Life of the Party (44 page)

“I guess so.
I’ve never flown before so I have nothing to compare it too.”

“You’ve never
flown before?” He laughed and took my bag, slinging it over his
shoulder, and then grasped my hand tightly in his. “How did Little
Miss Rich Girl make it to eighteen without flying before?”

I slapped him
playfully for the Rich Girl comment as he led me towards the exit.
“I don’t know. My parents were always too busy working and studying
and shit to take us anywhere.” I explained.

“Ahh,” he
nodded and held the door open for me. We stepped out into the
night. It was cooler outside, but not cold. The wind was brisk,
cooling my flushed cheeks as we walked to the rental car—a sleek
black Grand Prix that was parked alongside the curb.

“Nice car,” I
admired, getting into the passenger seat. Grey threw my bag in the
trunk and then climbed in behind the wheel.

“Yeah, we’re
pretty much high-rollers now,” he shrugged. We laughed together for
a moment, and then he turned to me, and his blue eyes were warm as
he studied my face.

“Now that we’re
alone,” he smirked wickedly, “I should welcome you properly.”

I giggled as he
leaned across the seat, his hand reaching up to cradle my cheek as
he gently kissed my lips. He tasted so good, I had almost forgotten
how good. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer;
it wasn’t long before my blood became heated, impassioned by his
touch. He kissed me deeper, and the warmth of his hands sank
through my clothes until I wished again that I weren’t wearing
anything at all.

Grey seemed to
share the sentiment. Regretfully he broke away from me, but his
breathing was shallow, his eyes narrowed lustily. He sat up and
started the engine.

“We should
go.”

“Where are we
going?” I wondered shakily, trying to catch my breath.

“You and I,” he
smirked at me as he pulled into traffic, “are going back to my
hotel room.”

Heat washed
through me, anticipation, excitement. “Yes, we are.” I smiled.

Grey drove the
car much like his bicycle—revving the engine, switching lanes,
tearing through the city streets. I was thankful for his frenzied
driving. I couldn’t wait to be alone with him; it’d been way too
long.

He put on a
Rage against the Machine CD and the music came blaring through the
speakers, loud and rowdy. I lit a smoke and sat back, letting the
music rev me up, getting me in the mood to party, in the mood to go
wild. I couldn’t wait.

“So, where are
we going tomorrow night?” I wondered, yelling to be heard.

“Uh, there’s
this club we like not far from the hotel,” Grey yelled back,
“everyone’s going to meet us there,” he laughed, “and I hope you’re
in the mood to get fucked up.”

“Why’s that?” I
smiled.

“Well, I may
have … talked you up a little. All the guys from the studio want to
meet you … I kind of bragged about how much you can drink. They
really want to prove me wrong. You may be in for some trouble.”

“I can handle
it,” I declared confidently.

“I don’t know.
I think its gong to be crazy.” Grey laughed again.

“Don’t worry
baby,” I smiled and blew out my smoke, “I’ll make you proud.”

He grinned at
me. “I know you will.”

We pulled up at
the hotel not long afterwards. It wasn’t a Best Western or any
other moderately priced hotel like the kind I’d imagined. This was
a swimming pool, penthouse suite kind of hotel. I glanced around in
surprise, waiting as Grey hurriedly grabbed my bag from the trunk
and tossed a Valet his car keys.

“This way.” He
took my hand again and led me into the lobby. The girls at the
reception desk greeted him warmly—maybe a little too warmly—and
they threw me a glare as we passed by. I wanted to stick my tongue
out at them, but instead I wrapped my arm around Grey’s waist as we
walked through the foyer, tucking my hand into his back pocket. I
hoped that would get my point across. We got into the elevator,
alone, and Grey pressed floor twenty-three. Slowly we lurched
upwards.

“Those girls
totally want you.” I pointed out.

“Do they?” He
shrugged innocently. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Yeah, right.”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, I’m sure girls have been throwing
themselves at you this whole time.” I tried not to think of the
distinctly female voice I’d heard over the phone that once. “You
can’t tell me you don’t notice.”

Grey just
shrugged again, but his eyes were gleaming mischievously.

“Are you ever
tempted? Even a little bit?”

