My first trip to the Forbidden Nightclub to watch the band Non-Castrato play their first gig started with me full of nerves.
Not surprising, huh?
Since Caroline was adamant that I go with her, I drove to her place as soon as classes let out. She claimed she had “the dress” she wanted me to wear.
I wasn’t really a dress person, but she kind of sucked me into her enthusiasm, so I agreed and even started to get excited about it, too.
I met her two younger brothers—the older one, Brandt at fourteen, even flirted with me, making me blush, which in turn made Caroline chase him away. Then I met her brother’s girlfriend, Aspen...officially. Caroline had also talked Aspen into going. But I could tell as soon as I arrived that the poor ex-teacher was a quivering ball of nerves.
Caroline forced us both into dresses, short ones that fell way above our knees, and tops that conformed sexily to our figures. Then she went and put pants on herself. When I asked what that was about, she waved a hand, saying, “Pfft. I don’t have anyone to impress,” which really confused me because I didn’t have anyone to impress either. But when I said that, she merely sent me an unreadable Mona Lisa-type smile and said, “You look great. You’re wearing it.”
I’m not sure if I really looked that great, but it was soft and it made me feel pretty, so I gave in. And I think Aspen felt the same way. But even as she longingly eyed her reflection in the mirror, she made it seem like she didn’t want to leave the boys home alone.
“Are you sure you’re okay with heating up leftovers for supper?” she asked Brandt.
He snorted. “That’s how we ate every night before moving here.”
Aspen paled and opened her mout
h, probably to say she wasn’t going to leave them alone, but Brandt waved her on “We’ll be fine. Just go. Have fun. Make Noel sweat by showing up, looking like that.”
Biting her lip, Aspen nodded and was helplessly swept along as Caroline hooked her arms through Aspen’s and then mine.
“I don’t know about you two, but I’m totally looking forward to tonight. I’m feeling good vibes.”
I was mostly just feeling nervous vibes, but I hoped she had more reliable vibes than I did.
We arrived before the club opened. Caroline tapped on the front glass doors until her brother appeared on the other side. He grinned when he saw us, and let us in. His eyes were only for Aspen.
“I couldn’t believe it when Caroline texted and told me she’d talked you into coming. I swear you haven’t been here since…” His eyebrows lifted and Aspen blushed while they shared an inside secret.
After he pointed at Caroline and said, “Behave,” he grabbed Aspen’s hand and swept her away toward the bar, leaving Caroline and me behind. We glanced at each other as we huddled together just inside the entrance. One bartender was in the back behind the bar, setting up a row of glasses while a handful of waitresses pulled chairs off the tables and four guys milled around the staging area. No one seemed to pay any attention to the pair of us.
“Have you ever been here before?” I asked.
She shook her head but hooked her arm through mine. “I guess we’ll learn our way around together.”
We didn’t have to worry long about where to go, though; someone started tapping on the glass doors behind us. Caroline glanced around only to grin. Hurrying to the entrance, she pulled the door open for a waving Reese.
“Thank goodness you’re here. Zoey and I have no clue where to go.”
“Hey, chickie.” Reese pulled her into a half hug. “Let me show you guys around then.” She swept out an arm. “This…is Forbidden. There’s the bar, the stage, and that hall there leads back to a kitchen, office, bathroom, storage and a new private reception room. And that’s about all there is. Except for this…” She’d led us to the bar where she rested her elbows on the countertop and half leaned over it so she could ogle the guy behind the counter with his back to us as he finished stacking a row of glass cups.
“Oh, sexy bartender,” she sang out. “I think you dropped something there. You really ought to...bend over and pick it up.”
Instead of bending, the bartender whirled around and sent her a devastating grin. “What’re you doing here so early?”
Batting her lashes, Reese sent him her own smoky smile. “I couldn’t stay away from you.”
Striding to her, he grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her even further over the bar until she was more than halfway hanging over his side. Then he kissed her hard and long.
Feeling hot around the collar after witnessing such a scorcher, I glanced Caroline’s way to find her looking back at me with raised eyebrows.
“Wow,” she mouthed the word as she fanned herself. We started laughing in unison.
Reese unlocked her lips from the bartender and grinned back at us. “Oh, sorry! Caroline, you’ve already met him, so...Zoey, this is my boyfriend, Mason.” Then she rolled her eyes and slapped her hand to her forehead. “I mean, my fiancé, Mason.”
Caroline snickered and bumped her elbow into mine. “Yeah, I think she kind of figured that out already.”