Worth the Risk — Chapter Four

Are you willing to lose it all?

We are so going to rock tonight.” Amber did one last look in the mirror, twirled around once again to make sure everything was fitting the way she wanted, and then grabbed her keys from the makeup stand.

The school week was over, and our big night out on the town had finally come. I still questioned myself if I wanted to go to this new place, but after listening to Amber beg for over an hour, I gave in. She told me Ricky and his group would meet us out in the front, and Cheyenne and Brianna would meet us there as well.

She wanted to go all out with the outfits, so we’d gone to Macy’s downtown in the afternoon to grab some new Gucci jeans, embroidered shirts, and ankle boots.

Amber’s shirt had a snake curled around the neckline, while mine was a flowered wreath that had delicate silk flowers sewn in. Our hair and make-up were done to perfection, as we would only look our best when going out.

“Are we taking your Beamer or my Jag?” I didn’t know if she wanted to drive or if I should. We could always hire someone to drive us back home if we drank too much tonight.

“I thought we could drive our own.” Amber had a gleam in her eyes, which signaled she was up to something.

“What are you planning?” I was secretly happy we were taking our own cars. That meant if I wanted to sneak out early, I didn’t have to wait for her.

A sly smile spread across Amber’s face. “Me, planning something.” She placed her hand over her heart. “Now what would give you that idea?”

"I've known you forever. You’re up to something.” Her little good girl act wasn’t working with me.

“I might not be going home tonight.” She brushed out her hair once more with her fingers and walked out the bedroom door.

I followed her, making sure my door was closed as I went out. No one was home, Dad was at some poker game, and Mom was country clubbing, so our caretaker would have a comfortable night tonight.

“Kind of too soon to be doing the horizontal with him?” I set up the security detectors and walked out to where our cars were parked.

“Did I say I was going to fuck him?” Amber threw her arm around my waist. “Not that I hadn’t thought about it, but tonight won’t be the night.” She unlocked her car at the same time I did mine. “I think tonight will be a better evening to get to know each other.”

That meant not going all the way, but enough to keep his interest for a while. Even though she had all of Ricky’s attention without having to do much of anything,

“Follow me, bitch.” Amber got into her black BMW and waited until she heard my Jaguar start before peeling around the circle driveway and out the gated entry.

My hands were shaking when we pulled up to the club. This place was so unlike most of the other clubs we’d gone to.

I was used to valet service and long lines, which I always bypassed with a flick of a couple hundred dollar bills in the face of the bouncer at the door.

This place was happening.

There were people, mostly older, hanging around outside with bottles of whatever in their hands. I was afraid to leave my car unattended since mine and Amber’s vehicles were the spotlight of attention as soon as we pulled in.

The other cars in the parking area, which was just a random lot, everyone parked wherever. No set lines of space were drawn out, so the older-style trucks and cars were parked in disarray. There were two low-riders in relatively good shape, parked away from everyone else.

I followed behind Amber as she parked her car a good ten car lengths away from all the others. I made sure to double-ding my alarm, even though it made no difference at all on the system but made me less insecure about the safety of my vehicle at a place like this.

“Are you sure this is the place?” I crossed my arms over my chest when I saw some of the guys outside staring at us like we were some type of appetizer. I hoped Amber would say no and that her GPS was wrong, but her eye roll at my question signaled we were in the right place.

“Chels, chill out. It isn’t that bad.”

Okay, she’s a little more open to wildness than I am. She likes to push the envelope when it comes to adventure, and this was ranking high on the list right about now.

The sound of someone puking over in the next row, a screaming match between a man and woman at the corner of the building, and four guys cheering on two girls wrestling in the parking lot were not helping to win bets I would come back here again.

“Amber.” Ricky’s voice echoed through the parking lot.

Both our heads turned towards the door, and I saw him leap over the railing. He, along with Marcus and another guy, jogged over to where we were standing as we took in the magnificent scenery.

“Baby.” Amber leaped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. Ricky grabbed her by the ass and pulled her closer for a long, deep kiss.

I cleared my throat so they would remember we were all still standing around them before they took their affection any further.

The two broke apart, and Amber slid back down to her own two feet. She glanced at me and shrugged. She never acted like that with any other guy she’d gone out with. Ricky brought out the wild side in her.

“This dude came into the club and said two fine women pulled up in some bitch-ass cars, so I knew it had to be you two.” Ricky kissed Amber on the cheek so he wouldn’t mess up any of her makeup.

