“Come, just one more. You know you want to….”
Kate looked up from her shot glass and glared at her best friend who smiled like the cat that got the cream. It was Friday night, and they were the only two left of their “girls’ night out.” Kayla and Cait ditched them an hour ago, probably to get a drink at Lucky, and Errin had left about ten minutes ago with some guy she’d met last month at the dojo.
After Bree’s promise to avoid the pub, because let’s face it, their last visit into Mills territory didn’t go so well, Kate agreed to tag along to this club. So she sat at the bar in a little black silk dress with a waterfall neckline and her favorite black pumps, glaring at Bree after downing yet another shot.
Kate had bought the dress three years ago on an impulsive shopping spree after the final breakup with John but never had the guts to wear it before. She wasn’t comfortable drawing attention to herself and was well aware of how this silky fabric clung to her body. Her sisters always complimented Kate on her small waistline and hourglass figure. So, technically, she had nothing to be ashamed of. But still, she wasn’t used to moving around a room and feeling like a pastry dish on display.
The music pounded so loud she could feel the bass beating in her chest. The twirling spotlights above her head were making Kate feel disorientated. She realized that her limit of alcohol for the night was well in sight.
The Velvet Club was so not her scene, she concluded as she glanced over at the thrusting bodies on the dance floor. Guys were pulling women toward them, and the following movements would put the movie Dirty Dancing to shame. Kate felt a lot like Baby who only was allowed entrance to the party because she helped carry a watermelon.
Kate noticed that nobody talked to each other here. No, they were drinking, dry humping, or shouting one-syllable words over the bass instead. Was Kate already getting too old for this at twenty-seven? Or maybe she’s simply a boring person who needed to go out more? Ugh, who knew and who cared? She was sure she wasn’t cut out for this kind of scene as the night resembled a Live Tinder Event, where you could see everyone swipe left or right in their minds while passing by.
After a few drinks, Kate let some of her uneasiness go and started to enjoy her time with Bree, but sitting at the bar getting shit-faced made her want to go home and try to forget the reason why she came out in the first place. Thoughts of Donovan were never far away as she asked herself what he was doing tonight. Would he be hooking up with a new conquest?
Almost a week had passed since that night in her apartment, and even though she’d said that she didn’t want anything to do with him, Kate had to admit to herself that she was a little disappointed he hadn’t reached out to her.
Pathetic. Yep. She knew it, and in an effort to stop lusting over Donovan, she went out of her comfort zone and tagged along with the girls’ night out. Bree, who also chose to wear a sexy little black dress this evening, sat next to Kate on a barstool and nudged Kate’s shoulder. While Kate had been lost in thought, Bree ordered another round of tequila shots.
“Bree….”
“What? I know, alcohol isn’t the answer to everything, but seeing Dec standing there had me flagging down the bartender for another round. I wasn’t even aware of my arm going up to wave at the cute bartender, really. It just had a mind of its own. True story.”
“What? Where?”
She spotted Donovan first. He stood on the dance floor surrounded by two strawberry blonde model-like, annoyingly good-looking women who sandwiched him in the middle of their mating dance. They could pass for twins, but Kate wasn’t sure if they were. Perhaps there was just one girl and the alcohol had made Kate see two of her. Kate shook her head to clear her vision, and sure enough, he still stood between two women.
He looked as delicious as ever with his proud stance in his dark blue designer jeans and black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up over his elbows. His muscular lower arms were bare of tattoos, and Kate often wondered if he had any on the rest of his body. She saw his chest once at Duncan’s Dojo. He had used the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Kate had gotten a glimpse of a bare chest above a six-pack with a little happy trail going down into his boxing shorts. The droplets of sweat pouring down his beautiful body had Kate licking her lips. Kayla had laughed so hard at her ogling that Kate was too embarrassed to go to the dojo ever since.
“I swear, if I have to witness one more Mills brother cornered by a swooning posse of women, I’m ordering us another shot,” Bree grumbled.
“Better ask for the whole bottle right away, Bree.” Kate giggled.
Bree looked up from Declan, who stood on the edge of the dance floor in a black T-shirt and black designer jeans. She needed a second to focus her eyes on Kate, but then she narrowed her striking light blue orbs and said, “What’s happening here?”
“What?”
“Why are you not annoyed at seeing Donovan being sexually assaulted on the dance floor by two fashion dolls in heat?”
Kate shook her head, smiling.
Bree locked eyes with her and then pinched both of Kate’s cheeks with her index finger and thumb. “Are you in there, Kate? Or has Elvis left the building already?”
Kate couldn’t answer Bree without snort-giggling.
“Okay. We should go home. You’re officially drunk.”
“Noooo. I’m n-not drunk.” Kate hiccupped.
“Yeah, you are, cupcake.”
Oh, the rumbling sound of that dark voice. Kate knew that voice all too well. She knew she should be civil and turn on her barstool to give Donovan a polite smile, but she really couldn’t be bothered. Kate was so over it all.
Maybe she should drink more often. It made her feel like she could take on the world. Too bad she had no intentions in becoming some hobo living on the streets. Knowing the coming fallout of downing these tequila shots alone had Kate second-guessing her newfound aspirations to become a drunken bag lady.
“Kate….”
Would she be considered childish if she ordered another drink and simply didn’t turn around to acknowledge him? Ah, who cared?