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.Grey rested his arm along the top of the seat, not quite hugging me, but I could feel the warmth of his skin along the back of my neck.“Mackenzie—Alex, and Zack.” Grey introduced.I smiled at them both.“Nice to meet you.”Alex nodded.He was fairly scrawny; his face was as long as his sandy blond hair, but his smile was winning, and I could tell right away that he was a ton of fun.“Let’s get fucked up!” he shouted, “come on Zackie!” he gripped the back of Zack’s seat, banging it a few times.Zack laughed and revved the engine in agreement.I didn’t know what kind of car we were in, something older, with faded silver paint and blue upholstered seats.The engine sounded impressive anyway.I grinned as Zack suddenly slammed his foot on the gas and we squealed into the street.“Music!” Alex demanded.Charlie pulled out a thick black binder full of CD’s and started going through them.Meanwhile, Alex handed me a joint he had just rolled and I took a drag.Someone produced a flask and started passing it around.I took a swig, my eyes instantly watering, my mouth burning as I choked it down.“What was that?” I asked when I recovered my breath.Grey had been watching me with amusement.“Appleton Jamaican, 151 proof.You took it like a champ.” He laughed.“Well, I’m nothing if not a champion drinker.” I joked.Charlie put Godsmack into the CD player, and soon Moon Baby was deafening us through the speakers.A dizzying combination of weed and rum moved steadily around the car, passing in a ceaseless circle that included our driver.I didn’t even think to be scared or worried, a far off distant lecture about getting in with a drunk driver barely occurred to me, and I easily ignored it.Obviously Zack had this under control.“How are you feeling now?” Grey asked quietly, about an hour into our trip.He lowered his mouth wonderfully close to my ear to be heard.His breath gave me delicious shivers, my skin goose bumps.“Amazing.” I breathed.“Just you wait.” He promised.His hand played with the curls from my ponytail.I was in heaven.“Where are we going? What are we—?”“Just you wait,” he chided.His hand moved from my hair, his fingers slowly tracing a trail down my neck, then up again.“By the way … you look amazing.”I blushed.“I do?”“You know you do.” His voice was lower, guttural.I smiled.“Thanks.” The feel of his fingers was addictive.My heart began to beat harder at his touch, however slight.I clenched my hands against my legs.He chuckled and stopped, placing his hand back against the seat, allowing me to catch my breath—but I missed his fingers the moment they lifted.I bit my lip and tried to calm myself.Soon we could make out city lights on the horizon.Alex cheered.I laughed, fairly wasted already just from the drive in, let alone whatever was happening later.The talk and laughter was rowdy and lively inside the car.Alex and Grey were arguing about some bands I’d never heard of; Charlie was trying to regale me with a work story from the front seat.Zack would throw a few words into the band conversation.We weaved through the city traffic, the streetlamps lighting the interior of the car as we passed beneath them.Finally we pulled into a parking lot filled with vehicles.I looked out the window in interest, but the street was fairly dark.The only thing that made sense to my poor befuddled brain was the turquoise blue, neon sign perched atop a brick building.It said “The Drink” in large green letters, with a martini angled off the side of it.“We’re going to a club?” I asked Grey excitedly.“But I’m not old enough—”“Leave that to me.Come on.” He opened the door and helped me out.As soon as I stood up, I nearly fell over.I hadn’t expected to be so wasted, it took me by surprise.Grey laughed and steadied me.“You okay?” His hands were warm on my bare arms.“Yeah.” I laughed happily.Better than okay.Great, wonderful … ecstatic.“Come on.” Grey took my hand in his and pulled me towards the entrance.Alex and Zack and Charlie were walking ahead of us.As we turned the corner, I was amazed to see the long line of people waiting to get in the club.It stretched nearly the entire block.I looked up at Grey but he didn’t seem disappointed, like he hadn’t anticipated a wait at all.I soon understood why.When the two large, intimidating men at the entrance saw us coming, they immediately pulled back the rope and let us all through.Grey spoke with them briefly—I didn’t hear the conversation, but I did notice that they called him Mr.Lewis.I raised my eyebrows at the VIP treatment and smiled.“I didn’t know your last name was Lewis.” I kidded.“There’s a lot about me you don’t know.” Grey smirked.He grasped my hand again and we made our way inside.I looked around; this club was nothing like the Aurora at home.Modern and new, the décor was mostly black and white, with splashes of vibrant blues and greens and oranges in just the right places.The main floor was dedicated almost entirely to the dance floor, clear Plexiglas atop swirls of fluorescent color, surrounded by tall white and black plastic chairs.A shooter bar flanked the left side, and a large spiral staircase took up most of the right.The place was packed, the music thumped over the noisy din.CHAPTER 11“This way, Mr.Lewis.” A server appeared from nowhere, and motioned for us to follow.“The rest of your party has already arrived.”“Great.” We followed the waitress, who led us up the staircase.The top floor was full of circular tables surrounded by more tall plastic chairs, impossibly tall backed booths lined the walls, and all of them were full.The tables were made to mimic the dance floor.There was a bar for every wall but one, the back wall the server was leading us to.She pushed back a nearly indiscernible curtain that opened to reveal another staircase, this one much smaller than the first.Above us was another floor, similar to the one below.There were no single tables, only the larger, tall backed booths about twice the size of the usual.Each was up on its own platform, closed in by a curtain surrounding it.“VIP?” I asked him.“Nothing but.” Grey laughed wryly.We ushered in through the curtain to join the people already there, seated around the back of the booth.The lights were dim, which I liked.The tabletop was like the others, clear Plexi over lights, the cushions upholstered in soft black and white vinyl.Grey introduced us before we sat [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]