“What the fuck, man? You’re playing cards with the bikers? Those guys are criminal as fuck. You know it’s only a matter of time before the cops bust down their door, and you do not want to be there when they do!” My voice raised again but I kept it muffled.
“I know.” Cole reached for another cigarette and sipped his beer. “That’s why I’m all fucked up right now. I knew how you would react.”
“So that’s where you went earlier.” I nodded in understanding. “Okay, fine. This isn’t a problem we have to solve tonight. Let’s focus on helping Aurora have a great vacation, and then we’ll figure it out.”
“I’m not asking you to do anything.” Cole lit his cigarette and held up his hand. “I’ll handle it.”
“If it’s your problem, it’s my problem. That’s how it works. If you didn’t want me to help, you shouldn’t have borrowed the money in the first place.” I stared at him and sipped my beer.
“Or I should have just kept my fucking mouth shut.” Cole sighed and exhaled a stream of smoke.
“I’m glad you told me. I’ve been worried that something was bothering you and now it make sense. Luckily, we’ve got someone in the other room to distract us for a few days.” I forced a smile.
I was angry at Cole, but I wasn’t going to turn my back on him. If he owed money to Johnny Ciampa, I was going to help him repay it. Thaddeus was a true monster—the kind that would have made Mafia kingpins tremble in their heyday. He was opportunistic, and Vegas was ripe for the taking. I might not have liked Carlos or all of the nasty shit he had his fingers in, but he did keep order in Sin City while he ran things. In the back of my mind, I knew things would escalate out of control once he got locked up. I just didn’t expect to be caught in the middle of it. The faster Cole was out of debt, the better. It took decades for the cops to find something that would stick to Carlos and bring him down. Thaddeus was likely to have a long reign once he got power. That version of Vegas wasn’t one I wanted to be a part of in any way. It was more important than ever that we stayed clear of anything even remotely illegal.
I just hope we get this debt cleared without having to do something stupid.
Chapter Fourteen
Aurora
Why am I so sore—oh, right.
I woke up feeling every muscle in my body and a few I didn’t know I had. I groaned when I sat up, but smiled when saw Ryker and Cole on each side of me. They had apparently slept through the night and I was the first one up. I slid to the edge of the bed to avoid waking them and walked into the main part of the hotel room. There, I discovered that the party had apparently continued while I was sleeping, which explained why they were dead to the world. I picked up the room service menu and started looking over it. I had an appetite that made me want to order everything on the menu, but it was expensive. I settled on a breakfast for three, hoping that the smell would rouse them.
Hmm, what’s this?
I leaned over and picked up a pad of paper that had a few things jotted on it. After scanning through the list, I realized it was a list of things to do in Las Vegas. My heart warmed slightly and I couldn’t help but smile. While I was sleeping, they had sat around and made plans for our day—or multiple days, based on the length of the list. I really didn’t deserve their kindness. They might have left every muscle sore with their rough, rugged brand of passion—especially Cole—but there was something softer underneath that. They were introducing me to the real world. It was a world I never understood while living at home with my parents. Life could be fun, even if the union we formed was only temporary. Nothing about it had to be complicated or complex. We could enjoy the time we had without being weighed down by the inevit
able separation.
Cole was supposed to be a distraction—to stifle my growing attachment to Ryker, but I might end up getting attached to Cole as well.
Deep down, I knew any sort of emotional attachment was foolish. They were just two guys having fun with a virgin and savoring my innocence. I couldn’t help the way I felt, though. I never believed in love at first sight, fate, or destiny, but I had found myself consumed by the spontaneous combustion of lust—and perhaps that was what I needed. If I could learn passion and desire without leaving my heart on the nightstand when it was over, then I might have a chance at finding real love one day. I might finally stop ignoring guys that hit on me—heck, I might even hit on some myself. That would be different. I could take risks instead of analyzing every possible outcome before I even looked at a guy. I could tear down the walls of my sheltered youth and look at the world with eyes no longer blinded by the rose-colored glasses of my innocence.
Okay, enough of this. I have two wonderful guys waiting to show me the best parts of Vegas. I’m just going to have fun.
Eight hours later
My feet hurt when we got back to the Bellagio after spending all day on the streets of Las Vegas. The day started with a trip to the Mafia museum where I got to see more movie props that I ever imagined, along with a detailed history of how things were when Mafia kingpins ran the city. The museum tried to paint things in a good light, glossing over atrocities by pointing out how safe it was in those days. It was an interesting take on criminal activity, and for a nerd like me, it was information overload. After we finished our tour of the museum, we visited a few more famous sights, saw Vegas from the top of the Stratosphere Tower, and even stopped by the pawn shop from the Pawn Stars television show. None of the famous people from the show were there, but I still had plenty of swag to take back home with me.
“How do people figure out what they’re going to do when they come to Las Vegas?” I walked straight to the couch and dropped my weight onto it. “I feel like I could stay here a month and not see everything.”
“That’s why people keep coming back.” Cole laughed and sat down at the end of the couch. “They don’t wear the soles off their shoes on the first trip.”
“Yep, and once they’ve seen every sight and show imaginable, they just come back for the gambling.” Ryker lifted my head and let it rest in his lap when he sat down.
“All of the movies I saw? They don’t do the city justice. It’s barely a glimpse.” I looked up at Ryker and smiled. “I don’t even really like to gamble—I just like seeing everything.”
“Maybe we should teach you to play cards.” Cole slid off one of my shoes and started massaging my foot. “You might enjoy it then.”
“Oh wow.” I moaned when he pressed on the sole of my foot. “That feels good. I’d be up for learning how to play if you want to teach me.”
Ryker started massaging my arms and shoulders while Cole worked on my feet. Their hands were amazing. I could have fallen in love with both of them on the spot, just because of how good it felt. I didn’t even need to like them—I just needed those strong hands to keep pressing into my muscles. They worked on my muscles for nearly an hour, and by the time they were done, the only thing I had on was my panties. I hardly even noticed them undressing me. I was so entranced by their hands squeezing and pressing on my tight, tender muscles. What we did the previous night was enough to leave me sore, and spending most of the day on my feet had left me in agony. All of that melted away and by the time they were done, I felt like I had been reborn in pure nirvana.
“If you guys get tired of gambling, you should totally open a massage parlor.” I looked up at Ryker and smiled. “You don’t know how good that felt.”
“We do all right—most of the time.” Cole sighed and shrugged. “Besides, prostitution is legal in Nevada, so most of those massage parlors come with a happy ending.”