Page 60 of Revelry

Her expression softens, and I think I see tears prick her eyes, but she bats them away and glares at me. I rake my hand through my hair and sigh. “Shit. I’m sorry, Ali.”

“You know what? It really doesn’t matter. You two can just have this out, roll around on the floor some more, hit one another—fight. Do whatever the fuck it is you rock stars do, but I’m done. I don’t get paid enough to deal with all of the bullshit you boys are bringing. I quit.”

“Ali—” Coop says as I wrap the fluffy blanket around me and gather up what little of my belongings I can find. My head hurts like a bitch, and my stomach is all kinds of twisty. I stare dazedly around the room, trying to locate my things, but even that hurts my brain. I don’t know where my jeans or my shirt, my phone or my wallet went, but I find my lucky red Cons and what I assume to be my room key and I gather them up and head for the door.

“Babe—” Levi says, reaching out to grab my arm, but I yank out of reach and point my finger at him.

“No. Don’t babe me. I’m not your babe.” And because I haven’t quite humiliated myself enough this morning, I turn on Coop. “And you. Fuck you.”

“Nice,” he says and shakes his head.

“Goodbye, boys,” I say, and gather myself together. I wrap the blanket around my body and hobble from the room—yes, you read that right—I hobble, because holy huge dick batman, I feel like I rode a stallion bareback halfway to fucking Texas … which, come to think of it …

Once I’ve slammed the door behind me, I sprint for the elevators—or I try to sprint, but, again with the stallion. I garner several suspicious looks from lecherous old men in the elevator, but this is Vegas, Sin City, where the party never ends.

I get out on my floor and try swiping the key card in the lock, but it doesn’t work on account of it apparently not being my key, so I gather up my blanket and head down to the lobby on the ultimate walk of shame.

“Look, just ring Zed’s room. He’ll vouch for me,” I say to the uppity front desk bitch for the third time, trying to convince her that I’m a guest of Taint, and am not in fact a crazy person. I guess I can’t blame her; the only women walking around this hotel as scantily dressed as I am are the showgirls. I’m beginning to think I need one of those “I’m with the Band” bracelets strapped to my wrist at all times.

The woman purses her lips, probably about as close to losing her shit as her job allows. I’d lose my shit too, if my hair were pulled back so tightly it practically gave me a facelift. She reaches beneath the desk and gives the security button a sneaky little push. I’m engulfed by a huge-arse hug that lifts me from the ground and almost sees my blanket slip down around my boobs.

“There you are, sweet cheeks. I’ve been looking for you all over,” Levi booms, because I wasn’t attracting enough attention dressed only in a blanket. “She’s with us.”

The minty tang of his gum wafts across my face as he leans down and lays a smacking wet kiss against my cheek. “Little underdressed aren’t we, babe? Let’s keep the party contained to our room to reduce fatalities. I don’t want everyone seeing that hot arse stripped bare and sporting my love bites.”

I turn and glare at him in horror, leaning in to whisper, “I better not have hickies on my arse, Levi.”

“Red, I was all over that arse last night. You’d be hard pressed to find an inch of your skin that I didn’t mark as mine.”

“I hate you,” I sneer.

“I’m sorry, miss,” the front desk bitch says, with a saccharine smile. She’s the picture of sweetness now that Mr Fancy Pants Rock Star has shown up. “What room did you say you were in again?”

“1303,” I repeat again, as if she doesn’t know.

“Miss Ali Jones, was it?”

“Yup. Like I’ve been telling you for the last hour, that’s my name.”

“Here’s your new room key.” She smiles and I smile sweetly back, trying to hide the fact that I’m imagining grabbing her by her perfect, sleek blonde ponytail and slamming her perfect Vegas-tanned face into the pristine marble counter until her perfect white veneers crack and go flying. “I’ll add the lost key fee to your room.”

I glance across the vast lobby and see Cooper leaving the hotel, and studiously ignoring me as a barrage of flashes go off.

“Fine. Charge it to the room,” I say to the uppity bitch behind the counter. It’s all on the Taint expenses card anyway, so I don’t really give a shit. “In fact, I feel like celebrating my new-found freedom. Send up a bottle of Dom Pérignon. I could use a good stiff drink.”

“Is that wise, love?” Levi asks.

“And I want pancakes, with those little hash browns you have here, and a fruit platter.”

“Yes ma’am.” Front desk bitch nods as she types my demands into her computer.

“And don’t call me ‘ma’am’. I’m at least fifteen years younger than you.” I snatch the key from her outstretched hand and leave her gaping like a fish out of water.

Levi says, “Cancel the champagne, and here’s a tip for your next spray tan.”

I suppress a laugh, because I am pissed at everything right now: him, Coop, myself, and Levi’s fucking tree limb of a cock because … ow!Jesus Christ, how do other women survive him without a trip to the emergency ward?

“Yeesh, Red, remind me not to piss you off,” Levi says, pinching my arse through my fluffy blanket.

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