Page 15 of Make You Miss Me

We both laugh before she places a round of Casamigos shots on my tray with limes and says, “Work that VIP section babe. With all the tequila they’re drinking they won’t even care how much money they’re giving you by the end of the night.”

“I like how you think, Cass baby!” I say as I sashay away towards the upper VIP lounge.

“Hi guys. Another round of shots! Are you celebrating something fun tonight?” I try to make small talk to make up for my standoffishness tonight. No one wants a sour puss for a cocktail waitress.

One guy speaks up, “As a matter of fact we are!” He points to his friend. “Our boy Jason turned thirty today!”

Looking over to where he’s pointing, I find a very good-looking Jason smiling widely at me.

His loud friend speaks up again, “Would you be willing to do something for our birthday boy for us?”

Not liking where this is going, I frown slightly, but then pull myself back together and answer honestly.“Well, that depends on your request?”

Picking up the bowl of limes, he says, “Hold one of these in your mouth for our boy while he takes a shot. It will make the lime that much sweeter.”

This dude is full of himself, but Jason doesn’t seem so bad, and the request is tame compared to what I thought they were going to ask.

Grabbing a lime from the bowl as I shrug my shoulders, I say, “Sure, why not? Come on, Birthday boy!” I hold the salted lime in the air and smile at Jason.

He stands up, grabbing a tequila shot. Wasting no time, he shoots it back then grabs me by the hips, pulling me towards him to suck on the lime.

I’m shocked when the sensual move elicits no reaction from me. Something about his touch is just not quite right, and maybe I’m more fucked than I thought.Shit, this isn’t good.

Luckily, he is respectful, probably because he never has to beg for a woman’s attention, and he gives me a wink. “Thanks for putting up with us and giving into my friend’s request.”

“No problem. Happy Birthday!” Looking at the circle of guys, “Another round of shots?”

A few of the guys say in unison, “Hell yeah!”

Approaching the bar again, I tell Cass I need six more shots and some help as I pretend to bang my head on the bar.

“What’s wrong? Do I need to get security? Is someone in VIP being too handsy?” Her knee-jerk reaction has me laughing, but it makes sense in this line of work.

Shaking my head no, I tell her, “That’s the issue. I gave him permission to touch me, but it does nothing for me. And he was freaking hot! What the fuck is wrong with me, Cass?”

Grabbing my arm across the bar for comfort, she says, “Babe, I think I know exactly what’s wrong with you, or should I say who... Speaking of him, his brother came by again the other night when you were off. He was asking about you for Trent.”

I giggle. “That sounds like Trent. It’s refreshing how persistent he is even after he already got the main thing most guys want. We’ve been messaging nonstop this week, and it has me questioning everything.”

She grabs a rack of glasses along with a polishing cloth and says, “Sit! I’ll have one of the other girls take this round to the VIP section. Polish these glasses while I give you my two cents.”

I nod and reach for the cloth to get to work as she speaks again. “I know you have some demons that I don’t know about, and I’m not asking you to tell them to me, but I do think life is too short to not go after what you want. It’s okay to try something new. It may fail, it may go up in flames, but at least you know you tried instead of having regrets your whole life.”

She pauses with a sad smile on her face before she continues, “Trust me, take it from someone a bit older than you that has made some choices in life I wish I could take back.” She pauses and looks off as if recalling a distant memory.

Letting out a sigh, she continues, “I would give anything to go back and give in to those feelings just to see where things went. It was frowned upon by others in my life, so I let it slip away and now look at me. The judgmental people aren’t in my life anymore, but neither is the one I truly wanted.”

I know she’s right, but she also doesn’t know the extent of my issues. Unfortunately, mine puts lives at stake.

Smiling at Cass, hating that this wonderful blessing in my life isn’t truly happy, I respond honestly. “Thanks for sharing that with me. Just your words alone have already helped me make one decision I was questioning regarding him.”

“Good! I just want you to be happy, no matter what that means. I’m always here for you if you need me.” The machine spits out another slip. That draws Cass’ attention back to the bar.

“Shit, I better get back to work. Finish those glasses for me pretty please, and then go make that money, honey!”

“Sure thing.” I speak up again before she walks away. “One more thing, Cass…. I feel it in my bones. Your happiness isn’t far away. You are too amazing not to have it all!” She blows me a kiss and smiles as she heads back to the bar.

One thing that is clear after hearing her talk is I am for sure going back to the beach this summer. I’ve already come to terms with giving up my dreams of a fairytale love story and a future as an elite designer… but nothing is saying I have to give up my week at the beach. I’m giving myself that. Besides, it’s only one week.

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