She took hold of his hand and pointed to another vehicle pulling into the parking lot, it was Cheyenne’s truck. She had the largest pickup truck I’d ever seen, plus it had a huge decal of the state of Texas on the hood.

Cheyenne tooted the horn, which about blew our eardrums out when she spotted us in the back of the parking area.

“Damn, that girl has some big-ass tires.” The guy that was with Ricky and Marcus pointed out the fact that the wheels of the truck were about as tall as Cheyenne and Brianna when they jumped out.

“Hey, y'all," Cheyenne bounced over to our group. She and Brianna had apparently gotten ready together and were decked out in leggings and tight lace shirts that came from Barney’s.

“You girls look beautiful tonight.” Ricky made Amber twirl around as he held her hand up high. “Ready?” He walked toward the door he’d come out of.

We all followed behind as he and Amber led the way.

A body brushed up against me. I glanced to my side and saw Marcus.

He and the other guys were giving each other little pushes, and he just happened to bump up against me. He looked terrific. He had on the classic faded jeans, but the dark red t-shirt highlighted everything about him, from his hair and eyes to his skin coloring.

“Sorry.” Marcus touched my arm as he apologized for bumping into me.

“Um, no problem.” I smiled to let him know it was no big deal. “So, this is the happening place.” I nodded my chin up to the building in front of us.

“Oh, yeah, it’s happening alright.” Marcus chuckled at his own comment. “When you’ve been coming here as long as I have, it doesn’t seem that great.” He grinned and winked at me. “Maybe tonight will be different, though.”

My stomach did a hundred backflips. Didn’t he know how sexy he was when he did that?

Well, to me, he did.

Reel it all back in, Chelsey. This guy was way out of my league. I couldn’t imagine bringing him home to introduce him to either of my parents.

Not that I’d ever done that before because the ones I’d dated were already well-known to our group of elites.

The loudness of the music blasted me as soon as Ricky opened the door. Multi-colored lights flashed, and people were dancing quite seductively on the dance floor. I recognized the song. It was one popularized by a Latin songstress, but I couldn’t remember the name of either artist or song off the top of my head.

The guy at the door high-fived Ricky and waved us all on through.

“That’s Ricky’s cousin,” Marcus murmured into my ear.

I got goosebumps all up and down my arms and everywhere in between. Not only did Marcus look amazing, but his cologne was incredible. The cologne wasn’t a heavy scent like a lot of guys liked to do when they were out on the town, but enough to make any girl weak in the knees.

The heat radiating from him as he stood close to me had my body begging for more.

I nodded, saying I’d heard him, and followed behind Amber and Ricky as they led us to our selected table for the night.

It looked like Gabby and her crew would be joining us as well. There were three girls in her group, and their attire for the evening was quite revealing. They all had cropped shirts, with skirts only covering half their booties.

Amber, Cheyenne, and Brianna received a friendly welcome, whereas I got snubbed by all three. It seems like I've done something without doing anything at all.

“What are you ladies drinking tonight?” Ricky yanked Amber closer to his body and glanced around at each one of us for suggestions.

A strawberry daiquiri was out of the question, so I waited to see what everyone else was ordering.

“We have Jack Daniels, Jack Daniels, and lookie here, a whole bottle of Tequila.” Leo, the guy with Ricky and Marcus, who also appeared to have a liking for both Cheyenne and Brianna, motioned towards three bottles of liquor on the table.

“We’re allowed to come in, but we can’t order any alcohol. So, we bring our own, and nothing has ever been said.” Once again, Marcus whispered in my ear, explaining why we had only those choices to drink. “We have some cola to mix with it, or you can drink it straight.”

I peered up at him, his eyes were so dark and mysterious in the shadows where our table was. I was hesitant to drink any since I was more on the light side of drinking alcohol and also in terms of weight. Past experiences told me that my body couldn’t handle more than one or two shots of any hard liquor.

“Cola would be great.” I would’ve preferred plain, but I would get shit from Amber and also from Gabby if I didn’t drink like they all did.

“Leo, we need some soda,” Marcus called out across the table.

Leo looked as if he were preoccupied with talking to Cheyenne and Brianna, but he grabbed a bottle from underneath the table and slid it down our way.

Marcus grabbed the soda bottle before it hit the edge and tumbled off. He poured soda until the cup was three-fourths full, then reached for one of the Jack Daniels whiskey bottles closest to us. He finished filling the cup up the rest of the way with the alcohol that was getting me inebriated with just the odor.

