Chapter 131: Party Animal

Lorali Pov

The ride in Astrid’s convertible felt less like a commute and more like a race through the city’s concrete canyons. Within forty-five minutes, the towering glass skyscrapers was a... barn. Never in my life did I think I’d see a barn in Prone city. It was absurd. Somehow, right on the fringes of the city’s border—literally in the middle of nowhere—sat a sprawling, neon-lit timber barn that looked so out of place.

Astrid parked the car in a messy parking lot of cars behind another car. I wonder how on earth all these people are going to leave once the party is over. "Can’t believe I’m doing this again." I mumbled stepping out of the car looking at the literal party house.

The music was thumping so hard from inside the massive structure that I could feel the deep, bass-heavy vibrations through the soles of my platform boots.

Naturally, I couldn’t attend a rodeo party in my damp, black figure-skating training gear. Astrid had taken one look at my athletic leggings and before we could even go anywhere she took me back to her apartment and picked out a new set of clothes for me. I thought Walter had a lot of clothes until I saw this girl’s closet.

She dressed me in a pair of high-waisted, flared tiger-print pants identical to hers, along with a cropped, sheer black velvet top and a wide-brimmed suede cowboy hat with a metallic fringe hanging off the rim. "We are totally matching!" Astrid cheered as if she didn’t pick the outfit. She stepped out of the car holding a tiny can of dissenting spray, without warning she sprayed me with dissenting spray right in the middle of the full parking lot. "This is just for precaution if you end up drinking, your scent shouldn’t get too out of control."

When we swung open the heavy double doors of the barn, the sheer volume of the place hit me hard. It was an absolute spectacle. The interior was massive, with exposed oak rafters wrapped in twinkling fairy lights, thick sawdust coating the wooden floor, and hundreds of people shouting, dancing, and tossing back drinks.

Down the center of the main floor was a literal dirt arena, and true to Astrid’s promise, the room was packed with jaw-droppingly handsome men wearing dark denim, unbuttoned leather vests, and thick belt buckles, showing off lean, muscular torsos glistening under the party lights.

"I told you!" Astrid screamed over the thunderous roar of the country-pop remix blasting from the DJ booth suspended high above the bar area made of wood in the corner. "I told you I never lie about shirtless men, Lorali!"

"You definitely undersold it!" I yelled back, a bright, helpless laugh bubbling up from my chest.

A passing bartender, wearing a vest with no shirt underneath, immediately shoved two smoking, ruby-red shots into our hands. Six months ago, I would never be caught dead in a place like this willingly. But six months ago me hasn’t been through what I’ve been through.

Tonight was a day to celebrate, I held the upper hand. Oracle was suffering in a lonely cell, consumed by his own guilt, while I was standing under golden lights, entirely free.

"To ruining bad men and throwing away bad bonds!" I toasted, clinking my glass against Astrid’s.

"To having fun!" Astrid shrieked.

We downed the shots in unison. The liquid burned pleasantly down my throat, sweet cherry and a light kick of rye, but I set the glass down on a passing tray immediately after.

I didn’t need to get obliterated tonight. The natural high of winning was already running like pure electricity through my blood.

This one wasn’t as disgusting as last time. I’m starting to think that strawberry sunrise used expired strawberries, it wasn’t just the alcohol.

Astrid grabbed my wrist and dragged me straight toward the center of the floor, where a line dance was mid-spree.

"Wait, Astrid, I don’t know the steps to this!" I laughed, trying to hold onto my cowboy hat as the crowd spun around us.

"Nobody knows the steps, Lorali! Just kick your feet, spin around, and look ridiculously hot!" Astrid yelled back, immediately throwing her hands in the air and doing a wildly dramatic hip shimmy that drew a chorus of whistles from a group of muscular cowboys nearby.

Catching her infectious energy, I threw my head back and joined in. I kicked my platform boots through the dust, spinning in circles, my tiger-print pants flaring out wildly around my ankles.

