Avery had decided that we should leave the casino and venture out on the Vegas sidewalks. Sammy had even given us a name of a great local restaurant to try. All in all, we had a pretty good day, but I hated the fact that chase stayed on my mind. I had to change that or else I would be in more trouble than I had ever been before. Guys like Chase could be a problem for a lost girl like me.
****
“Let me see your phone,” I said, as I grabbed Avery’s phone off of the table.
After training all day, my feet ached and I was dead tired. Avery, though, had dragged me to the casino bar again. She was really enjoying the free drinks employees received once they were off the clock.
We had found a table in the back of the bar and I was still reeling from the way Spencer Chase had looked at me. It was in the way he acted like he was conflicted just being near me that had me so driven to find out who he really was. Underneath that stoic expression and hard exterior, there had to be something that made Chase who he was. I needed to know who this guy was and why he felt like he was above me… or why he might want to be under me.
“What are you doing?” Avery asked, with wide eyes.
“I am going to Google that ass-hat, Spencer Chase, and find out who he really is,” I grunted, as I began typing his name into the phone.
Laughing, Avery threw her head back and her blond locks bounced around her shoulders. “You are so crazy,” she joked. “For someone who lives in privacy, you are being very nosy and intrusive,” she said, eyeing me.
I refused to meet her gaze. I knew she was right, but something in my gut told me to cyberstalk this guy. As I waited for the search engine to load the information, I looked around at the loud and booming room. Everyone seemed to be having such an amazing time. Smiles lit their faces as laughter and music blended together to make the perfect harmony. I sighed, as I took it all in.
Finally, article after article appeared on the phone; each showcasing the epic Spencer Chase. Noticing my astonished expression, Avery leapt out of her chair and ran to my side of the table. She just couldn’t sit back and watch, she had to get in on the juicy gossip too.
“What does it say?” she asked, as she pulled on my arm. I lowered the phone so she could take a look, too.
“Apparently, he began fighting at eighteen. Every article here says he was a nobody, just a kid who appeared in the MMA fighting world and took it by storm.”
Clicking on the next link, I saw images of a stern-faced Chase as he stood with his opponent. Another image showed him kicking another guy in the face. The steel shot showed the pain across the other man’s face as Chase’s leg made contact. I cringed, as I thought about how painful that must have been- for both men involved.
Scrolling down the page, I saw several photos of Spencer Chase, another stern and bored look across his face, as several scandalously clad women clawed around him. A tinge of jealousy and anger washed through me as I looked at the women with their hands and breasts draped across Chase’s body. The articles each read how he was seen out and about in big cities with a different woman each night. He had been linked to every girl from models, to small television actresses, and even a female MMA fighter. Regardless of the author telling each article, the same information was poured onto the pages; Spencer Chase didn’t settle down. Spencer Chase liked women. Lots of women.
He wasn’t mine. I didn’t even know him. Why did this bother me?
My fingers quickly continued moving the page up, I had seen enough to get to the point; Chase was a womanizer. He was used to beautiful and sexy women surrounding him.
Another article read that after a devastating leg break, Spencer Chase had retired from the fighting world and never returned. His whereabouts were unknown and just as he entered the MMA world quietly, his departure was much the same.
“Wow, he was like a celebrity in the fighting world,” Avery breathed, as she went back to her own chair. She began nursing her beer as I handed her back her phone.
“Yeah, looks like it,” I agreed, as I took a larger gulp of my drink.
Shaking my head, I tried to forget the words and images I had just read. Spencer Chase should not be on my mind. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my mind to forget his face.
CHAPTER 7
It feels weird being so close to my dream. I had been in an unusually good mood lately and I wanted to keep it up.
“Are you seriously asking me to have a girl’s night out?” Avery asked, in a blissful tone.
“Why not?” I asked, as I shrugged my shoulders. “We are in Vegas, we might as well have one night of fun before we start school and work full-time,” I finished.
“This is wonderful!” Avery exclaimed. “Let’s get ready.”
****
After spending an hour fixing our hair and makeup, Avery and I walked with our heads held high down to the casino nightclub. With a tight black dress that barely covered my bottom and heels, I felt good about myself. I wasn’t one to think highly of my looks, but Avery had done her magic on me, and if only for one night, I needed to feel beautiful.
Stepping into the darkened club, my eyes traveled to the center of the room where a large, silver disco ball hung over a massive dance floor. Mirrored walls lined the space and I could see people dancing together, their sweaty bodies gyrating to the rhythm of the up-beat techno music. Women wearing nude leotards danced in cages propped up around the room. Large men stood guard, daring anyone to get close to the exotic dancers. I was sure my mouth was hanging down to the ground, and as Avery grabbed my hand and pulled me further into the club, I felt a high of exhilaration hit me. Tonight would be great.
Avery and I made our way through the packed dancers and began to jump around as we sang loudly to an 80’s pop song on auto-tune. I was having a great time as I let all of my worries and fears escape through each move of my legs and hips. I was young and vibrant and I was going to be that girl tonight.
Pulling me close to her, Avery began to yell over the music. “I see two hot guys over there,” she said, as she pointed to two guys walking over to us. They began to dance with us at first, and then as we smiled and flirted around them, they found their bravery and began dancing along with us.