I took the cup after he offered it and sniffed it like I would my wine. I about gagged and threw up on the smell, but held my own.

Marcus looked as though he was waiting for me to take a drink, so I gave in to what was expected. I took a long gulp.

The sting began as soon as it hit my mouth. As much as I wanted to spit it out, I let the burn continue down my throat.

“Whew.” That was about the only words I could muster out after the strong first drink.

“I’m guessing you never drank Jack before,” Marcus commented on my first-time experience with the hard stuff. He pulled out the chair beside me and sat down.

“I would have to say, no.” The lightheadedness began, and a sense of relaxation came over me with only one drink. I picked up the almost full cup and took another swallow. This time, I knew what to expect.

Yeah, it still burned the hell out of me as it went down, but now it felt good.

“You can have something else if you want.”

“Nah, I’m good.” I glanced over at Amber, who was sitting on Ricky’s lap, looking quite cozy. She gave me a smile when her attention came my way and then leaned her head on his shoulder.

Cheyenne and Brianna were with Leo and another guy who decided to join in on our party.

I sensed someone staring at me and peeked past Marcus to the other end of the table. Gabby and her bitches were burning holes in me with their deadly stares.

I casually smiled at them, then turned my attention back to Marcus.

“You’re not drinking?” All he had was a cup full of plain cola.

“My turn to make sure everyone stays in line.” He nodded to the other guys who were chugging down on their drinks. “Rule number one, someone has to stay sober.”

Wow, I would’ve never guessed they would be so responsible. From what I had always heard, the transfers were like rough, tough gang members who got sent to our school to try and get out of their bad situation.

“I can help. I won’t drink anymore either.” I pushed the cup away and tried to act sober, but I wasn’t. I felt all giddy and so unlike myself. It took at least three daiquiris to get me feeling this way, but this whiskey stuff was quite potent.

Marcus chuckled and pulled my cup closer to me. “I think it might be too late for you.”

I did one of those giddy laughs that I hated to hear girls do in front of guys. “In that case, I better drink up then.” I took the remainder of my cup, which was more than half full, and chugged it down until there was none left.

“Tequila time.” Gabby sat a tray down in front of us with small shot glasses full of a clear liquid.

I glanced around the table, and everyone else had one sitting in front of them.

Amber nodded for me to take one.

“Maybe it’s too much for you, Chelsey.”

Just the way Gabby said my name made me want to knock the tray upwards and spill it all over her two-dollar shirt.

I grabbed one of the small cups and slammed it down on the table. “I can handle it, Gabriella," I said her full name the exact same way she’d said mine, with hostility.

Of course, that got me a nasty look and snare.

“Here, Marcus. I’m sure you can have one to celebrate with your special guests.” Gabby sat a shot glass in front of Marcus and moved on to deliver the rest to the others.

“Okay.” Ricky held up his glass to Amber’s lips, as she did the same to him. “Here’s to new friends and beginnings.” Amber opened her mouth when he did, and they each downed the liquid.

I raised my glass up and clinked it with Marcus’s. “Here’s to everything Ricky said.”

Marcus smiled and shot back the tequila fast. He shook his head and let out a loud whoop. I did the same thing he did, and liquid fire filled my throat, clear down to my stomach. I sat the glass back down, and the effects of the tequila were almost immediate.

"Chels!" Amber yelled from the far end of the table. “Your song.”

I listened in and instantly recognized the music. It was one of the dance songs we’d been practicing in my dance class. I had this routine, which Beyoncé had made up in her video, down to every little step, jump, and grind.

“C’mon.” I stood, nearly knocking my chair over, and waved for the rest of the girls to follow me. We all kicked off our shoes and motioned for the guys to join us.

The four of us made our entrance to the middle of the floor because that’s how it always was with us. We liked to be seen and were constantly front and center when it came to things like this.

Amber, Brianna, and Cheyenne had the steps down—not as well as I did, but they would be able to keep up. I had taught them the day we all spent time over at Amber’s when she told us about her newest conquest, Ricky.

The song had just begun, so I picked right up on the moves that went along with the beat. The other three followed right behind but were stumbling a bit more than usual.

I’d been dancing since I was three years old, so not even alcohol would be able to hold me back from something I was born to do. It was only in dancing that I felt alive, like I could take on the world.

