by DD Prince
Ally obviously wants to play matchmaker with me and Carly and I’m not about to waste the opportunity to use this to my advantage.
“Very.”
Ally: “We’re going clubbing tonight. I’ll tell you where if you promise to bring Austin with you.”
Austin? Does she have the hots for my brother?
“You want my brother?”
He’s not really into girls with Ally’s style. Now Jude? Jude would be all over her.
“Not for me. I want your brother for Meryl. She goes home soon, and I want her to go home with great memories. Stories to tell her grandbabies someday. I’ll get you details of which club we pick and you and Austin happen to show up. Deal? I’m about to hit google for ideas.
I thumb out a reply.
“No idea if he’ll go for her, but I’ll bring him. Talk them into Club Foxxx”
She doesn’t answer immediately. I start typing out a text to Austin.
“Tonight. Club Foxxx. Need a wing man.”
“Going fox hunting?”
“Absolutely.”
I already told him I was heading home to try to get into her pants.
I get a reply from Ally.
“Oooh. Me likey. We’ll be there after 10:30.”
Austin replies.
“I’m down.”
I send one more text to Ally.
“There will be a line. Ask for Carlo. I’ll give him a heads up that a pink pixie will be there with two fine foxes. Make sure the girls dress to the nines.”
“Roger that.”
I send a text to Jude, too.
“Hitting a club with Austin to try to get time with Carly who’s dodging me. You want to come? She has a friend who is 100% your type.”
An hour later he replies and says he’s down.
29
CARLY
The mall was exactly what I needed. I even spent my $100 Amex card on a cute dress for clubbing. It’s a shimmery coral and is going to look great with my rule-the-world lip gloss.
We talk Meryl into a pair of low kitten-heeled red MaryJane shoes that look cute on her and she buys a red dress. It’s slightly on the conservative side but once we’re back at the apartment and we’re all dressed and ready to go, she looks amazing.
Soft curls have been added to her long sheet of silky black hair and Ally has done her eyes in smoky-eye and with the finishing touch of red lips, she’s an absolute stunner.
Ally’s crazy-hot, too. Her pink hair, which is usually wavy and wispy, but has been flat ironed straight, falls over one eye and is tucked behind her ears. She’s wearing a little black dress with a corset top. And heels with laces that go almost to her knees.
My coral dress is fitted, not too short, but it goes over one shoulder only. It makes me feel super sexy.
I’ve had two fuzzy navels before the club, which Ally says she heard has a great vibe and is the perfect place to dance at, when the cab arrives.
As we go through the lobby, though, Seth the security douche is there. He’s usually on daytime hours so I’m surprised to see him on a Saturday night.
He looks at me in an oily leering way and it makes bile rise in my throat.
I look away and head outside with the girls. Ally sticks her tongue out at him and says, “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”
***
“How’d you get us in?” I’m aghast.
Ally has marched us straight to the short line, which we’ve seen is for VIP passes only, and she whispers something in the doorman’s ear, hands him a twenty, and he looks at his list and lets us in, handing her a hard-plastic white square with a number 10 in it, on black.
“We weren’t on that list. I saw someone else try to bribe him and it didn’t work,” I say.
Ally says, “I may or may not have magical powers.”
We make our way through the entrance to the big club, and I take in bodies everywhere. Lights, dancing, and a heavy bass that thrums in my chest.
A hostess looks at the 10 in Ally’s hand and leads the way.
She directs us up some stairs and to an empty booth on the far end.
Not only have we gotten in past a line forty people deep, but we also have a booth. And there’s an usher of some sort, watching the swanky area.
It’s a big booth for just three of us, but we sit down, and the hostess takes our drink orders. Fuzzy navels all around and she won’t take money, telling us it’s a VIP table and it’s covered.
This doesn’t make sense to me and I try to find out why we’re at this table, worrying it’s someone else’s table and they’re going to show up and be angry that we’re here and drinking on their tab.
