Page 23 of The Stallion
It was the perfect combination of elegance and sexiness. If only—
“Bria!”
“Yes, yes, what? What’d I miss?” I snapped my gaze to meet hers as she sat beside me and peered down at what I had been so focused on before, frowning with concern.
“I said, I hope you’re ready for tonight. We’ve got tickets to Red Magic at ten. The show was sold out, but Mick managed to pull some strings and even got us meet-and-greet passes for after.” Her voice was so bubbly and energetic, the complete opposite of how I felt.
“Red Magic?” I narrowed my eyes at her. “As in—the male revue show?”
“What other Red Magic show is there? Of course, the male revue.” Asher rolled her eyes jokingly and palmed her forehead as if I were stupid. “Look, I said what I said on the drive here.You, Miss Dark and Twisty, need some girl therapy, and the best kind comes from the men in that show.”Again, with the Grey’s Anatomy references…
I still wasn’t convinced that gawking at rock-hard abs was worth the effort or that it would make me feel any better, especially when you can’t take them home at the end of the night.
“How would you know that? Have you ever been to one of their shows before?”
“I’m not going to answer that question.”
“So—yes?”
Asher and I had only been to Vegas a handful of times. We’d never bought tickets to one of their shows—probably because I waswith Connor and knew he’d find it entirely inappropriate, maybe even bordering on cheating…
“It's going to be an amazing show. That’s all you need to know, and that's all that matters—Oh! We might even find you a man to hook up with in the process.”
“I’m pretty sure that not a single one of those incredibly hot men are interested in‘hooking up’with one of their customers… Plus, most of them are probably already married—or gay. Did you forget about that?” I glanced back down at the bride and groom, my stomach hurting at the sight.
“You never know.” She sang with a high-pitched tone. “Besides, it never hurts to try. You’re hot, single and ready to fuck, so what’s the worst that could happen?”
I’ve asked myself that very same question several times throughout this trip, and I’m still terrified to find out the answer.
“Fine, but you’re not playing matchmaker while we’re in there.”
“Deal!” Asher nodded in satisfaction and a glimmer of hope before standing from the table. “It’s getting late, and we still need to meet Mick and Natalie for dinner before the show. We should probably head back to the hotel to get ready.”
“Let me guess, are you going to dress me, too?” I mocked, batting my eyes while slinging my belt bag across my body and following her as she exited down the steps of the bar.
“If you wear what you’re wearing now? Yes.”
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing now?” I held my hands out at my sides and looked at her with confusion.
When we left the hotel this morning, I thought we decided to relax and just go with the flow. So, naturally, I went with black yoga shorts, a bright pink crop top, and white sneakers.I actually loved this sporty, chill look.
Although I did pass on doing my makeup, throwing on a pair of cheap sunglasses instead to cover my tired eyes, and then I spun my hair up into a messy bun instead of styling it.
“You look like you just went through a bad breakup… with the hair, puffy eyes, and half-assed, lazy girl look—”
“Because Ididjust go through a bad breakup—and only a few days ago, I might add. Unless you’ve already forgotten the reason why we’re here to begin with.”
“Yeah, but this isn’t the Bria I’ve come to love. Where’s that fire, the bite, the ‘fuck you’ attitude that you used to flaunt before he came along? I know you just lost a piece of yourself, but that doesn’t mean you should let him break you entirely. Besides, webothknow you’re the sun.”
Maybe she had a point…
I was going a little overboard in the ‘I no longer give a shit’ department.
Over the years of being the girl who needed to impress everyone around her for the sake of her boyfriend, I lost sight of who I was.
“Ugh. Sometimes, Ash, you can be such a bitch… but the kind a girl needs and loves. Fine, I’ll dress up tonight—for you.” I rolled my head back with a sigh of defeat and continued down the rest of the steps behind her until we had reached street level.
“Fabulous. Now, let’s get out of this heat. These patio fans are doing fuck all for cooling me off. I need air conditioning.”
