Kasia set the mug on the counter and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Her fingers furiously flying over her screen before she whipped it around and all but shoved it in my face. “Good thing we aren’t no one,” she said cheerily.
Squinting, I gripped her wrist and pushed the phone back until the blurry black lines came into focus. I frowned. “Are these numbers supposed to mean something to me?”
Like the drama queen she was, she signed heavily. “It’s a code.”
“Mmm hmm.” I nodded. “Code to what?”
“Oh my goodness, Becca! Are you for real right now?” When I just blinked at her, she huffed out, “This code will get us into Absinthe. But it’s only for tonight, and we have to be there at nine because the codes change every hour.”
“That’s a bit excessive,” I deadpanned, earning me a death glare from my friend. “What?”
“Seriously? That’s a bit excessive, is all you have to say?” Doing her best imitation of my voice, she threw my words back at me. I bit the inside of my cheek hard to keep the laughter from bubbling over my lips. “We got into Absinthe, bitch. Absinthe. Do you know how many people would give their titties to get in there?”
“No.” I rolled my lip over my teeth. “But I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
She glared some more. “A lot.”
I stared at her for a beat before throwing my arms in the air and squealing in an obnoxiously high tone, “Ohmigosh, yay! We got into Absinthe.”
“Are you done?” My friend did not look amused. Not even a little bit.
Schooling my features, I draped my arm over her shoulder. “I’m sorry I’m not as excited as you. The club scene has always been more your thing than mine.” I tugged her closer. “But you know I’ll go with you.”
She side-eyed me, a small smile playing on her lips. “Good!”
Removing my arm, I started shuffling around papers on the counter. We had about ten minutes before we opened. Giving her a quick glance over my shoulder, I asked, “How did you get an invitation, anyway?”
Kasia beamed. “You know that guy I told you about?”
Facing her, I waggled my brows. “The one you met at the bar last week? The one with the amazing tongue?”
“Mmm.” She sighed dreamily. “Yeah, that one. Well, he’s one of the owners and he hooked me—us—up.”
A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. “Guess we’re going clubbing tonight then.”
Chapter Three
Becca
Music bounced off the walls, each pulsating beat making my heart pound to the rhythm. Flashes of blue and warm white glided over the floor matching the thump-thump of the song.
I sucked in a quick breath.
From the outside, Absinthe didn’t look like much. In fact, I’d wanted to turn around and go back home when Kasia and I had walked up to the nondescript brick building. Even more so when we had to descend two flights of wrought iron stairs; plunging us further into the darkness of the night.
Panic had spiked hot in my veins when a burly looking man with arms the size of both my thighs had stepped in front of us and growled, “Code.” When Kasia had shown him her phone, he’d snatched the device out of her hand and shone a small UV light at the screen.
After studying it for a few moments, he’d nodded his sweaty bald head, handed the phone back, and motioned for us to go inside.
Walking through the big factory doors, I’d felt a lot like a lamb being led to the slaughter. My heart rate had kicked into high gear, my senses on full alert. Meanwhile, my friend had looked like a kid who’d just discovered Charlie’s chocolate factory.
Still, I stayed close as we walked to the far end of the open space, through a door in the far-left corner, and finally down another flight of stairs. The beat currently vibrating through my veins had grown louder and louder as we took step after step.
When we reached the bottom, two doors that looked like a wall whooshed apart to reveal a sea of darkness illuminated by blue and white. The floor beneath our feet looked like a stone path with bright neon light shining between the crevices. Above our heads, where a roof was supposed to be, was something that looked like a mass of water with large balls of lights hanging from it in various lengths and sizes.
Kasia curled her hand around my arm and leaned in close. “This place is… wow!”
“Yeah,” I breathed out. “It’s something else all right.”
With her still holding onto me, we ventured further into Absinthe. Intimate booths lined the walls on both sides with illuminated podiums between each. In front of us a sea of people were slaves to the music; arms in the air, hips swaying.
They looked… euphoric. Like they’d lost all their inhibitions and didn’t care. Men were kissing men. Women were kissing women. Then they’d switch partners and just continue the dance.
I was completely transfixed on the spectacle playing out before me until Kasia yanked on my arm. “Come on, I think the bar is back there.” She pulled me behind her toward the walls so we wouldn’t collide with any bumping and grinding bodies.
We’d made it about four steps when a sharp sense of awareness sliced through my veins like a fiery blade, stopping me dead in my tracks. “I think someone is watching me.” My gaze frantically flicked over the dancing patrons; the ones I could see all lost in their own world. I knew I wasn’t imagining it. Someone’s eyes were on me.
“Of course they are!” Kasia exclaimed. She took a step back and made a sweeping motion down the length of my body. “You look like sex on legs. I’d be surprised if someone wasn’t watching you.”
She wasn’t completely wrong. The short, strapless dress might’ve looked simple on the rack, but it did amazing things to my body. The black silk hugged my boobs like a
