As Julien and I walked back out to the main area, he said, “Well, that was interesting.”
“To say the least,” I agreed. I wasn't sure I could look at Julien now. Brock hadn't given up his threesome idea. In fact, while we'd finished getting him cleaned up, he'd described the scene in detail surprisingly vivid for someone as drunk as he was.
“I need a beer,” Julien said, crossing to the mini-fridge. “What about you?”
Brock had gotten me champagne at the casino, but I hadn't drunk very much of it. A beer sounded good. “Yes, please.”
“You don't have to feel weird around me.” Julien's back was to me as he rummaged in the fridge. When he emerged with a bottle in either hand, he added, “I'm used to Brock being like that.” He handed me a bottle. “I promise, I won't try to picture the three of us in bed together.”
I laughed as he smiled and the tension between us eased. I'd been planning on leaving now that Brock was passed out, but as Julien and I each drank some of our beer, I decided that it wouldn't hurt anything to stay a little bit longer.
Chapter 5
Not surprisingly, Brock spent most of Sunday recovering from his hangover. Not that he was the one to tell me this. No, it was Julien who texted me from Brock's phone to say that he didn't think we'd be going out tonight. I should've been angry that my second day off wasn't going to be spent with my boyfriend, but I was actually relieved. I needed some time to stop being mad at him for being such a jerk. Apparently a good night's sleep hadn't helped with that.
Instead of moping around the house doing nothing, I decided to swap shifts with one of the girls who was always complaining that she never had a weekend off. That way I'd be available Monday night if Brock was feeling better. Even if I was still pissed, I still wanted to see him, sucker for punishment that I apparently was.
I sighed. I needed to know how he handled instances where he behaved like an ass. Would he apologize or just act like it never happened? I liked the guy, but not enough to put up with this every time he drank.
Hopefully, work would give me the chance to get my mind off of Brock and get some perspective. I hadn't counted on being haunted by the memory of seeing Brock and Julien there, and the 'private dance' that had followed. By the time I got home, I was more frustrated than I had been before and my head was pounding from frustration and worry. I took some medicine and let it knock me out until early Monday afternoon.
My phone ringing woke me up and it took longer than usual to push out of the fog and answer it. “Hello?” My voice was still thick with sleep.
“Hey, babe.”
I blinked a couple times and pushed myself up so I was sitting. “Hi, Brock.” I kept my tone flat, letting him know that I wasn't happy with him.
“About the other night.” He immediately started in on it. “I don't really remember anything, but Julien says I was an ass and he's usually right about things like that.”
“You were and he is.” I felt myself softening. He sounded like he was going to apologize.
“I am so sorry.”
I didn't respond. I wasn't sure I should let him off that easily considering all the things he'd said.
“Forgive me?”
I sighed but was still at a loss for words.
“I really need you to forgive me. I don’t know why I drank so much, it was stupid and selfish. I wasted precious time being with you.”
The iciness inside melted just a little bit. “All right. I accept your apology. And I won't ask that you don't do it again because I know that's not going to happen.”
“Piper–”
I interrupted, “But can you at least try not to do it again during this visit. I'd like to spend time with my boyfriend. The nice guy who asked me to be his date to a wedding. Not the ass-hat from last night.”
Brock laughed and I could hear the relief in his voice. “Promise. No more ass-hat boyfriend.”
The knot in my stomach eased and I laughed along with him. So he was a crude drunk. I could handle that. It wasn't like he'd been acting that way stone sober.
“Let me make it up to you,” he said. “And Julien, since I was pretty bad to you both. We're going out tonight.” He quickly added, “To eat. Not to drink and gamble. We're going to go to Alize.”
Okay, that was impressive. Alize was one of most expensive restaurants in Vegas. Girls like me didn't get in there unless we were being paid. That wasn't cynical. It was the truth. The style of dress alone would be more than most people could afford.
“Do you want to come to the hotel or do you want us to come pick you up?”