“Don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth,” Ally urges. “Don’t worry about it.”
She asks for Meryl’s fuzzy navel to be made with half a shot of peach schnapps instead of a full one. We got Meryl to drink a weak one before we came, and she loved it, but I warn her that drinks that taste all fruity like that are dangerous.
“I wanna dance,” I announce after one sip of my drink. I’m ready to dance my cares away. So ready.
30
AIDEN
Austin, Jude, and I head in the direction of table six, the other table I booked for tonight. Table ten is empty, but there are three full drink glasses there. The club attendant is nearby watching glasses, watching peoples’ belongings in the roped-off VIP section.
My eyes skim the dance floor, down in a bowl below the VIP level, which is surrounded by chest-height brass bars that top glass walls. These circle the pit, giving you the ability to watch the dancefloor. I lean against the brass rail and look down.
I see her instantly, shaking that perfect ass, giggling, arms thrown over her head as she talks to that Meryl girl, who looks a little sexed up for the night. Big switch from her usual librarian clothes at the office.
Carly is in a shimmery dress and sky-high shoes. She’s showing enough skin to make my mouth water. Who am I kidding? She made me drool in that fuckin’ onesie.
The girl can move, too.
Meryl is dancing a bit awkwardly, she’s definitely not accustomed to clubbing. Ally spots me and smirks and then elbows Carly and gestures to me.
The color drains from Carly’s face and she freezes.
And then she stomps off the dance floor.
I signal for a drink and wait, seeing she’s not heading for the door. She’s heading back up here.
She’s coming at me a minute later.
“What are you doing here?” she demands.
“Havin’ a drink. I gesture to the table where Jude and Austin sit, looking deep in conversation.
She glances at them and her eyes narrow on me. Suddenly, the girls are behind her. Meryl looks uncomfortable and Ally’s trying to fake surprise.
“How fortuitous! Get your brother and that hottie beside him and join us for a drink.”
Carly’s head spins to Ally behind her and she shoots her a filthy disgusted look.
Ally shrugs and then heads to their table.
I signal to the boys and we move to the girls’ table and introduce Jude to everyone after I hear the tail end of “think you’re doing?” coming from Carly, who is practically hissing at Ally. I wink at Ally and sit down across from her. This puts Meryl across from Austin, Ally across from Jude. Ally and Jude get caught in an eye lock and my eyes move to Carly, who is doing her best to strike me dead on the spot with a dirty look.
A waitress brings over a tray of drinks.
“We didn’t order,” Meryl says.
“I told her to keep ‘em comin’ for all of us.”
“Mine half a shot of the liqueur?” Meryl asks the girl. The girl shrugs.
Meryl tastes it and shrugs.
Carly is shaking her head.
I smile at her. She doesn’t return it.
“So, Jude. Tell me about you,” Ally leans forward, propping her chin on her palm, elbow dug into the table.
Jude’s eyes drop to her cleavage.
“I need a minute,” Ally says, eyes on Jude. Jude gives her a smirk.
“I’ll come,” Meryl says.
“I’ll come, too.” Austin announces.
“I’ll watch,” I say, winking at Carly.
She glares and slides out of the booth. I’m there, waiting to take her hand as she does. She rejects it and storms ahead.
***
She’s doing her best to ignore me. She’s not out there, acting like she’s shakin’ it for me. She looks like she’s trying to get lost in the music, find some sort of escape.
Meryl is looking at my brother like he’s a celebrity as he tries to chat her up while dancing with her. Carly’s beside them but she’s in her own world. She moves with a sultry rhythm that has a lot of eyes on her in that dress, those wet-looking plump lips, that great rack, perfect ass, and mile long legs in those sexy stilettos.
The song Into You comes on and I am transfixed by her. And the lyrics of the intro to the song about wanting to fall in deep.
