Accidental Abduction (Masked Men of Sage Springs #1)

Chapter Six

Charley

“Only twenty minutes left,” Hazel sighed, leaning against the wall next to the expo window of the kitchen where I’d been trying to catch my breath. Things had been nuts since we opened, the bouncers having to turn people away once we hit capacity.

“It’s hot as fuck in here,” I groaned, pushing the stray hairs from my ponytail behind my ears. Thank God for dry shampoo, because I’d definitely need a touch-up after I changed my costume. Not that it was much different from what I had on. Throw on a T-shirt, put my hair up into pigtails and spray the newly stripped ends turquoise, pull on my knee-high boots, put on my mask and I’d be ready.

As crazy as it was tonight, I needed to let off some steam, and I needed to quit obsessing over Hudson. He’d been moody the last few days, ever since Vivienne cut things off between the two of them. Reid said they were on a break or something, but that rarely meant people were getting back together.

Hudson had been tightlipped about the whole thing. The only reason I knew was because his best friend was terrible at keeping secrets. And I totally understood how Hudson felt. He had a right to be upset over the idea of a four-year relationship ending. But he deserved so much better.

Not that it meant I’d go after him or anything, but the old feelings I’d pushed down once things got serious with her were bubbling back to the surface. Even when he was grumpy and couldn’t take a joke, I still wanted to be around him. I just wished he saw me as something other than Hazel’s best friend.

“Order up!” the cook yelled through the window. Hazel and I made eye contact, both spinning to grab the plates of greasy bar food from the counter. Only twenty more minutes and I could find some cute younger guy to take upstairs and fuck away any thoughts of Hudson. It was second nature by now, my coping mechanism for dealing with messy feelings that I shouldn’t be having. Hudson was the ultimate forbidden fruit, and I was dying to take a bite.

By the time I made it back to the apartment to change—over an hour later than I’d hoped—I was half tempted to face plant into my mattress and say fuck the whole party. I still had a paper to finish writing, and if I was hungover tomorrow, I’d have zero motivation to finish it on my day off.

The only reason I even wanted to go was because it’d been weeks since I let myself properly blow off steam. Or blow anything, for that matter. And I had a feeling the toys in my bedside drawer wouldn’t take the edge off much longer.

Pulling off my sweaty clothing, I headed for the bathroom. A whore’s bath was in order. I smelled like greasy fried food, and while I was sure some guys were into that, I was not. After soaping up my tits, slit, and armpits, I laid my forehead on the cool tiles and tried to relax.

Balancing my grad school hospitality and tourism classes along with my job at the bar had been nuts lately, and I was ready to be done. Luckily, I only had next semester to finish up. Once I had that degree in hand, transitioning to a big girl job would be infinitely easier, but the thought of what came next still gave me more anxiety than it should .

I continuously tried to convince myself it was because Hazel needed me, and I would have separation anxiety from my best friend. But walking away from the girlish crush I’d had on Hudson for over a decade—now that he was almost single again—was going to be a challenge all on its own. My sole focus should be on my job with my aunt and uncle after graduation in the next town over, even if it took me away from Sage Springs. Not fantasizing about riding the dick I’d been picturing in my head since I hit puberty.

Leaving home behind wasn’t something I wanted to do, but I also didn’t want to play crowd control with unruly college guys for the rest of my life. Hudson hadn’t hesitated to give me a job so I could keep up with my living expenses. Then he’d offered to let Hazel and I live above the bar and charged us barely anything for rent. I knew the bar was his life, but I was ready for something different.

“Are you ready to go yet?” Hazel yelled from the hallway, and I blew out a heavy breath before rinsing off.

Turning off the shower, I yelled back my response, pretending I was excited about going to the party and not secretly dreading having to pretend I was as much fun as everyone else thought I was. “Five minutes, bitch, and then it’s on.”

Pulling open my dresser, I cursed as I realized that I didn’t have any clean underwear. My laundry basket had been overflowing for over a week because I didn’t have time to take it to the laundromat across town. And there was no way in hell I was going to Hudson’s house to do it like Hazel did.

“What’s taking so long?” Hazel asked, appearing in my doorway dressed in her angel costume. She was just adorable enough to pull it off with her brownish red hair and big blue eyes. But she definitely didn’t look angelic with the skirt showing off most of her thighs.

