Waking up in Vegas Read online

  Waking Up In Vegas

  Natasha Preston

  Contents

  Also by Natasha Preston

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Epilogue

  Just Like The Movies…

  Acknowledgments

  Keep in Touch with Natasha Preston

  Also by Natasha Preston

  THE SILENCE SERIES

  Silence

  Broken Silence

  Players, Bumps, and Cocktail Sausages

  Silent Night

  THE CHANCE SERIES

  Second Chance

  Our Chance

  THE ONE SERIES

  Waking up in Vegas

  STAND-ALONES

  Save Me

  With the Band

  Reliving Fate

  Lie to Me

  After the End

  YA THILLERS

  The Cellar

  Awake

  The Cabin

  You Will be Mine

  The Lost

  The Twin

  Copyright © 2019 by Natasha Preston

  All rights reserved.

  Visit my website at www.natashapreston.com

  Cover Designer: LJ Designs

  Editor: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com

  Proofreading: Victoria L James, www.victorialjames.com

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN-13: 9781704800318

  Vic. Thanks for being the best dickhead a girl could ask for. Love you, Fro.

  Author’s Note

  I felt the need to write a little note before you begin. Now we all know there are Debbie Downers out there. If you’re not one, EXCELLENT, hop right to the first chapter. I have researched the marriage and annulment process in the US and have made this book as true to real life as the plot will allow. If things are slightly more accelerated than it would actually be, please just go with it! I write in UK English; we don’t have much use for Z’s and we love a double L.

  If your name is actually Debbie and you’re cool, don’t hate. I didn’t make it up. Enjoy!

  One

  Wren

  “Las. Fucking. Vegas?”

  My sister Emma rolls her pale blue eyes. “For the millionth time, Wren, yes.”

  Ah! “You’re all going to Vegas for Brody’s twenty-first?” My mouth is open like I’ve just watched Tom Hardy strip. I hope they don’t think they’re going without me.

  Emma shares a look with Brody’s sister Felicity.

  “Well, a week after his birthday, actually,” Emma says.

  “Em, you cannot go without me.”

  Felicity raises her dark eyebrow. “It’s not me and Emma you have to convince; it’s your parents. And Brody.”

  “I’m eighteen.”

  Emma points at me. “Just! And in America you can’t drink or gamble until you’re twenty-one.”

  “That’s a dumb rule.”

  “Law,” Emma corrects.

  “Whatever. I’m still going. I’m sure Vegas has more than bars and casinos. In fact, I know it does. Dad won’t have an issue with me going as long as you and Luke promise to look out for me.” I give her a pleading, toothy smile.

  My big brother Luke is more overprotective than my dad.

  Emma deadpans. “Yes, because Luke and I want to babysit our little sister while on holiday.”

  I dramatically throw my hands up. Can she not see how important it is that I go too? “Come on, Em. You don’t actually have to do anything. I can look after myself… we’ll just tell Mum and Dad that you and Luke are.”

  Felicity laughs. “Your parents will be fine. However, can I be there when you ask Brody?”

  Okay, so Brody Harris—eldest friend of my brother, painfully beautiful, and a total arsehole—isn’t my biggest fan. We either ignore each other or we clash… because he is an arsehole, while I am not. I’m sure I can convince him though. Vegas is massive. We don’t have to hang out together.

  “I can handle Brody,” I tell them, sitting taller and feigning confidence. “Will you two please have my back?”

  “You know we will,” Felicity says. “Mason and Luke won’t mind, so that’s four of us wanting you to come.”

  I might be four years younger than Emma and Felicity, but we’ve always been close, as have our families. I even get along with Felicity and Brody’s older brother Mason. The six of us have been chucked together since we were babies and raised kind of like cousins. It shows. Well, not so much with Brody and me.

  Emma lies back against her sun lounger and shakes her head as she smiles. “You can come, Little Wren.”

  “If you could lay off the Little Wren thing when we’re talking to them, that would be great. Dad and Luke still think I’m about five.”

  “Your dad and brother will always think that. Dad, Mason, and Brody are constantly interfering in my life. Or helping, as they call it.” Felicity drops her sunglasses back over her leafy-green eyes.

