Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

All the girls were excited when Grace arrived announcing that a limo was outside to drive them to the strip club. Well, everyone except for Skylar. She still wasn't sure as to how she felt about that. Male strippers would have sounded nice if she wasn't currently in a relationship - it just felt wrong.

When Grace realized that Skylar was there, she quickly pulled her into a tight embrace. Had Skylar being away made her sisters more affectionate people? It sure seemed like it. "You're here!" Grace exclaimed. "I've missed you, honey!"

Skylar wasn't used to any of that so she felt pretty awkward. She'd never been good at expressing familial love. So she patted Grace and said, "I missed you, too."

After that Grace started explaining to everyone how it was going to go down. All the girls were already drinking in Heather's house which made Skylar wonder exactly how wasted they all wanted to get at the club. They all seemed too excited for the night.

They all left the house and got into the limo that Grace had acquired for the night. Skylar ended up between two women she had never met before, but they seemed nice enough. The blonde one's name was Leandra, and the red-head was Francesca. Both had bubbly personalities and were obviously party girls.

"I can't believe we're gonna go see strippers," Leandra said as if that was the naughtiest thing she had ever done.

Honestly, Skylar didn't understand what the big deal was. Big whoop, male strippers. She could always just watch Magic Mike and call it a good time. Channing Tatum did know how to put on a good show.

When they reached the club all the women in the limo got out excitedly. Grace made Heather put on a pink boa, a veil, and a pink and black sash that read BACHELORETTE. Heather seemed to love it.

The club was 21+ so that girls of the group that looked pretty young had to show their ID. Skylar was one of those girls, and honestly, she felt a sort of pride showing her ID, proving that she was 21. She had not had a chance to do that on her actual birthday.

They were seated at a table big enough for all of them, and quickly, alcoholic beverages started coming their way. The male strippers were already putting on their show, and some lucky ladies were being brought up on stage to receive a very intimate dance. It was amazing how some women had no shame and would just grope the men in several places. Skylar had to give them props, she wished she was that ballsy. But then again she did have someone waiting back at the hotel that would let her do anything she pleased with his body. That was one person she had no shame with.

All the girls were enthralled watching the performance. These men seriously hit the gym, they were all ripped and had all the women drooling over them. Even Skylar had to appreciate a nice-looking muscular man every once in a while.

Skylar was on her second drink when one of the male performers came their way and started dancing for Heather. All the girls squealed in excitement as they watched. Heather seemed to be enjoying it, her hands on his hips as he moved his body. Then the guy turned to face her and started making thrusting motions. Heather was loving it!

At some point one of the other performers wanted to give her a lap dance, and Skylar didn't really want one. But everyone else encouraged it. She tried to put on a smile and let it happen. Luckily the guy didn't touch her and she didn't touch him. Well, except for the part where he basically straddled her and put his hands on the back of the chair and started shaking his hips back and forth. Oh, no. Ian would not be happy too see that. She felt so guilty. This was a bad, bad idea. The other girls noticed her reaction and started laughing, finding her to be adorable.

"Okay, that's enough," Heather told the guy. "My sister is too innocent for that, and she probably feels bad because she has a boyfriend."

The guy laughed and winked at Skylar. "Hoped you enjoyed it." But he finally left her alone.

Well, at least he was nice.

They ended up spending quite a while there, all the girls enjoying themselves. Several cocktails and dollar bills thrown later, they all decided to hop back on the limo and head to a nightclub because they were all in the mood to dance.

The nightclub was already packed by the time they got there, and there were several people in line waiting to get in. But Grace, always getting what she wanted, convinced the bouncer to let their group go in ahead of everyone else because it was Heather's special night. So they got in, much to the disdain of the others in line. And Skylar felt like an as.shole.

They all sat down at a booth big enough for all of them and Grace made sure everyone was drinking. After a few minutes sitting down most of the girls left and started dancing, moving their bodies to the beat of the music.

"Come on!" Francesca said, pulling Skylar along with her. "Lets dance."

And they did. It was nice to just let loose and spend some night girl-time even though she really didn't know them that well. But Francesca seemed nice enough so Skylar went along with it. It was easy to just let herself get lost to sound of Martin Garrix's beats.

All of a sudden she was drinking more and more, the alcohol making her feel as if she were floating. The bodies around her multiplied and seemed to be moving slower as she tried to focus, but the LED lights were too bright and she was hanging a hard time focusing. And when she did, she saw Francesca grinding against some stranger. Her sisters were nowhere to be seen and neither were the other girls from their group. A part of her was telling her that she shouldn't be drinking and dancing anymore, that she should sit down and try to find a way back to the hotel. And when a pair of hands landed on her hips, she knew the time to call it quits was right at that moment.

She turned to look at the stranger; a tall blonde dressed in black pants and a red button down, she wasn't able to focus on much more in her state. All she knew was that she didn't like having his hands all over her.

"What's wrong, babe?" the guy asked. He seemed equally as drunk as her.

Skylar pried his hands off her and took a step back, almost tumbling to the ground. "I don't want to dance."

"That's fine," he said. "We can go somewhere m-more private." He winked.

Skylar shook her head, but it was a mistake because it just made her feel even more dizzy. "I have a boyfriend!" she hollered over the loud music.

