Page 50 of Beauty and Kaos

“Hold on,” Evan says from behind me, then reaches into a basket in his booth. He retrieves a bottle of water and hands it to the woman. “Hydrate,” he advises, his voice barely audibleabove the booming of the bass. She nods, and disappears back into the crowd.

He motions to the table where he has a round of shots poured up, and hands me one. I clink my glass against his and tip it back, savoring the immediate burn followed by a rush of cold. Chilled vodka. Good vodka. He can keep these coming.

“What do you think of the party?” Raven asks as she walks up beside me, tray empty, heading for the bar. She grabs one of the shots and drinks it.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” I admit, nodding toward a woman passing by, topless except for the shiny strawberry-shaped pasties over her nipples. “Pretty wild.”

“It’s still warming up,” Evan says, his eyes following the topless woman. “Give it another hour or two and reassess.”

I roll my eyes, and wander back into the crowd with the remainder of my drinks. Two hours later, I realize he was right.

Bodies move as one in the crowd, sliding against one another in sweat-drenched lingerie. The DJ hammers out the beats, never slowing, giving them exactly what they want. Every time I pass Evan’s table, he passes me a shot like it’s a drive-thru. I don’t even have to pause, and I feel fucking fantastic.

With an hour remaining in my shift, I place my empty tray on Evan’s table and grab another shot I definitely do not need.

“You’re killing it,” Evan says, sliding out of the booth.

“The bottle? I know.”

He laughs. “No, the job.”

“To be honest, I forgot I was working,” I admit. And it’s not far from the truth. I’ve been pulled into this night, the sway of my body to the music involuntary at this point.

“The best jobs are work and fun,” he advises.

“I’ll drink to that,” Natalie says, stepping in between Evan and I to grab a shot off the table. She slides her body in close against mine, and I’m too wasted to let her get away with the obvious cockblock. The bass drops, and I dance.

I press my ass against her and rock my hips, letting the music flow like ripples over my body. I slide against her yellow lace, then turn and wrap my arms around her neck, breasts to breasts, pulling her into the dance. I see it the moment her icy exterior cracks, and she warms with amusement. Maybe she can be broken.

I glance over at Evan as our bodies glide together to the beat, her nails dragging lightly across my arms, and down the sides of my breasts. Evan raises an eyebrow, and slides his palm down the front of his slacks.

“You should take her up to the silhouette room,” he says to Natalie. “I’ll reroute your orders until you get back.”

Natalie smiles and grabs my hand. “Come on,” she says. “This is fun.” I’m drunk enough not to protest as she drags me through the club and up the spiral staircase to the second floor. We disappear into a door along the wall, and follow a darkened tunnel of twinkle lights into a bright room with a white wall.

“I know he said silhouette, but… explain this to me,” I say, smiling as I wander through the room in confusion.

She points at the white wall. “This is a screen. The whole club can see everything you do in here, but only your shadow. You can take all your clothes off, and they still won’t see anything.”

“Scandalous,” I comment, raising my arm and watching my shadow on the screen. The lights gradually change color, following a pattern from warm to cool colors and back again.The music transitions into a melodic dubstep, with ethereal female vocals curling around the bass like a lover’s caress.

Natalie sways to the beat, slow and deliberate, her hands running down her body. She reaches for me, and I join her. I watch our silhouette as we dance, sliding against each other with bold, deliberate movements, adding in the occasional hair flip for spice. We’re nearly the same height and shape, and in skintight dresses, our shadows look nearly naked.

I mold myself to her, hips rolling to the music in time with hers. I place a hand on her lower back and gently bend her backward into an arch. My other hand starts at her neck, then travels down between the valley of her breasts, palm flat, over her yellow lace dress to latch onto her hip and pull her back up again. She laughs, and swivels her hips against me, sandwiching one of my legs between hers.

“Not too bad, new girl,” she admits, biting her lip as she studies my face. I realize something in this moment, surprised I didn’t pick up on it sooner. The hostility around Evan, her awkwardness around me. She doesn’t want Evan.

She wants me.

I smile. “You were right. This is fun.”

“It gets better. Have you checked your server account yet?” Natalie asks with a smirk.

I shake my head. “Honestly, I’d offer to do this for free.”

She laughs. “It’s far from free. Come on,” She says, pulling me toward the darkened twinkle-light tunnel. I follow her back down the spiral staircase and across the platform to the Galaxy Bar. Before I can reach it, a familiar set of figures emerge from the flashing blur of dancing bodies, and I stop.

“Mia?” I question, smiling as I walk to her and wrap myarms around her. She’s in pink lace underwear and matching little pink wings.

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