Page 54 of Wild Hit
“Wipe your drool, man,” Lucky suggests.
I close my mouth and do everything I can to not raise my hand and confirm whether said drool is really out.
I’m an adult.
But not around this woman. I become a fumbling teenager.
I wipe my face just in case.
“You didn’t see that,” I tell Lucky like it’s a command.
There’s no doubt that he’s laughing on the inside as he says, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I point at him, then at my eyes, and run my thumb in the air across my neck. He returns a thumb up.
The limo slows down and this time it’s not due to traffic. A moment later the driver opens the door to usher everybody out to our next destination. This one is actually courtesy of Lucky, who found what apparently is the best Latin night club of LasVegas for pregaming. I hang out at the back of the group, waiting to make sure that no one’s getting left behind.
That’s when, for the first time all night, the bride acknowledges my existence up close. We stare at each other in a full display of awkwardness.
“Hi,” I manage to rasp out.
“Hey.” Her eyes roam all over my face, like searching for something. I give hernothing. “Aren’t you escorting me?”
Thenothingis due to the fact that every braincell has fled from my skull, obviously. “Huh?”
“I mean…” She clears her throat and pushes her hair behind her ears. “This is when the show begins, you know? Once we step outside of this vehicle it’s no longer just our friends and us.”
“Mierda. You’re right. We should’ve talked about this before. I don’t know how you want me to act.” My eyes widen to a painful degree. Somewhere between all the logistics I should’ve figured out that there was gonna be a certain amount of PDA involved in this deal.
Audrey takes a deep breath and offers her hand. “Just follow my lead.”
Finally my wits boomerang back to me and I offer my arm instead. “I’ll do you one better, I’m going to act like the perfect gentleman.”
Lifting her chin almost in defiance, she slides her hand into the crook of my arm and I nearly see stars. Surely it’s because I haven’t been breathing properly and not because this is the best feeling in the world, right? I send a command to the rest of my body to be on my best damn behavior tonight, or else.
Or else I’m gonna have to find a quiet place to do some burpees until I drop.
We step off the limousine and I thank the driver. He’s left us right at the club’s door and is gonna wait around for abouttwo hours until we have to head to the chapel. I’ll tip him well enough to compensate for all this hassle and more.
“Welcome, Mr. Machado. Our hostess will show you to your VIP area,” the bouncer says as we walk up to him, skipping the line.
“Thank you,” I repeat, a little lightheaded without any alcohol in my system.
An explosion of sounds greets us the moment we walk in. It takes me a moment to readjust my brain and figure out that what’s making the walls vibrate and hypes the people up is Cuban salsa. We follow behind our friends, herded by a hostess that takes us through hidden corridors.
I check in on my partner in crime. Audrey examines the dancing crowd until the corridor ensconces us away from the people who are actually here for a good time. She turns to me and says, “I don’t know how to dance.”
Right away, the image of her in my arms swaying to a waltz comes to my mind.
“You do,” I counter. “You were really good at your dad’s benefit.”
“Trust me, I’m not. That was all you.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to teach you,” I say with a shrug. This is what finally makes her lose her composure. Her jaw slackens and she trips on her own feet. Fortunately, I keep her standing.
“Okay, this is cool,” the Cowboy says in appreciation as he takes in the private VIP section. “Good job, Lucky.”
The Boricua throws his arm around the Texan’s shoulders. “Thank you, I do anything for my amigos.”
