Page 126 of Vengeful Princess

I resolved to watch Eden even more closely.

“Let’s go sit down for a bit,” Eden said, tugging me toward the VIP section.

“We can’t go up there,” I told her, but she ignored me.

The man with an earpiece and a buzz cut scowled when Eden nearly spilled her cocktail all over his shiny shoes. “Name?” he asked, clearly hoping we weren’t on his list.

“Eden Kelly and guest.” She hiccupped and then giggled.

Mr. Buzz Cut grimaced and nodded, lifting the velvet rope to allow us access to the stairs. Feeling somewhat surprised Eden’s name was on the list, I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. The seating was likely to be more comfortable upstairs, and hopefully, the music was not as loud.

My head throbbed, and my feet were killing me. I definitely needed a sit down. Considering I was only 19, I felt like 109 tonight. A sad indictment of how pathetic my life was.

Any normal girl my age would be living it up right now, hitting on z-list celebrities or drinking herself into a coma like Eden. Instead, I was dreaming of my comfortable bed and thanking my lucky stars my father hadn’t sent me out to kill someone.

The VIP section was way more luxurious than the downstairs area. Instead of small tables with bar stools, this part of the club featured velvet sofas and snugs, where VIP guests coulddrink and socialize without being spied upon or papped for the tabloids.

Servers in black bustier tops and micro-miniskirts provided a table service for anyone too lazy or inebriated to visit the bar.

It was all very tasteful, while simultaneously being tacky as fuck. I couldn’t decide which. But after collapsing onto an empty purple sofa, I decided it didn’t matter. If being up here meant I no longer had to stand on the heels from hell, the VIP area had just earned a 5-star rating.

It wasn’t until I heard a loud burst of male laughter from a neighboring booth that my bubble burst.

68

Thea

What was Dar doing here? Talk about ruining my mood. Eden caught me staring across the room and her eyebrows shot up.

“Oh great, I didn’t realize it was Skank’s Night,” she whisper-shouted.

The blond draped over Dar’s thighs looked up and scowled, having heard Eden’s comment despite the music.

“Maybe we should go,” I mused, half to myself, but Eden was too busy calling the server over to notice.

“A bottle of champagne, please!” she said.

“Wait, what? I don’t want any champagne!” Jesus Christ. My father would shit a brick if he discovered I was quaffing champagne on his coin.

“Don’t be a killjoy!” Eden booped me on the nose and almost broke it. It was time to cut the girl off. She’d drunk way too much.

“I’m not a killjoy,” I hissed, aware that the party booth, aka Dar and his floozies, were listening. “I just think you need to slow down a bit.”

“I’mfiiiiine! I can handle my drink,” she scoffed before hiccuping again. “Oh look, cute guys for us!” When I looked up, two guys were swaggering toward our sofa, both wearing expensive watches and perma-tans that spoke of extended vacations in sunny climates.

Since Dar was watching, I figured it was a good opportunity to behave badly.

“Hello, ladies! You look lonely. Mind if we join you?” The one with sleek, dark hair and a chiseled jaw flashed white teeth at Eden while his fair-haired friend openly checked me out. He wasn’t bad looking, just not my type, but Eden was practically salivating with eagerness to get to know them better.

Ugh.

“No, we don’t mind at all!” she giggled, flicking her pink hair like a pro. I leaned forward and smiled at the fair-haired one. He reminded me of Ryan Gosling. Easy on the eye.

“I’m Lachlan and that’s Ryan,” the dark-haired one said. Was he for real? What were the chances a Ryan Gosling lookalike was actually called Ryan?

There was a pregnant pause while the guys waited for us to offer them our names, but I was too stunned and Eden too drunk. Eventually, I recovered enough to say,

“I’m Kylie and she’s Kendall.”

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