“Donovan, I’m losing my cookies here ... literally. I think I have food poisoning, and I have to go home or I will do unspeakable things in your presence. Audra is on board to join you tonight. Just get her from her house at 5:30 and go to the event. She will be brilliant. She’s good at having fun, and she won’t do anything to embarrass you.”Food poisoning?I thought to myself.Hopefully not from the lunch I had delivered for her yesterday.
I was completely torn. On one hand, I loved that we were going to spending time together because as of late, spending time with Audra had become my favorite thing. But on the other, I had some unnecessary nerves about it too. It was typically a struggle for me to adapt and be flexible in the moment, but that was a me problem. At least it was a lively Vegas Night event rather than a stuffy dinner, and I deeply believed in the mission of this charity and all the amazing things they did.Maeve could have bailed without a contingency, and then I would have had to miss this altogether, so I was grateful she found a way to make it work. At the end of the day, I wanted to spend more time with Audra, so maybe this would work in my favor after all.
The car pulled up to the curb of Audra’s house at 5:30 p.m. on the dot, and her front door opened. My eyes about popped out of my head. Yes, this particular event was Vegas-themed, but this woman looked like she was ready for a night out in the actual Sin City. Her dress hugged every curve of her body, and my reaction was so immediate, I had to adjust my pants as she walked to the car. I couldn’t believe I had had a single fleeting thought about her joining me instead of Maeve. The dress was siren red and, goddamn, did it call to me. I got out of the car to meet her and cleared my throat as she approached.
“Audra, thank you for agreeing to this at the last minute. You look utterly fantastic.”
“Thank you!” She smiled widely. “I am hoping to win big tonight!” She fist pumped in the air before she ducked into the back. When we were underway, she had some more questions. “So I need some more info, seeing as I just found out about this less than two hours ago. First, are there any major players I need to be aware of? Like, are we schmoozing tonight? Getting ins and wheeling and dealing with people? Maeve didn’t give me much to go on here. We should have a code word.” She shimmied her shoulders like we were about to go in as spies and mob men. It was equal parts hilarious and delightful.
“Contrary to what you think I do, no, there is no schmoozing mafia men involved in this evening—it’s truly just for fun. The event is for an organization called Warrior Academy, and it’s one I hold dear to me, so I’m so grateful you arecoming with me tonight. The New York chapter was where it began for me, and I have supported it since I learned about it.” I conveniently left out that I found out about it during the underground fighting I was doing. “I was so happy to hear they had a chapter here in South Carolina, too. They do a lot of phenomenal things for kids, like mentoring, tutoring, self-defense, and providing a safe place for students after school. Tonight, I have to show my face, but we don’t even have to stay long if you don’t want to.”
“Oh no, let me make it clear, I’m still coming home a winner tonight, so buckle up, Donovan.” I loved how she approached this world. Audra is just fun. My world hadn’t been fun in too fucking long. “Do we cash in money for chips and cash back in at the end of the night? How does this work? I don’t want to look like a novice here.”
I laughed out loud. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s only funny money, so although yes, we will cash in real money for chips, none of that is coming back to you. But there are raffles and other prizes you can win. Because, you know … we’re doing it for the children.”
A slight pink rose up, as her hands went over her cheeks. “Jesus, of course. Oh my gosh, I’m kind of embarrassed,” she laughed sheepishly. “Let’s be honest, though, I’m still gunning to win because that’s just who I am. Wait—I get to play, right?”
I barked out another laugh. “Of course. I mean, you look gorgeous enough to be arm candy over some card shark’s shoulder, but we both know that’s not how you operate. You’re welcome to play any and all the games your heart desires. Minus roulette, because that game is the worst.”
