Breaking Through (The Breaking Series Book 3) by Juliana Haygert Page B

Hil?”
    “I’m in,” Gui said without hesitating half a second.
    “I can’t go. You now that,” I said, relieved I had an excuse. “Under twenty-one over here.”
    Bia narrowed her eyes at me. “I gave you a fake ID a few months ago. Use that.” Damn, I had forgotten about that. To be honest, I didn’t even know where it was. “You’re coming, right?”
    I wasn’t going; that I was sure of. Places like that, with so many people, so many men with only one thing on their minds. I started feeling the threads of a panic attack starting, just thinking about going to a nightclub. However, I was tired of always saying no, of always having them beg me to go, only to see the disappointed looks on their faces.
    “Okay,” I lied.
    Bia gasped. “For real?”
    Hannah stared at me as if I had grown a second head. “Are you sure?”
    “Yes,” I lied again.
    Gui glanced over his shoulder at me with a sympathetic smile. What? Was he pitying me? The damaged girl was finally facing her fears. I wished …
    Garrett pouted. “You didn’t ask me if I want to go.”
    Bia laughed. “I’m going, so of course you’re going too.”
    He rolled his eyes, but had a happy grin on his face.
    Iris grabbed her purse from the long sofa table behind the couch. “This is going to be amazing. Everyone ready?”
    “We’re going now?” Lauren asked.
    “Yes, right now,” Bia said.
    We all moved. Bringing glasses and plates to the kitchen, turning off the TV, closing the balcony doors, turning off the lights, and then we were all in front of the two elevators, waiting for them to arrive at the fifteenth floor.
    The guys went to the underground floor to grab their cars, while Hannah, Leo, Bia, Garrett, and I went to the front of the building, where we had parked ours cars.
    “You want to ride with us?” Hannah asked, pointing to Leo’s Grand Cherokee.
    I shook my head. “I prefer going in my own car, in case I want to leave early.”
    “Or late,” Bia said with a wink.
    As if …
    I smiled at them. “Meet you all there.”
    I slipped into my car before they could see the lie and drove away. I turned onto the street leading to the club, so they thought I was going there, but once out of sight, I turned around and headed home.

Gui
     
     
    Though we usually got VIP lounges at most clubs, The Suite didn’t have any VIP areas available when we arrived. However, after walking around the place for twenty minutes, we found a large table in the back, where you could barely see the dance floor, but was rather close to the bar.
    As we settled in our seats, Hannah checked her phone.
    “I sent her a couple of texts, but she’s not answering,” Hannah said, typing on her phone again.
    “I’m sure she’s just lost in here,” Bia said. She grabbed Garrett’s hand. “We’ll walk around a little and look for her.”
    Hannah nodded, but didn’t stop staring at her phone.
    “Would you feel better if we went outside and waited for her there?” Leo asked. Hannah nodded again. Leo jerked his chin toward the front doors, and I gave him a thumbs up.
    Being taller than most in here, I didn’t sit. I leaned my back against the wall beside the table, and watched the crowd in search of a blond head. I became tense as the minutes passed. We ordered drinks and French fries. Bia and Garrett came back from their patrol, and Hannah and Leo came back inside.
    It was clear Hilary went straight home.
    For some reason, that knowledge didn’t sit well with me.
    I ordered another whiskey and sat alone at the table while the couples went dancing. Why did it fucking bother me to know that Hilary wasn’t coming? With her problems, she was better off at home, wasn’t she? I didn’t really know.
    I glanced at the bar, already thinking of my next shot of whiskey, when a trio of girls caught my eye. One looked my way, opened a huge smile, talked to the other two, and they turned to me. The first one scolded them, probably because they weren’t supposed to