“My name’s Stella,” I told him, trying my best to answer as if I were talking to a substitute teacher – not rude… just, blase. I assumed girls pursued him regularly wherever he went because that’s what happens to anyone that’s made a name for themselves, isn’t it?

We build a fascination with this beautiful being despite knowing nothing about them outside of what’s been contrived by their media team for the public, and whatever their Starbucks coffee order is, as seen in Us Weekly photos.

Yes, I could’ve stared at his face all night but I had to get back to my group of friends. We had a table, too, it just wasn’t as close to the DJ booth nor did it have a stripper pole.

“Wait, Stella. Why don’t you and your friends join us?” he leaned in and cupped his hand over his mouth to ensure I heard. I looked to my left, silently asking Jae, ‘what do you think?’ but she was already nodding ferociously as if to say, ‘yes, bitch, we’re in Vegas, of course we want to sit at their table!’

“Okay, sure. Yeah, we’ll come by… there’s six of us, and we have to close out our tab, but we’ll be back!” I shouted over Diplo’s ‘Where R U Now’ which I really wanted to dance to, but my bladder had other plans.

I clasped Jae’s hand in mine and moved through the sweaty crowd – everyone was shaking their hips and grinding to the beat while green laser beams showered across our bodies, somehow amplifying our high.

“I think the molly’s starting to hit,” I blurted to the stall next to me as I peed and ran my pink fingernails down my thigh.

“Perfect timing, then! Let’s go get the girls and tell them the good news!” Jae practically squealed as she washed her hands, staring at her large pupils in the illuminated oval mirror.

We danced back to our table where Demi, Alexis, Maude, and Lena were having a twerk off; their shoes were under the table and their feet against the cream vinyl booth which made me realize how sweaty my feet were. I quickly noticed the moisture in my hands and reached for a Fiji bottle sitting in the silver iced tin.
“You guys!” Jae screamed over a remix of Lizzo’s Truth Hurts, “you’ll never fucking believe who just pulled Stella on our way to the bathroom!”

“Who?” Demi bent over, only slightly curious while the other girls kept jumping, paying no mind to the fact that their dresses shimmied up a good six inches higher than designed.

The beat kept building and I almost threw my shoes off to join until our server stopped to check on us. Her DD’s were almost touching her chin, thanks to a boob job and a white rhinestoned push-up bra.

“You girls need anything?” she touched the small of my back and I almost melted.

“No, babe, we’re actually gonna close out,” I shouted and reached into my black crossbody bag, “here, this should cover it,” I handed her $800 for the bottle of Grey Goose we’d ordered 30 minutes earlier.

12:30pm

I noticed the girls fitting their heels back on; Lena grabbed a comb from her bag and started teasing her hair.

“I cannot believe he’s here!” Maude grabbed my shoulder and re-applied her Dior lip gloss, “he pulled you aside!?” her smile radiated and I could no longer tell what color her eyes were. “I knew this was going to be the best trip ever!” she pressed her lips against mine.

I kissed her back as I felt the speakers vibrate my insides. “I’m trying not to overthink it, but yeah, I’m rolling balls right now, so let’s get the fuck over there!” I demanded.

“Has anyone seen the waitress?” Alexis asked, adjusting her bra underneath her black cut-out bodysuit.

“Yeah, babe, I just paid her! We’re good. Let’s go!” I yelled as I massaged my fingertips against my palms.

We formed a line as we strode through the hype crowd which got even louder when Diplo shouted, ‘HOW THE FUCK’S EVERYBODY DOING TONIGHT?!’

Like puppets, everyone shot their hands up at the same time and let out a synchronized ‘woooo!’

“There they are!” Jae squeezed my hip and pointed to the owner’s table. There was a red hue shading the club as the breeze from outside poured over our skin with purpose.

His eyes met mine and my hand fell into his as we funneled into the booth. I recognized two of the other actors with him and within seconds after introductions, Billie Eilish’s bad guy reverberated, forcing our bodies against each other.

I’m that bad type

Make your mama sad type

Make your girlfriend mad tight

Might seduce your dad type

I’m the bad guyyyyy
“Hi, you. Do you want something to drink?” he put his arm around me and looked down at my glistening face.

I took the last gulp of my Fiji and told him I’d take a vodka soda. He grabbed an empty cup and filled it with three ice cubes, followed by my drink of choice.

“Here,” he slipped it into my hand, keeping his eyes locked on mine which seemed to drown out the music.

He looked at me with an endearing innocence.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked. The question pierced my body and I felt a smile form on my face before handing my drink to Alexis.

“Yea,” I started shyly and placed my hand on his lower back to keep my balance.

He put his hands behind my ears, then his fingers ran up my scalp, sending a current down to my toes. His lips met mine and I pressed closer against his sculpted abs. I sensed the camera flashes and heard the song change; everything felt so right – like the universe conspired to place us in this exact spot. His lips were soft and fit perfectly against mine; we made out until one of his friends spilled their Red-bull down my recently spray-tanned arm.

I pulled away and met his gaze before praising the allure of it all. “Well, I certainly did not expect this when we walked into the club tonight.”
“There’s something about you, Stella,” he started.

I rolled my eyes, “oh, come on, you can’t tell me this isn’t normal for you.”

“It’s really not. Seriously, ask Alex,” he pointed to his blonde actor friend who was grinding against Lena.

I laughed and grabbed my drink. “Babe, I’m not asking your friends. You don’t owe me anything, except maybe a dance or five.”

With that, Halsey’s Bad at Love came on and I felt my body sink into his. We grinded for another twenty minutes before Maude came over asking if I wanted a second pill.

“Nah, babe, I’m good,” I felt like my eyes were pulsing with the speakers, “can you just hand me a water?”

As she grabbed a Fiji, two girls came up to the table and asked the security guard if they could get a picture with the guy that just took away all my lip gloss. He shooed them by and I felt a twinge of pride, quickly recognizing (despite my stimulant-induced state) that I was one of those girls that liked someone without knowing anything about them.

With that, I kissed him again for good measure, grabbed my watered down drink, got up, and joined Demi and Maude on the small dance area surrounding the booth.

The liquid nitrogen blasted down from the ceiling, sending sweat into our now greasy hair. Demi twirled around the pole like she was auditioning for Spearmint Rhino; I cheered her on like the good best friend I am and I caught his eyes on me as he sipped his vodka on ice.

Shit. He was dreamy.

I looked next to him to see Lena’s right leg draped over Alex’s while their faces smashed against each other. Ben was massaging Jae’s head, which I’m sure she convinced him to begin within seconds of introducing herself.

1:30pm

The cold air shot down from the ceiling again and my body was overcome with warmth and pleasure; I don’t think I’d ever been in such a good mood.

I hopped down to grab more water and was pleasantly intercepted by his lips against mine. I felt like I was transported into an alternate universe where nothing could go wrong; I leaned back and let his arm support me so I could smile.

“You wanna go gamble?” he smiled back and squeezed my ass.

“Fuck yeah! Let’s all go!” I shouted over Dua Lipa’s New Rules.

We paid, met with Encore security for slippers, and ran to the smoky casino like we were in a movie; we spent the next three hours playing Craps surrounded by hundreds of people.

We continued the party in the Fairway Villa where we… well, I’ll let your imagination take over from here but I’d say we rivaled The Hangover boys minus the missing tooth.