“What'll you have, beautiful?” The bartender asked. He was a good-looking guy, so to hear him call me beautiful made me blush.
And I continued to blush as I tried to think of what to order. There weren't any menus like at restaurants and I'd never ordered a drink before, so I was at a loss. I stared, wide-eyed at the bartender and then turned to my friends who laughed at my naiveté.
“Let's do shots!” Allie shouted. “Together, as sisters, come on!”
She ordered the shots and the bartender – his name was Chad – poured and passed them out to us. I had no idea what I was holding, but it smelled like death. It was clear, and once Allie gave the word, I followed the lead of my sisters and drank it down. It burned my throat and for a second, I feared I might throw it all back up.
“What the hell was that?” I asked Allie.
“Vodka.”
“Straight?” I said.
“Yeah,” she smiled. “Good stuff, huh?”
Not really – it tasted like ass, I thought to myself. I decided to take it easy from there on out, and told Chad to surprise me with something yummy. He smiled as he put together some mysterious concoction and then passed me a brightly colored drink with an umbrella poking out the top.
“Sex on the Beach. It's a good beginner's drink,” he said with a wink. “Think of it like the training wheels of the drinking world.”
“What do you –”
“I can tell it's your first time,” he said with a smirk. “I can always tell when it's a girl's first time.”
The double entendre wasn't lost on me. I thanked him and turned away, blushing, as I sipped the fruity concoction, which was actually pretty good, I was surprised to find. The girls started dancing, yanking me to the floor with them. I started dancing – or tried to at least – but I was terrible at it. While they all looked graceful and sexy grinding against one another on the dance floor, I was positive I looked like a hippo with two left feet trying to work it out on the dance floor.
As I stood there, unsure of what to do, my eyes fell on the DJ booth. And that’s when I saw him. Reese Williams. My brother's best friend. He was working the booth, focusing on what he was doing – except when someone walked over and talked to him. A beautiful Asian girl walked over to him and handed him some cash. He handed her something in return and flashed her a smile that could melt hearts – or the panties right off some young, horny girl.
It was all so curious to me.
I turned to find Allie and Lauren, but found that they were gone. While I'd been busy watching Reese, I'd lost them in the crush of bodies on the dance floor. Nearing panic, I pushed toward the booth, hoping to find my friends in the process, but had no such luck. Of course, I didn't. One of my other sisters though – Ashley – was busy making out with a guy. Other than her though, I saw nobody else from my sorority.
I kept moving though, and before I knew what I
was doing, I found myself at the DJ booth. I stood there awkwardly, looking up at Reese who didn't even notice me – typical. I started to turn and walk away – the heels killing my feet – when I heard his voice behind me.
“Need something, sexy?”
Nah, he wasn't talking to me. I kept walking, but was stopped by a couple who'd stopped to make out – right in my path. I couldn't get around them as they were groping at each other, so I turned back around, only to find Reese staring directly at me.
“I asked if you needed anything,” Reese asked, shouting down from the DJ booth.
“Uhh what?” I asked, walking toward him, not sure I'd I heard him correctly. “Need something?”
“I guess not,” he said with a smile. “I was just hoping a pretty thing like you –”
He stopped and stared for a moment before jumping down from his spot at the DJ booth and got right up in my face. His eyes grew wide as recognition crossed his face.
“You're Luke's sister, right? Luke McConnell?”
“Uh yeah, my name is –”
“Maya. Yeah, I remember,” he said. “Though I don't remember you looking' like this. Damn.”
His gaze moved all over my body as he undressed me with his eyes.
“Damn indeed,” he said, returning to look me in the eye. “Wanna step away for a bit?”
“What?” I asked. “Step away? Aren't you working?”