  We’re all at Felicity’s parents’ house because it’s summer, and they have a pool. With everyone busy and most of us—not me—now moved out of home, we don’t get to spend as much time together. Today, though, we’re all here for swimming and a barbecue.

  All the parents are inside because they’re not swimming. Brody, Mason, and Luke are sitting around the patio table, drinking beer from the bottle.

  Okay, game plan, Wren. “I need to get Brody on side first, don’t I?”

  Emma rolls her head to face me. “We’re going for his birthday, so yes.”

  “Definitely go talk to him now while you’re in a bikini,” Felicity says, picking up her mimosa.

  I put mine down. She’s probably expecting me to refuse to use my body like that with Brody, and usually,
I would. But Vegas.

  I pat the small triangles of my red bikini top. “Wish me luck.”

  They sit up, the sun loungers clicking into the new upright position as they go for a better look.

  Great.

  I get up and walk over to them, looking much more confident than I feel. My blood-red bikini is my favourite and the one to convince Brody. For now, I’ll pretend that he doesn’t mildly dislike me.

  When I stop by the table, three pairs of eyes ping to me. Luke, being my brother, is the only one who looks at my face.

  Top job, bikini.

  I smile. “Brody—”

  “No,” he replies, his midnight-blue eyes finally rising to mine.

  See, he’s an arsehole. How can someone who looks so perfect—defined cheekbones, strong jaw, thick and masculine lips, deep eyes you could drown in, and inky-black hair—be such a massive bellend?

  “You don’t even know what I was about to say.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  I shrug. “I guess you don’t like blow jobs then. That’s cool.”

  “Fucking hell, Wren!” Luke spits, turning his nose up.

  Mason chuckles.

  Brody’s face is straight, unaffected. “What makes you think I would fall for that?”

  “Ugh! Please? I really want to come.”

  Mason laughs again, but we all ignore him.

  “Wren, you’re eighteen,” Brody says.

  I point. “Exactly. I’m an adult.”

  “Come on, man,” Luke says.

  I knew my big bro would be on my side.

  Brody drags his eyes from me to Luke, and then back again. He lingers for a second and groans. “Wren …”

  “I want to celebrate your birthday, too.”

  He lifts a brow. “I’ll buy a cake, and you can sing to me.”

  “You’re being impossible.”

  He takes a long swig of his beer. “If you can’t get into bars and casinos, what are you going to do?”

  “There’s plenty to do! They have arcades, bowling, swimming pools, cinemas, shows, and shopping.”

  “He’s making you sweat, Wren. We all know he’s going to say yes,” Mason teases.

  “Why are you getting involved?” Brody barks at his brother.

  Mason smirks.

  “Brody?” I purr.

  “No.”

  I throw my hands up. “Please!”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s my birthday.”

  “I’m aware.”

  His blue eyes darken. “Go back and sunbathe, Wren.”

  “Oh my God, budge.”

  “No.”

  “Please!”

  “Fine!” he snaps. “All right. You can come.”

  I clap. “Yay. I knew you would come around.”

  Brody’s scowl transforms into a smirk. “You were always coming, but that was fun.”

  The bastard. “You fucking what now?”

  Mason and Luke laugh, and I want to wrap my hands around Brody’s neck and squeeze him like a stress ball.

  He leans back in his seat. “You would have done the same to me.”

  “No, I wouldn’t. You’re a dickhead, and you’re going to Hell.”

  “She’s not wrong, man,” Luke says.

  I pick up Brody’s beer as he puts it down and take a swig. He watches me like a hawk. I wait for his reaction. Although, now I don’t expect him to react because he knows that’s what I want. Every time I’m with Brody, it’s like we play one giant game of chess.

  As I set it down, he says, “I backwashed it.”

  “No, you didn’t. Thanks for the drink.”

  His eyes narrow as I turn and walk back to Felicity and Emma.

  Viva Las fucking Vegas, baby!

  Two

  Brody

  Airport security is crammed with people packed together like we’re in a fucking mosh pit at a heavy metal concert. Why does no one care about personal space in places like this?

  I care.

  The last thing I want is the sweaty, bald guy to touch any part of my body. He’s standing so close that his penis could poke me if erect. This is what I hate the most about travelling. Especially when some twat rocks up late and complains about how slow everyone is.

