We Were One Once Book 1 by Willow Madison

least I can
do for him.
    Cary’s never acted jealous
though. We spent most summers together, along with his sister,
Sophia. They are the closest thing to family I know, and I’ve been
generous with both of them. I’ve paid for colleges, houses,
vacations, cars, lawyers, whatever. I’ve paid to keep their names
out of headlines or in them, however the case may be, and they’ve
been loyal to me since childhood.

    “Her?” I shake my head.
Cary looks frustrated again. He sips his drink and scans the lower
level of the club once more. “What about the short brunette there?”
He nods towards a corner of the dance floor below us.
    I turn quickly at his
description. It’s not Grace. And I’m angry for hoping that it would
be. “We’re looking for whores, not cheerleaders, Cary!” I down my
drink and leave it on the small ledge. “My turn.”
    I scan the crowd and easily
spot a few options. “Come on.” I lead us down the stairs and into
the thick of people. I usually hate crowds. I hate the press of
other people on me, but clubs are different. Maybe it’s the lights
or the music. Maybe it’s the smell—alcohol and sweat. With the lack
of clothes, limbs grind and fly, slamming bodies together and
tossing pheromones around.
    I get off on the
hunting—looking around and spotting the perfect prey, slowly
circling and examining, watching her posture for me. I have
wondered why women are so stupid though. I haven’t had this thought
in a long time, I think because I’d given up caring altogether, but
tonight I’m back to it as Cary and I buy drinks for two girls I
spotted.
    I wonder if they see the
looks we’re giving them, giving each other. Don’t they smell the
danger they’re in? Don’t they recognize a predator? Has womankind
evolved too far past the primitive to be able to decipher the
subtle clues of hunter and hunted?
    This brings my thoughts
around to Grace again. I’ve not stopped thinking about her. She
understood about hunting. She was aware that she was prey; she
thrived on it. But it was deceptive with her. She was just as much
the hunter as I was. She was playing her own game for her own
thrills, and I admired her for it.
    She wasn’t like these
girls. She didn’t believe any of my bullshit or try to get me to be
her Prince Charming. She got what she wanted; then she was through
with me. I have to stop thinking about her! Tonight is about having
fun, not thinking about business or her or any other damn
thing.
    I give a big wolfish smile
to the girl on my right. She’s taller than Grace. Her light brown
hair is smoothly straightened and cut chin length. Her eyes are an
indefinable color in the low light. Green maybe? She’s cute. She
doesn’t giggle at least but keeps her laugh inside, only shaking
with it. Or maybe it’s just too quiet to hear over the loud music
and people.
    I lean over to her ear and
whisper, “I like your laugh.” I bite her neck before moving away.
It’s a good test. She only puts her hand to the spot and laughs
again. I can’t help thinking that Grace would’ve had a good come
back. At the very least, she would’ve taken her own bite out of me.
I smile again with this thought. This girl thinks it’s because of
her, and she smiles even more at me, swaying side to side. Her name
is Maria or Mary…something like that.
    I signal to Cary that it’s
time to move things along. He nods and asks the tall blonde he’s
leaning against if she’d like to join us in the VIP section. Of
course she says yes. I don’t wait for her to ask her friend. I grab
the waist of my girl and push her to follow in their
direction.

    I’m pissed by the time we
hit the hotel. Both girls are trashed and so is Cary. Hell, so am
I, just not as much as everyone else. I never bring girls back to
my place, not club girls anyway—too messy to get rid of, not enough
privacy. I always arrange a hotel suite when Cary is in town so we
can have fun without fucking up my life.
    If I’m honest, I