Page 12 of One Last Memory

“Was he mad?”

“Probably, but he didn’t sound like it. Said that we needed to talk things out when we got home. I told him that there wasn’t a need for any more discussion and to speak through my lawyer from now on.”

“Why didn’t you sayanything?” I felt heatedformy sister. She had gotten drunk, sure, but she wasn’t raging about it. I would have been throwing glasses, yelling, screaming, crying… but maybe that was the point. Maybe Elissa didn’t believe shecoulddo that, that society would allow her to break down so publicly.

She tapped the table absentmindedly, her attention drifting out into the bumbling crowd. “I was the kid who did everything right. I got married. I moved on. I had a child. I had the fairytale life with the big job, didn’t have to work, and loved every moment of it. Divorce wasn’t part of the picture. It couldn’t be.”

“You’re not as big of a fuck up as I am.”

Elissa mustered up a laugh, meeting my eyes again. What I saw there was a broken spirit, but also admiration. It was… strange. “You see yourself in this bubble of failure, Bailee and it’s just not true. Shit happens and you were dealt a terrible hand. But maybe it’s time to step past that. Enjoy those men of yours.”

“I won’t see them again.”

“Why not?”

“It was a one-and-done kind of thing.” Both men had said otherwise, but I wasn’t the type of girl that men came back for. Men dated me because I was easy, low maintenance, not because they loved me.

“Really, because I’ve not seen you glow like you have in the past two days in… forever.”

“I didn’t get their numbers.” This time, I bowed my head because I didn’t want Elissa to see that I was lying through my teeth. I might not have gotten their numbers, but I knew how to find them.

“I’m hearing excuses. Pretty sure you could find them if you wanted to.”

“I’m not that desperate.”

“Never said you were.”

“I’m not Malia.”

“Bailee, stop. Just stop. You’re a gorgeous woman, and you’re here tonight to blow off steam. I didn’t just drag you out here for my woes. It was so that you could enjoy this night, away from Mom and Dad, away from Zak and his guy, away from Malia and the devil spawns. Let loose. Be free. Go home with someone. I got you covered.”

The black wrap dress Elissa had squeezed me into was one of her older outfits. It fit me like a glove, accentuating body parts that I didn’t normally show off. She had let me get away with flats but only because I ran out of the house with them.

“I’m not that easy.” I finally managed to say.

“More excuses. You know Phoenix would have already dragged you out on the dance floor,” Elissa sang to me as she signaled the bartender for two more drinks. She pushed one toward me, grabbing her own. “Drink up. I’ll rescue you if you give me the signal.”

“We haven’t used the signal since you took me out on my 21stbirthday.”

“And it’s a shame we haven’t hung out more. Now, let me wallow in peace. Go shake some ass, cozy up with the locals, enjoy yourself. Don’t come back for at least an hour.”

Elissa shoved what looked like a sex on the beach into my hands and kicked me toward the dance floor. I stumbled through the crowd, finding one of the darker corners to brood in. I wasn’t going to disappoint my sister, but this place made me feel suffocated and on display. Even in the darkness, I felt eyes ogling my body, my discomfort and I just wanted to disappear.

ANGELO

Rubbingmyhandstogetherand bouncing in place, I did a few mock jabs into the dark club room. This was always the best part of the night, the hype before I jumped on stage to showcase my talent. The adoring screams, the wildness behind the box – the one thing that separated me from the chaos. Years ago, I had to perform for hours to garner the same reaction I could muster up in fifteen minutes.

Tonight was going to be a quickie as I just wanted to spend the night with Mason and Benji, but I had promised the locals, and they had talked me up to the vacationers. I had to show up. Doing another few bounces, Mason came up on my side, humming against my cheek before leaving a kiss there. We didn’t spend as much time together as I wanted, both of us finding jobs that worked on opposite shifts.

Still, he always kept me company during my sets, teasing me, riling me up, and then fucking me when we got home. He had tried fucking me in the bathroom ten minutes ago but we didn’t have the time or the privacy that I needed to let go.

Unlike Mason and Benji, I preferred my moments completely behind closed doors and away from the public. “You doing alright? You seem tired.”

I set up my fake grin and twisted toward him, trying not to laugh at how unimpressed he was. “I will be when we get home.”

He reached forward to cup the side of my neck, slowly pulling me into an all-consuming kiss that had me melting against him. “You’re taking a vacation,” he mumbled against my lips. Before I could protest, his lips moved to my jaw and then my neck, suckling the sensitive skin there. “Because I’m going to enjoy keeping you in bed for a few days until I see the tension bleed from your shoulders.”

That sounded fucking fantastic and I immediately agreed before one of the security guards popped their head in to let me know that the crowd was ready for me.

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