We arrived in Vegas when it was completely lit up, beautiful and exciting. We pulled up to Caesar's Palace, and Doug gave the valet the keys after we had unloaded our bags from the trunk of the car. I rolled my suitcase after me and rolled my eyes as two blondes greeted Phil. He smirked at me and laid his arm around my shoulders.
"Welcome to the Caesar's," the brunette receptionist whose name was Lisa according to her name tag, smiled. A chorus of 'Hey's and 'Hello's came from us. "Checking in?"
"Yes. We have a reservation under Dr. Price," Stu answered, obviously trying to impress Lisa and she smiled.
"Alright, let me look that up for you."Lisa said, typing on her computer, looking up the information.
"Dr. Price?" Phil asked, and Stu nodded. "Stu, you're a dentist, don't try to get fancy." I shook my head at the two of them.
"It's not fancy when it's true." I snorted and the woman smiled at me and I smiled back.
"He's a dentist, don't get too excited," Phil said to the woman, flirting with her. "If someone has a heart attack, you should still call 9-1-1."
"We'll be sure to do that." She guaranteed, obviously enjoying Phil's flirting.
"Do you know if the hotel's pager friendly?" I glanced confusedly at Alan, as he held up his beeper. Do people even still use those?
"What do you mean?" Lisa asked, just as confused as everyone else was.
"I'm not getting a sig on my beeper." Alan explained holding up his pager.
"I'm not sure."
"Is there a pay phone bank? A bunch of pay phones? Business," Alan asked and I tried to figure out if I wanted to know what kind of business Alan was involved in. I shook my head, deciding I didn't want to know.
"Um, there's a phone in your room?" she answered, obviously confused.
"That'll work," Alan nodded. Lisa looked back at her computer.
"So, I have you in a two bedroom suit on the twelfth floor, is that ok?" Stu nodded, confirming what Lisa was saying.
"Sounds perfect," Doug said, nodding his head.
"Two bedrooms? You bitches are sleeping on the floor." I joked as Lisa smiled, amused.
"Actually I was wondering if you had any villas available." Phil leaned forward on the counter, smiling slightly.
"Phil we're not even going to be in the room," Stu shook his head anxiously, and Doug agreed with him.
"It's not necessary." Doug said, and I shrugged, my mind made up that I wasn't going to share a bed with anyone.
"It's no big deal; we can share beds for one night." Stu said, and I rolled my eyes. I could think of a hundred reasons not to share a bed with any of the four men standing with me at the check in desk.
"If we share beds, I'm bunking with Phil." Alan responded, and I burst into laughter as Phil glared at me. "Are you good with that?" Alan asked, trying to make sure that Phil was cool with sharing a bed.
"No, I'm not good with that. Guys we are not sharing beds. What are we, twelve years old?" Phil turned back to Lisa. "Lisa, I apologize, how much is the villa?"
"Well, we have one villa available and it forty-two hundred for the night." She answered, looking up from her computer.
"Is it awesome?" Alan asked, interested.
"It's pretty awesome," Lisa answered with a smile.
"We'll take it; give her your credit card." Phil said to Stu, who looked panicked.
"I can't give her my credit card," Stu told Phil.
"We'll split it," Doug said, trying to alleviate the tension.
"Are you crazy? This is on us." Phil told Doug, and I lifted my eyebrow.
"I'll get it." I dug in my bag for my wallet, pulling out my credit card. I was in the motion of handing it to Lisa when it was taken from my hand. I rounded on Phil, who was holding my card securely in his palm.
"Come on Stu. It's not polite to let Natalie pay for the villa." Phil said.
"Natalie can pay for the villa, it's no big deal," My words fell on deaf ears as Stu sighed.
"You don't get it. Melissa checks my statements." Stu said, and I scoffed. That woman really has issues she needs to take care of.
"Well, we just need the card on file. We won't charge you anything until you check out, so, you can figure it out then." Lisa interrupted, and I went to snatch my card from Phil. He held it well above my head.
"Perfect. That's perfect. Thank you, Lisa. We'll deal with it tomorrow." Phil motioned for Stu to give Lisa his credit card.
"Fine," Stu groused, handing over his credit card. Phil gave me back my card and I rolled my eyes at him, shoving it back into my wallet and dropping it into my bag.
"Can I ask you another question?" Alan asked.
"Sure," Lisa said, putting down Stu's card for a second.
