Acid (Black Hearts MC #7)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

RHEA

I kissed him! I kissed Acid, oh my fucking god. If it didn’t go awkward enough after we saw each other naked, that kiss will just add to the awkwardness. I want the ground to swallow me up. I feel nauseous. Although it felt good, so good, I swear I could still feel him on my lips.

“So, are we going to discuss the tongue lashing you and Acid were having?” Josie asks, a huge smile on her lips as one of the hairdressers curls her hair.

“Yes! I was so tempted to confess to Beast about the night out, just so I could sit with a bowl of popcorn and watch the drama unfold between you two,” Belle adds.

All of us are sat in a long line in the salon. I was having my make-up done with Star, and the others were having their hair styled. I gestured that I couldn’t talk as a woman was applying lipstick to my lips.

“You can remain tight-lipped for now, however we will not let this slide,” Star warns, a smile playing on her lips. Somewhere at the club there is a bottle of tequila with my name on it.

We stay in the salon for around 3 hours, all taking it in turns to have our hair and make-up done. I look at all of them, all completely unaware just how stunning they are. They are all very different women with different personalities, but they all have big hearts which shone through, adding to their beauty. Was I jealous? Maybe slightly. I’ve always been a plain Jane. Just brown hair and brown eyes. Nothing unusual, and nothing eye-catching. Maybe I’m jealous, because they are nice people too, but somehow it doesn’t seem fair that they have it all.

We all walk into the store where Star had given the owner our sizes. She’d told the owner to make our outfits sexy. I could feel my palms sweating. Star had the confidence and figure to wear whatever she wanted. They all did, even pregnant Belle had the perfect hour-glass shape, and Josie was curvy, the kind of curves men demand. Then she opened her mouth, and her British accent came out. As much as I felt pretty with my hair in a lightly curled blow out with curtain bangs, my make up light apart from the shimmery smoky eyes, next to these women I felt as I always felt. Average.

“So, you and my brother,” Nova says, standing next to me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, um,” I stutter. “There isn’t, er...” I struggle to find the words.

Nova smiles, her beautiful blue eyes—the same eyes as her brother’s—sparkling with amusement. “I’m just teasing. It’s none of my business.” She winks.

I sigh, feeling relieved. “Thank you, I... It was just a kiss,” I clarify. “Not that I don’t care about your brother,” I rush to add. “I love him to bits.” I stare at her with wide eyes. “As a friend.” I place my hand over my face and for the second time today, wish for the ground to swallow me up.

Nova laughs before she grabs my wrist and pulls my hand away from my face. “It’s okay, calm down. Whatever you are to Acid, friend or more, I don’t care. You don’t need to explain anything to me,” she says softly.

“I’m sorry. I’ve made a fool of myself, and I’ve not even had a drink yet.” I sigh. As if I summoned it, a woman walks up with a tray filled with glasses of champagne. I take one and knock it back so quickly, a belch escapes me. “Sorry.” I wince causing Nova to laugh.

“Rhea, come try your dress on,” Star calls, waving me over to the dressing room. I nod and make my way over as the others sit and drink their champagne, all except Bells who has orange juice. Star grabs my hand, her smile wide. “Are you ready for this?” she asks excited.

“Honestly?” I ask. She nods. “I’m terrified,” I answer truthfully.

She rolls her eyes and opens the curtain for me to enter. I step in and there hanging up is a blood red, spaghetti strap mini dress. “Where is the rest of it?” I ask.

Star laughs. “That is it. Go try it on,” she says, shoving me further into the dressing room.

“Star, I have cellulite and a mom pouch. I have boobs. Boobs that require a bra. One wrong shimmy and one of my breasts will be sashaying behind me,” I protest. Star isn’t listening because she’s too busy bent over, laughing at my response. I sigh. “You’re going to make me try it on any way, aren’t you?”

Star nods. “Absolutely. They have given you underwear and heels to match.” Star points and I look down and see the heels, but as I look around, I don’t see the underwear.

“Where is the underwear?” I ask.