Sadly, that wasn’t in my future. If I wanted any type of secure lifestyle, I had to follow suit like my father and attend Columbia for business.

The rest of the people moved to the sides as we owned the dance floor. We did the body rolls, power stomping, bootie twerking, and the famous hair flipping that went into every Beyoncé dance. Our boys were front and center watching our show, which had everyone’s attention. The song ended, and a wild round of applause and catcalls echoed throughout the club.

“Damn, you girls got it all going on.” Ricky picked Amber up and swung her around.

“It’s all Chelsey. She’s the dancer in the group.” Amber gave me credit for our performance.

I took a small bow when our group of guys gave another round of clapping. Another seductive song came on, and Gabby and the girls were trying their best to make themselves noticed. They were grinding against guys all around the dance floor.

We weren’t lucky enough to make it back to the table before they were right in front of us.

Gabby wedged herself between Marcus and me. Her ass was up against his front, and she was making a slow, erotic move that should’ve been left in the bedroom. Her eyes were closed, and her hand came around and cupped the back of his neck.

The other girls were dancing with their guys. Amber was with Ricky, while Cheyenne and Brianna had Leo sandwiched between them.

I wasn’t going to stand there and come between their moments of passion. I headed back over to our table and hoped someone, like Gabby, hadn’t ruined my new eight-hundred-dollar ankle boots.

Everything appeared to be in order, so either Gabby didn’t know which pair was mine or she was in too big of a hurry to get to the dance floor to fuck around with anything.

I slipped the boots back on and sat back down in my seat.

“Need another drink?”

The sound of Marcus’s voice from behind startled me. He sat down beside me and reached for the soda bottle. He made sure my cup was half full before he added the whiskey.

“Drink up.” Marcus pointed to the cup in front of me.

I shouldn’t, but maybe this was my night to get a little wild for once.

Marcus leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear. “Don’t contemplate it. I’m staying sober. I’ll make sure you’re okay.”

Once again, my hormones went into overdrive. There was a tingling in every cell throughout my whole body.

I steadied my hand and brought the cup to my lips. I didn’t even think about the burn as the alcohol flowed freely down into my stomach. My thoughts were on the warm hand on the small of my back.

“Have you been dancing very long?” Marcus moved a bit back but kept his hand in place.

“Hmm, I was about three.” I sat the cup back on the table and turned my head so that I could see him.

He took my breath once again with how truly handsome he was, in a rugged sort of way. He wasn’t the pretty boy type, like the ones we’d grown up with. More on the ‘I can kick the shit out of anyone look,’ which showed on his face with faint little scars.

“What do you do? You know, like any artistic talent?”

Marcus chuckled and shook his head. “Not unless you count graffiti as art.” I had seen some great works of art along buildings and underpasses.

“Some of that stuff is awesome. You’ve seen me dance, so now you’ll have to show me some of the work you’ve done.”

Marcus’s eyes followed along as my tongue rolled across my lips. His eyes lifted and met mine. They appeared darker now than they did before.

“I don’t know.” He broke our staring contest. “Some of the places are risky.”

I patted his thigh. “I think I could handle it.”

The song ‘On the Floor’ came on and I jumped up from my seat. I grabbed Marcus’s hand and pulled so he would go along with me.

“What are we doing?" Marcus tugged back so I would stop, but he didn’t let go of my hand.

“Um, hello. This is J-Lo, everyone dances to this song.” I tried to pull him once again, but he stopped me.

“You go ahead. I’ll watch.” Marcus let go of my hand, and I continued out to where everyone else was dancing. I turned around so he was in my direct sight, then sang and moved along with the song.

My arms pointed straight outwards towards him, and I motioned with my fingers for him to come to join me. He slowly shook his head, but I wasn’t giving up.

Each step took me closer to him until I was pressed up close to his body. My hands went around his neck, and I skillfully began to grind into him.

At first, I thought he was going to push me away. I mean, he was Gabby’s boyfriend, but he’d spent most of tonight with me.

After five seconds of my display of exoticness, Marcus responded. Our bodies were touching, but barely together. His hands skimmed down my sides with a whisper of air between us. Our movements flowed along as if we were one, never faltering, like we’d done this dance together a million times before.

The song and dance ended way too soon, and my body felt naked without his heat. He’d only taken a step away, yet he was so far.

Without saying a word, Marcus took my hand. I followed along as we passed the club bouncer and walked outside into the cooler night air.