As soon as Alex stepped through the door to the bar, she could practically feel the pulse of the music wash over her. It was desensitizing in its loudness, and the bass resonated in her bones. A broad grin spread across her face, and she turned to Whitney, who looked equally as excited to mingle. She’d always loved coming to places like this where, just for a few hours, she could feel like a normal woman who wasn’t hiding from her psychotic ex-boyfriend in the streets of New York City. The hypnotic music, the numbing alcohol, and the friendly people were the perfect cocktail of distractions to help her forget about the harsh realities of life. It was why she and her friends had scrapped together the money for fake IDs. All three of them were of legal age to drink, but since they didn’t have a permanent address or proof of citizenship, they’d had to seek out the best forger in the county to have false ones made. The guy had done such a good job that not a single bouncer had ever questioned the plastic cards’ authenticity.

Looking past the oscillating lights to the crowded room beyond, she was elated to see that [i]Devil’s Share[/i] was crowded that night. There were quite a few other sizable groups milling about at booths and dancing in the center of the room, all dressed up in various stages between casual and formal. Right now, it looked like they were mostly sticking to the groups they’d showed up with, but it was only a matter of time before everyone loosened up and started mingling with one another. Alcohol had a funny way of making someone forget they were surrounded by total strangers. It was that moment of total drunken bliss that she was so eagerly expecting. That was when she would hopefully find herself in a conversation with the next man who would be buying her dinner. Her empty stomach growled in anticipation.

“Let’s hang out at the counter,” Whitney shouted over the deafening music, elbowing her in the side to get her attention. “I want a drink, and a couple of those guys have already been staring at my ass since we walked in.” Like Alex, the redhead knew how to take advantage of the guys they met in the bars to get free drinks. She wasn’t quite as dressed up as her friend, but she’d still put on a mini skirt to turn a few heads while they were out.

“Oh yeah?” Alex followed her gaze to see that there were, in fact, two men glancing not-at-all discreetly in their direction. “How do you know they’re not looking at me?” She asked with a smirk.

“I’m having a great ass day,” Whitney answered simply, linking her arm with Alex’s. “It doesn’t matter anyway. There are two of them and two of us: my favorite kind of math. Come on, I’ll let you have the ugly one.”

“Ooh, too bad the ugly one just waved at you,” Alex clicked her tongue with mock sympathy. “Don’t feel too bad though, Whit. I bet he’s [i]really[/i] funny.”

“Bitch, don’t you dare!” Whitney squeaked as Alex slipped out of her grasp to get to the counter ahead of her.

While they swam through the crowded room, Caden took a seat by himself in the corner of the room to keep watch. He wasn’t the type to drink in public, so whenever they went out, he volunteered to make sure they stayed safe. Living on the streets, their lives were already dangerous enough as it was, so the trio was always careful to have each other’s backs. At bars and nightclubs, the girls kept tabs on each other up close, while Caden kept an eye on both of them from a distance. They were the only safety net they had, so it had become a habit for them to be especially cautious when it came to their safety.

Knowing there was someone in the room making sure she didn’t get forced into a situation she didn’t want to be in gave Alex the peace of mind to approach drunk men at the bar. So, she rolled her shoulders back confidently and strode up to the counter, leaning up on her toes as she pretended like she was trying to find an open spot where she could squeeze in to get a drink. Beside her, Whitney followed suit, falling easily into their rehearsed act and taking on a discouraged expression.

Not five seconds later, the men who’d been eyeing them hollered over the music to get their attention.

“Hey there, pretty ladies,” the not-ugly one, a man with a chiseled jawline and tousled brown hair, flashed a handsome smile their way. “Can my buddy and I buy you girls a couple drinks?”

Alex turned to them, raising her brows as she feigned a look of surprise. “Wow, that’s so sweet of you guys. What do you think, Whit?”

“I think you two are lifesavers!” her friend exclaimed excitedly. “Thank you so much!”

“Not a problem,” the man stood up a little straighter, his ego thoroughly stroked. “my name is Chad, and this is Paul.”

[i]Oh my god, his name is Chad,[/i] Alex bit her lip to fight the urge to snort as her olive green eyes landed on the man’s bulging muscles. Hanging onto her composure by a thread, she offered up her best smile, “It’s nice to meet you guys.”

“Likewise,” Paul jumped in while his friend turned around to flag down the bartender. Unlike Chad, he had an obvious dad-bod, which wouldn’t have been deterring by itself if not for the fact that it was paired with a noticeable unibrow on his forehead. “What would you angels like to drink?”

[i]And not a single question to find out what our names are,[/i] Alex sighed. If she had a dollar for every guy she talked to who didn’t ask about her name when she didn’t volunteer it first, she could have bought all her own meals. “I’ll have a Manhattan,” she answered, hiding her judgmental thoughts with the smile that was still plastered on her face.

“A Cosmo for me,” Whitney pitched in with her request.

While Paul turned around to relay their drinks of choice to Chad, Alex let her gaze wander over the other patrons at the counter. The two men they’d just talked to had been the first of the evening to buy cocktails for them, but she rarely stuck with the first people she met for the entire night. Chances were, she would be having conversations with a few of the other guys around her later on as she figure out which of them would get clingy enough to pay for her dinner.

Since the [i]Devil’s Share[/i] was packed, there were quite a few men there that evening, but only a few caught her eye. One of whom was a younger man at the other end of the bar. Unlike the people surrounding him, he was dressed to the nines in professional clothes that both flattered his physique and gave the impression that he had just come away from an important business meeting at the same time. If there was anyone in the building who could afford a dinner at a five-star restaurant, it was most likely this guy. From a distance, she couldn’t see his face very well, but it seemed like he was looking around the room just like she was, which meant, hopefully, he wasn’t here with a partner.

Before she could even think about sidling over to the other end of the counter, she was drawn from her scheming by the sound of a voice.

“Here’s your drink, gorgeous.”

Turning back around, she saw that Chad had left his station at the bar to personally hand her the Manhattan she’d ordered up. It looked like he’d been eyeing her after all. She couldn’t help but cast a subtle wink in Whitney’s direction to acknowledge the victory before she paid Mr. Muscles-for-Brains for the drink with a shallow conversation in uncomfortably close proximity. She just hoped he wouldn’t get bold enough to try to close the distance between them already more than he already had.