Page 37 of Reckless Abandon

“Oh,” I cooed, “we have a shy one here. Well I may just have to wake you up a little, baby.”

“Sorry, strip clubs have never been my thing,” he said looking up.

Oh. My. God. I would know that voice anywhere. It was the voice of my dreams for so many years until it became the voice of my nightmares. No, this couldn’t be happening. Did I turn on the lights and confirm my suspicions or just run? I had to see. I needed to know. Spinning around, I flicked on the lights.

“Lucas?” I shakily asked.

He peered at me confused, but then as if a lightbulb went on he realized who I was. “Holy fuck. Ryann? What the hell are you doing here?”

I could feel the bile rise in my throat. My knees went weak. My head started spinning. “I would ask you the same, Lucas, but obviously I already know the answer to that.”

I opened the door and ran out the private rooms as fast as my feet would carry me. When I made it out to the main floor, I continued to run to the dressing room without even looking where I was going. As I came around the last corner, I ran into a six foot three brick wall of a man.

“Baby girl, what’s wrong? I've been looking all over for you.”

“G,” I said, “sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you.” When I looked away I saw Lucas at the bar talking to Rose.

“Vaughn, are you alright?”

“No I’m not. G, can you please get me out of here?” I asked.

“C’mon. Let’s go. My car’s out back,” He took my hand and led me out to the parking lot.

Without any further thought, I got into G’s Range Rover and left. He didn’t ask me where I wanted to go; he just started driving. Pulling up in front of the Bellagio Hotel, I wanted to say something like: I couldn't go up to his room or to take me home, but instead I found myself mindlessly following him inside.

I left the club so quickly that I didn’t change or even grab my purse. I found myself walking through the swanky Bellagio lobby in only my school girl costume. Once again, I was in the lovely position of everyone staring at me. And yet, I didn’t know if they were staring at me or at G. I'd nearly forgotten I was walking around with one of the most famous football players in the NFL.

Quickly making our way to his private suite, my brain started going wild in typical Ryann fashion. What was G expecting? What was I expecting? What the hell would Nathan think when he found out?

My thoughts were interrupted by G’s question. “Would you like something more comfortable to wear?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure, I guess,” I answered barely paying attention.

He came back out with a large t-shirt for me and a pair of his boxers. “Will this work? Anything else I have will be huge on your teeny little body.”

“Thanks,” I said, embarrassed.

“Vaughn, stop being shy with me. I don’t bite…unless you want me to,” he laughed. “No, seriously, I could see you needed someone tonight. Let me be that someone. I’ve been told I'm like a giant teddy bear.”

“Thanks, G. I do need someone,” I leaned up on my tiptoes, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed his cheek.

“Please call me, Rich,” he insisted.

“Okay, Rich. My name is actually Ryann,” I cautiously told him.

“Yeah, I had a feeling it wasn’t Vaughn Haley,” he laughed. “Go get changed, I’ll order some room service, pour some drinks, and if you feel like it, we can talk.”

Walking into the bathroom, I stopped and stared at my own reflection. I had no idea who the woman in the mirror was anymore. Five years ago, I was the happily married wife of Lucas McKennan. A year ago I was a newly divorced teacher, but I felt like I knew who I was. Today, I had no fucking clue who I was anymore. A teacher, a stripper, in a “sorta” relationship, and now in a NFL player’s hotel room. What the hell was I doing?

“Baby girl!” I heard G…Rich…shouting from the other room. “What do you drink?”

“Vodka and cranberry please. I’ll be right out,” I shouted back. Quickly changing, I threw on Rich's shirt, but his boxers fell right off, so what was the point? I took one more look in the mirror, and let out a long sigh. “Ugh, Ryann. What is happening to you, girl?” I wondered to myself.

I walked back out to the sitting area of the room with Rich’s shirt barely covering my ass, but I guess it really didn’t matter since he'd seen me totally naked before.

“Thanks for getting me out of there tonight. It's been a few really messed up days,” I confessed, taking the vodka and cranberry from him.

“Wanna talk about it baby girl?” he asked me.

---