in the car and heading to the bar. Parker has some sort of disco tech music cranked up and is jamming out, complete with fist-pumping and tapping along to the bass on the steering wheel. I shake my head. He’s a train wreck, but I love the guy.
“Wow! It’s packed tonight! Extra pussy in the house!” he shouts as we pull up.
“Calm down there. Let’s pace ourselves, we have all night.”
“Ty, it’s almost eleven. Let’s get our game faces on!” he yells as we head inside. The bass of the music is already thumping before we open the doors.
The place is packed. The dance floor is wall-to-wall people, and the line to get drinks is at least three people thick. Strobe lights flash throughout the building, and neon lights surround the bar. Otherwise, it’s dark.