Page 1 of Double The Pleasure

Chapter One

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Harper

"You're coming out with me tonight. Fuck Chuck!"

I look over at my sister and stop typing. The last thing I want to do is go out tonight and 'people'. I roll my eyes and go back to work. "I love you, Harley, but the last thing I want to do is go out with a lot of sweaty people trying to simulate fucking on a dance floor, or to be felt up by some loser who can't take no for an answer and thinks, 'back up, buddy' means his hands can roam all over everything."

"Wow, Harper," she gives me a harrumph that would've made me laugh some other day, but not today, "You really know how to put things in perspective don't ya sweetie. Either way, I'm not going anywhere until you agree to go out with me tonight."

I roll my eyes. I can tell she means business. She won't stop pestering me until I agree to do what she says. Whether I like it or not, I'm going out tonight. I push my chair back and let her pull me to my feet.

I've been in a slump since I got dumped by Chuck. We only dated for a couple of months but he broke up with me because I wouldn't have sex with him. He made it sound like he had been waiting for years instead of weeks. Asshole. One part of me is glad he's gone; the other part is full of doubt that he might be my last chance to have a normal relationship. I understand it isn't but this feeling isn't going to be rational either.

I let her doll me up and dress me in something short and flirty as she does my hair. Finally, I borrow a pair of her heels to complete the look. Despite what people think we're not twins. She's older by a year and a half. Mom just always made sure we were super close to each other while we were growing up and it stuck. We live together, she steals my clothes and I steal the food she doesn't know I know about that she's tried to hide in the back of the fridge.

One of the things that me and Chuck fought over was my relationship with my sister. He wanted me to move out so we could have more privacy. In reality, I think he just didn't want me to be close to her anymore. He was jealous and insecure. At least that is what I am telling myself.

She drags me to the club via Uber and we have no problem getting in. The music is loud and the lights are low. I'm not sure how this place is supposed to help me forget about Chuck but I'll act like it makes me feel better for Harley. I let her buy me a drink before we hit the dance floor and after a little while, I actually do start to have fun.

It's hot and humid so I'm fanning myself with a cocktail napkin before the bottle of water and the pink drink I downed start to catch up with me. I hate using club bathrooms. All I can think about is some Dateline show where the unsuspecting woman gets pulled into the dark and hurt.

"I have to go pee." I have to yell to be heard over the music. My sister leans towards me and I repeat myself. She nods and we head that way.

On the way back I spot a guy sitting at the bar nursing a beer. He looks a little lonely and like he might be just as out of place here as I am. Not that he doesn't look like he fits here. His arms are covered in tattoos and he has a vibe to him that says he's a total badass if he needs to be.

I walk right into my sister's back looking at him for as long as I can. Maybe he's waiting for someone - a date. A man as hot as him would have a woman. No way he's single. I play it off to Harley like I'm not used to wearing heels this high and it’s not a total lie. I'm not used to wearing heels that look like weapons on an everyday basis.

After we come out Harley pulls me along with her until a couple splits us apart. She waves me towards the dance floor again and I'm about to follow her when I trip over my own feet and tilt sideways. I don't fall but instead, land in the arms of the hot guy I was eye-fucking from before. Wouldn't you know it, I make a complete idiot out of myself and it has to be right in front of him.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry."

He rights me before turning a little more so that I am standing between his legs, his hands still on my hips to steady me.

"No worries. You okay?"

I smile at him. I can't believe he's asking about me. He could have lost his shit on me or just brushed me off as the klutz I am but he looks like he really wants to know if I'm alright.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thank yo...," I'm about to thank him for asking when I am pulled around by the arm. I recognize immediately this isn't my sister. I try to pull away and the arm disappears causing me to fall back, right into the lap of the man I was talking to.

"Harper? Is that you?" Shit, I know that voice, the condescending whine, and the self-gloating pomp. It's Chuck. "Are you dating someone new already?"

I open my mouth to answer him but he just keeps going.

"Wow, it didn't take you long to find a lap to hop on did it?"

What the hell is he talking about? It's like I left him not the other way around. I can't believe he is saying anything about me being out.

"You broke up with me."

He runs his eyes up and down my body. How did I put up with him for so long? He's a total creeper. My words don't shake logic into him but end up pissing him off.

"And him, really?"

"Hey!" he can say what he wants about me but this is a stranger for God's sake, "I am so sorry."

"You're so desperate you'd hop on anyone's lap just because I dumped your sorry ass."

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