Page 56 of In Your Wildest Dreams
We start for the bar, but a woman cuts us off. She looks to be a little older than us and has on a dress that’s more business than club. She’s still rocking it, but she has an air of authority about her that makes us all pause.
“Are you Everly?” she asks, looking directly at the woman standing between me and Grace.
“Yeah,” Ev answers with more than a little defensiveness in her stance.
“If you’ll follow me.” She smiles so sweetly. The three of us share a confused look, but decide to go after her anyway.
She leads us up a small staircase. The third floor is similar to the second in that it’s open and you can look down on the floors below, but this area is less crowded.
Leather couches and chairs are set up in groups and there are two bars, one on each side. People watch us as we follow her to a section of furniture that’s empty. She motions with one hand. “Rachel is your private bartender for the night. Anything you need, let her know.”
And with that, the woman turns on her heel and leaves us.
Rachel is there in a flash with a bottle of nonalcoholic champagne, a lot like the one Tyler gave Everly earlier, sitting in ice with three flutes. She pours us each a glass, asks us if she can get us anything else from the bar, and then leaves us with the rest of the bottle.
“How?” Grace asks in a hushed voice like she’s afraid someone will overhear and kick us out. It’s quieter up here and easier to talk.
“It had to have been Tyler. I’m going to kill him.” Everly rolls her eyes and pulls out her phone.
While she texts, Grace says, “But you didn’t tell him where you were going.”
She makes a good point. But I guess it’s not that hard to figure out where three girls would go for a birthday out on the town.
“Did you tell Ash?” Ev asks me after she slides her phone back into the small black purse in her lap.
“What? No way. I’ve barely talked to him. I would never do that to you.”
“Okay.” Ev smiles and rests a reassuring hand on my arm. “I believe you. But just so you know, if you had, I wouldn’t be mad. I know how good he is at getting information out of people.”
“He is charming,” Grace says as she brings the champagne to her lips again. “The way he was looking at you tonight. He’d die if he saw you right now.”
“What? No.” I shake my head. “If he was looking at anyone, it was you two. I was in a ratty old sweatshirt and shorts.”
“Eww.” Everly makes a face of disgust. “He’s like my brother.”
“I don’t think he was looking at your clothes,” Grace mumbles and then laughs. Everly joins in.
My cheeks are warm, which I’m absolutely blaming on the two sips of fake booze and all the bodies in this club.
“I promise you, he wasn’t looking at me like that. We’re just…friends.” That feels like the wrong word, but we’re more than acquaintances at this point.
“Uh-huh. Sure.” Grace smiles at me, hiding behind her glass.
“I’m not interested in dating. The run-in with Gabe reminded me exactly why I am on a hiatus from men.”
Everly gives me a sympathetic smile. “Understandable. After my last relationship, I didn’t go out with anyone for like two months. It was very cathartic.” She finishes her drink and then stands and holds out a hand to me. “You aren’t interested in dating hot guys, but tell me, how do you feel about heading downstairs and dancing with some?”
I take one more sip and then place my hand in hers. “I feel great about it.”
* * *
We dance for hours, going back to our VIP section occasionally to cool off and get another drink.
Everly somehow manages to sneak several drinks bought for her by a group of guys that overhear it’s her birthday. The security watching for that kind of thing is a little more lax up in VIP, but if she gets us kicked out, it’ll at least be a good story. Grace isn’t drinking at all and I’m sipping on my third vodka and Sprite.
I’m so happy I don’t even need the alcohol to feel tipsy, though it’s certainly helping. Tonight has been so much fun and I feel so lucky that I’ve found these two people after the worst year of my life. If we weren’t dancing and laughing so much, I’d probably do something embarrassing like cry.
We’re taking a breather now, sitting on the comfy leather couches. Grace is texting with Lane, and Ev with her brother.
