Page 91 of Liberate Us (Next Generation 8)

“Shawnee has been known to dabble outside of the male territory,” I reminded Emma, as a few of the other dancers came into the room.

Shawnee laughed, slipping into a tight neon pink dress.

“Oh yes.” Emma’s smile widened. “I’m well aware of that.” She winked.

Shawnee scowled, throwing a shoe at her. “Shut up. That was one time and I had too many margaritas.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Emma wrapped an arm around Penny’s waist. “You still let me eat your—”

“Alright, that’s enough.” Shawnee glared at her. “Zip me up so I can leave.”

“You’re leaving wearing that?” Emma released Penny and went up to Shawnee.

“Yes, I’m going to a party if you must know.” Shawnee pulled her long blond hair over her shoulder as Emma came up behind her.

“I can give you a party with my face between your legs,” Emma said, waggling her eyebrows.

“Is that all you think about?” Shawnee laughed, shaking her head.

Emma looked at me, giving me a wink before turning back to her on again, off again fling. “Yes.”

Laughter filled the room and I realized that this was one of the reasons I still worked at the club. Sure, I didn’t dance anymore, but Candace kept me on anyway and I was thankful she did.

While the girls continued getting ready and talked amongst themselves, I left the room to grab the napkins and their drinks.

Heading to the storage room across the hall, I was gathering up packages of napkins and putting them in a bag when suddenly, a loud eruption sounded.

I jumped, spinning around. The movement had been so hard, my hip hit the edge of a crate.

“Ow,” I mumbled, rubbing the spot to take out the sting.

Another loud bang sounded, forcing my stomach to drop to the floor at my feet. Something was going on. I heard shouting and muffled voices but I couldn’t make out what anyone was saying.

Rushing forward, I never made it to the door when a third eruption sounded, knocking me back.

Falling to the floor, I instinctively covered my stomach. I went to push to my feet when the tiered shelving unit to my left, fell toward me.

Sammy

Smoke filled my lungsto the point it hurt to breathe. It wasn’t the good smoke either. Not the kind I took into my body on a regular basis. Or the kind I used to curb the edge sometimes. No, this was worse. Every inch of me ached as I tried moving. I did a quick body scan, making sure all of my bits and pieces were still intact but fuck me, I hurt.

There was a constant ringing in my head, pounding throughout every inch of me.

“Sam.”

I heard my name being called from somewhere off in the distance, but I couldn’t move. Was my back broken?

“Sam, breathe.”

There was that same voice again.

Taking a deep inhale, my body relaxed, finally able to move. What the hell happened?

Amber.

I shot to a sitting position, my head swimming at the sudden movement. “Fucking hell.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, breathing through the dizziness.

“Sammy.” Cyrus’s face came into view. He crouched in front of me. “Are you okay?”

---