Page 85 of Casino King

Jess and Kayla descend the stairs like royals entering a ball while I trail behind them with a little less grandeur, concentrating more on not twisting an ankle in these heels.

Squeezing our way through the tightly packed bodies on the dancefloor, we make our way over to the bar, with the groups of men surrounding it parting for us with ease, all asking if they can buy us our first round.

Jess and Kayla smile and keep saying, “Maybe next time.”

“Watch your drinks, Tessa,” Jess says to me. “You never know what these guys might put in them.”

I nod, and she orders for us, handing me a drink that I quickly take a sip of, needing it to calm my nerves. I feel vastly out of my element here.

“Come on, let’s dance!” Kayla yells excitedly, dragging me out into the middle of the sea of people.

Sucking down my drink, I let my body sway to the beat, feeling more comfortable by the second.

By now, Tito has to have realized I’m not in the theater anymore, and probably sounded the alarms. Good.

“Here you go!” Jess yells, handing me another drink. “I think you’re one more away from forgetting that man.”

“I think so!” I yell back, hoping she’s right. “Wait! How did you know?”

Her eyes widen. “Oh, well, it’s obvious!” she yells, laughing. “I know the look of man troubles a mile away! Plus, we all saw what happened at that party we worked!” she adds, and I flinch. Oh, right. Of course. “Just dance, Tessa! Have a little fun!”

Taking a long sip from my new drink, I laugh at Kayla a few feet from me as she circles a very good-looking man like he’s her prey. Men have tried to dance with me, but I’ve skirted out of their grasp every time with sly twists of my hips and torso, content to just dance on my own.

A few songs later, I really start to feel the alcohol take effect, and my head spins with the flashing lights and pounding bass of the music.

Jess takes my arm. “Hey, you don’t look so good. Let’s go to the bathroom.”

“Yeah,” I croak out, trying to get the room to stop spinning.

Stumbling through the crowd, Jess wraps her arm around me while Kayla holds my upper arm to steady me as my legs have started to feel a little weird. I blink rapidly, trying to get my eyes to see clearer, but the room remains blurry.

“How far is the bathroom?” I ask, the words feeling heavy on my tongue. I’ve never been this drunk before.

“We’re close. Don’t worry,” Jess assures me.

Looking up, I see an exit sign right before we walk through a doorway, but my brain is too fuzzy to understand what’s happening.

“Come on, Tessa, a little farther,” Kayla adds.

My legs start to give out on me as we walk down what seems to be too bright of a hallway to be leading me to the bathroom.

Where are we going?

Warm air hits my face suddenly. Are we outside?

My eyes start to droop, and I feel another set of hands grab my arms. Larger, rougher hands, that don’t belong to Jess or Kayla.

I peel my eyes open to see shadows looming all around me, and my heart rate kicks up.

“Where’s our money?” I hear Jess or Kayla ask as I’m shoved and pushed around, my brain not able to decipher which one asked.

Money? From who?

My legs hit the cold metal of a car before right before my head hits the lip of what I think is a trunk, and then it all goes dark. Silent.

♠♣♥♦

My head is pounding. It feels like someone took a sledgehammer to it, and there’s something wrapped around my head to prevent me from seeing anything but black.

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