CHAPTER 23—Olivia

We go to random stores after that. We buy jewelry and whatever it is that Sharlene deemed important for a wedding.

She even gets us matching necklaces at some point with our initials at the back. I’m not sure how she convinced the jeweler to brand it on the spot, but it worked.

I would do whatever she asked if she threatened me the way she did the jeweler in her drunken state.

Sharlene was right, alcohol brings out all the fun. I could get used to this.

I wish Jess was with us, lord knows she could use some fun in her life especially with the entire marriage thing going on.

I imagine the desperation she feels being tied down to someone forever. Mine was just going to last three months but it felt like an eternal cage. I had to go back and find a way to help her.

“Hey! What are you thinking so much about?” Sharlene asks me as our cab pulls into the parking lot of a bustling bar.

“My best friend, her parents are making her get married to someone she does not even know” I whine, “It’s so unfair! Why can’t she just marry who she wants to” I protest at the injustice.

“I hate rich people “ I say with a pout, “Except you of course” I say immediately when I see Sharlene’s fallen face.

Her face brightens again as she takes my hand and leads me into the bar.

The entire place is packed with people with soft music playing in the background with a makeshift dancing floor.

It’s easy to tell Sharlene has been here countless times because she leads through a dark hallway that no one is in, and we come out directly beside the counter.

She exchanges greetings with the bartender before ordering us a round of shots to start the fun night.

We sit on the high stool as Sharlene arranges the drinks before us. When she’s done she counts to three and we take it.

My throat is burning in protest but the thrill that comes with it is worth the trouble.

Sharlene’s eyes are glasses, and they lead me to her plump lips that barely has her lipstick on. I’m sure all the glasses she drank from had bright lips imprinted on it.

Now I’m thinking of her lips and how it felt perfect against mine. I shouldn’t be having this kind of thoughts of her; I was marrying her brother.

But why did kissing her feel like the right thing to do?

“What are you thinking so much about?” She asks, putting her hand on my thigh.

I take a deep breath; I don’t want her taking this the wrong way. “We shouldn’t have kissed.”

She looks at me like I just said the most insane thing in the world, “We totally should have and bet your ass I want to kiss you again.”

“But…I’m getting married to your brother, it feels like we’re betraying him” I say, fumbling with my thoughts when Sharlene’s hand goes higher.

“Really? Come on! What you guys have is not real and he has his other chicks on the side why can’t you do the same?”.

She gestures with her free hand between us “This here, that kiss we shared…that is real, the attraction we feel for each other is real Liv so just let us be.” She pecks my cheek.

“Jake loves me you know” I say, my voice low. “He might have other chicks at the side, but he does feel something for me in his own way.”

I don’t why I’m defending him after he made it clear he didn’t want me. Maybe I want what is between us to be real so bad that I’m saying things.

The alcohol. It’s easier to blame it on the alcohol.

Her nails press into my face as she grabs it, “Jake loves only two people in his life, his biological father and himself…sorry but you’re not even in that equation.”

Her words hurt but it might be the truth.

I fight it still, “I’ve seen the way he looks at me…it might not be love but there’s something in it. That’s why I’m going through with this marriage, one day he might just realize how much I mean to him.”

It’s wishful thinking and from the look on Sharlene’s face I know she thinks the same.

“A man that cares one bit about you wouldn’t bring girls to his house few days before his wedding. I mean he made you see…to understand what he was doing. The message was as clear as day, he’s marrying you, but he doesn’t want you to think he’ll commit to you.”

There’s no fight left in me. “You’re right, our marriage was never real from the beginning.”

She nods “Exactly why I warned you to stay away from him, looks like you already got your feelings hurt. Come here…”

I let myself drown in her arms.

“I’d never treat you like that you know” she says into my hair as she places a kiss on my temple. “I’d never do you like that” she repeats.

She laughs “The plan was to make sure you didn’t marry Jake but along the line it just became an excuse to talk to you.”

Her face is dreamy as she speaks, “I don’t know how it happened Liv…but I’m attracted to you, and I know you’re attracted to me too. You can deny it if you want to but that…is the one thing that is real. Us.”

Sharlene grabs my hand and put it on her chest, “Can you feel that? It beats fast only when I’m close to you.”

It’s the truth. I can feel her heart beat rapidly against my hand, something in my heart blooms. Her heart beats for me.

“Do you feel the same?” she asks quietly. There’s something vulnerable about her now, her eyes are hopeful that I would say the same thing.

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to answer that…come let’s go dance” she gets us and pulls me along with her to the center of the dancing floor.

I don’t know what is playing but Sharlene is enjoying it, her voice is drowned out by the noise as she sings along.

When the song ends and another starts she finally pays attention to me, a goofy smile on her face.

“Sorry I got a little carried away” she apologizes.

“It’s fine, I liked watching you” I admit.

There’s a slow song playing now that brings us closer to each other. Her hands go around my neck and mine find there place on her hips.

“I love this” she whispers in my ear before tucking her face into the crook of my neck.

I can hear every breath she takes, and I can feel it too as it brushes against my neck.

It makes me aware of every curve of her body as it fits into mine, her boobs pushed up against mine.

My hands move on their own and grabs her ass.

She freezes and I worry that I’ve done something long.

“You want me too, don’t you?” she murmurs, her words vibrating from my neck to my inner thighs.

She pushes herself against me even though there is barely any space left between us.

My self-control is threading on a thin line, and I feel myself about to snap.

“I have something to tell you” I say which peaks her interest as she pulls away just enough to look at my face.

I want to tell her the truth about the marriage, that it wasn’t real. That we could indulge our desires and we won’t be betraying anyone.

I take a deep breath.

“The marriage is not real” I say, my voice is shaky.

“I know,” she puts her head back on my shoulder.

“How do you know?” I stutter, does she know about the contract too?

“I know Jake more than he knows himself, he would never actually get married. Everyone knows he’s doing it so he can take over father’s company” she answers.

That’s not the entire truth but I let it be. She understood the situation, which was all that mattered.

The song changes again, I know Sharlene likes it because she grinds herself into me with the beat. It brings my entire body to alert.

When the beat goes faster she turns, her back to me as she grinds her ass against me.

If I thought Sharlene with the red hair was hot then Sharlene with the red hair grinding on me was way hotter.

My hands grip her hips as I let myself get lost in the music and her. I pull her closer because I can’t seem to get enough.

I want to feel every part of her without the clothes being a barrier.

She turns back to me, her hands going back around my neck as she presses her front to me.

“This is fun” she smiles.

Fun? This is torture.

I release my breath when she excuses herself to get shots.

I feel like I’m floating in timeless space and Sharlene is the anchor of my being.

We do our shots and go back to holding each other.

Her lips are glistening, begging me to taste.

Before I can talk myself out of it I bend down and I taste, drinking as much of her as I can from her lips.

The kiss grows urgent as her palm find its way under my graphic tee, her fingers running along the under curve of my boobs.

I’m about to explode. How can I feel so much at the same time?

The only time we separate from ourselves is when we need air. Sharlene lips are slightly swollen and her hair in a beautiful disarray.

“Wow!” she exclaims, “That was…” her eyes are glowing, and we only just kissed.

“Amazing” I finished for her.

She nods, “I told you I’d make sure you had fun.”

“This is more than fun for me” I tell her. She doesn’t comment on it as she takes her phone out of her pocket.

Someone is calling her. My vision is becoming a bit blurry so I can’t see who it is, I only know she disconnects the call with a sigh.

Whoever that was just ruined the mood because the excitement in her eyes were gone. She looks at me with regret.

“We have to go, it’s late,” she says.

I don’t want to go back.