Raw (16 page)

Unknown number: Saturday. Dress nice.

I stare at the message for a whole minute before I reply, knowing full well who sent it.

Me: Who is this?

Not ten seconds pass when I receive a response.

Unknown number: Lexi...

And I can almost hear the warning in his voice through the text that I chuckle while typing out my reply.

Me: Yes, TWITCH. I got it. Dress nice. Anything else?

This message must have dumbfounded him, because I don’t hear my phone ping for a whole five minutes.

Unknown number: No.

Smiling to myself, I quickly save the number into my contacts, move to the bathroom, and turn on the shower, trying not to think about the fact that the guy I’m crushing on is, in fact, a drug dealer.

The second I feel his eyes on me, a stupid smile breaks out on my face.

Taking my sushi and bottle of water from the counter of the sushi place in the food-court by my workplace over to one of the benches in the park across the street, I sit down and discreetly watch for him. With my sunglasses on and my phone out, everyone would be none the wiser as to what I’m really doing. When suddenly, my stomach dips.

He’s still watching you. Have you forgotten he’s a drug dealer? And he clearly needs anger management. What makes you think any part of this guy is right for you? He goes against everything you work for. Do not fuck up your life over some guy. He’s just a
guy
. A dangerous one, at that. Wake up!

I ponder this. I’ve worked so hard to be where I am right now. I wouldn’t do anything to put myself in a position for me to lose my job.

And as I say that, I know it’s a lie. Because here I am, still wanting to cavort with my stalker, even though he’s told me things that would surely get me fired. He’s not worth it. I know this. So, why am I—

Ping

Almost throwing my phone out of my hands, I jump in surprise and put a hand to my now-heaving chest.

Twitch: What’s wrong?

Looking down at the message, I think ‘
you’
before I write a simple reply.

Me: I didn’t know you were still watching. You surprised me.

Almost immediately, the message tone sounds.

Twitch: You never were before.

My brow furrows at that.
 

Me: Well, you weren’t doing a good job at hiding it.

I wait and wait and wait. A few minutes pass and nothing comes. Placing my phone down, I sip at my bottle of water when the message tone sounds, and what he writes next makes my head silently implode.

Twitch: Maybe I wasn’t hiding at all.

Lifting my head, no longer caring if he sees me watching for him, my eyes dart left-to-right, searching for the phantom of a man.

But as per usual, he’s gone.

Throwing my phone down into my lap, I sit back on the bench and puff out a long breath.
 

I don’t care if it’ll be the death of me, I’m going to find out more about this strange man.

And in this case, I know patience is definitely a virtue.

Saturday night approaches quickly enough, and I look at myself in the mirror.

“Why do you always have to be Cleopatra? I wanted to be Cleopatra,” I say sulkily, looking at Nikki’s reflection as she sits on my bed applying peach-colored lip gloss to her pouty lips.

Not even looking up at me, she continues to smear color on and says gently, “Because Cleopatra is more my speed. You can’t be Cleopatra. She was all
death to this person
and
death to that person,
and you’d be all like
how can we help these people
?” I quietly laugh. She is kinda right. “No, babe. You’re not Cleopatra. You’re an angel. And a beautiful one at that.”

A growl at the door snags my attention. Dave stands there pouting, holding out his belt-slash-sword combo. “I can’t get this on.”

He is not in a good mood like I’d hoped he would be. It turns out Phil is happy being single again, and Dave, obviously, isn’t taking the news well.

Walking over to him, I take the belt from him and place it around his waist. He’s a pirate tonight, wearing leather breeches, a puffy shirt, an eye patch, and a sword. The whole she-bang. It takes a few seconds, but I get the belt on, and he sighs, “Thanks, babe.”

Looking up into his vacant eyes, I reply softly, “We don’t have to go. We can rent some movies and hang out here eating junk food ‘til we pass out.”

And he smiles. The first real smile I’ve seen him wear in over a week. It’s then that he notices my costume. Stepping back to get a good look at me, his face softens. “You really are an angel. And you look gorgeous. It’s perfect for you.”

Reaching up to cup his cheek, he accepts the gesture for only a moment before he clears his throat and backs out of my room. “I’ll be in the living room.”

Waiting for Nikki to complete the makeup that goes with a costume such as hers, I turn to the mirror one last time and take a good look at myself.
 

The long white dress I’m wearing is sweet and simple, long-sleeved, and decorated with small pearls and crystals glittering all over. It’s stunning. The price tag on the costume read over a thousand dollars but it’s beautiful. Twitch can afford it. So worth it. My wings are deceptively light considering the tips of them come past my bottom. This costume has no halo, but in its place is a tiara, once again gleaming with crystals and pearl. My long dark hair has been left down in loose waves, and Nikki did wonders with my eye makeup, which is pearly white and shimmering. My lips lightly glossed, I’m ready to go.

Nikki calls out from behind me, “Ready?”

Nodding at my reflection, I answer weakly, “Yeah.”

