Page 18 of Ruined
The bartender moved three glasses to a tray, then poured the alcohol out of the shaker.
“Who’s that for?” Lucas asked. His voice was deep and melodic, each word calculated, even with a simple question as that.
Part of me didn’t want to answer. He had followed me to Nora’s school. I should have told Dahlia he had stalked me and had him banned from the club.
But the other part of me was curious. Why couldn’t I stop thinking about him resting his feet on my thigh? Or the way he pressed our bodies together while I leaned on the hoop? We had barely done anything and it had consumed me. Made me stay awake at night, thinking about him. Why him? Why me?
I motioned over to Aldrich and Mel. Perhaps it was better if I didn’t speak.
“Why don’t you deliver that, and we head to the Terrariums?”
My stomach clenched. Being in one of those rooms with him would put me one step closer to where I shouldn’t be. He was the temptation I didn’t need. He made me question everything. My resolve. The tension. The space between us.
“I’m still with Aldrich,” I said quietly. I looked in their direction. Mel was now sitting on Aldrich’s lap. Would the paint stain his clothes? Did he care? His second wife had died only a few months ago. I hadn’t heard of any new partners to worry about. But that didn’t mean that Aldrich wouldn’t be upset.
“It looks like he’s occupied,” Lucas said.
A small sigh escaped my lips. “Maybe later,” I said.
Yes, I did want to go back there with Lucas, but I didn’t know him, not like IknewAldrich. As much as he was an asshole, he was a predictable asshole. A reliable asshole. A club member that would treat me like shit until he had had his fill. Then he would grovel and beg for forgiveness, and that would usually mean an extra tip on top of the total payment for my time.
Mel tilted her head into his. He laughed.
“Maybe later,” I said again, and this time, I said it like I meant it. Lucas shrugged his shoulders.
“You know where I’ll be.”
If it had been two shots, I would have carried them with my hands, but three required more help. I walked carefully with the tray.
“Three shots,” I said. I bent down, grabbing the first for Mel. “Let’s toast to—”
Aldrich swooped his hand into the bottom of the tray, knocking the shot glasses over, even knocking the one I was holding out of my hand. I was drenched.
“Damn it, Hales. You spilled the shit all over,” he said.
There wasn’t a drop on him or Mel.
I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. The beads of alcohol traced down my skin. The bitter scent masking my sugary perfume.
“Don’t just stand there,” Aldrich said. “Do something, you fucking idiot.”
I closed my eyes, then grabbed the tray. If I were better at making those kinds of interactions profitable, I would apologize, try to find an angle to make Aldrich feel guilty. But as it was, it took everything I had to hold myself together. I should have ordered another round before disappearing into the Greenhouse to get changed.
Instead, I grabbed the three glasses off of the floor and put them on the tray without a word. I slammed it down on the bar and stormed into the Greenhouse.
I wiped a cool wet rag over my chest and arms, hoping that it would get rid of most of the smell. A few puffs of vanilla body spray. Touched up my flat ironed hair.
As long as he was kind to Mel. She didn’t deserve his behavior. I didn’t either, but at least I knew how to handle him.
I could see the two of them from the entrance to the Greenhouse. She was listening as he rambled, probably going on about his theory of why he would one day rule the world, the kind of rant I had learned to tune out. She perched in his lap, nodding steadily like a docile creature.
I could sit with them. If I played my cards right, Mel would be on my side, and in a few hours, I could confront him about the rudeness. Get him into one of the Terrariums to make up for it. Mel might come with us, but with enough sweet talk, I could convince Aldrich to take me alone. There was more money in solo entertainment. Mel might not like it, but I could persuade her that this was the best for both of us. That I could negotiate more money for her.
Or I could let them be.
Lucas was sitting at one of the tables in front of the stage, though his eyes weren’t on Iris, who contorted her body into strange positions in the spotlight. His eyes were on me. Watching me.
He had followed me to Sage and Ivy. I shouldn’t trust him.
