Love Thy Neighbor (16 page)

Nina says quietly, “Yeah, Nat. That’s fucked
up.”

Nat opens her mouth to speak but I cut her
off. “I’m awake.”

“Oh, well, I guess that’s okay then,” Nina
replies in a regular volume.

Okay, now I’m not the smartest guy, but I’m
pretty sure I didn’t mean that as an invitation to come sit on my
bed with me and have a chat.

Nina sits against the headboard, sitting up.
Her ass is literally two inches from my face, and just as I turn to
get away from it, Helena sits on the other side of me.

I’m flanked by ass.

Nat doesn’t even notice. All three
pajama-clad girls start a conversation about breakfast which
somehow transforms into a conversation about the benefits of using
placenta in your hair before it switches to all of the girls
checking their toenails and announcing they all need pedicures.

And here I am, naked under my covers with no
means of escape. All I can do is close my eyes and listen to the
ridiculous conversation that’s happening on my bed. At least I can
listen to Nat’s soothing voice. I breathe deeply and let it flow
over me like gentle waves.

I’ll never admit it, but I’m pretty fucking
relaxed right now.

That is until I hear the front door open a
second time. I hear a woman say, “That’s weird. It wasn’t locked.
He’s normally gone by now.”

What the fuck now?

I open my eyes and look around to the other
girls who all wear the same confused expression as I do. I yell
out, “Tina?”

In the hall, Tina whisper hisses, “Retreat!
Retreat!” The sounds of heels clip clopping follows before…

Stumble Crash Bang

Mimi laughs her ass off and says, “We have a
man down! I repeat. We are a man down!”

Lola laughs hard and yells out, “We’re so
bad at this! Best mission ever!”

The sounds of giggles and heels approach my
room. I put an arm under my head to elevate it. I want to see what
these goofballs are doing. Tina’s first through the door and looks
sheepish while rubbing her elbow. That is until she sees Nat,
Helena and Nina all sitting on my bed. Then she yells out, “Pajama
party!” And literally throws herself onto my bed, hurt elbow
forgotten. She belly flops onto my stomach. My body jolts upwards,
the wind is knocked out of me and I groan. Tina looks up at me with
wide eyes. She rushes out, “Ash, honey! I’m so sorry!” Then she
rubs what she thinks is my stomach. Only it’s my cock.

Removing her hands from me, I tell her,
“Tina, I don’t think Nik would like you in my bed rubbing my
junk.”

She squeaks then stutters, “No freakin’ way!
That was your-? But I thought it was- crud!”

Nina, Helena and Nat fall down laughing on
my bed. I look over to the doorway where Mimi and Lola’s bodies
shake in silent laughter. I seriously can’t help it. I burst into
laughter over how ridiculous this situation is. I’m laughing harder
than I’ve ever laughed in my life.

These girls. They’ll be the death of me.

Mimi and Lola come over to my bed and find a
spot to sit. As soon as their asses hit bed, the girls all talk,
loud and animated. It’s like watching a coop full of chickens
clucking.

Just as I think there could be no better
place to be than in bed with six women, I realize there should be
zero women in my bed. I know how Nat, Helena and Nina got in. How
the fuck did Tina, Mimi and Lola get in?

Still lying on my back, I look up at Tina.
“How the hell did you get in here, Tina?”

Tina’s smile drops. Her body stiffens and
she looks panicked. She looks up through bunched brows as if
thinking hard and says, “Well, you see. The thing is…” And I
already now she’s full of shit. I cut her off with, “Tina. How the
fuck did you get into my place?”

Tina hates what she calls my potty mouth.
She narrows her eyes at me and she pokes my chest. “There’s no need
for that kind of language, Ghost. I just brought you something is
all. Just a gift.”

Lola chimes in, “I think you’ll love
it.”

Mimi nods in agreement, “Yeah. I’m a hardass
but I really like it.”

Tina’s sweet face smiles down at me and she
says softly, “It’s on the kitchen counter. Just open it when you
have a chance. No rush.”

The girls start talking once again. Laughter
echoes throughout my apartment. I put both arms behind my head and
smile up at the ceiling.

There seriously are worse places I could be
right now.

Tina breaks me out of my thoughts by
whispering in my ear, so low that no one could possible hear but
me. “Happy Birthday, Ash.” She kisses my forehead and I close my
eyes. I’m at peace right now.