As ready as I’ll ever be.

Arriving at the historic mansion in Darling Point, I wonder how much this place costs for the night.

I know Twitch is well off, but a place like this would have cost over twenty-million dollars to buy, so to rent it for the night would be in the hundreds of thousands, I’m sure.

The taxi comes to a stop and the three of us look at each other in disbelief.

Dave asks, “Are you sure this is the place?”

With the amount of cars being ushered around the place, I would say yes, but I double check the invite anyways. “Yeah. It’s the right place.”

Nikki says in awe, “It’s amazing. So beautiful.”

I agree. It’s breathtaking.

Paying the cab driver, we all head out towards the gorgeous mansion. Security guards stand by the giant, cast iron double gates taking invites and checking IDs. My face pulls an
I’m impressed
look to my friends, which they mimic in unison. Approaching the behemoth of a security guard, he takes the invite and checks our ID cards. My gut flips around when the security guy looks me in the eye, takes out his walkie talkie, and announces, “She’s here.”

No smile. No anything. Security dude says, “Wait here,” as if I was going to waltz past him and make a fuss, cussing up a storm.

Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I open my mouth to speak when a deep and familiar voice utters, “Would you look at that? A real life angel.”

Happy comes forward and surprises the hell out of me when he kisses my cheek and hugs me briefly. Smiling up at him, I muse, “No costume?”

He smiles big. “Nope. I’m on security detail tonight. Or I might have offered because I fuckin’ hate dressing up.” He winks, letting us all know that’s exactly what happened.

Chuckling, I make introductions. “Nikki and Dave, this is Happy.” When I turn to see them both gaping and making lusty goo-goo eyes at the brawny, bald man, I mentally cringe.
 

Damn. This got awkward quick.

But I’m doubly surprised when Happy grins and checks them out.
Both
of them.

Holy…
Wow
! I did not see that coming.

Happy extends one elbow to me, and the other to Nikki; we take hold and he leads us to a golf cart parked just inside the gates. Happy explains, “Twitch wasn’t sure if you would wear heels tonight. He didn’t want you to walk all the way to the house.”

Nikki turns to me wearing puppy dog eyes and mouths, “So sweet!”

Oh dear God. Let’s see if she thinks that after she meets him.

The golf cart takes off, and it’s not a short drive up to the mansion. It takes about five minutes to get there while weaving in and out of people talking during their hike up the long gravel driveway. Once we reach the front of the house, Happy parks us off to the side and helps Nikki out, while Dave helps me out. Happy looks at us and promises, “I’ll see you around tonight. Save a dance for me, yeah?”

All three of us nod stupidly and he chuckles as he walks away.

Dave immediately spouts, “I called him!”

Nikki’s pretty face contorts, “He’s
clearly
into women, Dave. Did you see how he looked at me? He wants me.”

Dave retorts, “Bitch, please. He was staring because you have lipstick on your teeth.”

Ah. There’s the diva we all missed!

Nikki gasps loudly, “You
lie
!” while searching her clutch for a compact mirror. Rubbing her fingertips along her teeth none too softly, I look up at Dave and mouth, “You’re mean.”

Smirking like the asshole he is, he shrugs and mouths back, “He wants me.”

And truthfully, I have no idea who Happy wants. He’s hard to read.

Dave takes his place between us, and Nikki and I thread our arms through his elbows, then in we go. The entrance leads to a hall that could double as a ballroom all on its own. Silken drapes hang from the ceiling to the floor in emerald greens and ruby reds.
 

Pure class.
 

This place is elegant. And chic. And tasteful.

Pieces of artwork have been placed here and there, and although it should look odd, it doesn’t. It looks fabulous. Taking our place in line to the ballroom, we wait and look around until I hear a female clear her throat by my side. Turning, I look to see a very bored-looking Ling by my side. She looks fabulous. Of course. I’m not really sure what she’s meant to be, but she’s dressed in a sleek black dress with her hair in a chic up-style, wearing long black gloves and pearls. Now that I look closer, she could be Audrey Hepburn a la
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
. She can barely contain the eye roll as she says robotically, “You don’t wait in line. Come with me.”

Bitch.

Not saying a word, we follow Ling from the long line to a door hidden behind the gorgeous drapes. Looking Dave up and down, she licks her lips, “Shortcut.”

When she turns her back on us, Dave’s brows rise and I roll my eyes in a
don’t ask
kind of way.

A long narrow hall that seems to go on forever leads us right into the kitchen. Workers hustle and bustle while we step around them. I catch Nikki snatching something off a tray and shove it into her mouth as quickly as she can. I bunch my face at her in warning and she shrugs, chewing as obviously as she can before she whispers, “That was
divine
.”

When we reach another hall, Ling turns to me, but speaks without looking at me. “Follow the hall. First door on your left.” Peeking through her long lashes at Dave, she runs a finger down his chest to his stomach before licking her lips and walking away. We all watch a long while before Nikki mutters, “Her gaydar is broken.”