Under My Skin (Skin Deep) (13 page)

Chapter 13

The day of the party dawned bright and beautiful. Yes, weather-wise it was, too, but when you wake up being loved from top to bottom by four hands, two mouths, and two…well, you know where I’m going with that…it would make anyone’s day better. Seriously, I’ve been smiling non-stop since I woke up.

Brandon and Jackson kissed me goodbye and headed out to meet Calland for a little last minute shopping. What they needed to shop for, I was a little scared to think about, but whatever. I had made a trip down towards Cincinnati to the Hustler store and got a nice little stash of party favors and pretty much anything I could find penis shaped. I had a crystal penis-encrusted mini veil for Emma to wear on her head, headbands with wiggly penises for the rest of us, penis-shaped shot glasses on beaded necklaces for us to wear around our necks, and even drink glasses that had flashing lights in the bottom, plus penis shaped straws for us to drink out of. I got Emma a sash to wear that proclaimed her as the bride-to-be, but sadly, they didn’t have any with penises on them.

I know it seems tacky and very classless to walk around bedazzled in penises, but come on. I think it’s a prerequisite to a kickass bachelorette party. That and at least one stripper, but I’d left that out of the public plans so Luke wouldn’t find out and kill me beforehand. I also had a list of things that we all had to complete before the night was over, as well as a ‘suck for a buck’ t-shirt for her to wear.

It was more of a ‘bite for a buck’ though, because I was nice and just tacked a bunch of wrapped flavored Lifesavers to a plain white t-shirt; no sense in making people pay to suck unsanitary candy. This way, they get to bite off the candy and be able to actually eat it, and Emma doesn’t have to stand there awkwardly while a creeper takes his time sucking off the candy.

Jenna and Leah pitched in and we all rented a limo for the night so we didn’t have to worry about needing a DD because we were definitely making the rounds tonight. I was standing in my office at home gathering everything into a couple large totes to take with me since we were all meeting at Emma’s for the limo to pick us up when someone tapped lightly on the door. I yelled for whoever it was to come in and smiled as Chloe pushed through the door.

“Hey!” I said. “You coming with us tonight, still?” I asked her. Emma had invited her and Chloe had tried to decline, stating that we didn’t want some stranger hanging out on our fun night. Emma and I both had waved her protests off and told her she was more than welcome. Frankly, I thought she needed at least one night out to cut loose and have fun for once.

She nodded slightly and then opened her mouth, to protest I’m sure, but I cut her off. “You’re coming with me, no excuses. You need to get out and have some fun. I promise, it will be worth it! Now, come help me grab everything and haul it to the car.”

“Oh…okay…” she stuttered. She reached down to grab a bag by my leg and I froze.

“Wait, wait, wait. Nu-uh. You can’t go like that,” I said firmly, getting a real good look at her. She was wearing a pair of baggy old sweat pants and a t-shirt.

“Well, just give me a second to change. I’m sure I can find something…” she said.

I shook my head. “You know what? I have something perfect for you at the shop. You don’t mind, do you?” I asked her.

She shook her head. I nodded once, motioned for her to go ahead and grab bags and we loaded the car on the run. We made a quick stop by the store, spent about twenty minutes getting her all dolled up, and rolled out, giggling like little school girls on the way to Emma’s house.

We pulled up right as the guys were leaving. I got out and waved, shaking my head exasperatedly when Luke started yelling out the window, “You take care of my woman, you hear me, Allie?!”

“Yo, bitches!” Emma yelled behind us.

She was standing on the front step holding up a champagne glass that was filled to the brim. Well, it would have been if she’d kept it still. As it was, it kept sloshing over the sides as she waved her hands around dramatically.

I glanced over to Jenna who was standing beside her, looking up to the sky like she’d get some type of answer or help from that quarter. Leah was standing behind her, either dancing or trying to hold Emma still. I quirked my brow at her, silently asking for an explanation as to why the bride was already half-shit-faced.

