Chapter Seven
Emma
“This is crazy; you know that, right?”
Sophia nodded as we stood in line to check into the Wynn. The place was wild; from the number of guests that were checking in to the tiled multi-colored flooring, it was a place to have fun. I just didn’t see why we had to come here and couldn’t just wait until the weekend was over. Why did she insist on us coming to act as her baby brother’s sitter? I was a doctor, not a babysitter!
She asked me one question; “You ever been to Vegas?”
When I told her that I hadn’t, she’d insisted that we came to rescue her brother. I had never been to Vegas, and I hated to admit how naive I felt coming here. I never expected it to be like this, but then I suppose that’s why everyone gets wild in Vegas. It wasn’t because it was a quiet destination; it was the complete opposite.
The lighting in the reception was unreal. I felt like a kid visiting the candy store for the first time. They had lights on the walls which looked as if they were spitting fire. Everything in this damn place was bright. From the red and gold rug that had some flower arrangement on the centerpiece near the reception desk to the suede curtains that draped around the windows and the gold banisters sweeping up the stairs. It was clear that I was in partyland.
The hot-looking receptionist called for us to be served and I smiled, but Sophia walked up to the desk as if she had been here numerous times and recited our details like a typical journalist.
There was something confident about her, something that I had admired ever since we were in college together. Even if she was scared about something, she had a way of looking as if she had all the confidence in the world. I used to wish that I possessed a poker face like that. I was the complete opposite, which was why I never played poker.
We were booked into a double suite and my God, it took my breath away as we entered the room with the bell boy. I saw the Vegas skyline. The cream and brown carpet and the matching walls didn’t grab my attention; the floor-to-ceiling window that showed all the lights of the city did. I didn’t hear Sophia say that we should get ready and go downstairs. All I could think about was the fact that this was magical. A beautiful scene that I wanted to enjoy for more than a split second.
“Mason says that they’re in the casino hall, so we have time to shower first, and we’ll head down.”
“What is the urgency?” I had to ask, because if she was talking to Mason, that meant that there was no need for us to be here, and certainly no need for us to rush down to the casino hall. A simple phone call would have sufficed. I couldn’t afford to be here; I already felt guilty that Sophia was paying for all this on her credit card. I didn’t like owing anyone, especially a friend that I had just reconnected with after all this time.
“You know why. I don’t trust Mason. He’ll get Sebastian to do something stupid,” she sank into the bed. “I kind of feel bad.”
This was the first time that she had hinted at what was going on.
“He had his injuries and most of the time I was so caught up at work. The last time, I didn’t even go to visit him. I’ve been a shit big sister.”
I sat next to her, knowing that she had the biggest heart in the world, and there was no way that she could ever be classed as a shit sister.
“That’s no way near the truth. I remember back in college. Your little brother came to see you all the time and even stayed over most of the time.”
She nodded. “We were close back then, but then I graduated and was set on being a top journalist. He went to college and then became obsessed with going pro. I got more involved with work, and his head felt as if it was stuck in the game. Then he was injured the first time. That set him back, but he got back on his feet.”
Tears started to well in her eyes, “I went to see him, and he seemed cool. After that, I just put it to the side, thinking that my little brother would pick himself up and get on with it. Like he had been doing.” She sighed as she avoided eye contact and I knew that meant there was more to the story.
“But?”
There’s always a but.
“The headlines, he just seemed to be in the papers more and more. Reckless behavior and then when I tried reaching out to him, you know what he said?”
I could take a guess, but I had a feeling that she was going to tell me what I was thinking.
“So what big sis, now you’ve decided to care?”
She nodded. “But, he had a point.”
I felt guilty about thinking that I didn’t need to come. That all of this was a waste of time. She wanted her brother to have fun, but not to be reckless. She was acting like a real big sister and wanted to show him that she cared, and she had brought me along for moral support. I could do that. The only person I had been supporting lately was Dad after his bad business deal, which meant their house could be taken away from them if I wasn’t their guarantor. I needed this job so badly. Having such a debt at their age was stressing my mom, and me too. I needed to at least stick with this job for four years to help end the debt. I needed to make this job work.
“I think Mason and a couple of the other guys are made of iron. Sure, they’ve been injured but they’ve not been out of as many seasons as Sebastian has been, so they can afford to get wild and get loose.”
I stood up, inwardly scolding myself for being selfish. Sophia needed a friend; someone she could rely on to put her brother on the straight and narrow. The only person I had been thinking about was myself.
“Let me hit the shower, and then we’ll go down.” I gave her a peck on the cheek, and she smiled.
“Do you mind sleeping on the bed near to the window? I think being so near to it would freak me out?”
“Anything else?”
She shook her head, “Nah, just get showered and let’s go down.”
I entered the bathroom and saw the same flowers that were by our bedside. There were pink orchids by the bath, roses by the mirror opposite, and a chandelier in the middle. The bathroom felt bigger than the whole of my poky little apartment, which I shared with a budding fashion designer in Manhattan. I didn’t want to leave the bedroom, let alone the bathroom. It reminded me of the sort of luxury that I was used to having and gave up to help my parents out. One that I miss so fucking much.
“Don’t stay in there too long. Knowing these guys, they’ll move on soon.”
We had only been in the room for thirty minutes and already we were chasing the guys around town like missing lambs. I thought about lying in the bath and forgetting my troubles, but as Sophia knocked on the door again. The only thing I shouted back was, “Okay, Okay!”
I had to be quick; she would drag me out of the bath and downstairs whether I had clothes on or not.
