Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
“I know, I’m doing it again…” I sigh.
She smiles and pulls me in for a hug. “The guys are gonna love you,” she laughs, jiggling my boobs, which are nearly falling out of my dress.
“Oh my God, stop!” I laugh, reaching for my gray cardigan that’s hanging over the back of my chair. But she quickly takes it from me and tosses it into the closet. “Mara, come on, it might be cold—”
“It’s summer, Eliza,” she replies, taking my hand. “You’re gonna be fine. Now come on. It’s time to go.”
I nearly die going downstairs in this brand-new pair of heels, but I somehow manage to get out to Mara’s Camry without breaking an ankle. Once in, she cranks some house music and guns it out of my driveway, squealing her tires loud enough that it’s sure to wake at least one of my parents.
Thankfully, it’s only a short drive into town, which means I don’t have time to rethink my life decisions. According to Mara, the club we’re going to just opened up and is the new hot spot in town.
When we pull up, I see a cluster of guys standing outside, vaping, drinking, and laughing at each other’s jokes. One of them cat-calls a girl in a pink dress as she walks by. She flips them the bird—something I would never have the guts to do—and they grab their dicks at her in response.
My eyes scan the crowd, looking for just one kind-looking guy, but all I see are wolves. Hungry faces on the prowl, dripping with testosterone.
“What if the IDs don’t work…” I plead as Mara shoves her door open.
“We’ll be fine,” she says. “Stop worrying!”
I feel like I’m stepping into an alternate reality as we make our way down the street and into the fray of bodies. My house is out in the woods, and the town itself is small, so seeing this many people together at one time is foreign to me.
Like many of these guys, my dad spent most of his life working as a mechanic, but some sound investments allowed him to retire early. Now he has his own specialty car business that he runs out of his new garage.
As we cross the street, one of the guys whistles at me. I turn to look at him but see another guy shoving him aside. I only get a glimpse of him from the back, but my heart nearly leaps out of my throat. That man looked just like Caleb.
But it can’t be Caleb. He’s away working on a bridge a few towns over and won’t be back for weeks, maybe even months. My stomach twists. Great, I haven’t even had a drink and I’m already seeing things.
“Good evening, Larry,” Mara says to the guy at the door. He’s massive with a shaved head and a beard like a Viking. “This is my friend, Eliza.”
She gives me the look to get my ID out. I scramble through my purse, trembling as I pull it out and hand it to him. His eyes scan it, and I feel my pulse rise. God, I might just have a heart attack.
“What time do you get off?” Mara asks, her tone flirtatious. “We should hang out.”
I try not to frown. Larry is nothing like Mara’s type. She likes blond guys who look like they just came off the beach in San Diego. Larry almost smiles and hands us our IDs back.
“I get off at one.”
Mara winks and pulls me past him. “I’ll come and find you!”
As we step inside, the music assaults my ears. It’s similar to what Mara was playing in the car but ten times the volume. I lean in and shout at her, “Larry? Seriously?”
Cackling, she shakes her head as she drags me to the bar. “No way! I just said that to distract him so he’d let us in. Men are primitive creatures.”
Lights flash in my eyes, and my eardrums feel like they’re about to pop as Mara rushes me over to the bartender, an inked-up girl with straight black hair and lots of piercings.
“Two vodka sodas with lime!” Mara shouts over the music.
You’ll be fine, I tell myself, taking a deep breath and forcing myself to sway a bit to the beat. All I have to do is relax. Introverts can have fun nights out, right?
Our drinks arrive quickly, and Mara immediately raises her glass for a toast. “To getting the hell out of the house!”
We clink glasses, and I take a sip. My throat burns, and I start coughing like I just inhaled a toxic gas. Mara laughs and pats me on the back.
“Oh my God—” I stammer.
“Your first drink!” she laughs. “Now we’ve just got to get you your first dick!”
“First dick, huh?” a gravelly voice says from behind me. “So you girls are on the prowl?”