Belle and Indie laugh and high-five each other.
“Guys!” Leslie bellows, standing up and holding her hands out wide. “I think you’re missing the best part of this situation!”
“What’s that?” Vi asks, lowering her hands away from her ears.
“We have the entire dance floor to ourselves!” she exclaims and gestures down to the fully lit floor. “We can dance like morons and not give a shit about embarrassing ourselves, which I’m highly familiar with!” Her eyes fly really wide as she points to the DJ booth. “We can request ‘Dancing Queen’ to be played on repeat all night long!”
“Maybe notallnight long,” Daphney says quietly, wincing with embarrassment.
“Fine, Daph, you can request some young girl songs. Taylor Swift is your jam, right?”
“That’s Gareth’s jam!” Vi shouts and bursts out laughing.
My eyes land on hers. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”
Vi hunches over and hides her face, her contorted posture at complete odds with the fancy dress she’s wearing. “That’s supposed to be a secret!”
“You have to tell us now!” Poppy sings, clearly as interested in Vi’s comment as I am.
Vi sits up straight and exhales heavily. “Gareth warms up to Taylor Swift playing on his headphones, but he’d murder me if he knew I told you that!”
We all burst out laughing so hard that I’m certain Poppy is going to go into spontaneous labour. The ammunition this little factoid gives me will be most useful indeed.
Leslie suddenly pulls me in close and murmurs, “From one brooding man lover to another, be careful with that Taylor Swift card. If Gareth is anything like Theo, he will make you pay.”
I laugh at her warning and shoot her a lascivious smirk. “Oh, believe me, I’m counting on it!”
The girls all whoop with cheers as we head out and begin twirling the night away. Between Belle revealing her neon green panties when her curvy hips drop down to the floor and Indie repeatedly doing the robot, it’s actually one of the most fun nights I’ve had in years. These girls are the kind of fun-loving women I’ve needed in my life since moving to England. The only thing that would make this night complete is my fabulous Freya being here. But this group tonight gives me a sense of sisterhood I didn’t realise I was missing.
Several hours and several more Tequila Sunrise drinks later, we stumble back to the leather sofas upstairs. Leslie crows loudly that she has a gift for Vi, then bends over behind the sofa and pulls out a giant, black gift bag.
She plops the bag in front of Vi, who’s shaking her head adamantly. “I said no gifts, Lez!”
Leslie pushes the gift closer to Vi. “This is a grab bag sort of gift. You can share it with the girls because Ameerah went a little overboard I’m afraid.”
“Oh my God, Leslie!” Vi exclaims, her face the picture of horror. “You got this from Ameerah? I can’t open it here! No way!”
“Yes, you can!” Leslie bellows back. “This is a bachelorette party and we have this entire club to ourselves for the night! And, like I said, there’s something in there for everyone. So just man up and do your bridal duty or you’ll deprive all of us of some fun later this evening.” Leslie winks at me and I frown, still not sure what the hell is in the black bag.
With red cheeks, Vi proceeds to open a Pandora’s box of sex toys galore. A candy bra, penis suckers, various vibrators, floggers, feathers, nipple clamps, handcuffs, sensual oils, lubes, and lotions. You name it, it’s in that freaking bag.
The girls laugh as they grab some items for a closer look. When Vi pulls out a giant pink dildo and clicks a button that makes it light up, the entire group erupts into hysterics.
At the same exact moment, destiny plays a great hand.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a group of men standing at the entrance to our VIP section, jaws dropped, eyes wide.
Camden, Tanner, Booker, Hayden, and a man in glasses who I can only assume is Leslie’s husband, Theo, are staring at Vi as she holds an enormous glowing, spinning dildo in her hand.
I burst out laughing again and point behind the girls, who all turn to see what has me so shocked. They squeal with delight when they see the men who are moving in closer now.
“Well, clearly you lot are having loads more fun than us!” Tanner bellows with a stunned look on his face as he eyes the sex toys strewn all around us. “Wife! What do you have to say for yourself?”
Belle’s eyes fly wide as she stands up and turns to face her husband. “What doyouhave to say foryourself? We heard you guys rented out the entire club without our knowledge!”
Surprise flicks across Tanner’s face as he takes in the empty club. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She growls and smacks him on the chest, but my eyes are distracted when Gareth’s face appears at the top of the stairs.