“Luke kept asking questions. And then she got nervous, so every time he looked at her, she’d gulp her champagne. Brandon and Jacks finally took pity on her and made him leave, but…well…you see what we’re dealing with now,” she said.

“Allie!” Emma crowed.

“Emma,” I shrieked back before replying to Leah, “Well, good thing we’re going to dinner first. Geez.”

Everybody finally showed up, including Emma’s mom, my mom, and the limo driver. I passed out all my penis stuff and we all piled into the limo. We were all laughing at each other because, let’s face it, we looked ridiculous. Really, that many penises probably were overkill, but…it sure made one hell of an impact when we all stood together!

We started out with a champagne toast (not that Emma needed more, but hey, it was her bachelorette party!) in the limo while we headed towards dinner. I’d made special arrangements at Manny’s because that was Emma’s favorite restaurant. They set up a back room for us so we didn’t scare anyone or scar any children for life from seeing us all ‘pe-dazzled’.

An hour and a half later, we were all stuffed from too much Italian food and sangria and piled back into the limo. Emma was well on her way to being blitzed, and her mom was already there. Funny thing about Jan when she’s drunk? She gets quite philosophical and lovey. Like seriously lovey. She was currently cuddled up to Emma, kissing her cheek and telling her over and over how much she loved her.

I couldn’t help but shake my head and smile at my own mother who was sitting on the other side of Emma and interjecting her own two cents every other give seconds. Guess she hit the sangria harder than I thought…

Now, don’t judge me. I may have promised Luke that there would be no male strippers involved in the night’s plans. So we were going to The Back Room, which…ok, yes, is a strip club. But the dancers are female. And it’s totally not my fault that I ‘didn’t realize’ that there was a male review on the main stage that ‘just happened’ to be scheduled for the night we would be there. Tonight. Oops. (Evil grin…)

We pulled up to the club, but before we headed inside, Emma and I facilitated the quick change that was my concession to getting around Luke’s no stripper rule. Even though I told her I had it covered (see aforementioned evil grin), Emma came up with her own plan. She removed anything remotely pointing her out to as the bride-to-be and switched it out with Leah’s bridesmaid get-up. That done, we moved the party into the club, settling around a long table set up by the side of the stage.

The room was getting pretty full, women beginning to crowd around the stage area, packing into tables by the dozens while men were getting an eyeful on the small stage and catwalk area by the bar. Emma sat on one side of me while I maneuvered so Chloe was on my other side. I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable sitting with people she really didn’t know. Okay, and I didn’t want her sitting with either my mom or Emma’s mom. Then she’d really think we were loco!

The dancers were slated to begin doing their thing at ten and we had arrived precisely in enough time to get drinks and to kick back and enjoy the show. The lights dimmed a bit and cute little woman stepped up onto the stage.

“Hey, ladies!” she hollered. “Are you ready to see some sexy ass men get naked?”

The room shook (or maybe it was just my eardrums bursting) with the screams and catcalls of the women all around us, most of which I swear came from Emma’s mom, Jan, and my mom.

The woman shook her head in mock disappointment and yelled again, “Are you ready to see some sexy ass men get naked? Lemme hear you this time!”

I couldn’t refuse a direct order, you know, so I added my voice to the others, letting out the loudest whoop I was capable of, which, let’s be honest, was probably the loudest one in the room. I may be little, but damn I’m loud and proud of it!

“Alright, that’s more like it!” the woman yelled. “Let’s get this night started…put your hands together and give it up for our first performer, Evan!” She threw her arm up as the spotlight moved to the center of the stage and she ran off just as a man dressed in a tight fitting rocker t-shirt and tight ripped up jeans jumped on stage and made a bee-line for the front edge.

I jumped up out of my seat, unable to help myself as
Casual Sex
by My Darkest Days began playing. I LOVE that song! Emma jumped up and grabbed my hand, dancing beside me as Evan started rocking his hips and moving to the beat. I think what made him even ten times hotter (in my book, at least, even besides the fact that he was tatted up and H.O.T.; I mean he seriously looked like a rock star) is the fact that he was lip syncing the words as he danced, thrusting and gyrating his hips suggestively. When the chorus hit, he reached up and literally tore the shirt he was wearing right down the middle and flung it into the crowd, then dropped to his knees and crawled…well, shit! He was crawling our way!

