AN: Hi again! It's almost embarrassing how many unfinished drafts and outlines I found on my old laptop. This one is fully written, but being edited to bring it more current. Expect twice a week updates, Saturday and Tuesday. Hope you enjoy!
After yet another failed relationship, Tris Prior decided that something needed to change.
All she did was work, she was a co-owner of a successful tattoo parlor in Chicago with her best friends, Tori Wu, and Christina Johnson. They'd worked damn hard at their trade, and the trio of twenty-somethings were finally able to purchase the place they'd started working as fresh-faced teenagers years ago. Both Christina and Tris were twenty-seven, and Tori was twenty-nine, and not only were they business partners, but best friends who'd grown up together, and they'd seen her through all her relationships and breakups.
First, her long-term boyfriend Peter Hayes, a relationship that spanned high school, his going away to college and returning home to ask her to marry him had ended just days after he'd proposed. They were only twenty-three at the time, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to be married, so he'd taken her hesitation as a sign that their long relationship had run its course. He was engaged to someone else now, and apparently very happy, but she'd sometimes wondered if he was the one that had gotten away.
Tris was never alone for long, after taking some time to herself to get over her breakup with Peter, she went through a span of boyfriends. Robert, Al, even an ill-advised fling with Peter's best friend Drew. There was Paul, Charlie, and a few casual dates thrown in, but nothing ever worked, mostly because she always seemed to pick the bad boys and hang on for dear life, but when she found a good guy she inevitably would pick the relationship apart. Tori was convinced she wasn't ready to settle down, she just loved the feeling of falling in love and got bored when it happened.
Maybe she was right.
Finally, her most recent boyfriend had returned home to Chicago after college and a stint apprenticing at his father's accounting firm. Tobias Eaton was her next-door neighbor growing up, and they'd been friends since they were kids, and she'd trusted him. She'd hired him, then made the mistake of mixing work and pleasure, along with ignoring all of her friends' warnings about his playboy ways.
Her best friends were also very aware of her now ex-boyfriend's terrible reputation, and after many unsuccessful attempts to talk to her during their tumultuous relationship they'd finally stopped trying and decided to let Tris come to them to talk. However, they'd seen her down in the dumps for weeks now and they'd finally decided enough is enough.
"So, what happened this time?" Tori asks Tris on a slow night.
"Girl." Tris draws out the word and Christina laughs from the doorway, "You both tried to warn me."
"Well, what did he do?" Christina asks as she drops into the chair next to Tori as Tris cleans her station.
"You both have always told me not to mix business and pleasure." Tris says and her friends nod along, "I didn't listen. He cheated on me, again."
"No, he didn't!!!" Christina exclaims, "Someone here?" Tris nods, "My God, he already slept with Lauren, Lyla and Destiny!"
"And you right before Tris." Tori points out and Christina flips her off.
"Temporary insanity. Is that why he's suddenly not working here anymore?" Christina asks.
Tris nods, sighing heavily. Christina did warn her, as did Tori, that her childhood friend who now worked at the shop with them had slept with almost every other woman who worked in the shop. He'd come on to Tori, and she'd been intrigued until she'd heard about his exploits from Lynn, another one of their employees he'd tried with. Lynn had laughed in his face, not only was she not interested in him, but she also wasn't interested in any man, and had been happily married to her wife Miranda for almost ten years.
Christina had fallen for his charm, and after they'd hooked up in her tattoo room he'd moved on to Tris, trying his best to woo her. Even with the warning of every woman in the shop, Tris had fallen for his charm, and she'd believed whole-heartedly that he was a changed man when he committed to her, especially since she's known him for her entire life.
Until they'd hired Molly, and within her first week he'd also slept with her.
"He slept with Molly. It took him barely a week to find his next victim, and this whole time I thought he'd changed. When I confronted him about Molly, he'd admitted to also sleeping with some of his customers. He says he's addicted to sex and wants to get help." Tris says.
Tori's expression softens, "Okay, so he's admitting he has an issue. Do you believe he wants to change?"
"Oh, I did, until Molly told me he'd come on to her again on the very day he told me he was touring the rehab facility, and when she refused he'd gone home with her customer instead. You know Myra, the one who's been getting that back tat?" Tris asks and both women nod again, "Yeah he's fucking her now."
"Oh Tris, I'm so sorry." Christina says and Tori nods.
"Me too. You were really into him, and for months he'd been on his best behavior. How could you know?" Tori adds.
"It sucks, but I'm not going to lose sleep over him. I'm just going to do me for a while and if a good relationship happens to fall out of the sky and into my lap, then so be it. Until then I'll go back to managing the business and he can fuck all the way off." Tris shrugs.