Chapter Eight
Sebastian
What was it about the roulette table?
Even when you don’t want women to hang around you, they see you winning, and they swarm around you like bees to honey. It was only nine, so it was pretty early for Vegas. I had been to Vegas a few times, so I knew my way around. But no matter how much they updated the hotel, the people never changed.
Mason was acting suspicious; checking out his phone all the time. Then he’d be looking around as if he was on the lookout for someone. I was just about to ask him if the stripper—or strippers, if Mason had hired one for all of us—were due to meet us at the table or something.
But then Paul won and was jumping up and down as if he had made a touchdown. In the midst of it all, I saw who Mason was looking out for as I saw Sophia approaching our table slowly. My eyes darted in his direction, but he ignored me.
“Who won? Who won?” Sophia said
I ignored her question. “What are you doing here?”
“Me?” she asked innocently while putting her hand to her chest as if she were an angel. I loved my sis, but I knew that she was far from an angel. Ever since a jerk cheated on her back in college, she had left a string of broken hearts.
I shook my head, thinking about being dragged to Vegas and my sister being here. The guys loved Sophia; she was hot and knew all the right people in town if they ever wanted a hookup. Models, singers, actresses, she knew them all, but she was modest with her various claims to fame. Her real passion was journalism, and that was the only thing that got her excited. That, and possibly Mason, judging by the way they’d just hugged each other. They were a lot friendlier than I remembered.
The cheers and guys always asked me if Sophia knew the latest pop sensation and if she could get them a ticket to one of the latest celebrity parties. Lately, that was all she and I talked about; we had grown distant over time as we had got so involved with our careers. I didn’t blame her or think that it was my fault. I was happy to see her. Especially when I realized that she hadn’t come alone.
I saw Emma strolling slowly while grabbing every man’s attention in a hot black number with red heels.
Mason winked at me and didn’t hesitate in wrapping his arms a bit too tightly around Sophia’s waist. I wondered if he had a thing for her, but then I’d asked him once, and he said that he never dug older women. Noting his affectionate hug for Sophia, I wondered if he had changed his mind. Maybe things had changed dramatically since back then when we’d had the conversation.
“Hello,” Emma said, shyly hiding behind Sophia as if she was her shadow.
“Hey,” I said as I walked up to her. I would deal with my sister later. I had no idea why she felt the need to come here this weekend, but I knew that it had something to do with Mason. He was clearly distracted as he lifted Sophia up in the air and swung her around.
“So, you guys mixed it up.” My eyes darted to my sister, who was wearing a red dress and black heels, to Emma who was wearing the opposite.
It was cute, the sort of thing that they would do back in college when they would go out and tell me to stay inside and be a good boy. I’d had visions of them each hooking up with some guy, and I used to get jealous. The idea of anyone even looking at Emma right now drove me crazy.
“Hey, it’s the stripper!” Kent pointed out.
She laughed while raising her hands up as if she was confessing to the crime, “Yeah, I’m the stripper who followed you all the way to Vegas. Mason paid me top dollar.” Then she winked at me. I felt a connection that made me think that now that we were older, things would turn out differently.
“So, who’s betting next?” she asked as she drew closer toward me. Mason had his arm around my sister as if she were his prized possession.
Emma didn’t want to be near Kent or Paul, seeing as they didn’t drop the joke about her being a stripper. I didn’t get it; they couldn’t have gone to the meeting when she was being introduced to the team. I thought that it was just me. Her tits bounced as she swung her hair around her shoulders. Just like she used to do when she was younger.
I straightened up and smiled, “Me.”
I wished that no one had been around at that moment because of my dick, which I’d thought was dead. Lately it hadn’t reacted to any woman; it didn’t matter how hot she was. But for some reason it jerked slightly as I thought about Emma. She was so damn close to me right now. I felt embarrassed at the fact that it was losing control and pointing in her direction.
“In that case Sebastian, if you win…” She rolled her eyes making me feel the need to jerk off.
Why did my teen crush not die down after all this time?
“Then, you have to book an examination with me, first thing Monday morning.”
Oh, she wanted to play that game did she? She may have been fooling everyone else but no one would come all the way to Vegas just to talk me into a physio session.
I smiled cheekily, thinking that if this was the game that she wanted to play, then I could play it too.
“If not, then I’ll choose something.”
“What?”
“Emma, that would be telling.”
She had a lot to be worried about, because if I won, this fantasy that I used to have about her would become a reality.
It made my dick jerk every single time her name was mentioned, or if she was in my presence. Which had been twice this weekend, which was crazy considering that I hadn’t seen her for ten years. I wasn’t going to lose; I was the roulette king and, with the stakes this high, she didn’t know that there was no way she was going to win.
I didn’t care if she was my doctor or not: she would be coming back to my suite.
Alone.
Not with any of the guys or even my sis.
She was thinking about it, but she had no choice. This was my rule, and she had to play along.
“Okay,” she purred as she faced the table.
I didn’t hesitate in picking up my chips and asking her to blow on them for luck. I wished those sexy lips were on mine and not the chips, as she bent down to kiss them. Then, I put them on black number thirteen.
She said, “But that’s unlucky.”
I’d never thought of her as being superstitious.
I laughed and said, “How can it be unlucky when tonight’s my lucky night?”
Besides, I thought she wanted me to lose, but her words told me otherwise and so did her body language as she edged closer to me. She hadn’t flown to Vegas to book an examination. She had come here for something else. And I was more than willing to give it to her tonight…to be continued in book 2.