Page 4 of Joyride
What the hellare they doing here? Better yet, what ishedoing here? I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. How did Sketch know I was here? That means Shade knows I’m here. And if he knows, it’s only a matter of time before Zack finds out. Shit. I’ve only been here for a few days. I don’t want to leave already.
“Holy shit! Did you see those guys that just walked in,” Aria asks. “Fucking sexy!”
I shrug. “They were alright.”
“Alright? Are you kidding me? They’re practically gods,” Harper says. She glances past me and lets out a heavy sigh.
“I’d let all four of them have their way with me,” Aria states.
I roll my eyes. “Tonight is supposed to be a girls' night. No boys allowed.”
“I’m with Wren on this one,” Elena says. “I’m so over guys at the moment.”
Elena recently found out her boyfriend cheated on her, so I don’t blame her for not wanting to be around guys. I throw my arm around her shoulders, giving her a quick hug.
“I’m gonna run to the bathroom,” I tell them.
“I’ll come with you,” Elena says. I walk the long way to the bathroom, avoiding Sketch’s table. Elena doesn’t say anything until we’re in the bathroom.
“You know those guys.” It’s a statement, not a question. She has always had good intuition.
“Yeah, I do,” I admit.
“They aren’t the ones you’re running from, are they?” I lift my head, my eyes meeting hers in the mirror. Her expression worried.
“No, definitely not,” I assure her. She lets out a soft sigh and her shoulders relax. I turn my gaze to my reflection. I’m wearing more makeup than I usually wear. Aria helped me hide the bruises because I had no idea where to even begin.
I went to high school with Aria, and while we went our separate ways after graduation, we always stayed in touch. I came to New Orleans to visit her the summer before I met Zack. That’s when I met Elena and Harper. I planned to stay a couple of weeks and ended up staying for a month. I contemplated moving out here, but my brother had just moved to Texas and I was already enrolled for classes that fall.
The first thing I did when I got here a few days ago was have Aria dye my already blonde hair to an ashy blonde. Starting a new chapter in my life deserves some changes to myself. Who knows, maybe I’ll stay in New Orleans this time.
“You ready to head back out there,” Elena asks after she washes her hands. I nod and follow her out, holding my head high. Our food is waiting for us when we get to the table. Aria and Harper are giggling about something.
“What’s so funny,” I ask.
“Nothing,” they sing-song. I glance over my shoulder. Sketch’s eyes are boring into mine. I quickly break our stare, turning back to my food.
“So, what are we doing after we eat?” Elena looks to each of us.
“Let’s go dancing,” Harper suggests.
“Hell yeah! Dancing is exactly what we need,” Aria agrees.
“That would be fun. I’m in,” I say.
“I guess we’re going dancing.” Elena laughs. While we eat, we discuss where we can go for good dancing music. I don’t look in Sketch’s direction again, but I can feel his eyes on me. I want to talk to him. More than anything, but I messed up. I did everything I could to shut him out after he kissed me. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t risk something else happening between the two of us. I was in a relationship with someone else.
Once we’re done eating, we head outside. There’s a club a couple of blocks from where we’re at, so we walk over to it. Walking down Bourbon Street is always fun. There are crowds of people everywhere. You see people from all walks of life.
“Girl, I can’t believe you didn’t want to talk to those guys back there,” Harpers say to me. “One of them could not keep his eyes off you!”
“Maybe if we see them again, I’ll talk to him,” I say. I doubt we’ll see them again, so it’s perfect. They were still eating when we left, and there’s no way they’ll even know where we’re going.
“I’ll hold you to that,” she replies. A sly smirk crosses her face and she picks up her pace, so she’s walking side by side with Aria.
“Do you think they’re plotting something?” I whisper to Elena.
“You never know with those two.” She giggles. “So which one of the guys back there do you have a thing for?”