Star picks up the dress and there hanging behind it is a thong. “I don’t need to floss. I need underwear. You know, like a firm pair of pants that will just contain all of this,” I say, gesturing to my stomach area.

“Just put on the fucking dress,” Star orders, a smile playing on her lips before she pulls the curtain closed.

I sigh. If I’m wearing this, I’m going to need two bottles of tequila. I take the dress off the hanger and put it on, surprised that there is almost a control slip sewn inside it. I have to wrestle it on a little. I then remove my jeans and pants and after grabbing the thong, I slide it up my thighs.

“Jesus,” I mutter to myself. There is no mirror in the changing room, so I smooth the dress down as best as I can before it stops mid-thigh. I place my feet in the delicately heeled strappy shoes, making sure they’re secure before standing up straight. “Okay, ready?” I ask.

“Yes!” they all chant.

I take in a breath and dig deep for the confidence just to show them. I yank the curtain to the side and step out, avoiding looking at their reactions. My heart is thundering in my chest.

When there is no comment, I look at them. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” I mutter.

They all shake their heads and Star points to the big mirror. I turn and look at my reflection. I gasp. Looking back at me isn’t a woman I recognise. I look good. The dress skims over my curves beautifully, like it was made just for me. My mom pouch that I was paranoid is still there, but smoother. My breasts, my butt, everything about this dress is just perfect. Tears sting my eyes.

“What kind of sorcery is this?” I sniff.

“No sorcery, that is all you. You just couldn’t see it before,” Star states.

I laugh, blinking back my tears. “I tell you one thing, I won’t be doing any slut drops in this thong. One drop and my vagina with swallow it whole.” We all laugh. I catch Nova holding up her phone, so I pull a silly face, laughing as she takes a picture.

One by one, each of them step out of the dressing rooms looking absolutely stunning. Star is dressed in a sheer black, lace knee length dress with a section sewn in to cover the areas needed, Maggie is in a mini body con deep blue strapless dress, showcasing her curves and legs, Josie is in an emerald green satin knee length wrap dress, the deep v showcasing the curve of her breasts, Belle is in a black midi dress with side splits that go high up near her hips, which also hugs her curves and bump, Dixie is in a high neck backless wine coloured halter dress that stops just about her knees, and Nova is in a deep blue bandeau dress that stops mid-thigh. The colour makes her eyes pop.

Star hands the store owner her phone to take a picture of all of us before we head out to the limo and on to the night ahead.

Walking through the mall to the limo, people look. Feeling their gazes on us, I look down, feeling awkward.

“Head up, you look stunning,” Belle whispers in my ear.

I look to her and smile. “Not used to this kind of attention,” I mutter

She smiles. “Own it.” She winks.

I’m not sure how owning it looks, or how I’m supposed to behave while owning it, but I try and keep my head up and facing forward, pretending to have the confidence that I really don’t possess.

The limo ride over has to be some of the best fun I’ve had in a long while. It’s stocked up on champagne, and we laugh, sing, and laugh some more. When the limo pulls up outside a new club that’s opened, we all get out. I’m mindful not to fall on my ass or expose more than my ass in this dress as I climb out of the limo.

A guy with slicked back hair dressed in a designer suit greets us. “Ladies, welcome to Sapphire. I have your table in its own private area of the club, with your own mixologist. There is also a selection of hors d’oeuvres and your private waiting staff to attend to your every need,” he greets as he leads the way.

“How on earth did you get this?” I whisper to Star.

“Don’t look at me. This is all Belle’s doing,” she says, nodding in Belle’s direction.

We are guided behind a roped off area that sits high above a dance floor and main bar. It’s lavish, with black furniture and gold trimming. The club is still quiet, being only 8pm, so the music’s volume is set more as a background noise. I imagine as the night continues that it will grow louder. We take our seats and order our drinks. Belle takes the entire tray of food from the waiter as she sits there, shovelling each one into her mouth.

“Belle, how did you get this place?” I ask.

She swallows her mouthful of food before answering. “I know the owner, or rather my father did. He did business with him. He owed my father a few favours, and I just reminded him that he never got to call in those favours. But all would be forgiven if he did this at least once every couple of months. No money to be repaid, and no more favours owed.” She smiles.

