What felt like a year had only been just a few weeks. I hadn’t heard from Brendon since Sidney
threw—no, punched him out of my apartment.
I had my few days of wallowing in the mess that Brendon and
I were, but that’s all I had needed. And
like the best friend that he was, my Patty hadn’t left my side. I told him honestly that I was fine, but he
still stayed close by.
Vero had caught me on a ridiculously good day at work, and
somehow on this green earth convinced me to go out to the club after a Penguins
home game. Only realizing when I came
down from my high what I had agreed to.
I spent half the week making up excuses and lies so I
wouldn’t have to go. But who was I
kidding? This is Vero we’re talking
about—she saw right through me every single time.
As I stood in front of the full-length mirror in my room,
all I saw was a girl with a too short skirt on—clearly out of her element.
“Will you hurry up already?
I told you, what you picked out was fine!” Vero groaned from the other
side of the bedroom door.
“Just give me a minute!” I whined back.
I could hear her mumble something in French but I couldn’t
understand. I crawled on the floor to
grab a box from underneath my bed.
My emergency stash.
For my 21st birthday Kelsey had given me more liquor to last
me until my 30th birthday—and I had made little progress. Never a fan of drinking excessively, but
totally understanding it’s need to calm the nerves, I attempted to down an airplane bottle
of rum.
I got back up and adjusted my skirt… again. I touched up my lipstick and ran my hands
through my hair before I took a final look at myself.
Here goes!
--
It was packed. The
Saturday night crowd was alive and dancing when the guys arrived at Diesel,
ready to blow off steam after the team’s loss at home. They headed towards the back corner and snaked
a large half circle booth.
Kris was quick to buy a round of shots. “To get
the edge off,” he had said.
He laughed at Sidney, glancing at
his bouncing leg under the table.
“Where are the girls?” he grunted.
“They’re coming, they’re coming,” Marc assured him.
“Why do you want to see them so bad anyhow?” Jordan surprised Sid when he spoke up. He thought he wasn’t paying attention to
anything but the busty blonde in his lap.
Sidney went to answer, but thought better of it and kept his
mouth shut. Wish he could say the same
for Marc, though.
“His girl is coming,”
Marc threw his arms up in defense when Sidney shot a killer
glare at him—the kind he gets when he’s about to take a face off.
“Elaine’s coming?!” Jordan squealed, pushing the girl off
his lap. She stomped her foot and huffed
before storming off.
Everyone turned to Kris when he let out a low whistle,
staring past the group.
The guys followed his stare towards the club entrance. Marc’s eyes stopped at Vero walking towards
them, but Jordan, Kris and Sidney all watched as Elaine followed behind.
She wore a fitted red skirt with a black zipper up the side
and a sleeveless navy blue top loosely tucked in. It had a plunging neck, so low that they had
to wonder if she was wearing a bra.
Elaine’s silver earrings shined when the lights in the club hit them.
Sidney had never seen her in something so, so sexy. And man was she working it.
“I saw her first,” Kris smirked.
TK laughed, “Uh, dude—I think she’s already taken,”
Sidney was out of the booth when Elaine finally reached
their table. Her high heels gave her a
few inches, but Sid still towered over her.
“Hey,” she smiled.
He bent down and kissed her cheek, his lips lingering just a
second too long. “Hey,”
--
I couldn’t believe I was actually having fun. The guys were being hilarious as always, and
drinks were being passed around. I had
even danced a couple songs with Jordan, that boy can move!
A couple of us were back at the booth—it was just Vero,
Marc, TK, Sidney and I.
We were watching with amusement as Vero and Marc bickered
when I felt a hand on my thigh. Sid
leaned in close, “You good?”
I nodded, “I’m great,”
“Need a drink?”
I told him no and he nodded.
He didn’t scoot back and his hand stayed on my thigh. Our bodies were pressed up tight against each
other, with plenty of space on our sides.
The rest of the night was the same—fun, and incredibly close
to Patty. Every so often would he lean
in and kiss my cheek, for no reason.
And you know what? I
kind of liked it. I liked it a lot,
actually.
It was almost 2 am when we all started to file out. Marc had to help Vero home—she had one too
many shots. “Elaine, I can drop you off—”
“No I got her,” Sid told Marc. He quickly led me to his Range Rover, his
hand firm on the small of my back.
The car ride was quiet, but it was late and we were both
tired.
When Sidney pulled up outside my apartment he put the car in
park and turned off the engine.
“Uh, do you,” he stuttered, “Do you mind if I stay over? I’m kind of tired,”