She gasped and put her hand to her chest. “How dare you, Donovan Wright? I’m wearing red tonight in honor of choosing red on the roulette wheel.” She couldn’t get thewhole phrase out without giggling. The rest of our ride was laugh-out-loud funny too. I was almost sad when we got to the event because then I’d have to share her with everyone else, and I was quickly realizing I hated sharing. But she was ready to bound in and get the night started. When we exited the car, she garnered a ton of looks from people. One, because she was smoking hot tonight, and two, she was with me. I’d been involved with the South Carolina chapter of the organization since I moved here, and I knew at least half the people who would be in attendance. I’d never been to an event in this state with anyone but Maeve. She was no doubt beautiful as well, so she stood out in her own right, but to me, Audra was next level. In New York, I was a smidge more cavalier with dates, but not here, so people were probably a little stunned. I’m sure I’d be hearing lots of questions from my acquaintances.
We got in, said hellos, and went to get chips. She tried to pay, and after a brief argument about it, she conceded and let me get them. Within the first three minutes of walking towards the makeshift casino floor, she got stopped by another big donor named Mark. We knew each other from all the events we attended, and he was quite the playboy.
“Hello,” he crooned at her, obnoxiously glancing up and down her body. “I’ve never seen you around here before. I would have recognized someone as beautiful. Do you, by chance, have the time?” He grabbed her hand and kissed it like an 18th-century Duke.
She looked at him skeptically, “I’m sorry, I don’t.”
“I just wanted to know the exact time I fell for you.”
“Um, no”—she pulled her hand back and looped it in my arm—”good luck with that tonight, though.” Pulling me along for a couple of steps, she dropped and moved farther ahead in excitement. I looked behind at Mark, silently laughing at thedumbfounded look on his face. I’m positive that was a first for him. But who tries to hit on someone’s date? Jackass.
When I looked back at her, I could see her eyes locked on the roulette table. A few steps ahead, she glanced over her shoulder at me with mischief written on her face. I jokingly shook my head to say no, and she stuck her tongue out at me. It was such a ridiculous gesture that I looked around to see if anyone else saw it. My heart felt light at the whimsy, and I had a glimpse into my younger years when everything didn’t seem so heavy. The single only thing I could do was follow this woman. I seemed to be doing that a lot with her.
We stayed almost the entire night and played every game we could, re-upping our chips a couple of times. In the car, she had asked about schmoozing people intentionally, but Audra King had the entire room eating out of her fucking hand. That red dress certainly helped her stand out, too.
She held her own in all the games, especially at the craps table. It was like she was living the scene of a movie. Beautiful, sexy woman throwing the dice, not understanding what any of the rolls meant, but on a streak of good luck with people around her cheering. The last seven she rolled, she jumped right into my arms, she was so excited about it, and I just held her against my body.
After she walked away from that table, saying goodbye to everyone as they were all now best friends, we decided to head out. Before we did, we passed the Sweet Tooth Booth. All the sugary treats anyone could want were available at the Sweet Tooth Booth, and the kids in the organization made everything that was for sale. You had to use your funny money to buy it, but because we were both almost skint broke, the only way we could get anything would be if we combined the last of our chips.
“We only have enough for one thing, and look, rainbow cotton candy!” She wagged her eyebrows at me. “This is a no-brainer.”
“No way!” I replied. “The cookie will be more delicious and less sticky.”
“More crumbs,” she retorted. “But that’s irrelevant because it’s not anywhere near as good as the cotton candy.”
“Not happening. I’m not paying all that money for blown sugar.”
“Your Magic 8 Ball saysWITHOUT A DOUBT, COTTON CANDY.”
“You leave my Magic 8 Ball out of this, King. Besides, mine saysALL SIGNS POINT TO YESfor cookies.”
“Fine. Rock, paper, scissors for it.” She snort-laughed because this was so silly. The sound was so unexpected that I started laughing, too.I’d had more of these moments with her around in the last couple of weeks than I had in years.
“What?” I said when I caught my breath.
“Rock, paper, scissors for the treat. Whoever wins gets to pick. Best of three.”
“Deal.” So we stood ten feet in front of the booth and had an all-out rock, paper, scissors battle. It was so intense that we drew a little bit of the crowd from the craps table, who were on their way out too. I won and raised my arms into the air pumping them like Rocky, while I sang an old song about doing it all for the cookie. It was pure childlike joy, and laughter surrounded us.
