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“I know. There’s no way he’d take Sean’s side, not if he found out what Sean was saying to you. I think he’d be pissed—really pissed.”
“I’m not sure that would be better,” I say. “I mean, if he and Sean get into it, what happens next? He’s always worked for the Foley family. What if he got fired? What if he got something worse than being fired?”
“It’s always the unknown that scares you the most,” Kathy says. “At some point, the here and now gets scarier. You’ll have to tell him then.”
Kathy scoots over and hugs me, and I hug her back tightly. I let a few tears escape as I hang on.
“I’m so glad you came to see me.” I sniff as we part, reaching over to grab a tissue from the nightstand.
“Me too.”
We go back to breakfast, both of us silently contemplating as we chew. Kathy finishes first and gets up to rifle through her luggage.
“What’s the plan for today?” I ask.
“I don’t know about you,” Kathy says, “but I’m thinking more of the same. Are there any clubs around where we can drink and dance, and I can flirt with a hot bartender?”
“I’m sure there are.”
“Then that’s the plan!” Kathy goes to her suitcase and pulls out a headband, sparkling with rhinestones. “But first, we need to find you an outfit that goes with this.”
“What the hell is that?”
“Your birthday tiara! Every woman needs a birthday tiara!”
“Deklan did leave me some money for shopping.”
“Then let’s go!”
We get ourselves cleaned up and ready to go before we head down to the lobby to get the car from the valet. After a trip to the mall, we return to the hotel with several packages, including a sequined shirt to match the tiara. Kathy makes me wear it the whole time we are shopping, which brings far more attention than I usually prefer.
I grin and bear it, though, even when the valet makes a comment, and Kathy announces my birthday quite loudly.
“I’ll plan on getting you a cab instead of giving you the keys back,” he says with a wink.
“Hold on!” Kathy says. “We need to get the stuff out of the trunk!”
I open the trunk and grab the packages. One is shoved way in the back, and Kathy leans inside to grab it while the valet checks out her ass. I roll my eyes at him, and he winks again.
“What the fuck is all this?” Kathy asks.
I tilt my head to the side as she pulls out a brown sack I don’t remember seeing before. Inside is a strange assortment of items, including zip ties, latex gloves, and an el
ectric blanket.
“I have no clue,” I say. I don’t want to think about why Deklan would have those things in the back of his car. “Must be Dek’s.”
I shove the bag back inside and slam the trunk closed.
Kathy and I go to the room to change. Then we hit the hotel bar for a quick drink. I’m all paranoid that the bartender is going to realize the ID I used last night is a fake, and Kathy notices my nervousness.
“Let’s bail and go to the bar across the street,” she says. “You need better drinks. Make sure you use your real ID this time—people love to get a newly of-age chick drunk. You’ll be drinking for free all night!”
“Martinis, here we come!”
Kathy was right about one thing—newly twenty-one-year-olds get a lot of free drinks. We catch Ubers to different bars around town, and every bartender makes sure I get my fill. At some point, we end up at a biker bar.
The bar is L-shaped, dark, and in a secluded area off the main strip. I didn’t even notice it from across the road, but the Uber driver said we could have a good time here. There’s a sign in the window, but it doesn’t light up to tell you the name of the place or anything like that. Inside, a long bar occupies the long side of the L, whereas the short side is lined with booths.
