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Chapter One
BELLE
“How far away is this place?” Stella moaned for what felt like the thousandth time as she stared out the window. She huffed out a breath, causing the pane of glass to fog up, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
Stella didn’t have an ounce of patience. She wanted everything right then and there. It was something I’d quickly learned about her on our first day of freshman year at college. We’d been thrown together by random and assigned a shared dorm. The tiny room held two single beds as well as two desks, and we hadn’t even made it to our third full week before we were talking about getting an apartment together as soon as the mandatory first year in dorms was over.
Now we were halfway through our junior year and living in an apartment, complete with a bedroom each. We’d become best friends in the two and a half years we’d known each other, but along the way, she’d picked up a long-term boyfriend.
I was all for being the third wheel because there was no way I was going to commit to any of these college guys whose lives revolved around parties and when their next lay would be. But fortunately, Stella’s boyfriend also came equipped with a best friend and roommate, which made us the awesome foursome, at least that was what Stella liked to call us. I was sure she had visions of us being two couples who would go on double dates together, but it would never happen because I didn’t look at Curtis in that way.
“Not much longer,” Curtis told her, his tone fed up with her asking the same question over and over again. He knocked me with his elbow to get my attention, and I smiled up at him. Curtis was the definition of hot with his ink-black hair and the tattoos rolling over the skin of his arms. Too bad for Stella, he just didn’t do it for me, which blasted her vision of double dates to pieces.
“C’mere, babe,” Justin told Stella, holding his arms out to her, and she went willingly, shuffling across the seat toward him. Justin was the perfect guy for Stella. He put up with her mood swings and doted on her endlessly, but most importantly, he brought her ice cream when she was feeling down. A man who bought his girlfriend ice cream was perfection in my book.
Her sigh could be heard over the sound of the engine of the car, and I was starting to understand why she was making those noises. She wasn’t wrong. We’d been in this cab for what felt like forever, and a quick look at the time on the dashboard said we were about to hit the thirty-minute mark. Thank god Curtis said he was paying the fare. After all, it was his idea to go to this club.
The cab took a turn, and I stared out of the window, spotting a line of people all dressed up in their party clothes. It kept going and going, and we just drove on past them until the cab stopped at the front of the line.
“Are you serious?” Stella asked, raising her brows at Curtis as he fished out his wallet. “Do we have to wait in that line?”
Curtis turned to look out of the window and shook his head. “Nah, Bennie is on shift.”
“Bennie?” I asked, pushing out of the back of the cab with Stella and Justin on my heels. “As in, the doorman at your bar?” It wasn’t technically his bar. Curtis worked in the only decent bar in our college town, which meant we drank for free and had access to the best sticky bar stools in town.
“Yep.” Curtis flung his arm around my shoulders and moved toward the front of the line. He’d taken to doing that more and more often, but I didn’t overthink it. We’d been on one date when we first met, and we both agreed there was nothing there, much to Stella’s dismay.
“Stay here,” he said and stepped forward to talk to Bennie.
Bennie looked over at the three of us, raised his brows, and then glanced back at Curtis. He crossed his arms over his chest, causing his beefed-up muscles to tense, and the grim look on his face told me we probably weren’t going to get inside. He shook his head as his lips moved, and my stomach dropped. If we’d come this far just to get turned away at the door, not only would Stella be pissed, but so would I. And the both of us together would—
“Let’s go!” Curtis shouted and waved his arm at us. Bennie moved to the side, and Curtis walked by him, waiting for us to catch up.
I smiled over at Bennie, then widened my eyes at Curtis. “For a second there, I didn’t think we’d get in.” His laugh echoed around us but dissipated as soon as the main doors opened. The music was so loud my eardrums screamed for relief, but once we were fully inside, they acclimated to the thumping beat and the packed club. “Holy shit,” I whispered, but no one could hear me.
“We need to go to the bar!” Curtis shouted, but I could only just make out what he was saying. I grasped on to his arm as he stepped forward, and Stella’s hand wrapped around my wrist so she didn’t lose us.
Together, the four of us weaved in and out of people dancing as we pushed through the crowded club. Curtis lifted his hand and leaned over the shiny black surface to speak to the girl behind the bar. A couple of seconds later, shot glasses were lined up, and tequila was poured into them.
“Here!” Curtis shouted, handing each of us a shot. We made up our own little circle, and one look at Stella’s face told me she thought this place was worth the long cab ride. Her gaze was flinging from one side of the room to the other, taking everything in, but all I could concentrate on were the three people surrounding me.
It wasn’t that I’d never been to a club before, but nothing like this one. This was the kind of club you hear people talking about, but never actually go to. The DJ was on a raised podium and was talking over the mic while he played a mix of songs, effortlessly streaming them together.