Birthday or not, I’m gonna make today a good
one.

***

Saturday night approaches quickly enough.
Tonight is my first night out since the Cole incident. I’m heading
over to The White Rabbit with Mimi and Lola. I tried so hard to get
my sisters to stay at least til Sunday morning just so they could
experience a night at the club. The White Rabbit is seriously my
most favorite place to be. Apart from my sofa, of course.

Unfortunately, even though they tried to
move things around for me, I knew they’d already used up a lot of
their vacation time. And with a heavy heart, I said goodbye to my
sisters yesterday morning and sobbed like a freakin’ baby as soon
as they were gone.

I’m not ashamed of that. My heart hurt
watching them go.

The cab driver asks, “Where to?”

Giddy as all get out, we cheer together,
“The White Rabbit!”

Mimi takes hold of my hand. “How you doing
over there?”

I smile a small smile. “Okay. Just feel a
bit weird.”

Lola rubs my knee softly and says
reassuringly, “Well, sure. That’s to be expected. You’ll see, as
soon as we get in there, it’ll be like nothing ever happened.”

I smile up at her.

I really hope so.

The cab pulls up to the club and I’m
suddenly nervous.

What if he’s here? Can people see the damage
on me? I should’ve stayed home.

The door to the cab opens and Mimi exits.
Closing my eyes, I take a breath to steady myself and exit second.
A hand takes mine and I look up into the smiling face of B-Rock,
the huge bald African American club security guy who I happen to
adore. His face softens in a way that I know he knows. Well, of
course he knows. Max said Cole was banned from the club, therefore
he’d have to tell B-Rock why. He pulls me aside and helps Lola out
of the cab before wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I look up at
him and we silently communicate.

He nods his head to me.
Are you
okay?

I smile up into his face and nod once.
Yeah, I’m good.
Then I kiss his cheek.
Thanks,
B-Rock.

He pulls back the red velvet rope to let us
through. I take both of the girls’ hands and we walk down the hall
to the large double doors. I stop. Mimi and Lola don’t push me to
move. I exhale and push the doors open.

Here goes nothing.

As soon as the doors part, the sound of some
new popular song hits me with a force so strong that my heart skips
a beat. Warmth fills me. What the heck was I thinking? I’m not
scared to be here. The music flows through me. I smile. This is
it.

I’m back baby! Hell yeah!

I’m totally in my element. This is
my
place! I’m not letting Cole take that from me. I look to see Mimi
and Lola smiling hard. I take their hands and practically run
through the club to the stairs that lead to the VIP area. I hear
them laugh and it just makes me giddier. I’m so excited to be
here!

We approach the VIP entrance and African
American Alice is there. Her name is actually Shawna but we call
her Triple A. She sees us and gives us a huge smile. “Hey girls!
Your booth’s ready, head on up.” I watch as Mimi walks over to
smiling Triple A, hugs her and places a small kiss on her lips.
Meems and Shawna have been doing the dirty for a while now. When I
asked Mimi about it, she said it was nothing serious, but I know
she cares about her. I’ll admit it was a little weird seeing my
friend be like that with a woman, but as long as Meems is happy,
I’m happy too.

We walk up the stairs and I look over to our
regular ten-seater booth. Tina and Nik are already seated all
wrapped up each other, and for once, it doesn’t make me want to
puke. Instead, I find myself wondering when I’ll find my own Nik. I
sure as hell won’t be finding him here at the club. Maybe I should
go somewhere like a park or library. The thought of bachelor
hunting in a library actually makes me scrunch my face in disgust
and visibly shudder. Thinking about this is depressing. I sigh and
make my way over to the booth.

I’ll get mine. One day.

Chapter
Twelve
Conference Room, round two

I’m a teeny bit drunk, a little giddy and
every time the bass of the music booms, I can see it. Actual colors
appear in front of me. Swirls of pink, yellow and purple dance in
front of my eyes.

Okay, so maybe I’m more than a little drunk,
but truth be told, I think I’m more high on life tonight.

Nik arranged for the guys to have the night
off and we all sit at our classy black leather booth, drinking
cherry bombs, talking and laughing. All but one of us, that is.
Suddenly annoyed at myself, I know it shouldn’t bother me but I
can’t help but wonder why Ghost isn’t here. I turn to Max and ask,
“Where’s Casper?”

