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“We’ll have a bottle of Grey Goose with seltzer, cranberry juice, and limes. Thank you so much.”

“I’ll be right back with that.” Carrie flashes us a wide grin and hurries off towards the bar.

“Did you just order us a whole bottle of vodka?” I ask.

“Yeah, that’s what you do in places like this. Don’t worry about it.” She gets a little glint of mischief in her eyes. “Tonight is about you. Go fucking crazy, Mia. Drink until you can’t remember why we’re here. Drink until you let your guard down and then grab the hottest man in here and dance your ass off. Drink until you black out and need to be carried out of here. For once in your life, you can just let go. Nothing bad will happen. The two oafs will watch over us.”

I pull her towards me for a side hug. “I don’t want to black out, but thank you for the option.”

The waitress comes back with the help of two others. An extra-large bottle of vodka is placed on the table, a bucket of ice, stack of cups, a pitcher of cranberry juice, a few cans of seltzer, and a cup of sliced limes.

“Let me make the first round,” Gia offers. I’m not technically of legal drinking age yet, but since we bypassed the line out front without having our IDs checked, I don’t think it matters in here. Besides, I’ll be twenty-one in just over a month anyhow.

Oh God, will I even be of legal drinking age at my wedding? Because the only way I think I can get through it is with the help of expensive champagne. That thought alone has me grabbing the drink Gia just slid towards me and gulping down half of it in one go.

“Alright,” Gia says, laughing, holding her cup in the air. “Cheers to Mia. Her last name may be changing soon, but that doesn’t mean she’ll evernotbe one of us.”

“And may she find happiness no matter what,” Aria adds, and we raise our cups to meet Gia’s. “Even if that means needing an extra-large pack of batteries to keep her vibrator at the ready.”

My smile is instant. “I could just get a rechargeable one.”

“Hear, hear!” Gia shouts, and I finish my cup in another long gulp. “Okay, then,” she says on a laugh, her eyes dancing with humor. “I see how it is.” She lines up three more cups and pours a shot of vodka in each. She only raises her eyebrows and lifts her cup as a salute before the three of us knock back our shots and then makes me another full mixed drink.

The music is loud and the bass is hitting me deep in my chest. I watch the dance floor while I finish my second drink, seeing everyone swaying and grinding to the beat like the bass is living in their bodies.

I’m not used to drinking. I usually only have a glass of wine with dinner when I feel like it, so the vodka is hitting me pretty quickly and going straight to my head. By the time I finish my third drink and another shot, I’m feeling like my problems aren’t weighing me down so heavily.

“Oh, I love this song!” I say enthusiastically when a Latin song comes on. “Let’s dance!”

I scoot out of the booth and grab Aria and Gia’s hands to bring them out to dance with me. Laughing, I lift my arms and spin around. My hips twist and roll, and it feels so good to have fun without thinking of anyone or anything.

I’m in my own little world, just dancing in a sea of people, and while Aria and Gia have men come up to them and ask to dance, they always decline. That is, until two guys who are beyond gorgeous ask them, and they grab their hands and wrap them around their waists. Hell, I wouldn’t be able to resist them either.

Smiling, I continue dancing in my own bubble until a hand slides against my hip and I turn to see a really good-looking guy smiling down at me.

“Dance with me, gorgeous.”

I smile and he takes my hand, spinning me around before settling me against him – my back to his front.

I sway to the beat, and his hand settles on my lower stomach with his fingers spread wide. “You’re so fucking hot,” the stranger says in my ear, loud enough for me to hear over the music.

I smile at the crass compliment and place my hand over his. He takes it and spins me around to face him, but before I can press myself against him again, another guy grabs my other hand and pulls me away so I stumble and crash against his hard torso instead.

My eyes are still looking at who I was dancing with, and I’m about to argue with whoever just pulled me away from my chance to get what I wanted tonight, but then I see the man who quite literally stole me away from that chance, and my words get stuck in my throat.

Holy shit.

This man is absolutely stunning.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more attractive man in my life.

No, I don’t think that. Iknowthat.

He has dark hair with a sexy curl that’s fallen over his forehead, a sharp jawline that’s covered in a day or two worth of stubble that I want to rub my hands and cheek against, and striking eyes that are holding me captive. I can’t tell what their exact color are because of the lighting in here, but I have a feeling they’re something I’ve never seen before and will never forget.

He's older than me, maybe even by more than ten years, but he has an air of authority and experience to him that is undeniably sexy and alluring.

He doesn’t say a single word to me, just keeps his eyes on me as he takes both of my hands and brings them up around his neck. He slides his own back down my arms and sides, and around to my lower back. If I didn’t know with absolute certainty I was wearing a dress, I would think he was touching my bare skin with how much I can feel his touch through the fabric.

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