I watch her move, twirl, smile to herself as she swings her hips, using her palms to move from her thighs, up to her hips, up her torso, and then her hands skim the sides of her breasts as she continues to sway. Her hands land in her own hair and she’s gyrating as the song’s tempo picks up.
And then I see a set of hands on her hips. A set of male hands. A guy has moved in behind her and her eyes are closed, she’s so lost in the music. She keeps moving and it takes her a second to register the stranger’s hands on her. It’s a tall and muscled well-dressed black guy with a goatee. He says something into her ear.
She spins to face him, and he smiles at her and says something else, looking like he’s shouting. She smiles big at him and nods, putting her arms around his neck and they keep moving together.
Does she know him? How could she?
Is she gonna let him take her home just to piss me off, like she threatened earlier?
Fuck this.
I’m on the move. I’m in the thick of the group of people moving, bumping into me, but I have a single-minded focus of getting those hands off what’s mine.
I get there, and I grab the guy’s shirt and haul him away from her.
I see from the corner of my eye, Austin’s face as he moves in closer, probably thinking there’s about to be a brawl on the dancefloor with this guy I just threw to the side. Austin is ready to take my back. I grab Carly by the wrist.
She snaps something I can’t hear over the music, red-faced, and I’m pretty sure I make out the word fuck via lip-reading. She tries to jerk away, so I bend and haul her over my shoulder and the crowd parts as I storm out of there, carrying her.
My brother’s eyes are dancing with amusement, his shoulders bouncing as he’s trying to not bust up laughing.
I get us outside through the back door and now I can hear her.
“…kill you dead, Aiden Carmichael!” She’s kicking up a fuss, literally, with her legs jerking and her body bucking.
I stop and set her on her feet and then I immediately pin her to the wall.
“Kill me? You are killin’ me, peaches. If you don’t come home with me right now and let me fuck you and spank this beautiful ass while I do, I might die from the worst case of blue balls known to man.”
“How dare you manhandle me like that!”
“How dare you try to piss me off by letting some fuck put his hands on you when you know I’m watching?”
“You don’t own me, Aiden.”
I glare at her. I’m still pinning her to the wall.
“Let go of me.”
“Carly, fuck.”
“I don’t want you, Aiden. I don’t even like you. You’re a dick, okay? I don’t associate with dicks. Please stop this bullshit. Are you stalking me now? Have you sunk to that? Do you want me to quit my job and go home? Because, seriously, if it comes to that, not only will I do it, but I’ll hate your guts until my dying day. Please, please leave me alone!”
She looks on the verge of tears, so I let go of her. She stomps down the alley and out to the street.
I bend, putting my hands on my legs, trying to catch my breath, trying to chill the fuck out. It takes everything I have to stop me from following her.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
31
CARLY
It’s Sunday morning. I’m in my bedroom, awake for a good hour, but lying here doing nothing but wallowing.
I took a cab home last night, putting it on my company credit card. I texted Ally from the cab.
“I’m going home. I’ll see you Sunday when I come down to pick up my stuff. It’s obvious to me you were part of that and I’m sorry but you’re in the penalty box for real. This guy is fucking with me LARGE and it’s not funny that you would help him. It’s not even a little bit funny. I just disowned a bestie for fucking me over for years and it still stings. Once bitten, twice shy, sister, so this is your one warning. I am not playing where Aiden Carmichael is concerned. Do something like this again, and you and me are done.”
I’m steaming mad. It feels good to let it out, though.
That guy on the dancefloor shouted to me over the music, “You can move, baby girl. My husband over there don’t dance, so can I dance with you?”
I turned to look at the very handsome tall and built black guy who had a great smile and amazing kind eyes. I nodded. “I’d like to dance with someone who won’t try to take me home, so you are on!”
And then Aiden was there, yanking the guy off roughly and carrying me out of there like a Neanderthal.
It was humiliating. It was mortifying. And today, I don’t even want to get up out of bed.