Max looks a little stunned before his mouth
spreads into a knowing grin. I flip him the bird and ask Nik,
“Where’s Ghost?”

“He’s out on the floor.” Nik points
downstairs before waving his hand in dismissal. “Some safety thing.
The guy never quits.”

My mind made up, I stand. “I’m going to find
him and bring him up.” Everyone stares up at me wearing stunned
expressions. All of them, that is, except for Tina who sweetly
smiles up at me and nods her approval.

I flick my hair, roll my eyes at them all
and yell out, “Laters.”

Halfway down the stairs, I spot him, sexy as
always in a tight black tee and black jeans, his hair styled with
the wax my sister gave him. I see his silver belt buckle sparkle
from where I am. My smile falters when I realize he’s at the bar
talking to a very pretty brunette. I think about turning back, but
somewhere deep in my gut annoyance builds, and before I can reason
with myself, I stomp across the room and over to him.

Once I’m behind him, I tap his shoulder and
say loudly, “Hey Ash, I got some of your mail today.” Ms. Pretty
Brunette narrows her eyes at me. I look up at Ghost and put on my
best sheepish expression, “Only I didn’t know it was yours until
after I opened it. Turns out you’ve got the clap!” Pretty lady
looks up at Ghost in disgust. Scrunching my brow and looking up in
thought, I utter, “You better get that treated ASAP. I think you
can go blind from that shit!” Pretty brunette starts to walk away
and I mutter, “Yeah. Buhbye.”

Ghost shakes his head and chuckles.
“Seriously? You’re cock-blocking me?”

I’m drunk therefore my brain-to-mouth filter
is on the fritz. I poke him in the chest and accuse, “The last time
you had a woman over after a club night, she was a screamer! Y’all
kept me up all freaking night with her ‘Oh God’ and ‘Yes, Yes
More!’”

People are starting to look at us. I’m sure
this has something to do with the fact that not only am I prancing
around while imitating Tasha ScreamFace, I’m actually yelling out
‘Oh God’ and ‘Yes, Yes More’. Ghost doesn’t care though. He just
keeps chuckling at my tipsy antics.

I mutter, “Oh, hell no. You are not keeping
me up all night again.” The sudden urge to go to the bathroom takes
hold of me. I look up at an amused Ghost and announce a little too
loudly, “Holy shitballs, I need to pee!” I walk off without looking
back. Head to the ladies, do what I need to do then walk out of the
restrooms and back over to Ghost.

And I stop in my tracks.

Are you freaking kidding me?

Ghost is at the bar and, not one, but two
pretty blondes flank him. One of the women has her hand on his
chest and the other bats her lashes up at him. I roll my eyes at
them.

Amateurs.

I look down to check on my appearance. I
look good. Not overly sexy, but classy. I’m wearing one of Tina’s
little black dresses. This one is tight and long sleeved with a
high neck but it’s completely backless. Put a dress like this with
a pair of suede ankle boots and you’ve got a combination that works
for any occasion. I straighten my dress, adjust my boobs and push
out my belly as much as I can.

I channel my inner wifey and stalk over to
Ghost and his newest lady friends. He actually looks at my
protruding belly in concern and I have to bite my lip to stop
myself from laughing. I poke his chest and hiss, “This is how I
find you? All over a couple of nice ladies? Did you tell them, Ash?
Did you tell them when I was due?” I point down at my belly and the
two women look at me with sadness in their eyes before glaring up
at Ghost.

One woman tells him, “You’re an asshole!”
while the other says, “You should be ashamed of yourself!” They
shoot me apologetic looks before they walk away.

Ghost’s head falls back as he roars with
laughter. He looks back at me smiling hard. “I might be angry if
you weren’t so ridiculous.”

Smiling back at him, I pinch the sides of
the skintight dress and curtsy. “I’m here all night. Try the
veal.”

His smiling eyes turn predatory as he very
obviously takes me in. He stalks over to me, takes my hand and
pulls me to him. Lowering his face to my neck, he breathes me
in.

My eyes widen and I tense, stiff as a board.
This has to be a joke. At least, I think he’s playing with me until
his breath heats my neck as he says, “Conference room is free,
pretty girl. Nat and Asher round two is sounding real good right
now.”