Emma let out a shriek as Evan came up on his knees in front of her, thrusting his pelvis forward as he slid his knees apart, leaning back to ensure every eye caught the rather impressive bulge straining the denim of his jeans. She leaned into me, and I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the fact that he was dancing directly in front of her, so I grabbed her and made her dance with me again.

As we danced, Evan jumped to his feet and ripped his jeans away, leaving himself clad in only a teeny-tiny scrap of material that was trying it’s best to contain the semi-erect flesh straining against it’s every boundary. He danced away, making his way around the stage and giving the maximum show he could to every woman dancing around the edge.

Once he’d made the rounds around the stage, he moved back to the pole and did some pretty impressive tricks that had all of us fanning ourselves and blushing, even with the amount of booze running through our veins at the moment. When the song wound down, he ended on his knees back in front of us, crooking his finger at Leah and motioning her towards him. She looked at me, wide-eyed and flushed, half panicked but whole drunk!

“Go on, Leah! What the fuck, woman? It’s your bachelorette party, we’re wasted, and Hottie McBody up here is calling you home! GET UP THERE!” Emma screamed.

Leah and I both looked at Emma in shock for about point-two-three seconds before Leah shrugged, giggled and moved toward the stage. Evan reached out and helped her up, leading her to a single seat that had been placed in the center of the stage. She was flushed and almost too appreciative of Evan’s ‘Hottie McBody’, as Emma so eloquently put it, darting her hand out and tracing a finger down his wash-board abs. Evan grinned, wagged his finger in her face in a no-no-no way, and tucked both her hands beneath her thighs, palm down on the seat.

Once he had her situated, he grabbed the mic that the chick who’d announced him handed over and yelled, “We got ourselves a bachelorette party going on tonight, and here’s the blushing bride-to-be! Well, as a wedding present, we’ve got a little something special planned for our girl. Are you ready?”

The crowd went crazy, our group included, getting caught up in the energy of a couple hundred drunk chicks. Evan handed the mic back over to the woman and took something else from her hand, which turned out to be a silk tie. He took Leah’s hands and tied them gently behind her back, whispering something to her as he did so. She shook her head and smiled as he stepped back. I caught her eye briefly and gave her the eye, trying to remind her that she’s supposed to be the bride, not a single, horny bridesmaid!

All of a sudden he raised his hands, catching our attention again, and pivoted his hips as the music blared and another one of My Darkest Days songs began. This one was
Move Your Body
, and lemme tell you, he listened! We watched as Evan danced the hell out of the song, grinding against Leah, running his hands down her arms and up her thighs, sliding himself up her body and nuzzling her neck. Emma, Chloe, and I were all laughing uncontrollably at poor Leah’s visible struggle to restrain herself from moving her hands and grabbing everything Evan was thrusting at her.

I looked over at Chloe and caught her in mid-laugh, her face completely care-free for once, and I was struck by how much she favored her brother, but it was more than that. She was absolutely stunning. And for her to be a genuine soul, to boot? I was a total ass for ever feeling jealous. Right?

I worried at my lip with my teeth and then gave her a bright smile when she caught me staring. She lifted one perfectly sculpted eyebrow in question at me and I just shook my head, smiling even bigger, before turning my attention back to the stage. Leah was now panting and her eyes were glazed over, her arms almost visibly shaking. Her hands had been moved to the top of her thighs, and she had her fingers dug into the denim of her jeans like it was the only thing keeping her grounded.

I nudged Emma and nodded towards the stage, silently asking if we needed to intervene to save the poor woman from attacking Evan. Emma just laughed gleefully and shook her head, winking at me. I realized that the song was drawing to a close, and then laughed even harder as Evan led Leah back to her seat, looking wrung out and drunker than she’d been when she went up there!