"And where is he?" He made is seem like her boyfriend's lack of presence made it so much easier to get with her. He was wrong.

"Somewhere, but I-I need to go..."

Skylar walked away and tried to find her way to a booth and sit down. Clubbing had been a bad idea. The only times she liked to be pressed against sweaty, gyrating bodies was at a concert. And even then, not a lot of dance moves were possible.

Wearing heels had been a mistake, and she found it even more difficult to walk in her disoriented state. But after tripping and stumbling so many times, she finally found a booth and sat herself down.

"Ian," she said to herself. "I need Ian."

She wanted to leave, to go get some rest. Ian would help her. So she took out her phone, and too exhausted to actually make the effort of going through her contacts list, she decided to let Siri help her. "Call Ian." And the little app did just that as her head hit the table, her hand barely managing to hold the phone up to her ear.

Ian answered in a heartbeat. "Skylar, where are you? I thought you'd be back by now."

"Ian!" She hiccupped. "I miss you sooooo much right now."

Ian sounded confused. "Are you okay?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Skylar, where are you right now?" He sounded frustrated.

"I am at a...night...club," she explained, giggling a little bit. "And I'm a little bit w-asted. Just a little bit."

Ian chuckled on the other end of the line. "A little?" he asked sarcastically.

"Just a little."

"How much have you had to drink?" he asked.

"I...I don't know." She groaned. "I'm tired, Ian. This...this guy tried to touch...me...and dance with me. B-but I said no and I called you. I just wanna go...go back to you." Her words came out in a lazy manner.

Now he became serious. "What nightclub are you at?"

Skylar managed to remember the name and told him. "I just don't know the address."

"It's okay, baby," he said. "I'll look it up. I'll be there soon okay?"

"Okay," she said. "I'm sitting at a-a booth right now."

"Stay there," he commanded.

Usually Skylar could handle her alcohol, but her mistake had been drinking too much in a short amount of time. What had she been thinking? Especially when she had to go back to Ian, she didn't want him to think she was dumb for getting drunk so easily. She should have never agreed to go out partying.

Skylar was too tired to go looking for her sisters so just stayed there. The cool surface of the table pressing against her cheek made her feel so much better. She contemplated taking a nap while she waited for Ian, but the music was too loud and some people were creeps.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but she felt comforted when a body slid into the booth she was at. She knew it was Ian because of the smell of his aftershave, and she immediately sat up and wrapped her arms around him.

"You're here!" she mused.

Ian sighed. "Yes, and you're drunk."

Skylar pouted. "Are you mad at me?"

Ian shook his head. "No, but you should have told me you were coming here."

Skylar nodded. "I know. But I didn't even know until Heather told me we were going to a strip club, and then we came here and I drank too much." She spoke really fast and Ian could barely catch on to what she was saying. "I just want to go back to the hotel."

Ian raised an eyebrow. "A strip club."

Oops. "They wanted to go."

"Did a stripper give you a lap dance?" he joked light-heartedly, but he was surprised when she blushed and nodded, then he laughed. "That's hilarious."

"You're not mad?" she asked.

"Why would I be?" He kissed her cheek. "It's a bachelorette party, I see why. And it's not like you did anything else with that guy, right?"

"Nope." He smiled. "Good. Now lets get you out of here."

Ian had to carry most of her weight as he escorted her out of the nightclub, she was too drunk to even walk properly. Skylar could barely hold on to him but somehow she managed. He'd come to pick her up in a taxi and now he had to wait for another one to pass. It was kind of hard flagging one down while he had to hold onto the disoriented Skylar.

"Hmm." She rested her head on his shoulders and nuzzled into his neck. "You smell good."

"Is that so?" Ian asked amused. "And you're so-" Hiccup. "You're so hot."

Ian chuckled as he extended his free arm to see if a taxi would stop. "Am I?" "Mm-hmm, really hot," she murmured.

"Well, I am honored to hear those words, baby," he said.

Then Skylar got a bright idea. She pulled away enough to look into his eyes. "Lets have s.ex!" she exclaimed.

The group of men standing on the sidewalk a few feet away from them heard that and gave Ian amused looks.

Ian laughed and said, "I would love to, honey, but we're out in public."

Skylar seemed disappointed. "So?" That wasn't a good enough excuse for her. "I'm h.orny, Ian. I want you ins-"

But Ian cut her off by kissing her, the taste of alcohol on her lips. She'd been saying all of that too loud and he really didn't want other men to hear any of that coming from her mouth. "I promise we'll have s.ex when we get back to the hotel, Skylar," he explained after he pulled away.

Fine. She'd settle for that. "Okay."

Finally a taxi cab pulled over and Ian helped her inside, but before he got in one of the men yelled out, "Good luck with that one!"

He told the cab driver which hotel to take them to, and then went back to focusing on Skylar. He'd never witnessed her that drunk. Apparently she got all turned on when she was drunk. Not that he minded, it was just that he'd prefer it to be in a more private setting, not in the middle of downtown Chicago with others clearly hearing every word that came out of her mouth.

Skylar didn't get what she wanted that night. Instead she fell asleep as soon she touched the bed, leaving Ian to wonder how she managed to be so enticing even that drunk. But one thing was for sure; she was going to have one wicked hangover in the morning.