"You probably get this a lot." We all looked at Alan. "This isn't the real Caesar's Palace is it?" My brow knitted together. Could this guy really be serious?
"What do you mean?" Lisa asked confused.
"Um," Alan studied all of us as we all watched him, confused and he hesitated. "Did Caesar live here?" I blinked rapidly, and sighed, shaking my head.
"Um, no." Lisa answered nicely, and I silently commended her for her patience.
"I didn't think so." Alan replied, glancing around at the décor. Lisa smiled uncertainly and handed Stu his card back and gave us all room keys.
Stu swiped his room key in the door and opened it.
"Holy shit," Stu walked into the villa, taking in the whole effect of the villa and the view.
"Now this is Vegas," Phil squeezed my shoulder and I laughed, agreeing with him. I went straight to the magnificent view, enjoying the skyline of bright lights.
"Oh my, this place is enormous," Doug said looking around. "Is this all one suit?" Doug followed after me to take a peek at the suit.
"Thank you guys; or should I say, thank you Stu." Doug said, happiness dripping from his voice.
"You're welcome. It's only because I love you," Stu replied, not taking his eyes off of the view.
"Alright ladies, pick a room, get dressed, and be ready in thirty minutes." Phil spread his arms apart widely and I pried myself from the window to claim a room. I rolled my suitcase into a beautiful room, stripping and taking a quick shower, enjoying the hot water and complimentary little soaps and shampoos. I wrapped myself up in a big fluffy white towel and opened the bathroom door to be greeted by Phil with both his hands on his hips.
"Are you done in there? We have less than seventeen minutes to get ready." I smirked at him and left the bathroom barely having time to move out of the way of the door. The shower started several seconds later and I started laughing. I opened my suitcase and pulled out my underwear. I quickly pulled my black lacy underwear on and snapped my bra closed, bending over to towel dry my hair.
"Fuck, Natalie, I'm going to have to take another shower." I stood up straight and looked over my shoulder, only half-amused. I got an eyeful of Phil Wenneck, still wet, in only a towel that hung really low on his hips. I licked my lips, following a water droplet that started at his collarbone then fell all the way to his happy trail. My eyes snapped up to Phil's and I could tell he noticed me ogling if his smirk meant anything. I quickly turned and grabbed my make-up bag, passing Phil and going into the bathroom.
I was just finishing up my mascara when Phil entered the bathroom, still shirtless, but at least now he had pants on. He sidled up to me, and I put the mascara brush back into the tube, dropping it into my bag. I met his eyes in the mirror and tried to hide my grin by digging in the bag for nude lipstick.
"Yes?" I asked, pulling one tube of lipstick and uncapping it, to find that it wasn't the one I was looking for.
"Just brushing my teeth," I nodded and found the lipstick with a 'ah ha' and a laugh from Phil. I swiped it on my lips and rubbed them together, then fluttered my eyelashes, knowing Phil was watching me. I pushed my straight hair off my face and smiled brightly at him.
"You might want to get on that brushing your teeth thing," I said, checking my phone. "You only have about five minutes." I turned on my heel and made a bee-line to my suitcase, pulling out my tiger-print dress. The black shoes that went with it came out next and I sighed, eyeing the zip in the back. I stepped into it and slid it up my body, holding it against me as I reached around to try to zip it. "God, I hate zippers," I muttered under my breath as the zipper continued to remain stubborn. A hand pushed mine out of the way and effortlessly zipped up the back of my dress.
"They seem to hate you, too, Nat." I rolled my eyes at Phil and sat on the bed, pulling my heels on. Phil crossed the room and pulled on his black button up shirt as I found a remote on the bed side table and pushed the on button. The curtain hiding the floor-to-ceiling window slid to the side, revealing the magnificent view of Los Vegas all lit up.
"Oh, my God." I stood from the bed and walked over to the oversized window, taking in all the lights. Several minutes later, Phil's arms circled around my waist, his chin resting on my head.
"Are you ready?" I turned around and looked up at him, a decisive look on my face.
"Depends, how do I look?" Phil smiled wolfishly as he eyed me up, letting his hands slip from my waist to grab my ass.
"Doable," I smiled easily, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Really?" His head leaned in closer to mine as he nodded his head. He got closer to me and I could all but taste his breath when I brought my hand from around his neck and pushed his face away from mine. "Good, then yes, I am ready to go." I skipped out of his reach as he lunged for me and exited the room.