“Holy shit, you’re Mafia?” I ask.

She laughs and shakes her head. “No, my father was just a businessman.”

“He was a mob boss,” Star whispers in my ear.

“Oh,” I mouth.

A few drinks in I’m feeling tipsy, but not as much as Dixie who has suddenly broken out of her shell. She’s dancing by herself next to our table, and as she tries to grab the waiter to join her, he practically runs scared in the other direction. We all laugh as Dixie starts twerking.

“Yes, go Dixie!” Star cheers.

“Slut plop!” Dixie yells before dropping to the floor again.

“Dixie, come and eat some food,” Josie calls to her.

Dixie gets up and stumbles back to the table. “I’m not that hungry,” She pants.

“Yeah, but it’s only ten at night, and you’re already wasted,” Josie says, handing her some food. Dixie sits there slumped in her chair, falling asleep while still eating.

“We will let her rest for a moment, then wake her for round two.” Belle laughs.

“So, come on then, the kiss.” Star turns her attention to me, and suddenly all their attention comes to me. I finish the last of my cocktail and sigh. I thought I got away with it, but I guess I wasn’t that lucky.

“It was just a panicked kiss. That is all. A silly move on my part, a mistake,” I state before popping one of the prawn things off the tray in my mouth.

“He didn’t react like it was a mistake.” Maggie smiles.

“He is a guy, he just humoured me,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I don’t think Acid is like that.” Josie shrugs. “I mean, he’s quiet in comparison to some of the others like Scar.”

I nod, thinking about Scar. “What is going through your head right now?” Belle asks, watching me.

I look at her before glancing around the table. Maybe it’s the drink or maybe I’ve come to feel like these women are my family now, I don’t know, but for the first time in a long, long time I speak freely, not feeling embarrassed.

“I’m thinking about fucking Scar,” I declare bluntly.

Star chokes on her drink, coughing and spluttering. Maggie laughs, patting her back. “Jesus, I did not expect you to come out with that,” Star wheezes.

“Sorry,” I mutter. “It’s just, it’s been a really long time, and I’ve never really enjoyed sex. It has always been just a thing to keep them happy or something that...” I pause, not sure how to say the other thing. “It was a weapon, for him to hurt me,” I add. They all nod in understanding. “I want a good fuck.” I smile, making them all laugh. “I want the world to explode; the fireworks, you know, the stuff your read about in books and see in the movies. I want to know if that shit is real.” I sigh as I hold my glass up to the waiter to signal a refill. He takes my glass and quickly comes back with another. I mouth a thank you to him.

“It’s very real, but if anything, it’s fucking better than books or the movies,” Nova sighs.

“Oh, it’s a million times better than that.” Belle nods in agreement.

“You know what you need, you need to be worshiped. You need a guy to just focus on you and your needs. Not you giving him anything back. You need to be shown what it can be like,” Star says firmly.

“I mean, that isn’t a bad idea, but they all want something in return,” Josie says, her words slurring a little.

“She isn’t wrong. They all want to have their dick sucked or fucked,” Maggie adds. “Not that I mind that. It’s actually pretty hot.”

The waiter standing beside our table shifts uncomfortably. I turn to him. “Is that true? Do men always expect to get their happy ending?” I ask. “And would I enjoy giving you a happy ending?” He keeps his face neutral and stares straight forward. I wave my hand in front of his face, but he barely blinks. “Is he dead?” I frown.

“No, he’s like the King’s guard in England.” Josie laughs, getting up from her seat and stands next to him for a photo. That then sets all of us off as we do various poses with him, to the point the manager comes over and asks us to stop sexually harassing the staff.

“Hey, not once have we touched him in any way,” Star argues. She shoves a wedge of money in the waiter’s pocket, and he gives her a wink. “See, he loves it,” she says, grabbing his face in her hands. “If we were to sexually harass him, this poor boy would not survive.” She winks.

The manager stiffens and reluctantly walks off. “Let’s dance!” Dixie suddenly yells, jumping up from her chair.

“When did she wake up?” I laugh.