Bailey: Boyd U arena. Game just ended so I’m headed home for the night.

Zara: The hell you are. Noelle and I are taking you dancing. Stay put and send me your location. I’ll be there in ten.

4. air traffic controller

CHAPTER 4

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

Bailey

An hour later, I was crammed into a borrowed miniskirt and standing in a nightclub. That I was wearing heels and makeup for the second night in a row illustrated just how drastically my life had gone off the rails.

“Oh my god. That’s disgusting.” I slammed the empty shot glass on the bar, shuddering. The acrid alcohol lingered on my tongue and burned as it traveled down my throat.

Noelle laughed, handing me my drink. “It’s just tequila, B.”

“It’s awful, is what it is.” I frantically sipped my raspberry vodka seltzer, trying to wash away the horrid aftertaste.

“Sorry,” Zara said, tucking a lock of auburn hair behind her ear. “I forgot you’re not a big drinker. Next round, we’ll make it something easier, like blue balls.”

“Blue balls?” I recoiled. “That sounds even worse.”

“Nah. It’s Malibu and a few other things. But it’s delicious. Doesn’t even taste like alcohol.”

“If you say so.”

Loud bass reverberated through my body, and I swayed on the spot to the DJ’s remix. They had dragged me to a new club called XS on the other side of town. Because it was technically considered Falcons’ territory, it was the kind of place I would usually avoid—which made it the perfect place to drown my sorrows. There was no way Luke would be here. None of the team would be. And tonight, the anonymity felt like freedom.

As the alcohol kicked in, warming my veins, thoughts of tonight’s game and yesterday’s devastation faded into the background. Maybe drinking did make my current situation more tolerable.

Zara propped herself up on the bar, resting her elbows on the top and surveying the crowd methodically. “I think you need a rebound, Bails.” She raised her brows, watching me as she sipped her rum and coke through a yellow straw. “You know what they say: the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”

I adjusted my black skirt, which rode up every two seconds. It belonged to Noelle and was about three inches too short for my liking. “Zara, it just happened.”

“Exactly.” Noelle nodded emphatically, her aquamarine eyes serious. “Beat him to the punch.”

My stomach lurched at her unintentional implication that Luke would also be moving on with someone else in the near future. Maybe I did need that blue balls shot after all.

“No way. With the way my luck is going, I’d end up going home with a serial killer.”

“Maybe Luke is the cause of your bad luck.” Zara shrugged. “When was the last time you two did it, anyway?”