"Tease!" He called after and I turned over my shoulder.
"Man-whore!" Laughter caught my attention in the sitting area and I shifted my gaze to Doug. "What?" I sat next to him, enjoying the quiet.
"You and Phil aren't in the same room for thirty minutes and already you're getting into name calling." I stuck my tongue out at him and poked his stomach. He slapped my hand away and brought me into a one armed hug. I laid my head on his shoulder, missing our quiet moments like this.
"I'm so happy for you," I said, and I felt Doug shift his head to look at me.
"Yeah?" I lifted my head and looked at him, nodding my head.
"Whoever set you guys up was a friggin' genius." I said off-handedly and shrieked when Doug started tickling me. He kissed my forehead and stood up from the couch.
"Come on, oh modest one." I accepted his hand and let him pull me up from the couch.
"You guys ready?" I nodded to Phil, looking around the suit. He led the way, with Doug behind me and opened a door, leading us into Stu's room. Stu was still in his underwear, talking to Melissa on his cell phone.
"Yeah," Phil spread his arms out in a questioning gesture, which Stu mimicked, shrugging his shoulders. "What else? Um," Stu looked around the room and I sat myself at the foot of his bed, taking joy from watching Stu try to lie. "We met the uh, proprietor." Phil shook his head and bounced onto the bed, stretching out completely that the toe of his shoe kept nudging my knee that I had brought up on the bed when I sat down. I stuck my tongue out at him and he reciprocated the action. "What's his name? Um, Caesar, Palace. Yeah, like the salad." Phil tapped his watch with his finger, signaling the time. "Okay, well, listen; I gotta go, because we're hitting this wine tasting. Wait, wait, I love you. Okay, bye." I snickered at how Stu said bye, always such a nerd.
"I'm not even going to say anything it's so embarrassing." Phil commented and I rolled my eyes.
"Where's Alan?" Stu asked, ignoring Phil's comment.
"He went downstairs. Said he had to 'grab a few things.'" Doug replied, comfortable in an oversized chair on the far wall.
"Good, because I…have something…to show you." I lifted an eyebrow at Stu's small muscle flex every two words before he turned away from us. I shrugged at Phil who looked confused at me. Stu turned back around with a little black velvet box and opened it for us.
"Uh oh," Doug said, excited for Stu. My eyes widened significantly at the ring inside the box as Stu handed it to Doug to look at.
"What the hell is that?" Phil asked, bemused at how excited Doug and Stu were.
"What do you think it is?" Stu asked.
"If it's what I think it is, I think it's a big fucking mistake." I got up from the bed and took the ring box from Doug.
"I'm going to propose to Melissa at your wedding, after the ceremony." I glanced up at Stu who was stepping into his pants then I looked back down at the diamond ring inside the box.
"Stuey, congratulations!" Phil tossed the remote, pissed off.
"Thank you, Doug." I looked up at Stu again, and held up the ring box.
"This is a ring," All three of them just looked at me, but I felt ready to cry.
"Yes, Natalie, it is a ring." Stu answered, as if talking to a small child.
"For Melissa." Stu just nodded. "This is a ring for Melissa. The two-timing selfish bitch that has control issues, and has to call you every two hours to make sure that you aren't going behind her back and fucking everything with legs because she is paranoid that you're going to find someone better? That Melissa?"
"Natalie!" Doug scolded, taking the ring box out of my hand. "It's a beautiful ring, Stu." Doug said, trying to change the subject.
"It was my grandmother's. Made it all the way through the Holocaust with that thing. It's legit." Stu said excitedly.
"I don't get it. Wait, have you not listened to anything I've ever said, or Natalie for that matter?" Phil asked, agitated.
"You know, we've been dating for three years. It's time, this is how it works."
"A, That is bullshit, B, she is a complete bitch!" Phil said.
"Hey, that's his fiancé you're talking about." Doug half-heartedly slapped Phil's crossed feet.
"What? It's true; it's true you know it's true. She beats him." Phil got up from the bed and stood next to me. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared intently at Stu.
"That was twice, and I was out of line. She's strong-willed and I respect that." Stu defended.
"Wow, wow, he's in denial. Not to mention, she fucked a sailor."
"He wasn't a sailor," Doug said, trying to defend Stu. "He was a bartender on a cruise ship, you know that." I smiled humorlessly at Doug's tone, almost like he was mocking Stu.
"Guys, just, I'm standing right here so I can hear everything that you're saying."
