“Not a problem,” he laughs. He lets me sit in his seat next to Ryker and Leah and drops into the chair next to the couch.
“Hello again, Sydney,” Ryker says from his position underneath my best friend. “I would have stood to greet you but as you can see, I’m currently being overpowered by Leah.” He stretches out his hand and shakes mine. I laugh at him because Leah is about five foot three if she’s lucky and maybe weighs one-hundred pounds. Ryker, on the other hand, is about six foot one and covered in lean muscles. He could probably pitch her clear across the room if he felt like it.
“No big deal,” I say. “I’m pretty much used to Leah’s odd behavior by now.”
“Hey! I’m not odd,” Her face contorts into a look of fake hurt. “Oh who am I kidding? I’m totally odd, but in an awesome way!” she laughs, and so do we.
In my three and a half hours in England, I’m having more fun and less stress than in my entire three and a half weeks in Vancouver.
Leah jumps off of Ryker’s lap and grabs my hand. “Come on, Syd. Let’s go get ready. We’re going to have a hell of a lot of fun tonight!” She drags me off to her bedroom to get dressed.
An hour later, I’m sitting in a booth in a crowded London club, with Ryker Bancroft and Adam Reynolds. Life can be so strange sometimes.
“Let’s dance, Sydney!” Leah yells over the thumping bass of the music.
“Okay.” I relent and slide out of the booth we’re sharing with Adam and Ryker.
She’s been bugging me to dance with her for the last hour, ever since we set foot in the exclusive Low Rent nightclub in the trendy West End, near Piccadilly Circus. It’s packed, even here in the VIP area of the club. I even found that sometimes it helps to have a recognizable face. We were able to skip waiting in the enormous line outside, simply by being us. The bouncer even knew who I was and called me by my name though I have no doubt it was Ryker and Adam who got us in so easily.
We step down the few stairs from the VIP lounge to the main dance floor and manage to carve out a tiny spot of our own. We get jostled around some, but that’s what happens in crowded clubs. It’s no different than in New York when we would dance all night and pick up guys.
After a few songs, I start to notice that I’m being bumped more than normal. I’m so jetlagged that I haven’t had any alcohol for fear of falling asleep at the table, so my senses are better than they usually are at a club. I peek over my shoulder and see a decent looking guy dancing to my left. I shrug and look at Leah, she’s got her hands over her head and her eyes closed, moving to the rhythmic beats.
Someone bumps me hard and I slam into a man dancing next to me.
What the fuck?
The man I landed on gives me a lewd look and keeps his hands on me too long. Now I know I’m being deliberately knocked into. ‘Decent-looking guy’ on my left has hip-checked me into his friend’s slimy arms. I hadn’t noticed this guy before, but now that I’m paying attention, I can see that they’re together and that they’re doing this to me on purpose.
I move to tell Leah that I’m going back to sit down with Adam and Ryker when I feel a hand on my inner thigh that moves up under the short Versace dress I raided from her closet.
“Hey luv, don’t go yet. We’re just getting cozy here,” he says from behind me where he’s pressing up against me.
Choking down the bile I feel rising up in my throat I bring my arm forward, then drop my elbow back into his gut as hard as I possibly can. He lets go of me immediately and doubles over in pain, trying to catch his breath.
“You fucking twat!” he coughs out.
His friend moves toward me, a hostile look on his ‘decent-looking’ face, and grabs my wrist in his very non-decent hand.
“What’s your problem?” he sneers, “We’re just having a bit of fun, gorgeous.”
His breath reeks of liquor and he’s trying to force me closer to him. I am so sick of standing around being a victim. To hell with this shit! I bring my knee up and connect with his balls, causing him to release my arm and drop to the floor, writhing in pain.
“What the hell, Sydney?” Leah stands next to me, gawking at the two men gasping for air on the dance floor. She shoves me toward the VIP area and into the booth, her eyes darting around like we’re about to be arrested or something. Maybe some of Angry Drew has finally rubbed off on me.
Adam notices the scowl on my face and the shock on Leah’s as we slide into the seats. “What’s going on?”
“Sydney just took down two guys on the dance floor, that’s what’s going on,” Leah huffs.