I closed my mouth. Dead air hung between us before she giggled. But I knew in my heart she meant what she’d said. She hated me after all.
“Get dressed. We are going to the city tonight.” She didn’t ask, she commanded, because like a dog, she knew I would obey. She knew I wouldn’t want another visit from her asshole boyfriend.
“To do what?”
Megan hung up.
I looked at my phone and scowled. Fuck. How was I supposed to know what to wear if she didn’t tell me where the fuck we were going?
Heading into the city wasn’t something I could afford, but on the upside, I could avoid the Devils while I was there. But…
Shit. What if she brought Josh with her?
I didn’t want to run into him so soon after his threats.
With a shrug, I got up and started getting ready. Assuming we’d be going to the usual bars and clubs, I found my sexiest dress to wear. A backless holographic body-con number that emphasized every curve on my body.
Megan would kick my ass if I tried leaving the house without my hair and makeup fully done. Sighing, I grabbed my detangle spray and went to town. I used my wide-tooth comb to get all the curls out, then grabbed a bottle of my best leave-in to create perfect finger coils. It would look well put together once I diffused it.
Three hours later and I was ready to leave.
The sun was cresting below the mountains when Megan’s car pulled up outside my house. As I approached, she rolled down her window and wolf whistled. “Let’s go girl. You look hotter than sin.”
As if she was doing this out of the kindness of her heart. I knew better. We were not friends. We weren’t even frenemies. She was more like a prison guard, and I was a prisoner in a very large prison.
“Keep it down,” I hissed. “My neighbors are all elderly. You have no respect for old people, I swear.”
“See, this is why we need a night out, girl. You are way too uptight.” Megan brushed off the rest of what I said, like usual.
I hopped in the car with no other comment. It would just start an argument that I didn’t want to happen.
We drove down the road listening to Eminem. “Do you remember in high school when you had the biggest crush on him?” Megan yelled over the music.
I shot her a knowing look. Why hadn’t she just turned it down? My stomach sloshed, and I held on for dear life. “Yeah. The Slim Shady days were the best.” That man could throw me up against a wall and show me what his tongue could really do. “Where are we going, anyway?”
Megan cackled. “To a club, of course. You said months ago you wanted to go dancing.”
With a shrug, I lost myself to the music, deciding not to think of any old beef for the rest of the night. I deserved this. I needed it.
We got to our destination and parked in a well-lit area. Best to be safe no matter where we were, and this wasn’t Devil’s territory.
Outside the club, we passed a long line of scantily dressed women standing along the wall. Temptress was a new and exclusive nightclub that had just opened and was very hard to get into. The only guaranteed way in was to have your name on the VIP list.
So, imagine my surprise when Megan stopped right at the front and pulled tickets out of her purse. The bouncer smiled and let us right in.
“How did you get tickets for this?” I said a little too loudly because Megan played her music so loudly my ears were ringing.
“Funny story. Josh found them in our mailbox just this afternoon. But he had to go on a last-minute run, so I called you.”
I let out a sigh of relief knowing that not only was Josh not going to be there, but he wasn’t even in town. The fear I had from earlier drained out of my body, leaving me loose and relaxed.
My smile was authentic when I turned to her and said, “Let’s have some fun, shall we?”
Since we had VIP access, we got a great table. Strangely, our alcohol was free. So as the drinks flowed, I moved my body in my seat to the beat. The more I imbibed, the more I wanted to let go. This was the life I should be living. Having fun. Not a care in the world.
“Let’s dance, bitch!” Megan, the sloppy drunk that she was, pulled me up.
“I thought you would never ask,” I hollered over the music.