He looked down
at me, a smirk on his lips, and shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because. None
of them are you.”

I smiled
bashfully at his answer. The elevator opened onto our floor with a
quiet ding, and Grey took my hand in his and squeezed it. I
followed him happily down the hallway, pausing as he unlocked the
door to his room and then ushered me inside. It was bigger than
average, not quite a suite, with two queen-sized beds and a little
living area and kitchenette all done in the typical hotel neutrals.
The bathroom held both a shower and a Jacuzzi tub. As Grey set my
bag down and took his coat off, I looked around, opening the blinds
and staring out at the city lights below us, twinkling prettily
against the inky night sky.

I could see
Grey in the reflection of the window. He strode up behind me, and
smirked, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me tightly
against him. The room became charged, almost buzzing with the
instant electricity that flowed between us, electricity neither one
of us could resist. I arched against him as he bent and kissed my
neck.

In moments we
were wrapped around each other, frenzied and frantic, and it was
all I could do to keep from ruining his clothes, I couldn’t rip
them off fast enough. He pushed me back against the bed, pressing
me against it, crushing me to him. We flung the rest of our clothes
off, quickly, roughly, until there was nothing left between us but
skin. My heart sang in my chest the entire time, this was all still
so new to me, but it felt so right there was no denying how good it
was.

No denying how
good we were, together.

The moment I
awoke the next morning, my eyes flew open and a wide, ecstatic
smile spread across my face. It was my birthday. I was eighteen!
I’d been looking forward to this day for years and now it was
finally here. Legally, I was an adult. There was no bar that could
deny me, no liquor store off limits, no cigarettes that ever had to
be booted again. I was finally eighteen!

I turned over
and wrapped my arm around Grey’s slumbering form, pressing kisses
along his shoulder and his neck. I was excited and eager to share
my happiness with him, ready to start what was sure to be one of
the best days of my life.

“Good morning,”
I whispered in his ear. Even my voice was smiling. Grey groaned
into the pillow, trying to ignore me, but the corner of his mouth
lifted in amusement. I knew he probably wasn’t used to such
exuberance first thing in the morning, but I couldn’t help myself.
I was too excited to just let him sleep.

“Grey,” I gave
him a little shake. “Grey, wake up.”

His blue eyes
were bleary as he slowly blinked them open, and he looked up at me
with affectionate tolerance. “… Why? Is the building on fire?”

“No.” I shook
my head.

“Is Zakk Wylde
on the phone for me?”

“Uh … no.” Who
the hell was Zakk Wylde anyway?

“Then why do I
have to get up? There’s nothing the least bit exciting going on
today.” He resisted, nestling back into the pillow. “Shut the
blinds, could you?”

“Grey!” I
slapped him playfully. His blue eyes opened abruptly.

“Ouch. What was
that for?”

“You know what
it was for.”

“Oh, okay,
you’re right.” He nodded. “I did forget something important.”

I waited,
blinking at him expectantly.

“The fight is
on tonight. It’s a good thing there’s nothing going on. I really
want to watch it ….”

Grey couldn’t
finish. I attacked him gleefully, trying my best to pin his arms
down against the bed. We wrestled around for a moment, laughing,
but he was way too strong for me. In a matter of seconds, our roles
were reversed and he flipped me over, holding me back easily
against the mattress.

“Grey,” I
protested, breathless with giggling. It wasn’t fair that he was so
strong.

“What? Was
there something else?” His handsome face leaned over me, his blue
eyes light with amusement, his lips smirking innocently. “Oh, wait.
Now I remember.” He bent down and kissed me. “Happy Birthday
Mackenzie.”

“Thanks.” I
smiled up at him, wondrously, gloriously happy.

“So what do you
want to do?”

“I don’t know.”
I shrugged. I wanted to get wasted, that much I knew, but it was a
little early for that. There was something else though, something I
really, really wanted to do, something I’d wanted to do for ages.
The thought made me giggle with embarrassment. “Okay, there is one
thing, but you’re going to laugh at me.”

“Me? Never.”
Grey smiled.

“I want to go
buy some cigarettes.”

He looked
confused. “Oh, are you out? I’ve got some here … somewhere.”