I liked that he was giving me the option. He hadn't seen my apartment yet and he was giving me the chance to decide if I wanted him to see it or not. At the moment, I was leaning towards not. I may have forgiven him for his previous behavior, but it had made me realize how much I still didn't know about Brock. Things were moving way too fast.
“I'll meet you at the restaurant,” I said. I could sense that he was confused, but he agreed and didn't press the matter. We chatted for a few more minutes before saying our good-byes. I inhaled deeply and then let it out slowly. That had gone better than I'd hoped. I hadn't realized how much I'd believed Anastascia's claim about the type of guy Brock was. Now I knew she was wrong, at least I hoped she was. The fact that he'd apologized and was trying to make things up to me and Julien was certainly positive evidence.
Now, I just needed to focus on having fun tonight, enjoying our evening and, for the love of god, trying to decide what I was going to wear. I panicked momentarily, once again feeling like a fish out of water. Alize was a rich man’s restaurant, with dress codes and certain expectations.
When you're on my kind of income, wardrobe choices for dressy events are rather limited. I didn't want to wear the dress from the wedding or what I'd worn to meet Brock's parents since he'd already seen both of those outfits before. I wasn't sure he'd remember, or even care, but I wanted something different. That left the dress Anastascia had bought me for the reunion .
I knew I looked good in it, but it brought back memories of Reed. Was that really something I wanted to have in my head while I was out with Brock? Then again, I reasoned, what better way to no longer associate the outfit with Reed than to wear it again. Give it a fresh start so to speak.
My decision made, I headed off to the kitchen to grab something to eat before I started getting ready. I didn't just want to look okay tonight. I wanted to look so good that Brock would go out of his way to make sure he never acted like that again.
It took me most of the afternoon to prepare. Waxing is time-consuming and not very fun, especially when you have to do it yourself because you're too poor to have it done by a professional. But every rip was worth it.
Then there was all the other enjoyable stuff that men completely take for granted like eyebrow tweezing and taking care of finger and toe nails. I was usually pretty meticulous thanks to my job, but I went above and beyond for tonight. So much so that when I stepped out of the taxi at Alize's, I was rewarded with two completely stunned expressions.
“I'll take that as a compliment.” I smiled at them both as I wrapped my arm around Brock's.
“Where did you get that dress?” Brock finally asked.
“My friend bought it for me for my high school reunion .”
Brock laughed. “I'll bet Rebecca about had a fit when she saw you in it. You're gorgeous.”
I flushed, pleased with his compliment. Julien didn't say anything but a glance told me he was thinking along the same lines. The three of us went inside and I could feel eyes on us as we went. For once, I didn't feel like the attention was focused on everyone around me, but rather that I was at the center of it, flanked by two gorgeous guys in expensive, well-cut suits.
Alize was absolutely amazing. The view of the city through the massive glass walls was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Even the view from the boys' penthouse wasn't this impressive.
Brock ordered wine for all of us and, for a moment I was worried. Then he grinned at me.
“I'll take it easy, I promise. No repeats.”
True to his word, he didn't drink more than a glass through the whole meal. And what a meal it was. I'd never really considered myself a fan of French food, but every single thing we ordered was scrumptious. I almost didn't have room for dessert but when Brock insisted that we all try the chocolate truffles, I had to agree.
As we waited for the final course to be delivered, the topic of conversation shifted to Britni's wedding, which Julien had missed. I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat as I waited for Brock to share about my involvement in Reed's bachelor party. Instead, he glossed over that part of the night and made it sound like the two of us had met during one of his visits to The Diamond Club. It wasn't like Julien didn't know I was a stripper, but I didn't want Brock to talk about the bachelor party and how I passed out and ended up staying the night. I still didn’t remember all that happened that evening but it wasn’t something I wanted to relive.
“So everything's going well for Britni and Reed?” I hoped my voice didn't sound as falsely bright to the guys as it did to me.
Brock nodded as the waiter set the truffles in the center of the table. He picked one up and held it out to me and I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Wasn't your boyfriend feeding you supposed to be all sweet and romantic or something? I'd never really gotten that. For me, it always sounded awkward, and now it felt that way too.