Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
As much as I wanted to believe Clay’s baby sister would be smarter than this, I also had to remember that this was a woman in the grips of grief. She wasn’t acting normally.
Which was why I had to do what Clay wanted.
I had to take care of her.
That didn’t mean, though, that I had to be a killjoy.
Clearly, she needed this shit.
It didn’t matter that I didn’t understand or like it.
I just had to be here, keeping an eye, making sure she was safe.
With that in mind, I moved through the crowd, scanning around for her. In a normal crowd, her neon tube top would have stood out. Here, though, it seemed like her outfit was on the tame end. Half of these girls were wearing underwear and glow in the dark body paint.
I was about half an hour into it when I finally spotted her dancing by herself, arms thrown up, eyes closed, just lost in the music, in the vibe of the place.
Fuck, she was beautiful.
And I hated myself a bit for noticing that.
I always thought women were at their most gorgeous when they were in their own world, when they didn’t think or care if anyone was watching them.
Sometimes, it was the stupid shit. Like catching a girl belting out some silly aughts pop song while painting their toenails. Or dancing around the kitchen while making food. Smiling at something they were reading or looking at on their phones.
When their beauty wasn’t performative, just… there.
That was what was so pretty about Caliana right then.
Her eyes weren’t open, scanning the crowd for friends or a man to dance with. She was just lost in her own self, in the music. She didn’t care if someone was looking or not. This was just for her.
I shrank back, leaning against the wall with the projected hologram images, not wanting to be in anyone’s way, but keeping an eye on Cali.
I should have felt more like a creep.
But I reminded myself that this was a big fucking illegal event. And I’d already seen the casual exchange of drugs from unknown sources.
I glanced away when two big men moved in toward each other, making me tense, wondering if this was a fight that would lead to mass panic, people stampeding away, trampling over one another in the process.
The fears were unfounded, though, as one man grabbed the other’s hips, and started to grind with him to the music.
Feeling paranoid, my gaze scanned back to the crowd.
To find Cali missing.
“Fuck,” I hissed, scanning the dancers, trying to catch sight of her.
But there were too many bodies and the light was too fucking low.
“Are you seriously following me?” a familiar voice asked me a couple minutes later as the panic started to grow when I still hadn’t caught sight of her.
Of course I hadn’t.
Because she’d been sneaking up on me.
Turning, I found her standing there, her headphones around her neck like mine, a sweating plastic cup in her hand covered with a drink bonnet, just the straw sticking out, making it all but impossible for someone to slip anything into it.
I guess I hadn’t given her enough credit about that.
“I was coming to your place,” I told her, lowering my voice since there was very little noise going on with everyone listening to their music with the headphones. “To bring you the documents you need,” I added. “And you were leaving.”
“So you… followed me,” she repeated, sipping her drink with a raised brow that said she had all night to wait for a reasonable explanation for my behavior.
“Why are you at an illegal rave alone?” I asked.
“It’s not any of your business.”
“Where’s the little redhead?”
“I don’t need her to defend me.”
“There’s safety in numbers.”
“I’m perfectly safe,” she said, waving around. “Not a single fight or predatory guy in sight.”
Something about what she said tingled at something in my brain, making me turn back to the crowd to realize she was right.
The men were dancing with men.
The women… with women.
Was this a gay rave?
Did gay raves exist?
“Contrary to what you clearly believe of me, I’m not a complete fucking idiot. Now leave before you completely ruin this for me,” she demanded, taking another sip of her drink before yanking her headphones back on with one hand, and moving back into the crowd. But this time, she disappeared into the center of it, making it impossible to keep an eye on her without getting close.
On a sigh, I moved over toward the door, seeing it was the only accessible exit, so if anyone decided to try to drug and remove her, they’d have to pass by me.
And that’s where I stayed for the next three hours until, finally, people started to remove their headphones, and make their way to the door.
“What, did you stay for the show?” Cali asked as she spotted me holding up the wall by the door, nodding toward a couple on the other side of the door, two women making out heavily.