Tyler's Undoing (Gloves Off #1)(14)

“Dammit,” I hissed. “I didn’t think he’d even care. I feel terrible now.”

“As you should,” she remarked, pursing her lips. “However, being the friend that I am, I won’t hold it against you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Chuckling, Bree put her arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “I’ll tell you what’ll make you feel better. Cole and I thought about doing something fun tonight. Why don’t you join us? There’s so much you still haven’t seen of Vegas.”

“Don’t you want to spend time with Cole by yourself?” I asked. “I don’t want to get in the way.” I did want to see more of Sin City, but I also didn’t want to encroach on her time with Cole. I hated being the third wheel.

Bree rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag from underneath the bar. “Oh, whatever, Kacey. You’re not going to get in the way. Let me run to the restroom really quick to get changed, and when I come back I’ll wait for Pandra while you go.”

Before rushing off to the back, she squeezed my arm and smiled. If it wasn’t for her, I didn’t know how I would’ve made it past these last few months. She always had a way of making things better. Now that my grandmother was steadily getting worse, I missed having the support of a family.

“Hey, Kacey, what’s up?” Pandra called from behind. “Have you guys been busy tonight?”

“You know it,” I replied, turning to face her.

She had on a black corset-style top and a black leather skirt. Her white blonde hair was cut short in a pixie style, with one hot pink strip on the left side of her face. Each month, she changed the colors—last time it was blue.

I knew better than to try to color my hair again. One time, I had some hot pink streaks put in my hair and it bled all over my blonde. I’d walked around for a week looking like the Pink Panther had tried to f*ck my hair.

Setting her purse underneath the bar, she grabbed a bottle of water and clocked in. Pandra always worked the night shift and loved it, which made me happy because that meant I never had to do it.

“All right, lovely, you can go,” she said to me. “Be safe. Bree told me in the break room that you two were going out tonight.”

“Yeah, her and this guy she’s dating want to show me around. I figured what the hell, right?”

“You have to live your life while you’re young, Kacey. Sometimes you need to put yourself first.”

I wish I could actually do that.

After fetching my purse, I clocked out on the computer and said my goodbyes before rushing off to the back, where Bree stood talking on her phone.

“Hey girl, hurry up and get dressed. We need to meet Cole in fifteen minutes. This is a date I do not want to miss.”

“Where are we going?” I asked curiously.

Her smile grew wider. “I can’t tell you . . . just trust me. It’s something even I haven’t experienced before.”

For once, seeing her excitement actually had me feeling it for a change. Maybe I could forget my troubles for at least for a couple of hours, before the real world came back to bring me down.





“Why are we at the Stratosphere?” I asked as Bree pulled into the parking lot.

Once she parked, she checked her makeup in the mirror and squealed. “We’re here because we’re going all the way to the top.”

“Don’t they close pretty soon? I don’t want to spend the money to go up there and only get an hour. That’s a waste, don’t you think?”

“Not tonight, it’s not. Come on, let’s go,” she commanded. “Everything is taken care of.”

After grabbing our purses out of the backseat, we got out of the car and sauntered inside the busy hotel, straight for the elevators. There was a middle-aged woman at the elevator and as soon as we approached she smiled, ushering us inside.

“What floor ladies?” she asked politely.

Bree smiled and bounced on her feet. “We’re going to the indoor observation floor first, please.”

The doors to the elevator closed and once inside, Bree couldn’t keep still the whole way up. I was glad she was happy about going out with Cole, but I wanted her to be careful. I was, however, happy to be able to see Las Vegas from the top of the Stratosphere. He’d made a good choice.

When the doors to the elevator opened, I expected to see a slew of people milling about, but there was no one except a couple of employees. “Uh, Bree?” I called hesitantly, turning to see the elevator doors shut. “Are you sure we’re allowed to be up here? Where is everyone?”

Before she could reply, one of the employees – a young man who looked to be about my age with short, red hair – came over with a tray and handed Bree a glass of wine and me a Tequila Sunrise.

“If you need anything just let me know. My name’s Trey,” he said, acknowledging us with a nod before walking away.

Pursing my lips, I held up my drink and peered over at Bree, lifting my brows. How did he know that a Tequila Sunrise was my favorite drink?

“How is this possible?” I asked. “Not many people know that this is my favorite drink.”

Nervously, Bree took a sip of her wine and chuckled. “I might have told Cole what you liked. Speaking of which, he’s around here somewhere. Why don’t you go look around and enjoy the view? As soon as I find him, I’ll come over and join you.”