millionaire. No! Like, not even a millionaire, a multi-multi-multi-millionaire. A few times over. And you know what is crazy . . . I’ve never spent a cent of it! Not a cent. It’s all in some low-risk, bland-chicken-breast retirement policy and I’ve never done anything silly and wild with it. And I deserve to. At least once in my life, so . . .” I pulled away from him again and screamed. “Shooters on MEEE!”
I rushed through the crowd to the bar and smacked my hand down on it, hard. I looked at the bartender, who was definitely looking in my direction now. No need to fight for his attention this time. “Well, what are you waiting for?” I said to him.
He looked at me very skeptically and raised his brows. “Uh . . . you sure you can . . . uh, it’s just no one has ever bought everyone drinks before. This is very . . .”
“Wild! Crazy!” I jumped a little in excitement. “I know! And I’m loving it. Wwwwhhhoooo-hooooooo!” I threw my hands in the air and looked at the crowd around me. They all gave a loud “whoo-hoo” too!
I turned back to the barman. “Well, you’d better get pouring!”
“Okay, but I think I’ll need your credit card first, you understand,” he said, still looking very skeptical.
“Totally!” I whipped my card out of my bag and slapped it on the bar counter with a dramatic flourish.
“Are you sure about this?” Noah asked one last time.
“Noah, I have never been more sure about anything in my life.” The crowd around me let out a massive shout. They were all on me now, high-fiving me, pulling me into hugs, telling me how cool I was, dude, and wishing me a happy birthday!
No one had ever called me cool before. I looked at Noah. He was sitting on a bar stool watching me with a massive smile on his face. I smiled back and he shook his head in an amused fashion.
“Aren’t you going to have one?” I asked, as I saw him push the shot the barman had given him aside.
He took his car keys out his pocket and waved them at me. “One is enough.”
“Now look who’s the sensible one!” And for some reason I blew him a kiss before I was dragged back onto the dancefloor by the girl with white eyes.
CHAPTER 53
Twenty minutes later, drenched in sweat and out of breath, I stumbled back over to Noah, who was seated at the bar. He’d been watching me with amusement while I’d been jumping up and down on the dancefloor. Every now and then I would look back over my shoulder and find him smiling at me indulgently. I can only think that my dancing was probably terrible and he was finding it very funny. I stretched my arms out over the bar and collapsed forward onto a chair.
“I’m exhausted,” I said. “Is this what being young is like? I don’t think I could keep up.”
“Looks like you’re keeping up rather well!” he said.
I fanned my face with my hands. “I think I could do with some fresh air. Should we get out of here soon?”
“Heeeyyyy.” Noah and I turned when we heard a smooth, slippery-sounding voice. It was the lead singer of the band, and his voice sounded very different to that raspy-groan-shriek-moan that he sang with. He was shirtless, bare-chested, except for those large nipple rings that glinted in the lights. His black hair was long and wet-looking, sticking to his pale shoulders like masses of thin black snakes. His skin seemed to be an unnatural shade of white, like he had just emerged from a decade-long sunless hibernation. His pants were tight, black and leathery with long chains that hung from his pockets. His hands were covered in silver skull rings and his fingernails were painted green.
“Hey,” I replied.
“I’m Klaw.” He ran his hand through his wet hair and I noticed, like bees to honey, a small flock of women suddenly appear by his side. They seemed transfixed by the movement of his fingers through his wet hair and then even more transfixed when he leaned across the bar and moved closer to me.
“Zoe,” I said to him. I think I was slightly transfixed too, not so much by him but by those tattoos on the back of his fingers, especially that Hello Kitty one. It seemed on one hand not to suit him at all, but on another hand to suit him