“You haven’t seen anything yet. Wait until we hit the strip tonight and you’ll see just how dumb I can be,” Sebastian agrees.
This gets another round of cheers and another cry for shots.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes, reminding myself this is Sebastian’s night not mine, and when a shot of something neon blue is handed to me, I don’t resist. I tell myself I can do this. I can be the fun one for a few days. God, people do much worse things for much longer periods of time. Going to Vegas for a few days partying is most people’s idea of fun and here I am on a private jet going to stay in a nice hotel and I’m acting like I’m on death row or something.
We down the shots and the conversation moves on to the night’s plans. And they say I’m the boring one. Who plans a night in Vegas? You leave your hotel, follow the lights and go with the flow. That’s really what Vegas is about. Living in the moment. Being a bit reckless and doing something you wouldn’t normally do.
My work phone vibrates in my pocket and I move away from the group to go back to my seat, pulling it out. I glance at the screen and roll my eyes. It’s Dennis Rogers. I’m doing a full redesign for his holiday home. The plans are all done and he doesn’t want the work to start until the back end of next week, and yet he’s never off the phone with me. I debate ignoring his call, but I know if I do, I’ll only spend the rest of this week thinking about what he wants until I call him back on Monday. I take the call.
“Mr. Rogers. Is everything okay?” I ask.
“It’s Dennis,” he reminds me. “And yes, everything’s fine. Or at least I hope it is. I got a call from a contractor this morning about them wanting to be in the house next Wednesday afternoon. I’m not leaving until Thursday morning and I’ve told them that won’t work, but they said they had your permission?”
“Yes. It’s just what we discussed. They won’t be starting any of the work. They just want to come out, get the keys from you and have you show them how the security system works. Remember? You said Wednesday would be the best day for you?”
“Oh. Yes, of course. I remember now. Sorry to have bothered you,” he says.
“It’s fine, really, you haven’t bothered me,” I lie.
“Oh. There’s just one more thing,” he says.
“Go on,” I say through gritted teeth. Before he can respond, my phone is being snatched away from my ear.
Sebastian grins down at me with my phone in his hand.
I glare at him.
He ignores me as he looks at my phone and then puts it to his ear. “Hi, Mr. Rogers. This is Sebastian Hunter. Chance is actually taking the rest of this week off for a family thing, and he’ll call you on Monday.” He ends the call.
“What the fuck? That was a client,” I snap, angry now.
“I know. Mr. Rogers. And you can tell him on Monday what an asshole I am. But for now, you can forget about him, forget about work, and have a good time. You were doing so well there for a moment.”
I roll my eyes and hold my hand out for the phone.
Sebastian holds it out of my reach, mocking me. “Seriously Chance, you promised you wouldn’t be working through my stag night.”
I continue to glare at him but it has no effect on him whatsoever. I sigh. “I told you I wouldn’t work while we’re in Vegas. And we’re not in Vegas yet.”
“That’s a technicality and you know it,” Sebastian counters.
His little game is starting to piss me off now. Of course, I want him to enjoy his stag night but I honestly think he can have just as good a time if I take a phone call. He’d probably have had a better time if he’d just listened to my protests and let me sit this one out.
I snatch for my phone but Sebastian sees me coming and whips it back out of my reach. He throws it to Matt who catches it with one hand and promptly dumps it in a pitcher of water.
“For fuck sake!” I snap. “Have you two got no sense between you or what?”
Matt just laughs. “It’s only your work phone,” he points out. He peers down at the water. “It’s not even your current one. Just have one weekend where you’re not working. Is that really too much to ask?”
It probably isn’t. It definitely isn’t. But the point Matt and Sebastian are missing is that I want to work. I’m not doing it because I think the world will stop turning if I take a couple of days off. I’m doing it because I enjoy it. I like to be kept in the loop. Trying to explain this in a way that doesn’t make me sound like I’ve lost the plot, isn’t going to be easy though and I just shrug. “Fine. Whatever. You’ve made the decision for me now, haven’t you?” I get up and turn towards the bathroom.
“Chance, wait,” Sebastian says.
I turn around, stupidly thinking he’s going to apologize, but then I see he’s grinning.
“Matt said that’s not your current work phone. Hand it over.” He holds his hand out.
“So, you can put it in a jug of water? I don’t think so,” I reply.
“I swear I won’t,” he says. “I’ll put it somewhere safe until after the weekend.” His hand is still out and he’s blocking my
