That One Moment (Lost in London #2)(44)
These girls are so pleasantly original.
In the end, I don’t buy any freaky sex toys, but I do purchase several of the sexy lingerie pieces. I have a little thing for sexy underwear ever since I moved out of my dad’s house. I think I was always too scared to buy it before, fearing that my brothers might see it in the laundry and go ballistic. Now I’ve got a proper collection of filmy goodies that make me feel all girlie and sexy when I go to bed every night.
“The cabs are here!” Frank roars. “To Club Shay we go!”
We hustle into a couple of black cabs and buzz through the intoxicating city lights of London all the while musing over the last time I was at Club Shay. I haven’t been back since before Leslie and Theo became a couple. Leslie was in the middle of some sort of insane love cleanse that Frank had put together for her. The night we were all there, she was challenged by Frank to do a girl kiss and she ended up shocking all of us when she smacked Finley right on the lips. It was a right proper snog too, which Theo was there to bear witness to.
I laugh at the fact that all of that was a part of their unconventional love story. Now they are getting married soon with their own beautiful daughter as their flower girl. Will I ever find anyone who loves me enough to chase me through an entire love cleanse? Or am I destined to just be a motherly figure to my brothers for the rest of their lives?
“Why so glum?” Julie asks, sitting directly across from me and watching me through hooded eyes. She’s possibly the drunkest of everyone here and I’m actually a bit worried for her.
I shrug my shoulders and smile. “I’m just really happy for Leslie. She’s really got it all, ya know?”
“It’s not that easy for all of us,” she drawls menacingly and stares out the window. “No sense getting your hopes up to find something similar. Because just when you think you’ve got your happily ever after sorted, you get the rug ripped straight out from under you. You think you know someone? You don’t. You never really do.” She sighs heavily and her eyes narrow further. “I’m just looking for a bloke to shag tonight. Something to wet my whistle and walk away from. That’s. It.”
My brows lift as Julie speaks to the voice in my head that’s trying its hardest to shout at me to stop obsessing over Hayden and wanting to turn him into something more. He pulled back because he’s not interested, and I know I’d do right to avoid him full stop from now on. Tonight isn’t about boys anyway. It’s about relaxing and having fun with some friends.
We pull up to Club Shay and I’m feeling on top of the world and ready to make tonight about me…and nobody else. I’m not as pissed as the rest of the party, but I’m feeling relaxed and ready for anything.
Anything but a dizzyingly sexy Hayden Clarke standing at the entrance of the club.
SEEING RED
A black cab pulls up to the curb at Club Shay just as my watch clicks over to 11:11. I lean against the wall, ball my fists, and do my usual ritual. When I open my eyes, I see Leslie stumble out of the cab with Frank and Finley doing their best to steady her.
“Hayden!” Leslie bellows, running toward me with her arms open. I feel a bit twitchy at the coincidental timing of their arrival, but get over it quickly as she heaves me down for a drunken hug. Her breath reeks of alcohol as she asks, “Does this mean my Theo is here?” The tone of her voice hitches to a high-pitched squeal at the end with her undiluted excitement.
I shake my head knowingly and gesture that he’s inside. “He’s here just for you, Lez.”
“Fuck!” she screeches. “I’m super glad I wore panties tonight!” I blanch as she stops suddenly and twirls around, halting Frank and Finley in their tracks. “Hands off bitches…His thigh is mine,” she cackles and drags a crying with laughter Finley and Frank toward the entrance.
I shake my head in utter confusion and see Rey step out of a second cab. “Hey, Hay,” she says nudging me with her shoulder.
“Hey, Rey,” I chuckle. “How are you doing?”
“Good. Not as good as Leslie, but good. You clean up well.” She wiggles her eyebrows playfully at me, attempting to be matey. Matey and Rey just don’t quite mix for me yet.
“They’re all inside,” I offer, trying not to roll my eyes.
She nods sheepishly and makes her way toward the door. Once upon a time, there was a day when I was completely sickened by jealousy over what Liam was able to get from Rey that I never could. And it’s still not the most comfortable thing in the world being around him. But I’m glad Rey has someone looking out for her. He’s also Theo’s best mate. I owe a lot to Theo and Leslie, so I’ll be the bigger person and look past everything. And truthfully, I have evolved enough now in my recovery to know that I was being a complete twat and deserved the knock to my face. Still though, I can only stomach so much grinning and bearing.
“Vi?” I say in surprise as my eyes catch sight of her walking arm in arm from the other side of the cab with Frank’s roommate, Julie.
“Hi to you too, wanker” a sullen Julie says, stomping past me in a huff. My brows lift at her chilly demeanour. I’ve only met her once I think.
“I didn’t realise you’d be here,” I say, turning back to Vi and looking her up and down. A heaviness bears down on my shoulders that wasn’t there before. Fuck me, she looks stunning. The flesh revealed on her abdomen and the curve of her slim hips beneath the stretching red fabric causes my dick to stir.