Page 47 of Dark Bonds

“About as well as you’d expect,” I laughed. “I did manage to get her to have a drink and dance a little. She was actually on her way out when she slammed into Chase… and then fell into Seb. I left her in their capable hands. Now, enough about them. How about you come dance with me, handsome?”

He grinned, the lopsided grin I loved so much, and pulled me flush against him. I rocked my hips, bumping up against his erection and then turned out of his grasp, dragging him to the dance floor.

* * *

I had come home from the club with a pounding headache and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I groaned when my phone ringing woke me and grabbed blindly for it. It was just after 2 a.m. and, if it had been anyone other than Raven, I’d have ignored it completely.

“Raven?” I mumbled sleepily, “How was your night?”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” she snapped.

“What happened?” I asked, suddenly wide awake.

“What happened? Why the fuck would you bring me to a place like that? Do you know what could have happened to me? Do you know what I did? I’m not the person I was tonight and that’s all on you.”

“Raven, slow down, you’re scaring me. Are you okay?”

“You weren’t too damn worried about my safety a few hours ago when you let two strangers parade me to their private room at the fucking sex club that I didn’t even want to be at.”

“Raven. Are. You. Hurt?”

“No, I’m not hurt,” she snapped, “but I could have been. Leah, you let me go off with them and then went home to bed. I thought you were my friend.”

“Raven, anyone with private rooms there is vetted by the club. Plus, do you think I would have let you go if I didn’t know Chase and Seb were good guys? You should know I’d never do anything to hurt you. You’re my best friend!”

“Fuck that and fuck you,” she spat before disconnecting the call.

I called her back and it went straight to voicemail. My second and third calls went to voicemail as well. I was excited when my phone pinged with another notification, but my brow wrinkled in confusion at the unknown number.

Sebastian: Hi Leah. It’s Seb. Jason gave me your number. Message me as soon as you get this.

Leah: What the fuck happened??

Sebastian: That’s what we want to know. Raven seemed fine with everything that happened. The three of us fell asleep, but when we woke up, she was gone.

Leah: I just got off the phone with her. She ripped me to shreds and then hung up. She won’t answer the phone now. I’m not sure if she blocked me or turned her phone off. Maybe both.

Sebastian: We didn’t even get as far as trading numbers. We figured that would happen before we wrapped up for the night. Please, tell us how to reach her.

Leah: Listen, she’s my best friend, even if she is pissed with me right now. You guys have a good reputation and I feel like I’ve gotten to know you fairly well, but I need to know where you guys see this going. I’m sure you’ve figured out that she’s not the one-night stand kind of person.

Sebastian: We aren’t either. Leah, we’re looking long-term here. We understand that she’s new to this and that she’s going to need time to get used to things. We’re okay with that. We can already tell she’s worth the time.

Leah: Okay, her number is 925-554-2849. I’m not going to give you her home address, but if you happen to be around Jumpin’ Java on 49th around 8 a.m., there’s a good chance you’ll run into her.

Sebastian: Thanks, Leah.

Leah: No problem. Good luck! I spent all night calling and texting but never got any response.

My heart was breaking and I feared my decision to bring her with me to the club had just cost me my closest friend. I brought up Jason’s info and called him.

“Jason,” I sniffled when he answered, “can you come over?”

“What happened, baby girl?”

“Raven just called and I think I’ve lost my best friend. I don’t even know what to do.”

“It’ll be okay. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes, okay?”

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