Free The Lover's Game by J.C. Reed

muttered under my breath.
    “You wanted a new date. This is where you’ll find him,” Thalia added. “In your circumstances, you can’t be too fussy. You want to stop running back to your ex, right?”
    I wanted to point out that they had insisted on finding me a date and that it had been all their idea, but there was no point in arguing.
    “What’s the password?” one of the five bouncers asked. He was a big man with greased hair and the most menacing expression I had ever seen. I swallowed hard and looked at Gina, inwardly praying she wouldn’t remember.
    “You’ll never see it coming, Lewis,” Gina said, unfazed, playing with her butterfly necklace. “Tonight I’ll hook up with a hairy guy with large feet and small hands, get his number, then call him next week to tell him he has to go in for STD tests.”
    “That’s harsh.” To my surprise, the bouncer chuckled and, with a wink at Gina, he let us in for free.
    “What was that?” I asked, confused, as we descended the stairs into what looked like a basement. “Was that the password?”
    “There is no a password.” She looked at me and grimaced. “Lewis and I go way back. It’s just an inside joke we’ve had going on forever.”
    I nodded knowingly, even though I had no idea what she was talking about.
    Eventually, we reached a dark corridor and moved past black curtains into a crowded room with silver lights that sent a sharp pain through my eyes. I closed them for a moment, unable to suppress a shiver. Slowly, I opened my eyes again and let them adjust as I took in my surroundings.
    “Oh, my god,” I exclaimed in horror.
    The whole place was dark and hot, with no windows and no visible exits. Like the outside, the walls were painted a gloomy black. It was so hot and stuffy that I figured whoever owned the club must have installed heaters in the corners, probably to entice thirst so their clientele would buy more drinks. The walls looked shabby, and the whole place was in desperate need of some interior design. The tables and chairs were scratched and probably would have benefited from some scrubbing. I didn’t want to sit down, let alone touch anything.
    “It’s awesome, right?” Thalia gushed, pointing to the stripper poles in the corners, where anyone bold enough was allowed to show off their abilities—or lack thereof. Judging from their awkward moves, the dancers were far from being professionals. “Everyone here’s single, which is why they encourage rubbing up against anyone you like to see if they like you back.” As though that was a good thing, she grinned at me and raised her eyebrows meaningfully.
    “No.” I shook my head slowly, fighting hard to stifle the onset of hysteria at the back of my throat. “I meant...Oh, my god. How awful,” I murmured, unable to peel my eyes off the people dancing and making out in what looked like a huge pool, their bodies and clothes covered in foam.
    I had heard of foam parties and had seen them on television, but I had never realized they actually existed and that they could be so wild. The people were uninhibited and probably intoxicated—and many of them were almost naked.
    Someone bumped into me.
    “Sorry,” I mumbled and moved aside, only to slam into someone else.
    Small rivulets of sweat began to trickle down my spine, both from the lack of space and from the stuffy air. I tied my hair behind my back and started to fan my burning face with my hand.
    “Hey, Gina. Get those drinks,” Thalia said. As soon as Gina was gone, she turned to me with a frown on her face. “You’re not going to pass out, are you?”
    “What?” I stared at her. “No, I’m fine.”
    “Please don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind about trying to find someone. I still remember how you looked when I picked up from Central Park. You didn’t seem to be in a good place. It wasn’t hard to figure out that you had been crying your heart out over a guy.”
    The image of Jett with Tiffany flashed through