Hudson was going to kill me if he thought I had anything to do with her costume, but she’d picked this one out all on her own. I was so proud. My once shy, wallflower best friend was finally embracing her sensuality with open arms. And if the glint in her eyes was any indication, she wanted to with open legs as well .

“All I have clean are these.” Pinching a pair of the oversized boy shorts I wore during my period between my fingers and cringed.

“Ew. Do you want a pair of mine?” While I appreciated the offer, I had a bit more junk in my trunk than my petite best friend, so I’d just be trading oversized underwear for undersized ones, and not in the cute, slutty way. It’d be in the cut off my circulation and leave behind bruises way. I liked to earn my markings in a much kinkier way.

“Nah, I’ll make it work.” Eyeing where I’d tossed my cut off denim shorts on the bed, I gauged if they were tight enough that there wouldn’t be a risk of indecent exposure on the dance floor downstairs.

“You’re such a slut,” she laughed as I pulled on the shorts, going commando, making sure that there wasn’t any chance they’d show off something that’d get me in trouble.

“It’s not like I’m going downstairs in my underwear like some people,” I teased, giving the almost see through lace bodysuit Hazel was wearing underneath her tiny skirt a pointed look.

“We’ll just have to avoid Hudson. He’ll lose his shit if he sees me like this.”

Hudson had always been overprotective of Hazel, especially since she’d always been too trusting for her own good. In high school and college, I’d been the reckless one while she was the well-behaved good girl. I’d tried to get her out of her shell in the last year or so, but he’d continued treating her like she was a sixteen-year-old virgin. And while she’d never confirmed it because she didn’t like to kiss and tell, I suspected her V card had yet to be punched.

“He can suck it. You look hot, and I can guarantee you still have more covered up than some of the girls downstairs.” We’d seen several already tonight who were spilling out of their tight costumes.

“Did you see the one Reid was dancing with before you came up here?”

“Can’t say that I was keeping track of him, but I’m sure you were. ”

She blushed and tucked a loose curl behind her ear before she looked away. Hazel had been crushing on Reid for years, but she’d avoided him since the incident where she walked in on him fucking some girl in the stock room downstairs. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t continued to watch him from afar. Her crush was blatantly more obvious than mine on her brother. To everyone but Reid.

“Once we put on our masks, they won’t be able to tell who we are.”

That’s what I was counting on. Tonight, I wanted anonymity. I didn’t want to be Hazel’s best friend, and more importantly, I didn’t want to be Charley, the ball-busting waitress. My reputation for booting handsy guys from the bar had exactly the opposite effect I wanted it to tonight. I wanted to find someone to put his hands all over me. Not threaten to dislocate his fingers if he “accidentally” brushed my ass while I was dropping off drinks at his table.

It wasn’t about being touched. It was about consent. And a guy tracing his hands over every inch of your body with consent was sexy. Random, drunken ass grabs were not.

“Since you’re ready to go, why don’t you head downstairs. I’ll be down as soon as I get my hair figured out and drop my tip log in the safe.”

“You know he’s taking the next few days off, so that could wait until tomorrow.”

“I know,” I sighed. While under normal circumstances Hudson was meticulous about his bookkeeping, he was scheduled to be gone until Monday. He’d earned a break with all the extra hours he’d been pulling. And I knew he typically withdrew when he was stressed, but I was worried about him. “He needs it after this week.”

Even if I didn’t talk to him most days, just knowing he was in the same building was comforting.

“I swear to God, if she’s down there when we go down, I can’t be responsible for accidentally spilling something on her. Preferably something disgusting that stains. I’m sure the cooks would help me find something.”

“I love your petty side,” I laughed, shooing her out of my bedroom with a flick of my wrist. “Try to hold in your vengeance until I’m there to help.”

But if I had anything to do with it, she’d be getting more than a stained costume. If I had my way, she’d never step foot in this building again.

“Wish me luck.” She spun in a circle, her short skirt twirling around her waist. “I’m in the mood to ruin my lipstick with a cute college boy.”

“Same.” But I wasn’t imagining being kissed by a college guy. I was fantasizing about finally getting kissed by the one guy I couldn’t have.