Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love by Ariana Hawkes Read Free Book Online

something it’s not, and getting disappointed when the guy doesn’t want to hook up again. Just celebrate it, hon. It was your first one-night stand, and it sounds like it was pretty special, as far as one-night stands go.”
    “Thanks, Caitlyn,” Raven said. “That’s what I plan to do – daydream for a little while, then get on with my life.”
    “Daydream away. I’ll be daydreaming about those ten sexy bodies on stage,” Janice said, a faraway look in her eyes.
    “Can you believe they got fully naked?” Amber said. “I was happy enough when they got down to their underwear. I didn’t realize there was a whole lot more to come.” The other girls all piled in, loudly discussing their opinions on the strippers, and which one they liked the best, while Raven sunk into her seat and watched the view from the window, the memory of the night before like a pearl she was holding tight in her heart. She’d never been kissed like that, or taken like that before. She didn’t know if it would happen again, but right now, she wanted to treasure it as a perfect memory.
    After a while, the girls retreated to their seats and fell asleep, their three-day hangover catching up with them. Some hours later, Raven woke up to the sound of the bus driver shouting “Russellville!” She and Caitlyn gathered up their stuff, hugged everyone goodbye and thanked them for a wonderful weekend, and stepped off the bus and back into reality.
     
    *
     
    When Raven woke up the following morning, the first thing she saw was the pile of clothes she’d been wearing during the weekend, discarded in a heap on top of her heels. Her heart sunk. It had been an amazing, beautiful time, but it was over now, and the day-to-day routine of work was waiting for her.
    She got ready sluggishly and left the house while her parents were still asleep, ready for the long trudge to work. Her crappy car had broken down a year earlier, and it still sat in the driveway. She’d planned to sell it for parts and buy a new one, but since she’d been saving for the bachelorette party instead, she hadn’t managed to scrape enough together to add to the cost of the new car. She didn’t really care. Short drive or long trudge to work, it was all the same. The day ahead was still going to be crappy, and at least she got some exercise when she walked.
    The sky was already a dusty blue, and it would stay that way all day. Her hometown seemed duller than ever, its strip malls and billboards extra depressing. She thought about Hope Valley, about all the cute boutique stores and individual bars and restaurants. It seemed like a really happy place. Why couldn’t she have been born there, instead of in nowhereville?
    All the girls at the party lived in better towns and had more interesting lives than she did – except for Caitlyn, who was the only one who understood how empty life in Russellville could be. Raven was currently working at a hair salon, as a washer and prepper and odd-job girl. She was supposed to be training as a hairdresser, but she didn’t have any passion for it. It was just another job she’d fallen into. She’d wanted to go to college, but hadn’t had the money, and she’d watched Jennifer and Tasha go to college out of state and never return, while she was stuck there. Getting older every year, and still single.
    After an hour of walking, she arrived at the salon. She took a key out of her pocket, unlocked a padlock, rolled the shutter up, and so began another day of washing hair, listening to her boss complaining, and getting measly tips from mean old ladies.
     
    *
     
    Three weeks passed and the bachelorette party became a distant memory. Work, sleep, and bickering with her parents about why she couldn’t afford to move out characterized her life. When she and Caitlyn could afford it, they went out in the town, drinking at the same old grimy bars, talking to the same stupid guys. Raven’s only real pleasure was late at night, when she was