Christina and Tori share a look. Tris was rarely alone, men flocked to her and for good reason. She was beautiful, smart, successful and a selfless soul. She fell in love hard, and always quickly, and as a result she was hurt often. They needed to get her the hell away from Chicago and let her have some single fun so she could see life can be different outside of the only city she's ever known.
"We need a girl's trip. We've been working our asses off ever since we bought this place from Harrison, how about we take time off?" Christina asks and Tori smiles.
"George and Amar could totally run things if we took a trip." Tori mentions her brother and his husband, who both worked at the shop with them.
"They really could." Tris agrees, "A girl's trip could leave them short-handed though, if we get everyone together."
"Just the three of us. The Boss Bitches." Christina grins and Tori laughs.
"Where's the best place for three Boss Bitches to let loose and have fun?" Tori asks.
"Vegas." Tris replies and the face splitting smiles she gets in return tells her they like the idea.
"I've never been." Tori says.
"I've been once, you all remember Edward right?" Christina asks and Tris and Tori nod, "I met him there and we had one hell of a long weekend!"
"That boy visited you every weekend for damn near three months after that." Tori reminds her.
"I made an impression." She grins.
"What ever happened to him?" Tris asked.
"Fizzled out. Vegas is a whole different vibe. Very sexy, always live, tons of people who just want to have fun. It's not a place you fall in love, it's somewhere you go to be someone else for a bit and let loose."
"It sounds perfect." Tris says with a smile.
"I'll book it." Christina replies happily.
"Okay I've arranged the schedule so we can take six days off." Tori said with a smile.
"Even without Tobias being here?" Tris asks.
"George and Amar are going to hold down the fort." Tori reminds her, "Harry even said he'd be around to keep an eye on things."
"No kidding, you got him out of retirement?" Tris asks and Tori laughs.
"Sure did, it didn't take much convincing at all, he's missed it. I promise you, we're good to go."
"We're seriously doing this?" Christina asks and Tori nods happily.
"We're really doing this." Tori replies. Both women look at Tris, who just raises her eyebrows.
"You're still in, right?" Christina asks.
"Yeah, we're only young once."
The suite they'd gotten at one of the famous Vegas strip hotels was nothing they've ever seen before. It had three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a sprawling shared living space, a private hot tub and a balcony overlooking the famous Vegas strip.
"This is amazing." They'd breathed out as they looked over the city.
"We have five nights, let's make them count!" Christina exclaims and they each head into their bedrooms to get ready for a night out.
Tori comes out with her thin dreadlocks twisted into a sexy updo, with a leather catsuit on and high heels. Her smokey cat eye makeup accentuates her almond shaped brown eyes, and her outfit highlights her thin physique perfectly, showing her subtle curves.
Christina's tight mini-dress leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, and her willowy figure is highlighted perfectly. Her makeup and hair are expertly styled, and she's shocked when Tris finally joins them.
Tris wore a tight body-con dress, black with a criss crossed bodice, showing off skin with hints of her midsection and cleavage. Tris was the curviest of all three women, with what they'd always called a porn star body, and she had it on full display tonight.
"Damn we're hot." Tori remarks and they take several pictures and selfies before they leave the suite.
They make a promise to each other, to be safe, to stay in contact no matter what, and to not just leave without sharing their location on their phones.
"Let the games begin." Christina says as they link arms and head out of the elevator towards the booming club connected to their hotel lobby.
You can feel the music from the club before you even walked in, and all three women turned heads as they made their way to their bar. They'd gotten drinks, and within minutes they're approached by a group of men. Tris chats with the guys, but she's not feeling any real connection to any of them.
They continue to mingle around, dancing and having a good time, and the next time they walk to the bar two handsome men trail behind them. They introduce themselves as brothers, Zeke, and Uriah, and talk to all three of the women. Even though both seem nice enough, Tris isn't feeling either, so she pulls back so her friends can talk freely with them.
She's happy when she sees Christina talking with the guy named Uriah, and when Tori starts talking to the guy named Zeke, Tris gives her a thumbs up.
"I should have known you two were up here." Another man says and Tris turns towards the voice. She's met with dark blonde hair, an eyebrow piercing catching the light of the club, tattoos crawling up his neck and down his impressive arms and an intense stare.
"You snooze, you lose." Zeke says to the man and the group laughs.
Tris regards the man, and with the way his eyes travel up and down her body she can almost feel the shiver run down her spine.
"I certainly don't think I'm losing." He replies.
"Neither do I " she thinks to herself as a smile slowly spreads across her face.