Ride or Die (Rejects Paradise 4)
I bring the car to a stop and am instantly greeted by a valet driver. I grin to myself as I open the suicide doors. I could definitely get used to this kind of treatment, though to be honest, I think I’d get annoyed with it after a while. I don’t like the idea of people doing things for me, especially when I’m more than capable myself. To some people, it’s a benefit and something to take advantage of, but to me, it just makes me feel lazy.
Colton meets me around the front of his car and takes my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. As we start walking toward Spencer’s house, Colton can’t resist glancing back over his shoulder and watching as the driver takes off with his car, driving in the opposite direction of the rest of the valet drivers.
My eyes bug out of my head and I tug on Colton’s arm just in case he hasn’t quite figured it out yet. “He’s stealing your car.”
Colton laughs. “He’s not stealing it,” he says, finding way too much amusement in my confusion. “There's a certain … hierarchy around here, and some people have priority over others and …”
“And let me guess,” I say, getting way too familiar with this place. “Your car gets special undercover parking where it’ll probably get a spit shine during its stay, it’s own personal butler, and a complimentary tire rotation?”
A guilty expression crosses his face, but he can’t help but look smug about it. “There’s no fucking butler or tire rotations going on, but yes, the Veneno will be parked in the Vanderbilt’s private showroom.
“And the spit shine?” I ask as we reach the stairs.
He rolls his eyes, the smugness returning once again. “I don’t know about the spit shine, but I’m not going to lie, I have walked out of a few of these parties with a polish, but they’re not usually very good. At most, it’s a rushed job. A party this big though, I doubt it. The valets would be pretty busy all night.”
I shake my head, choosing not to comment on that as we walk up the stairs. The closer we get to the door, the louder the party inside becomes. Excitement bubbles through me. I haven’t been to a great party where I can relax and have a good time in ages. I can’t drink tonight since I’m knocked up with a Devil spawn, but I can tell it’s still going to be a great night. I can feel it in my bones.
The second we walk through the door, Milo barges into me, grabbing me by the shoulders and spinning me away from Colton, who just keeps walking, knowing there’s no point in trying to wait for me now that I’m in Milo’s clutches.
“Where the hell have you been, skank? The party started ages ago. I’ve been waiting to take shots off your perky ass.”
I laugh, looping my arm through his. “Sorry,” I tell him. “I got distracted and then couldn’t figure out what to wear.”
He gives me a blank expression. “Bitch, you have all of three outfits. How hard could it be to choose something?”
“I have more than three outfits,” I grumble, trying to change the topic to avoid telling him that the reason I couldn’t figure out what to wear was that everything I own is starting to get a little tight.
“Bitch, please. I’m going to take you on a shopping spree and fill your closet with everything. I can’t wait. I've been planning it since the day you got here, but your skank ass is always too busy trying to avoid gang wars and getting jumped.”
“Yeah,” I laugh. “That always tends to slow things down a bit.”
Milo gets distracted and drags me through the bodies before finally bringing me to a stop in front of all our friends. Drix squeals and throws herself at me, clearly already drunk, while Jess sips on her cocktail through a long straw with a dreamy look in her eyes, appearing to not even know where she is.
Colton stands with Spencer and Charlie talking shit, and after peeling Drix off me, I barge my way into their circle and jump at Spencer. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY,” I yell, instantly stumbling over the many pairs of feet.
Spencer catches me with ease and sets me back on my feet, while Colton watches me with wide, horrified eyes, probably only two seconds away from marching my ass out of here and giving me the big speech on what’s safe during pregnancy. But seriously, unless he’s the one who has to carry it, then he doesn’t exactly get a say.
Spencer thanks me and says something else, but I can’t make out his words over the sound of the music blasting through the room. There are so many bodies that just one person passing through causes a chain reaction of people shuffling around, and for the first time in a long time, it makes me miss my home in Breakers Flats. Whenever we partied back home, it was always insane like this. We never had a mansion to do it in or the expensive alcohol, but it was still fun.