I try to school my features to look surprised while Leslie tells the group about Jaci being her new wedding coordinator. Apparently she tackled nine things off the list while Leslie got her hair done today. “Guys, I think I might have a lady boner for Jaci. She’s scary and reminds me a bit of that mean British chef, Gordon Ramsey, but it’s kind of a turn on! Maybe I should get her a present.” She giggles and begins riffling through the products.
I’m relieved to see Leslie embracing the coordinator. That’s exactly what I wanted her to do. However, if she knew it was me who paid for Jaci’s assistance, she most certainly would refuse the help. But when I turned twenty-one, I received a large trust from my dad. I have never done a lot with the money, except purchase the lease on my flat, so it felt good to spend my money this way.
I knock back a couple more cocktails and relish in the fact that none of these women are like the women I went to school with. Perhaps because most of them are happily coupled off? Or, perhaps it’s because they don’t have a clue or care in the world about who my family is, which is usually the deal-breaker for me and my new girlfriends. Regardless, this group feels so down-to-earth and completely unaffected by trivial London society troubles. It’s refreshing.
The night takes a wicked turn when Leslie disappears into the bathroom to try some warming lube on her wobbly bits. I’ve never laughed as hard as when she came waltzing out in her beautiful dress like she had just stepped off a horse. You’d think that would scare everyone away, but Finley ran in to try the same product!
These girls are so pleasantly original.
In the end, I don’t buy any freaky sex toys, but I do purchase several of the sexy lingerie pieces. I have a little thing for sexy underwear ever since I moved out of my dad’s house. I think I was always too scared to buy it before, fearing that my brothers might see it in the laundry and go ballistic. Now I’ve got a proper collection of filmy goodies that make me feel all girlie and sexy when I go to bed every night.
“The cabs are here!” Frank roars. “To Club Shay we go!”
We hustle into a couple of black cabs and buzz through the intoxicating city lights of London all the while musing over the last time I was at Club Shay. I haven’t been back since before Leslie and Theo became a couple. Leslie was in the middle of some sort of insane love cleanse that Frank had put together for her. The night we were all there, she was challenged by Frank to do a girl kiss and she ended up shocking all of us when she smacked Finley right on the lips. It was a right proper snog too, which Theo was there to bear witness to.
I laugh at the fact that all of that was a part of their unconventional love story. Now they are getting married soon with their own beautiful daughter as their flower girl. Will I ever find anyone who loves me enough to chase me through an entire love cleanse? Or am I destined to just be a motherly figure to my brothers for the rest of their lives?
“Why so glum?” Julie asks, sitting directly across from me and watching me through hooded eyes. She’s possibly the drunkest of everyone here and I’m actually a bit worried for her.
I shrug my shoulders and smile. “I’m just really happy for Leslie. She’s really got it all, ya know?”
“It’s not that easy for all of us,” she drawls menacingly and stares out the window. “No sense getting your hopes up to find something similar. Because just when you think you’ve got your happily ever after sorted, you get the rug ripped straight out from under you. You think you know someone? You don’t. You never really do.” She sighs heavily and her eyes narrow further. “I’m just looking for a bloke to shag tonight. Something to wet my whistle and walk away from. That’s. It.”
My brows lift as Julie speaks to the voice in my head that’s trying its hardest to shout at me to stop obsessing over Hayden and wanting to turn him into something more. He pulled back because he’s not interested, and I know I’d do right to avoid him full stop from now on. Tonight isn’t about boys anyway. It’s about relaxing and having fun with some friends.
We pull up to Club Shay and I’m feeling on top of the world and ready to make tonight about me…and nobody else. I’m not as pissed as the rest of the party, but I’m feeling relaxed and ready for anything.
Anything but a dizzyingly sexy Hayden Clarke standing at the entrance of the club.
SEEING RED
A black cab pulls up to the curb at Club Shay just as my watch clicks over to 11:11. I lean against the wall, ball my fists, and do my usual ritual. When I open my eyes, I see Leslie stumble out of the cab with Frank and Finley doing their best to steady her.
“Hayden!” Leslie bellows, running toward me with her arms open. I feel a bit twitchy at the coincidental timing of their arrival, but get over it quickly as she heaves me down for a drunken hug. Her breath reeks of alcohol as she asks, “Does this mean my Theo is here?” The tone of her voice hitches to a high-pitched squeal at the end with her undiluted excitement.