I’m going to do my laundry and stay here and hide out in my room and watch TV. I’m going to pack for NYC for tomorrow night’s flight and I’m maybe going to do some work, make a game plan for exhibits I want to visit, workshops I want to attend.
There’s a knock on my bedroom door. It gives me a jolt.
Oh, he better not be trying to start something else here.
“What?” I shout.
“It’s me.” It’s Ally.
I open the door. I’m dressed in a one-piece green baggy romper, my hair up in a ponytail, my face make-up free.
She’s in another pair of Tigger pajamas, these ones just cotton, and she has a big bag with all my stuff from downstairs in one hand. In the other hand, she’s got a small lasagna-sized plastic tub with a lid on it.
“I’m really sorry. I come in peace. With cupcakes. Can I come in? My cupcakes are legendary.”
I let her in and shut the door.
“Is he out there?” I ask.
She nods. “He let me in. I read him the riot act about last night. But I don’t think it was necessary. He’s looking full of remorse. Can you forgive me? I was trying to play matchmaker. I have this intuition that never fails me about people. I see you two together. I see it … and it’s perfect. And I was trying to meddle. I saw him carry you out last night and gotta say, at first, I was loving watching him go all caveman. It was smokin’ hot. But then I got your text and… I’m sorry for my part in that. He texted me just before pancakes yesterday and told me he was into you and asked what we were doing last night, and he suggested that club and said he’d meet us there. He said he’d bring Austin for Meryl, because, as you know, I’m trying to orchestrate a match there, too.” She bites her lip. “I don’t see that as a forever. I see that as fun for Meryl. She has a lot of responsibility at home and I just want her to have a laugh before she has to go back. But you two? I see it, Carly and I’m … please don’t be mad at me.”
“Did Meryl put you in the penalty box, too?” I grumble and open the container of cupcakes. They look amazing. There are six of them and they’re piled high with pink frosting swirls.
She shakes her head and then her eyes light up.
“She went home with him.”
I gasp. “No.”
She nods. “I want to gush about it, but you’re mad at me.”
“Go make me a coffee so I don’t have to go out there and see his face and I’ll let you out of the penalty box. But with a warning.”
She raises her right hand and places it over her heart and looks at me with meaning.
“Coffee,” I order.
She claps her hands and dashes out.
I sit down on my bed and pull a cupcake out.
I take a bite.
Heaven.
She’s back a minute later with a cup of coffee. She puts it on my nightstand.
“Oh my God, this is good.” I say around a mouthful of fluffy cake and perfect frosting.
She smiles. “I know.”
“I’d offer you one,” I say after swallowing, “But I can’t. I need all six of these.”
She waves her hand. “I ate three before I came up.” She puts her hand to her belly. “Guilt therapy. Please stop being mad at me. If you want revenge against him, I’ll help you. If you want me to never mention it again, I won’t. If you---”
“Okay, enough. It’s done. I just want to take today to de-stress. Gonna do my laundry and pack for New York and not even think about anything. Revenge isn’t off the table, but there’s also that old saying about digging two graves instead of one before embarking on revenge…”
“Truth,” she mutters.
I pull my suitcase out of the closet and start rifling through my laundry to sort it. I’m sorting it in here. No way am I leaving my panties and bras in the laundry room in case he goes in there.
“So, tell me about Meryl and Ausin after I left.”
“Well!” She claps her hands. “After Aiden and you left, they came back to the table and they were huddled talking for a long time. I was kind of caught up with Jude.” Her face goes pink. “So, she tells me that they’re going for a coffee and she’ll see me at home. Jude and I stayed, we slow danced, and I gave him my number. I took a cab home. Got home and saw I missed a text from her. She said she’ll see me today. She isn’t home yet. I messaged while I was frosting those and asked if she was alive. She replied with ‘alive and well’ and put a smiley face. So… yeah. Looking forward to finding out how that went.”