"Hey guys, are you ready to let the dogs out?" I turned toward the door to see Alan with his hip popped out to one side and a plastic bag in hand.
"What?" Stu asked, just as Phil said, "Do what?"
"Let the dogs out. You know, who let the dogs out? Who, who, who, who? Who let the dogs out?" I smiled widely and giggled slightly at Alan's awkward dance.
"Who brought this guy along?" Phil asked, turning to Stu. I glanced disapprovingly at Phil, as Doug sighed at his friend.
"Yes, Alan. We are ready to let the dogs out." I snorted. "Hey, congrats."
"Thank you." I shook my head at Stu, completely bummed that he would even consider marrying her.
"Come on, Natalie, let's go be sane somewhere else." Phil wrapped an arm around my shoulder and dragged me past Alan and into the kitchen. "I know something that will cheer you up." He let go of me and I hopped up on the counter as he searched around in the mini fridge. "Here you go." He handed me a mini bottle of Vodka, and I couldn't help the small smile that crossed my lips as I looked up at Phil.
"Spending Stu's money is supposed to make me feel better?" I asked as he came to stand between my legs.
"You're smiling aren't you? No, that," He indicated to the little bottle in my hand, "is supposed to make you feel better. Spending Stu's money is just a plus." I started laughing and hugged Phil.
"Thank you." He nodded and I opened the bottle. I took a quick sip, waiting for the little buzz to start. When nothing happened, I all but downed the entire thing. "Oops," I giggled at the empty bottle and Phil smirked at me, helping me down from the counter.
We followed Alan to the elevators, and Phil punched the button. I looked over at Alan and nearly fell over in a fit of laughter. The plastic bag hung from his elbow, his hip was out to the side and the back of his hand was on it, and he shook his hair almost femininely.
"You're not really wearing that are you?" Phil asked, and I shook my head at Phil's bluntness. He really came off as a jackass sometimes.
"Wearing what?" Alan asked, confused.
"The man-purse," Phil explained. "You actually gonna wear that or are you guys just fucking with me?" Phil asked, amused. We all just looked at him, trying not to burst into laughter.
"It's where I keep all my things. I get a lot of compliments on this. Plus it's not a man-purse, it's called a satchel. Indiana Jones wears one." Alan explained matter-of-factly.
"So does Joy Behar." Phil said, and I snorted.
"You know what Joy Behar wears Phil?" Before he could answer my question, the elevator doors opened and a man with a small fro stepped away from the blonde's crotch and she smoothed out her dress.
"We're going up, guys." He said, pointing towards the ceiling.
"Yeah, that's perfect," Phil answered, placing his hand on the small of my back to help me into the elevator.
"We're going up?" Doug asked Phil and I raised my eyebrow at both of them. It was hard to ignore the couple behind us, but a few seconds later, the doors opened and they stepped out. The elevator doors hadn't even closed yet and they were stuck together like glue.
"I'm just saying, it's clearly marked, ok? We are definitely not supposed to be up here." Stu worried, trying to talk Phil out of being up on the roof. Stu held the door open and I stumbled through, forgetting how hard it was to walk in high heels.
"Oh, come on, Stu, we're paying for a villa. We can do whatever the fuck we want." Phil reasoned.
"Yeah, but-" Stu tried again but Phil cut him off.
"Just wedge the door open," He pointed to a cinder block, and placed his hand on a rung on the ladder that was attached to the side of the roof. "Come on up here." Phil started climbing as Stu moved the cinder block in front of the door to keep it open. Doug and Alan followed Phil up and I held onto the side of the wall to catch my balance while I took off my shoes.
"What did Phil give you that's already making you take off your shoes?" Stu teased and I laughed sarcastically at him.
"Just shut up and climb the ladder so that I can." I held the backs of my heels with one finger as I climbed up behind Stu.
"Look at the view up here." Doug said, astounded.
"Are you happy?" Phil asked, bro-hugging him.
"Whoa, are you kidding me?" Stu exclaimed, and I smiled at him.
"Oh my God." I walked over to the edge of the roof, shoes still in hand and took in all that I was seeing.
"You like it?" Phil asked, and I beamed at him.
"It's beautiful. It might be better than the view from the suit." I joked.
"Of course it's better than the view from our suit!" Phil said and I just grinned at him.
"Hey, Alan, how are we doing buddy?" Phil asked, leading me away from the edge of the roof towards Stu and Doug.
