The Closer You Come (The Original Heartbreakers, #1)(96)

I think I’ve walked into hell.

She switched her implants to silent, the noise simply too loud for her to function. Still she could feel the vibration of music bouncing off the floor and the walls.

Jessie Kay disappeared for a few minutes, only to return with a drink and two guys. She thrust the shot glass at Brook Lynn, saying to the guys, “This is my sister, y’all. As pretty as I promised, right?”

They looked her over as if she were a piece of meat on display at the butcher block.

One of them said something but she had no idea what. While she’d had no trouble reading her sister’s lips, these boys were strangers and the lighting dim—when it wasn’t exploding like fireworks.

The lack of understanding was probably a good thing.

One guy continued to leer at her, as if she were already a sure thing. The other smiled a smile he probably thought was charming but that merely creeped her out. It said: I know how to bury a body.

“Excuse me,” she said and pushed her way into a dark corner.

Kenna wasn’t far behind. Her features contorted into a grimace as she looked around. “I wasn’t expecting...had no idea this was what your sister enjoyed.”

“The sad thing is I knew, and yet here I am.” She missed Jase. The way he looked at her—as if she were special. The way he touched her—as if she were a gift to be unwrapped.

She just had to find out how he’d react to being furious with her. Then they could be together.

“You gonna drink that?” Kenna motioned to the shot glass she still held.

The last time Brook Lynn had imbibed, she’d texted the most insane things to Jase. Every “what not to do” in every women’s magazine.

Lightbulb! Maybe, with a little alcohol, she’d work up the courage to push his hot buttons and finally learn the answer to the question plaguing her.

I’m a sick, sick girl.

“Bottoms up,” she muttered and drained the glass in a single gulp.

Oh, the burn! Just as bad as before. She sputtered, trying to catch her breath.

Jessie Kay arrived with a new crop of hopefuls—and two more shots. Brook Lynn downed the drinks without a word.

Considering she hadn’t eaten much that day, just a few chips left in the bag on her nightstand, dizziness hit her fast and strong. She giggled, and Kenna wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her steady.

“You okay?” her friend asked.

“Better than.” Maybe. Probably. She was going to make Jase soooo mad. He had no idea the storm about to be unleashed. “Hey, you,” she said to the guy who wouldn’t stop playing with the ends of her sister’s hair. “Can I have your number? I lost my own.”

He just blinked at her.

Jessie Kay rolled her eyes. “What she meant to say is... Here she is. Now, what are your other two wishes?”

His friend clasped Brook Lynn’s hand. When she focused on him, his lips were already moving. “—scale from one to ten, you’re a nine...and I’m the one you need.”

He expected her to do a little mathing? Now?

Who cared! “Selfie time! Me and Numbers.” This had to be the best...idea...ever. Jase would see her with another man and sink into a black pit of rage; she’d discover how he handled the emotion. In a word: foolproof.

Brook Lynn sidled up to Numbers and threw her arms around his shoulders. “I know what you’re thinking. Yes, I did sit in a pile of sugar—because I’ve got a pretty sweet bee-hind. Now smile for the camera.”

Warm breath fanned her ear, making her shudder. She snapped the photo and bolted out of reach. Surely creepy and creepier was not the caliber of male on today’s market.

Or maybe they wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d stopped comparing everyone she met to Jase.

“You’re so hot,” the other one said to Jessie Kay, wiggling his brows, “even my zipper is falling for you.”

Jessie Kay slapped him on the back. “Dude. That’s a good one. I know! I know! Did you buy your pants on sale...because at my house they would be one hundred percent off.”

The guys laughed. Jessie Kay gave Brook Lynn a look that said having fun already?

No, but soon. Brook Lynn scouted the room for her next photo partner. Perfect! Young and cute. The mustache wasn’t to her taste, and he was a bit on the thin side, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and all that.

“We’ll be back in a bit,” she told her sister. “You. Come on. I might need an interpreter.” She dragged Kenna out of the corner, away from the circle of bad pickup lines, and bounded over to Mustache. “Let’s take a picture together.”

The guy furrowed his brow with confusion, but eventually consented.

Over the next half hour, Brook Lynn took a total of sixteen pictures, each more provocative than the last.

“Jase is going to flip out,” she said, opening a text to him, selecting all of the images—and pressing Send.

Kenna moved in front of her. “Are you sure that’s wise? What if you lose him for good over this?”

She frowned, not liking the thought and rejecting it. “We’ll be good as gold after this. I’ll have my proof.”

“Proof? And, Brook Lynn, I wanted to jolt you out of your funk, maybe even to get you to talk about what’s going on with Jase, but I didn’t want to help ruin your life!”