Faith (Hades Angels #1) (7 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Tonight, I would be normal, live my life. Go out and have fun. I lay in bed thinking these things, yet I couldn’t get myself motivated to get up. I stared at the ceiling trying to talk myself out of thinking of excuses. My phone beeped, causing both cats to sit up at the same time, both with looks in their eyes that could kill. Like, how dare you interrupt my sleep?

It was a text from Melody.

GIRLS’ NIGHT!

I texted back, hoping she wouldn’t see through my sarcasm.

YAY! Can’t wait!

I finally managed to roll out of bed and take a shower.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The reflection and the way I felt were like night and day. I was standing there with a towel on my head, and a towel wrapped around my body. Anyone else would’ve seen a girl in her twenties who had her whole life ahead of her, a girl who was beautiful. The way I felt inside was nothing like that. I felt like I was broken, a girl who didn’t have her life ahead of her, because I couldn’t let myself move on. I was holding back because I didn’t know when, or if, I would get sick again. I knew if I just stayed here I wouldn’t lose anything, I couldn’t hurt anyone. I finally pulled myself away from the mirror and tried to concentrate on getting dressed.

I needed caffeine. I quickly dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a loose fitting T-shirt before heading to Cups. Hopefully that would give me the strength to pull myself out of this funk.

The rest of the morning and afternoon flew by, and I was standing in front of the mirror again. I applied my make-up but not as much as I would have, had I been at work. By the time I was done, my eyes were dark and smoky, my cheeks brushed with just a pinch of color and my lips a deep red. Now I needed to figure out what to do with my hair. Should I even attempt to style my own hair? I had it trimmed recently, and styled so it actually looked like I had cut my hair short on purpose. The sides were cut short, the top long enough that my bangs were almost chin length. The lady at the salon said it was how a lot of girls were cutting their hair these days. For the most part I still wore a beanie anyway, because I felt naked without my long hair.

I pulled out my flat iron from a box in my closet. I wasn’t even sure the thing would still work. I crossed my fingers as I plugged it in and turned it on. I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding at the idea of attempting to do something with my own hair. I got dressed as I was waiting for my iron to heat up. I pulled on a pair of dark denim skinny jeans and the shirt I had purchased the day before with Jade and Melody. I quickly ran my flat iron through my hair and used some gel to smooth down the shorter pieces that were too short to straighten. I had just finished with my hair when I heard someone knocking at my door. I took another deep breath after a quiet pep talk, and then answered the door.

“Come on in. I’m almost ready.” I greeted both Jade and Melody.

“Hey, girly, you look hot!” Melody said as she hugged me.

“You too,” I said as I took a step back and took in both her and Jade’s appearance, becoming instantly jealous. Jade’s long black hair was down and in big loose curls. Melody’s long blonde hair was straight and hung halfway down her back. Ugh, what I would do to get my long hair back.

“You know, Faith, you should really give up the wigs, your hair looks amazing like that. I wish my hair looked that good short. I hate spending hours and hours of blow drying and straightening,” Jade commented.

“Thanks, but believe me, I would love for this to grow out…and fast.” I smiled. “I am going to grab my shoes and I will be right back.”

I couldn’t decide on what shoes to wear so I grabbed a pair of peep-toe, black, platform heels, and a pair of knee-high, black-heeled boots, and then asked for their opinion.

“Okay, so what do you think?” I asked as I walked out of my room.

“Shoes,” they both said at once.

“Those peep-toes are freaking hot.” Melody grinned.

“Well, that was easy.”

I tossed my boots in the closet and slipped on my jacket. “Okay, ladies, ready?”

“Let’s do this.” Melody stood up and headed for the door.

“I’ll drive.” I grabbed my purse and keys off the table and headed out the door, locking it behind me.

By the time we arrived at Shelby’s, I was ready to turn around and go back home. I was fidgeting the entire drive. My palms were sweaty and my knees were shaking.

“Before we go in, there is something I need to tell you both.” I cleared my throat before continuing.

“I knew it!” Jade said from the back seat.

“Okay, just hear me out. Remember that guy from the bachelor party you kept asking me about, Melody?” I hoped she wouldn’t be such a ditz for the moment.

“Yeah, the one who wouldn’t take his eyes off you?
That
guy? He was hot.”

“I ran into him at Cups and we talked for a bit, exchanged numbers and stuff. Well, he texted me the other day and said that him and a few friends were going out for drinks, and asked if I would stop by.”

“I hope he has hot friends.” Melody smiled.

“Heads up, Faith,” Jade interrupted. “If you do end up dating him or anything, just remember he will not be able to come into Hades while you are working.” She gave me a quizzical look.

I shook my head at Melody. “It’s nothing really, Jade. If anything, we’re only friends.” I gave her a reassuring smile. “He is supposed to be here, though, and I couldn’t do this alone. I don’t go out and I don’t do this sort of thing at all, so I invited you both.”

“You could have just told us from the beginning,” Jade said. “We got your back. Oh, should we have some kind of code word in case he turns out to be like a complete creeper douchebag?”

“I got it!
Unicorn
,” Melody piped up.

“Unicorn,” Jade and I both said at the same time.

“Yeah, for our code word. So if he turns out to be a creeper, or one of his friends is a level four clinger or something, we say
unicorn
. Or we text
unicorn
and then we save each other from the creeper.”

“
Unicorn
it is,” I said as we got out of the car. I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants legs before shutting the car door and locking it.

“Let’s go in and find a table.” Jade smiled as the three of us walked to the door. She headed in first, followed by Melody and then myself. The bar was pretty busy for a Monday night. We found an empty booth in the back and the three of us sat down.

