“I will. Have fun.” She gets into the back of the car, and I watch until it’s out of sight before I head back into the bar and find Carly where I left her.

“Thank you for staying.” Carly wraps her arm around my shoulder, and I slide mine around her waist.

“No problem.” I give her waist a squeeze then look up at Matthew when he steps up behind her.

“Do you ladies want another drink?”

“Yes please.” Carly gives him her order, then he looks at me.

“I’ll have a vodka soda.”

“Coming right up.” He walks to the bar with his friends and we both watch them go.

“So how are you feeling now that you’ve met him?”

“I don’t know, it’s hard to get to know someone in this kind of environment.”

“True.”

“But he’s hot and is buying us alcohol, so I’d say he’s okay,” she laughs, taking her attention off me to look back at the stage.

I inwardly sigh wondering what the heck is wrong with me that I can’t find such simple attributes attractive when it comes to men.

Chapter 4

Willow

COMING AWAKE THE first thing I notice is my head pounding, the second thing I notice is that even with my eyes still closed the light is so bright I can see it through my closed eyelids and the third thing is a softness of the blankets and scent of some kind of oddly familiar deep musk I’m wrapped in.

My heart starts to pound as I lay with my eyes closed because I know something is wrong–very, very wrong. The bed I’m in feels nothing like my own but it’s still obvious that I’m in a bed. Doing a scan on my body, I can tell my jeans are off and I’m no longer in the top I had on last night but can feel the soft material of the t-shirt I’m wearing. What I don’t feel is any pain or discomfort between my legs, which is a relief.

What the hell happened?

My throat gets tight, but I fight back the urge to panic because I have no idea what the hell it is I’m about to face when I finally work up the courage to open my eyes.

After a deep breath, I squint my eyes open and look around at what seems to be a giant room with brick walls, windows that take up one entire side from floor to ceiling, with a few industrial but expensive looking bedroom pieces around the huge space and the bed I’m on in the middle. Slowly I sit up, not sure that I won’t puke because my stomach is rolling like I drank way too much. But I don’t remember having more than two drinks last night. Hearing a jingle that almost sounds like car keys I look toward the heavy-looking door and watch a large dog that looks similar to a wolf get up off the concrete floor with a quiet groan and starts in my direction with its head low, ears back and tail down.