Page 10 of Joint Custody

I didn’t want to be the one to break the news to Tiffany that partying was overrated, but I supposed with a chaperone, there was nothing wrong with having the experience. And I was definitely not doing the same thing her brother and her parents did, I wasn’t forcing myself into this picture, I was invited.

I didn’t see my night ending with me being a chaperone, but Pixie Cut wasn’t wrong, I did want to go. And with the sexual tension that would have gone unrelieved tonight, maybe Anthony was right about me dipping my toes into the water. I mean, sure, Tiffany was off-limits, but her friends weren’t. They were older, and they weren’t related to my best friend in any way. Already a plus. And they were beautiful. Apparently available. I didn’t expect anything to happen with any of them tonight, but I wasn’t closed off to it. Who knew how the night would end up? If one of her friends ended up in my bed, maybe I’d get some post-nut clarity on Tiffany and be ready to face her at the firm tomorrow.

“Well, if we can’t drive, he can’t drive. He’s been drinking too.” Tiffany folded her arms and fixed stern eyes upon me.

“I had one drink and it’s been about an hour since that drink,” I reminded her. “But, you’re right . . .”

I heard the other girls groan as she smirked.

“But it doesn’t mean I can’t accompany you on the cab ride over to your destination,” I said.

Tiffany rolled her eyes again as the other girls grinned, and within a split second, Cleavage and Pixie Cut each took a hold of my arms, while Body walked alongside Tiffany, moving her hips to show me all she had to offer.

On the cab ride over, I was already beginning to regret my decision crammed into the backseat with three of her friends. She sat in the front seat, snickering at my discomfort since she seemed to know the secret her three best friends had been hiding up until this point: they were actually screaming goats disguised as humans. At first, the cab driver turned up the music as they’d requested. I supposed it was a courtesy for his passengers. By the look on his face, I could see that he was considering running the car into a light pole as they seemed to know the words to each song on the radio, singing each one at the top of their lungs, and if they didn’t know the words, they damn sure made up their own.

When we pulled up to the club, I gave the poor man a huge tip and moved to rub the ringing from my ears to prepare them for the pounding of the club’s music. We were on our way in when they decided to pull Tiffany to the side, closer to the outside walls of the club where it was quieter, to give her a pep talk. I stepped away, not too far off, not wanting to intrude on their conversation, close enough to be able to keep an eye on them as I leaned against the wall. So, despite me not wanting to intrude, I could still overhear everything they were saying.

“We’re here,” Cleavage exclaimed.

“Are you ready?” Pixie Cut held Tiffany by the shoulders and shook her in excitement.

“Hey, I know we kind of pressured you into coming but now that we’re here, if you feel uncomfortable, we can leave,” Body said.

Well, that was a relief. Someone had the brain cells to offer her that option. She must have sobered up a little on the way over. Body was looking very attractive at the moment. I was thinking about how attractive she was looking when that thought was shattered with a few words.

“We know why you want to stay.” Cleavage poked and giggled. The other girls looked at Tiffany as if they knew something.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tiffany said with a smile.

“Yeah, you do,” Pixie Cut said as she laughed.

“We haven’t forgotten.” Body grinned.

“Forgotten what?” Tiffany played coy.

“How ‘hot’ you said Blondie was. You’re secretly glad he came, aren’t you?” Cleavage said.

“Shhh.” Tiffany grabbed her by the arm and started walking with them toward the entrance.

What? Oh, damn. I wasn’t sure if this was an “Oh, no” or an “Oh, yes” moment, but I knew that whatever idea I had about distracting myself from my attraction to Tiffany by using her friends was already a no-go. Because now I knew the attraction was not one-sided, and it was going to be so much harder to resist temptation. Maybe coming herewasa bad idea.

Chapter 6

Tiffany

Ohwow.Yup.Theyweren’t joking about the pounding music. Man, it was crowded in here, and some people really forgot how to ask people for a dance, huh?

“No, sir. I would not like to dance,” I said while snatching my arm from the random person who just grabbed it like they owned me.

Of course, he didn’t hear me. He just smiled at me and stuck out his tongue. He was out of his mind. Hell, everyone in here looked like they escaped an asylum.

“Come on, let’s get you another drink,” Annie said, pulling me by the arm as our bodies bounced against the crowd of sweaty patrons.

Hell, yeah, I needed another drink if I was going to survive this shit. I was already ready to leave, but I didn’t want to give Mario the satisfaction. I didn’t know where he was, he seemed to disappear into the crowd, but somehow, I could feel his eyes on me. I knew he was still there, watching, being the protector I never asked for. Perhaps I’d never step foot in another club again, but tonight I said I wanted to party, so I was going to party, damn it. If we ever happened to get past this line. Was it a line? Where did it begin, and how in the world were you supposed to get the server’s attention when we couldn’t get past the people huddled at the bar and no one could hear what you were saying?

Simone stuck her two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Maybe the bartender had superior pitch detection, like how dogs can hear those silent whistles their trainers used, because that sure got his attention. She gestured to Annie and yelled, “Shots!”

He nodded, and soon Annie came back with some tiny glasses that looked like medicine cups all bundled up in her hand.

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