“I’ve never understood your desire to gamble, Shane. You sit there playing a game in which the outcome doesn’t affect you in the least. Who cares if you win twenty thousand? You have more money than you’ll ever need in this lifetime, and the next.”
“Rafe, why are you always so serious? The point is to sit at a table with other people, let loose, drink a lot, and, most importantly, watch the entertainment.”
“You expect me to go to the Pussycat Lounge again?”
“Come on, Rafe. You have to admit, the dealers are a whole lot easier to look at than at most places,” Shane answered with a laugh.
“I’d rather work.”
“Tough. You dragged me to Vegas and we have nothing to do until tomorrow. Tonight we get drunk, eye the ladies and lose a bunch of money.”
Rafe thought about refusing, but it had been a while since he’d enjoyed himself like that. Besides, he knew Shane wouldn’t let up, so he might as well go and at least enjoy a good cigar. He could be doing worse things than spending an evening with his best friend.
*****
“You girls have no idea how much Rafe is going to flip out if he finds out we’ve done this.”
“Loosen up, Ari. The man doesn’t own you, and believe me, you’re going to want to see this show.”
“I’m not protesting too much,” Ari said with a big grin as they walked in the front doors of the Excalibur Casino. Ari wouldn’t admit it, but she was beyond excited. Before meeting her three girlfriends at work, she’d never gone out on the town.
Now that she’d had a taste of the weekend social scene, she had to admit that she’d really missed out over the years. She would certainly avoid clubs with spiked drinks, but watching a good male strip show while hanging with friends seemed to be something all women should do at least once.
Ari loved Amber, Shelly and Miley, but she’d also grown quite fond of Lia and Rachel. When she and Rafe ultimately broke up, Ari was afraid that friendship would be lost. She’d tried to not get close to the girls, but they made that impossible.
“I really don’t want to put a negative note on the evening, but what happens when Rafe and I are no longer…friends?”
The two girls stopped and twisted around to face her, for once wearing serious expressions. Lia turned first with Rachel right behind as if choreographed, and both girls threw their arms around Ari, making her eyes fill with tears as the sisters held on tight.
“I hate to admit this, but Rafe has gone through a lot of women. We’re not stupid. We know about his so-called rules. We hate that about him — despise how he is with his women. However, before you came along, there wasn’t one of his girlfriends whom we wanted to know. We were relieved when he grew bored and off those bimbos went. They tolerated us and vice versa,” Rachel started. Ari gulped down the knot in her throat.
“That being said, you’re different, Ari. I honestly wouldn’t say this to you if I didn’t believe it. Rafe cares about you. I’ve never seen him act the way he does with you with any other woman — not even with his ex-wife. He may have thought he was in love with her, and he may think his heart was broken, but that’s not really it. He was humiliated, disillusioned — but not heartbroken,” Lia added.
“Rafe is healing with you, even if he doesn’t realize it. Please, give it a shot — open your heart and search inside the man; ignore the hard exterior he has created for himself. Look at how good he is to us, and all the wonderful things he does for his community and the world. Give him a reason to trust again, and I know he’ll earn it,” Rachel finished.
Ari couldn’t help the tears that slipped from her eyes. These beautiful women were amazing. They really loved their brother, and they seemed to care about her, too. Could she listen to them and give Rafe a real chance? He’d warned her not to fall in love with him — told her he absolutely didn’t want that. How could she take such a risk?
“I don’t know if I can do it,” she finally answered.
“Well, to answer your question, Ari — you are our friend now. No matter what happens with Rafe, we won’t allow you not to be a part of our lives,” Rachel promised.
“Thank you.” Ari knew they meant it — knew they intended to keep that promise. She also knew it would be impossible. How could she stay friends with them when she and Rafe were through? They were bound to mention their brother, and Ari wouldn’t want to hear how wonderful his life was without her. It would be too painful.
“OK, enough emotional drama for the night. We came to get blitzed and watch a show, so let’s go,” Lia insisted as she pulled out tissues and handed them over.
The three women stopped in the bathroom to freshen up, and then went to find the theater.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The lobby crackled with excitement as a throng of women stood in line for the Thunder from Down Under performance. Ari couldn’t keep from smiling as groups of females sporting bachelorette party banners called out to each other.
Rachel, Lia and Ari were next to the bar, and of course, Lia insisted on going in.
“I hate lines; let’s have a drink.” She tugged at Rachel’s and Ari’s hands as she stepped into the open space and marched up to the front cashier.
Before they could order anything, the bartender jumped on top of the counter right in front of them with a bottle in his hand.
“Are you ladies having a good time?”
A chorus of cheers echoed though the bar and out into the line of people waiting to get into the theater.
“Who here is going to see the boys from Down Under?” the bartender asked with a wolf whistle. Again the crowd roared. It seemed to Ari that Lia and Rachel were the loudest of all. Not wanting to be the dud of the party, she opened her mouth and cheered with the rest of them, which earned her a big smile and wink from the man on the counter.
“I have a problem, ladies. I need to empty this bottle and I just don’t have any clean shot glasses. Can you help me out?” All the women yelled assent. “Who wants a shot?” Lia was the first one in front of him as she held her head back and waited for him to poor curaçao into her mouth.
Bending down, he tipped the bottle when it was lined up with her bottom lip, making the women scream again as the blue liquid cascaded down her throat. The excitement was catching, and when Lia pushed Ari to go next, she didn’t hesitate to throw her head back as she waited for the man to give her the shot.