  It’s hot, we’ve only been in the airport for fifteen minutes, and I already feel like I need a shower.

  We’re near the front of security now, so we chuck our stuff in the trays and step to the side to go through the scanner.

  Emma and Felicity go first and start picking up our bags from the trays at the other end.

  Mason and Luke are both stopped for a search. Mase turns and scowls when an overweight man gestures for him to follow. Luke has the attractive redheaded woman with the massive rack.

  “I bet you get felt up,” Wren says, looking at me over her shoulder. Her blonde hair is tied up and still hangs low down her back.

  “Is that what you think about in bed?”

  “Yes. Every dream I have is about an old security guy stuffing his finger up your arse.”

  Fucking girl. I made a mistake ten days ago by saying she could come. “You’re next, Wren.”

  She looks ahead and walks through the scanner.

  I go next—without setting any alarms off. I give her a pointed look, and she rolls her pretty blue eyes.

  Leaning closer to her, I whisper, “If you really want a finger put someplace later, give me a shout.”

  Pursing her lips, she grabs her bag from the tray and stuffs her phone and iPad inside it. “I dare you to say that louder.”

  “Not a chance in hell,” I reply, watching Luke out of the corner of my eyes. Everyone else would take it as a joke. Luke would cut my dick off. I thought I was protective of Felicity, but he is a whole new level of calm the fuck down when it comes to Wren.

  We head through the airport to find somewhere to eat. It’s best to fill up now before we’re forced to eat airplane “food.” There must be higher standards on animal food.

  “You did a good thing, letting Wren come along,” Felicity says, patting me on the back like I’m a fucking dog.

  “Did I have a choice?” I grumble.

  “Of course you did. We’re here for your birthday.”

  I didn’t have a choice. Although she’s the little one—the one we’ve always had to make allowances for—it wouldn’t be right without her. Not that she will ever hear me admit that.

  “Yeah, well, she’ll be doing her own thing.”

  Felicity rolls her eyes. “Emma and I have a couple of things planned with her. I don’t think I can gamble every day.”

  I lift a brow. “You’re cool with that?”

  “Absolutely, we are. She’s my sister from another mister … and missus.”

  Okay. We think of Luke, Emma, and Wren as our siblings? When did that happen? Luke is kind of like a brother, only he doesn’t piss me off nearly as much as Mase and Felicity do.

  “She’s fucking young.”

  Felicity tilts her head. “No, she’s young for Vegas. When we’re home, we can all go out together and get her drunk off her face.”

  I cross my arms as we follow the others towards a bunch of restaurants.

  “She’s irritating as hell when she’s sober. I don’t fancy seeing her drunk.”

  I have, of course, but I didn’t have to deal with her. In a club, I don’t have to be up close.

  “Play nice.” Felicity laughs. “Pretend she’s still wearing the red bikini.”

  That damn red bikini. “Don’t go there,” I warn.

  “She’s an adult now, and I saw your face when she walked over to you while wearing it.”

  “She has a banging body. Mase looked too.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “You’re being a brat.”

  Laughing, she bumps my arm. “I’m done. I’m only teasing.”

  Felicity and I join the others at Giraffe—an odd name for a restaurant—and take a seat around a table n
ear the window.

  Wren picks up the drinks menu and taps the cocktails section. “For the next two hours, I can drink with all of you.”

  “You know they’ll kick you off the plane if you’re drunk,” I tell her.

  She looks to her side. “You’re the kind of person to post TV show spoilers online, aren’t you?”

  I have a banging comeback about those kinds of people, but I have to turn away because Felicity is looking, and her ridiculous comment has made me hyperaware of my banter with Wren. Why did she need to ruin it? For once, Wren and I had a good thing going.

  We eat, and by the time we wander around a couple of shops, looking at sunglasses and alcohol that isn’t cheap enough to make me want to carry it around, our gate is open, and we need to board.

  Emma and Felicity checked us in online yesterday, so we already know where we’re sitting. Emma has this uncontrollable need to be organised. She even looked up the seating map online to find the seats she wanted—near an emergency exit.

  Now, it will fall on us to open the doors if it all goes to shit. Nothing like the pressure of four hundred lives to kick off your birthday trip. Not that we would be able to worry about falling to our death for very long if we had to jump.