A tall, sandy-haired guy with a silver belt buckle offered me his hand with a charming smirk, spinning me expert-style into a double turn before dipping me low to the floor.

"Nice moves, tiger!" he shouted over the blaring banjo synth.

"It was just by pure luck!" I teased, laughing as I pulled myself up, caught Astrid by the arm, and twirled her away from a guy who was trying to offer her a ride on his shoulders.

The energy in the barn was electric, loud, and utterly unpretentious. People were laughing, tossing cowboy hats like frisbees across the room, and jumping up on wooden picnic tables to dance. The air smelled of sweet bourbon, roasted popcorn, and sawdust. Every tiny ache in my left shoulder, the dull residue of Oracle’s bond trying to drag me down was completely vaporized by the sheer joy of the moment.

"Mechanical bull time!" a booming voice echoed over the microphone, instantly followed by a massive roar from the crowd.

Astrid’s eyes lit up with absolute madness. "Oh, absolutely not," I said, catching her look and shaking my head violently. "Astrid, no. You will break your neck in those platform boots!" I know she wants to ride the bull.

"I am a champion!" she declared, grabbing two more light fruity cocktails from the bar and handing one to me. "I was born to conquer wild beasts, Lorali! Watch me!"

She shoved her way through the packed crowd all the way outside toward the giant padded ring where a mechanical bull was snorting simulated smoke from its fiberglass nostrils, I followed dodging a couple sweaty bodies in the crowd.

The operator, a guy with a thick mustache and a massive cowboy hat, leaned against the control board with a slick grin. "Who’s brave enough to last ten seconds on ’The Widowmaker’?" the operator called out into the microphone. Widowmaker? As in Widow-Maker. That’s an insane name for a mechanical bull, have people actually died from this.

"Me! Me, you handsome cowboy!" Astrid shouted, shoving her drink into my hands and vaulting over the padded vinyl boundary with zero grace and maximum enthusiasm. Great, now I have three drinks in my hands, she just keeps passing me glasses then gets another forgetting she gave me one to hold.

The crowd erupted in cheers as Astrid scrambled onto the leather saddle, her tiger-print flared pants draping dramatically over the bull’s metal flanks. She adjusted her pink cowboy hat, pointed dramatically at the crowd, and yelled, "Crank it up to maximum overdrive! Do your worst!"

"Hold on tight, sweetheart!" the operator called back, flipping the switch.

The bull lunged forward, twisting violently to the left. Astrid let out a high-pitched, wildly delighted scream, her arm flailing in the air as she swung back and forth. She actually managed to hang on for a solid eight seconds, her long hair flying everywhere, before the machine gave a sharp buck that sent her flying gracefully onto the thick, tall grass behind the machine.

The entire barn burst into applause. I was laughing so hard my ribs ached and quickly placed all the drinks on a nearby outside table before running over to check if she was okay. "That was majestic, the guy said you stayed on for eight seconds!" I shouted, holding out a hand to help her up out the now pancaked grass she landed on.

"Eight seconds? I was on it for eight hours" Astrid said breathlessly, wiping a speck of grass off her cheek before getting up. "I feel like I’m going to vomit."

"You were incredible," I admit I was skeptical at first, I didn’t expect her to pass the five second mark honestly. "I give it a ten out of ten for dramatic flair."

"You were amazing, Astrid, better than last time," Mustache man said, approaching us. It seems like he knows Astrid. Why am I even surprised this girl knows every living person on this earth.

"Your turn!" a group of guys standing nearby suddenly cheered, pointing at me. "Get on the bull! Get on the bull!"

"Oh, no, I am strictly a spectator tonight!" I called back, holding my hands up defensively with a grin. "Don’t be a coward, Lorali!" Astrid nudged me with her elbow, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Show these country boys how an omega rides!"

The crowd took up the chant, stomping their boots against the ground in a heavy, rhythmic beat. "Go Omega! Go Omrga! Go Omega! Go!"