Chapter One
Izzy
“Oh my God, look at this place. This is so damn swanky I think I’m getting turned on,” Nadine said in a pleasure-filled voice.
I looked over at her, and she tossed her duffel bag onto the small couch in the hotel room. We’d spent the extra hundred dollars a night to upgrade to a suite that overlooked the city, and I had to admit, I wasn’t complaining about that additional money spent.
The room was pretty incredible, a massive improvement over the Motel 9 accommodations I was accustomed to.
There was a spacious living room, a small kitchenette, and the bed was in a separate room. Nadine darted off into the bedroom, and a second later, I heard her squeal. “Holy shit. We have a jacuzzi tub up in this bitch, Izzy.”
I snorted and shook my head, but I loved her enthusiasm.
“Yeah, but how much are we really going to be in the room?” I found myself muttering. I was cheap; I wouldn’t even pretend I wasn’t, but it’d been so long since I got out and did anything fun. And that’s what this weekend was about.
So living it up for the next two days, we would.
I was trying to loosen up a bit, enjoy this for what it was, which was needing to get drunk, letting loose, and not worrying about the real-life shit going on in our lives.
Nadine came back out and held up those little shampoo and body lotion bottles you got at nicer hotels. “Free shit, Izzy. Free.” She enunciated that last word, and I laughed.
“Maybe we should just stay in the hotel all weeks, order room service, and watch TV.”
She snorted. “Nope. I am in love with this room, but we agreed this weekend we’re going balls to the wall.”
I grinned and tossed my bag on the couch beside her. “Okay. Balls to the wall.” I walked over to the window and pulled the curtain aside, looking at the city below. We were twenty stories high, the city active below. I wasn’t much of a city girl and preferred to stay at home in my little introverted bubble. But I was excited about this weekend.
I looked over at Nadine. It had been two months since she ended her yearlong relationship with her boyfriend, Jay. Not only was she depressed, because she’d hoped he’d been “The One,” but on top of that, the reason they’d split up was because she found texts and emails of the slimy fucker cheating on her with his coworker.
So, we planned this trip to Toronto, intent on drinking, partying, and just putting reality and responsibilities behind us for a couple days. She deserved that. I deserve that. And I wasn’t going to let my normalcy, modesty, or the fact that I was one hell of an introvert, get in the way of that.
I was going to make sure this girls’ weekend would help her finally put Jay in her rearview mirror.
I watched as she walked over to the window and stared at the city. “Look, I can see the tower,” she said with excitement in her voice and glanced over her shoulder at me, pointing at said tower. She faced me fully and grinned. “But we didn’t come here to see a tower, now did we?” She winked, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Let’s go to a bar tonight, or maybe a club?”
I could see in her eyes she was going to go buck-wild this weekend, and I was genuinely glad she was happy, excited.
After her split-up with Jay, I’d seen a side of Nadine I never witnessed before. It had really hit her hard. And even though inside I was cringing at the knowledge of being around so many people, the loud music, the sex on the dance floor, I was going to go out of my comfort zone while we were here.
“I’m game for whatever. You decide what you want to do, and we’ll do it,” I said instead of suggesting we just veg here all night.
Drinking, debauchery, and forgetting about our responsibilities for one weekend wouldn’t be the end all.
I repeated that in my head like a mantra and told myself I would have a good time. What’s the worst that could happen? I get drunk and have a hangover the next day?
Didn’t sound so bad if it meant making memories.
Or maybe those were famous last words.
Chapter Two
Izzy
I definitely felt out of my element. All the people around were most likely a decade younger than my thirty-two years. The club Nadine picked was packed, but then again, it was a Friday night. The music was new releases, ones I didn’t even listen to. I was more of a classic rock kind of girl, but I was on my third beer, so it was all starting to sound kind of nice. That’s how I knew the alcohol was getting to me; I didn’t feel as uptight, out of place, or uncomfortable.