“No, I’ve got
some, but … I want to go buy some. Grey, I can buy them now!” I
nearly squealed with excitement.

Grey shook his
head at me, laughing incredibly. “Wow. It doesn’t take much to make
you happy, does it?”

“No. Not when
I’m with you.”

“Oh yeah?” His
blue eyes gleamed.

“Yeah.”

Grey pulled me
towards him and kissed me, gently, his lips lingering. “Do you
think you could wait for your cigarettes … just a bit longer?” He
wondered, his breathing uneven as his lips moved slowly down my
neck.

“Uh, yeah.” I
bit my lip and arched into him, shutting my eyes as the heat rushed
through me. “I think I can manage that.”

“I’ll take a
pack of Export A Gold regular, please.” I asked politely. The store
clerk just looked at me, completely uninterested, like he didn’t
realize this was a pivotal moment for me or something.

“Can I see some
I.D?”

“Sure!” I
exclaimed proudly. Grey chuckled behind me. I pulled my wallet out
of my purse and flipped it open excitedly.

And then my
heart stopped.

My license was
missing. Frowning, I quickly thumbed through the rest of the cards
in my wallet, but it wasn’t there. Hastily I patted my pockets, and
then rummaged frantically through my purse, but to no avail. I
looked up at Grey, panicked, stricken.

“I don’t have
it.” I admitted, my cheeks flushing red with heat. The clerk raised
a doubtful eyebrow at me, as if to say, “nice try, minor.”

“You don’t have
it? Check again. You probably just missed it.” Grey assured me. He
stepped forward and flashed his I.D at the clerk, who, satisfied,
proceeded with the transaction.

I stepped back,
calmed myself from full fledged panic, took a breath, and slowly
looked through the slots of my wallet and then again through my
purse, my hands shaking with near desperation. It wasn’t there.
This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. I had checked
and rechecked my wallet before leaving the house, making sure I had
my ID with me, knowing how badly it would suck to leave it behind.
Without my license, there was no way I’d get into any clubs. No way
I’d celebrate my eighteenth birthday. The whole weekends plans came
crashing down around me, all of them weighing on that one stupid,
plastic card with my birth date plastered officially across the
front. The exact card I was missing.

“Any luck?”
Grey asked casually, handing me the pack of cigarettes.

“No.” I shook
my head in humiliated stupor as we left the store. I went over each
and every one of my actions during the past twenty-four hours,
trying to remember if I’d taken my license out for any reason or
left my wallet somewhere by accident. But that was the thing. I was
so paranoid about losing my ID that I’d kept my purse with me
nearly every second. Except for the two minutes I’d left it in
Charlie’s car when I ran in to use the bathroom at the gas station
on the way ….

I gasped out
loud, covering my mouth with my hand. A sudden thought occurred to
me, but it was so horrible, I didn’t even want to entertain it.

“What?” Grey
wondered. “Did you leave it somewhere?”

“No, Grey.” I
turned my dark, wide eyes up to him. “I think Charlie took it.”

“Charlie?” He
looked sceptical. “Why would she do that?”

“Because.
Because, she’s been … choked at me lately, because you and I are …
and she and Zack … aren’t.”

“So you think
she’d ruin your whole weekend because of that?”

“I don’t know.”
I sighed. “I can’t think of any other explanation. Grey, I made
sure it was in there. I know for a fact I had it with me.” I
blinked back exasperated tears. This was so unfair, so brutally
stupid.

“Hey, its okay,
Mackenzie.” Grey took my hand and smiled at me hopefully. “Maybe
it’s back at the hotel. We’ll go and check.”

I nodded glumly
and let him lead me down the city streets, totally miserable. The
day was cloudy and cold, threatening with icy rain. People bustled
around us and the traffic sped by noisily. I wrapped my arms around
myself and frowned.

My license
wasn’t at the hotel either, but deep down, I knew it wouldn’t be. I
just knew that Charlie had taken it. I hated to think she could be
capable of such spite, but with the way she’d been acting lately,
it really wasn’t that surprising. Even still, it hurt to think my
friend harboured such malice towards me, that she would sabotage
all my plans just because she was jealous of my relationship with
Grey. I didn’t deserve her anger; it wasn’t my fault that her
boyfriend was a total dick.