I glanced around the bar and sighed in relief when I noticed they were not here yet. “Okay, ladies, let’s just have fun and not think about guys at the moment.” I smiled as the waitress came up to our table.

“What can I get you, ladies? We have a few specials going on tonight. We have five-dollar domestic pitchers and two-dollar redheaded sluts or fruit salads.”

“Can we start off with a pitcher and three redheaded sluts?” Jade asked, handing over her credit card.

“Sure thing, be right back.”

“What’s a redheaded slut?”

“It is fantastic. I’m not sure what’s in it, honestly, but it’s delicious.” Melody started dancing in her seat. “I love this song. Faith, I know you don’t drink, well, at work you don’t, but tonight we are going to let loose and have some fun. I promise I won’t let you get too crazy!”

“Okay, but no more shots,” I said as the waitress set our drinks on the table.

“Girls, let’s get this night started.” Jade filled up the pint glasses and handed each of us a beer and a shot.

“All right, ladies, here is to girls’ night!” Melody said, holding up her shot glass and waiting for Jade and I to do the same.

I held my shot glass before taking a sip. Melody and Jade both downed theirs in one swallow.

“Faith, it’s a shot, not a drink.” Melody and Jade both watched me as I downed the rest of the shot before setting the glass back on the table.

“See, it wasn’t so bad, was it?” Melody asked me.

“No, actually, it was pretty good.”

We sat around talking and finished our pitcher of beer. I managed to drink one glass, so Melody and Jade finished it off. I didn’t mind the taste of beer but it wasn’t something I cared to drink much of.

“Let’s dance.” Melody pushed her way out of the booth, grabbing Jade’s hand and mine, dragging us to the dance floor.

“I love this song!” Melody started singing along to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” while still pulling us to the dance floor.

Melody’s enthusiasm rubbed off on us. We all began dancing and singing along. I continued to dance with Jade as Melody broke off from us to dance with a guy who had come up behind her.

“I need a drink,” I told Jade as I started to walk back to our booth. We both slid into our seats. The place had somehow become packed since we arrived.

“I think we are going to have to go up to the bar if we want a drink.”

“Yeah. I think you’re right.” I got up from the table.

We squeezed our way through the crowd, and found an open spot at the bar.

“Two fruit salads and two bud lights,” Jade told the bartender, holding up two fingers to make sure she knew what she was ordering. She handed us two bottles first before making our shots. I turned around, checking out the dance floor to look for Melody. I spotted her dancing with a different guy than the one we left her dancing with earlier.

“Here,” Jade said as I turned back to the bar. She handed me a shot glass.

“What’s in it?” I asked before smelling it. It smelled like jolly ranchers.

“It’s a mixture of fruit flavored schnapps. It’s not strong, promise.” She held up her glass to mine and downed it. I took a sip to taste before downing the rest of it.

“Ready to dance?” she asked as I set my shot glass back on the bar. I nodded and followed her to the dance floor. We danced our way over to where Melody was. She smiled when she saw us and pushed away from the guy to join us.

The three of us were dancing when I felt someone come up behind me. I looked up at Jade, who winked at me. It only took a few seconds before I caught the smell of him. A slight citrusy scent mixed with his cologne. I knew exactly who it was—Bryce. I felt his hands move to my hips and I leaned back into him as we moved to the music. Jade and Melody continued to dance with each other as I danced with Bryce.

His hands brushed my stomach between my shirt and my jeans. With my full bottle of beer in one hand, I moved my other hand to cover his. He squeezed my side before whispering in my ear, “Come with me.” I froze as goose bumps ran down the back of my neck. Nodding, I pulled away and held up one finger while I went to tell Jade and Melody where I was going.

Bryce took my hand and I followed him to the bar. “You look amazing, Faith,” he whispered into my ear. I smiled while trying to keep myself from pulling him closer to me so I could breathe in his scent. Just the smell of him was driving me crazy. I didn’t want to know what would happen if he kissed me. I would be done for. I wouldn’t be able to control myself at all. I couldn’t let this go beyond friendship, no matter what I wanted.

I frowned as that thought came into my head. We could only be friends. I couldn’t let him see the real me. The person hiding underneath the persona of Faith.

We found an empty table as a group got up to leave and sat down.

“What’s wrong, Faith? You look upset.”

I looked up at him, his blue eyes staring back at me. “Nothing, I’m fine.” I smiled genuinely, because just being near him made me happy.

“I’m glad you decided to come out tonight. For a while there, I didn’t think you would.”

I laughed. “Well, it was either this, or sit at home with my cats and watch Netflix all night.”

“Ah, so you chose me over your cats. Should I be scared they will be jealous?” He leaned closer to me, grazing my shoulder with his.

“If only. They probably don’t even know that I’m gone.” I smiled at him as chills ran over my body.

“Well, maybe one day I will get to meet them.” He smiled at me, and I was a goner. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Water, please.”

“One water coming right up. I will be right back.” He got up to go to the bar, when Melody and Jade came bouncing up to me.

“I don’t remember him being so freaking cute.” Melody smirked, jumping up and down. I pushed my full bottle of beer into Melody’s hand. She looked at me, back at the bottle, then shrugged and took a drink.

“He’s pretty hot for a white boy.” Jade winked at me.

I just smiled and shook my head. “He is, isn’t he?”

Bryce came back carrying a pitcher and a glass of water, followed by two other guys. Both of them were cute in their own ways, but neither of them had anything on Bryce. I didn’t recognize either of them from the bachelor party. He set the pitcher down on the table and introduced me to his friends. “Faith, this is Adam and Nate. Guys, this is Faith.” He smiled as he sat down.