Page 106

Kristi’s eyes danced, pupils wide in the low light. “Seemed to work out for you.” She pushed open the door, and the roar of drunk voices and music swept in.

“Kristi!” Riley followed the blonde ponytail bobbing through the crowd. Her ankle boots did little to give her the height she needed, so she resorted to shoving her way through, ignoring the looks she got. This is pointless. She shouldn’t have thought Kristi would talk to her while they were out.

“Kristi!” Riley jogged down the steps and onto the sidewalk and grabbed her hand. “Don’t take off like that.”

Kristi finally stopped. She caught Riley’s face in both hands and looked into her eyes. “I really don’t want to talk about feelings. Okay? Can we just have fun tonight? Just us? Like it was?”

Yes. That’s all I want.

But that wasn’t entirely true.

Riley’s heart rate picked up. Kristi’s lips glistened with the fresh coat of gloss. It smelled sweet.

“Kiss her!” a voice shouted from down the busy street.

Riley watched as Kristi got that look in her eye before she brushed their lips together. “For the fans,” she murmured.

Riley rolled her eyes and felt a bubble lighten her chest at the ridiculousness of it all. It was crazy. Her whole life had become crazy. What else was there to do but dance it out?

At some point you have to accept things the way they are.

Kristi burst into laughter and rubbed the smudge of colour off Riley’s lip before she grabbed her hand and strode down the street. She waved to her admirers as they catcalled and whistled.

Kristi’s hand clung to Riley’s, warm and tight. It felt right. Somehow.

Neon lights flashed on the sidewalk, illuminating spilled drinks and cigarette butts as they passed bar after bar. Kristi dragged her right through the middle of a group of young women who took up the entire sidewalk.

“Sorry!”

Clouds of coloured smoke billowed from open doors, and Riley coughed as dry ice engulfed her. “I’m not up for a place where people are doing lines in the bathroom and dancing on tables.”

“This place isn’t like that. It’s new. And sophisticated,” Kristi said. “It opens tonight. It’ll be cool, okay? I heard about it at work.”

“So lines in the bathroom are guaranteed,” Riley muttered and stepped over broken glass. They turned a corner and left behind the rush and roar of the main strip. A limousine pulled away from the curb in front of a vaguely familiar heritage building. The stone façade was gothic, and Riley expected to see gargoyles lurking at the corners.

As they walked up to the tall hammered bronze doors, a breeze, chilly with coming rain, lifted the edge of Riley's dress. She glanced around. There was no line of university students trying to get in, and the bouncers weren’t overweight dudes bragging about how much they could bench. They wore suits with earpieces and stood with their hands behind their backs, cold and professional. They looked like off-duty cops.

Kristi tugged Riley forward.

“Are we even dressed for this kind of place?” Riley looked down at her ankle boots. They were comfortable. Not high-end. She’d borrowed a sparkling dress from Kristi, and she supposed that was fancy enough, but still…

“Babe, no one is going to be noticing your shoes.” Kristi eyed her up and down. “Trust me.”

Security let them in. No IDs, no cover. Just a list and the name Kristi dropped at the door. Kristi worked for defence attorneys that represented the type of people who knew they did it, said as much, and walked away the next day. The type of people who got into places like this.

The damp air was chilly.

“This place is definitely going to get a slide on the red flag presentation,” Riley said, but Kristi didn’t hear.

She followed Kristi into the darkened club, and it was quieter than she expected. She could feel the thud of the bass, but everything else was muffled with soundproofing on the walls.

“VIP section is here.” Kristi led them to a cordoned-off stairway. More suited men stood guard at the bottom of a sweeping staircase. They didn’t make eye contact, didn’t say anything, and just pulled open the velvet rope.

Riley hesitated again.

“One drink, then we can come right back down. I just want to know what expensive tastes like,” Kristi said.

One of the men cracked a smile, and between that and Kristi’s big puppy-dog eyes, Riley stepped forward, toe touching the bottom step.