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Seeing that there’s nothing else back here, I turn and head back to the front room to beg Cara to dance once more, but when my eyes fall to the bar my stomach pitches toward the floor. She isn’t there and neither is the guy she was talking to.
Shit.
“I can’t leave that girl alone for five minutes,” I groan, making my way across the room and keeping my eyes peeled for any sight of her. She might have gone to the bathroom or she might have slipped off somewhere private with that guy.
What’s his name? Sam?
She’s probably bruising her knees somewhere right now, and I try not to be annoyed. First she didn’t want to dance, and now she’s left me alone in a club. It isn’t like her, but I’ve also never seen her drunk. Maybe this is how she gets.
I pull out my phone to text her and let her know I’ll be waiting for her at the bar, but I don’t have any service whatsoever. There’s an X where my service bars should be, and I can only assume it has something to do with the building. It was working perfectly fine before we got to the club.
Double shit. This would be my luck.
My eyes flick between the bar and the front door and I go back and forth between what I should do. More alcohol would make this entire situation more enjoyable, but I want to make sure she’s okay and checking in would put my mind at ease. Besides, it’s possible they went outside for some fresh air. I can check out there real quick, text her to let her know where I’ll be, and then slip back inside to wait and get drunk alone.
Maybe Nate and his boy toy will join me so I’ll have company.
I take off toward the entrance and slip through the doorway. The bouncer undoes the rope barrier for me and I step out onto the sidewalk. It’s cooled off since we arrived, and a light breeze makes the hairs on my arms stand up as goosebumps form. To be a Friday night, this street seems unusually deserted. No one bustles by heading to other clubs or restaurants on this block, and only the occasional car passes by.
It’s strange, but I shake it off. I have more important things to worry about.
Scrolling down to Cara’s name in my contacts, I punch the call button and put the phone to my ear as I pace the few squares of sidewalk in front ofThe Ch?teau. It rings until it goes to voicemail and I curse, hanging up and redialing. When it goes to voicemail again, I groan irritably and quickly type out a text.
Me:No idea where you’ve snuck off to but I hope you’re enjoying yourself. I’ll be at the bar.
That’ll have to do because I’m not sure what else Icando. This isn’t how I imagined my night going, and if it doesn’t get better soon I’m likely to head home early. All I wanted was to hang out with someone for a while to get out of the apartment and I’ve found myself alone once again.
This fucking blows.
I walk back toward the entrance of the club and pause, expecting the bouncer to let me in without issue like he did the first time, but the burly man doesn’t move. In fact, he doesn’t even acknowledge my existence at first.
“Umm.. excuse me,” I say tentatively, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. “Could you please let me back in?”
“No entry after ten, I’m sorry,” he says without looking my way.
I gape at him, his words taking longer than they should to sink in.
“But it’s not ten yet,” I argue, pulling my phone back out to prove it to him. However, my shoulders sag when I note the time: 10:02. The blood drains from my face as my heart launches into a sprint, pounding hard. “I was just inside though. I only came outside to make a call because I don’t have service in there.”
The man doesn’t budge.
“Sir, please,” I beg, heat flushing my cheeks. “My friend is inside, the one I came with tonight. Just let me grab her really quick and we’ll leave. I–”
“I’m sorry, ma’am.” He drops his gaze to meet mine and suddenly seems several times his normal size. Large and menacing, the polar opposite of everything I am. “I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them.”
For a long moment I just stare at him, wondering how the fuck my luck could possibly be this bad. I decide that it must be a sign from the universe–I’m not meant to be atThe Ch?teau.I don’t belong here and I had no business coming tonight. I just wanted to be close to Elio, Azarius, and Rafe and the alleyway next to this place takes me back to the time I followed them into the darkness.
What a mistake this was.
“This is fucking ridiculous,” I groan, massaging my temple with two fingers. “Fine, can you just have someone go get her? I’ll wait right here.”
A muscle in his jaw twitches, but he makes no effort to move. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Are you serious?” I gasp, my mouth falling open. “So you can’t let me in and you can’t help me. Is there anything youcando?”
I know I’m pushing my luck by messing with this guy’s temper, but I don’t care. This has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever had happen to me. There has to be something someone can do. A manager? An owner?
“I can call you a cab,” he grits out. “Now if you’re done wasting my time, you can stop blocking the doorway. There are more clubs a few blocks over. Why don’t you go check out one of those?”
