As our set came to an end, Saul stepped up to the mic. “Thank you all for coming out here tonight,” he said. “As you know, this venue has recently run into hard times. My friends and I are determined to restore it to its former glory, but we’re going to need your help to do that. Please, if you can donate to the cause, any little bit helps. The Ball has been a very special place for so many people over the years, and we’re not going to let one person’s greed take that away from an entire community.”
The sound of the crowd’s cheers followed us off the stage. “Time to mingle,” Howie whispered in my ear. “Convince all those people out there to open their purse strings for us.”
As we entered the front of the house and its crush of people, I couldn’t stop smiling. We were really going to do this; we could save the Ball. Already, with just ticket sales, we had raised most of what we needed. I made my way through the crowd, smiling until my cheeks hurt, shaking hands with strangers, pausing here and there to pass pleasantries. Suddenly, above the din of the crowd and the music, I heard someone call my name.
Turning, I saw a vaguely familiar Latina woman making her way toward me, pulling along after her the largest man I had ever seen.
“Holy shit,” Chris whispered behind me. “What is the Beast doing here?”
“I invited him,” I answered, waving and smiling as the couple approached.
“Ella,” the woman said, beaming. “So good to see you. I don’t know if you remember me; my name is Isabel—”
“Of course I remember you,” I interrupted. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
“We wouldn’t have missed it,” Isabel assured me. “As soon as I got your invitation, I told Jacques, ‘We’re going.’”
Jacques, the hulking, scarred man who followed Isabel around worshipfully, grinned sheepishly. “I just do what I’m told,” he said, his voice colored by a slight French accent.
After a few minutes of pleasantries, Isabel squeezed my hands. “I’ll let you get to your guests,” she said. Her eyes grazed over Chris, standing behind me. “Or whatever you want to turn your attention to,” she added, winking, before she led Jacques away by the hand.
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew the Beast?” Chris asked, when they were a safe distance away.
I shrugged. “I didn’t realize it was a big deal,” I said.
Chris groaned. “Not a big deal?” he said. “He was a wrestling legend, until he spun out and disappeared from the public eye for five years.”
My eyes followed the couple. “Doesn’t look like much of a recluse to me,” I remarked.
“That’s the weird thing,” Chris said. “Last year, the Beast’s castle in upstate New York burned down, and then this book came out, and then he publicly announced that he was dating the writer. It was a whole thing in the wrestling world.”
I laughed. “I just thought they were a nice couple,” I said. “I’m glad they came.”
Chris shook his head, smiling fondly. “Only you would invite a wrestling legend to a party because he seemed nice,” he said, slipping his arm around my waist.
The next familiar faces I spotted belonged to Susanna and Liz. “I still can’t believe you invited them,” Chris murmured as they approached. He hadn’t gotten over the stories I’d told him of the sisters’ bullying.
“They’re not so bad,” I protested. “As long as I don’t have to be in a band with them.”
Chris made a doubtful noise. “Well, I’m not going to hang around to make small talk with them,” he said. “I wonder what the Beast thinks about the current state of wrestling . . .” With that, he disappeared into the crowd to hunt down our guest.
Still shaking my hand, I smiled as Susanna and Liz approached. “I’m so glad you could make it,” I said, hugging both of them.
“Of course,” Susanna said. She looked around. “You’re really going to fix this place up?” she asked, her voice full of doubt.
“We’re going to try!” I said cheerfully.
“Is it true it’s really a secret sex club?” Liz asked, her eyes wide. I smiled.
“Not so secret anymore, I guess.”
Susanna shook her head. “I just can’t see it. Sweet little Ella Pierce, owning a sex club.”
“I’m full of surprises, I guess,” I said. Susanna studied my face.
“I guess you are,” she said finally. “Well . . .” she hesitated. “Y’all sounded really good tonight,” she said finally.
“Oh,” I said, surprised. “Thank you.”
Liz nodded. “Are you going to be a permanent part of the band now?” she asked.
“Um . . .” I didn’t know how to answer. We hadn’t really discussed the matter.
Susanna, of course, cut straight to the chase: “Are you dating one of them?” she asked.
Liz’s eyes widened with interest. “Is it one of the big, muscley ones?” she asked.