"Good," He said, his back turned towards us. He then turned around and walked over with something in both hands.
"What have you got over there Alan?" Doug asked.
"Look Natalie, that's the Eiffel Tower." Stu teased, the others laughing.
"Shut up," I answered good-naturedly.
"Uh oh," Doug said, glancing at what was in Alan's hands.
"Right?" Phil asked, nudging him.
"A little Jagermeister, good idea." Doug said as Alan passed out shot glasses. I took mine and shook my head at the bottle now in Phil's hand.
"I can't remember the last time I had that," I added, watching as Stu, Doug and Phil all shared a look.
"We do," The said simultaneously and I flipped them off, smiling at their laughter.
"Um, no this is good, I want, I'd like to make a toast. To Doug and Tracy, may tonight be but a minor speed bump in an otherwise very long and happy marriage." Phil poured my shot glass full as I listened to Stu's impromptu speech. "Cheers," We all said, clinking glasses and swallowing the foul liquid. I winced as it burned its way down my throat.
"Ah," I coughed, remembering now why exactly I stopped doing shots with them when the Jagermeister was out.
"Oh, it's like college." Stu groaned, as all the others made noises of disgust by the taste.
"Alright, I want to talk about something," Phil raised a hand to his mouth briefly, the alcohol burning. "I wanna-"
"I'd like to," Alan cut Phil off, looking up in the sky while Phil glared at the larger man, annoyed that he would do that to him. "Say something," He handed Phil his shot glass and dug in his pockets for something. "That I've prepared for tonight." He found a folded up piece of paper and started unfolding it. Doug clapped Phil on the shoulder, telling him that it was cool, and he nodded. Phil refilled our shot glasses and I frowned at the offensively disgusting liquid.
"Hello," Alan started reading off of the paper. "How 'bout that ride in? I guess that's why they call it Sin City. Ha ha ha. You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one man wolf pack. But when my sister brought Doug home, I knew he was one of my own. And my wolf pack, it grew by one. So were there two of, there were two of us in the wolf pack; I was alone first in the pack and then Doug joined in later. And six months ago, when Doug introduced me to you guys, I thought 'Wait a second, could it be?' And now I know for sure, I just added two more guys and a girl to my wolf pack." I smiled flattered by Alan's words. "The five of us wolves, running around the desert together, in Los Vegas, looking for strippers and cocaine. So, tonight," we all lifted our glasses awkwardly as Alan pulled out a pocket knife. "We make a toast."
"What?" Stu asked, wanting to know what Alan was about to do.
"What do you got over there?" Doug asked, and then we all backed up hurriedly as Alan sliced through his hand. I gagged, squeamish around blood. It was loud as the other three guys all said 'No' not in unison, so most of what they were saying was garbled. Alan started crying out in pain, and that upset my stomach even more.
"What is that?" Stu asked, dumbfounded.
"Blood-brothers." Alan answered in a low, pain laced tone.
"Make him stop, make him stop." I whimpered, hiding behind Stu.
"Alan, we're not going to cut ourselves, hand me the knife, slowly, thank you." Alan handed it over to a semi-calm Doug who placed it on the edge of the roof.
"Are you alright? Are you ok? Do you need a doctor?" Phil asked all in quick succession and all Alan did was nodded, sucking on his oozing hand. I shuttered, even thinking about the blood made me want to gag.
"He's fine, he's good." Doug said, nodding to me.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm good," Alan answered, his voice muffled by his hand.
"Perfect, Alan, come here buddy," Phil invited Alan to rejoin our group and he came slowly and quietly.
"Get in here, Crazy." Stu said, and Alan accepted his glass back from Phil.
"Alright," Phil raised his glass and we all followed suit. "To a night, we will never forget." We all clinked glasses again, smiling elatedly about the amazing night we were going to have. I downed the shot and shook my head, laughing at the guy's reaction.
Hello again, I hope you like the chapter! I wanted to make it extra long for you guys, and I also wanted to give special thanks to those who already reviewed: Rickii101, Ms. Lluvy, Lunar Knight, EmmyMK, and totaalt. I want to thank Buzinga, totaalt, Rickii101, NotSupposedToBeHere, kellyjo562, ShadowFox6645 as well for either adding me to their Favorite Story list or putting my story on their Story Alert list. I'm really glad you all like my story. So, anyway, thanks again, and review if you either loved or hated the new chapter!