They stopped, paused, and waited for their presence to be announced. These girls weren’t acting like the other girls. These three were different.
They expected attention.
And they got it, as Matt sat farther back from the girl on his lap, a name escaping him like a frustrated sigh. “Victoria.”
Victoria?
As in the Victoria who hung over Kash, who was mentoring Seraphina? That Victoria?
She swung those eyes to me and raised her nose up a fraction of an inch. “This is the houseguest Ser was talking about the other day?”
Fuck. It was her.
Double fuck.
She wasn’t stunning anymore. She was gorgeous on another level. There was no way anyone could compete against her.
I mean, not that I was. But anyone else, no way. Anyone who was trying.
Matt skimmed me with a look, a coldness in there that I was surprised to see. “Back off on this one, Vic.” He guided the girl off his lap, and as she stood next to him, a pout on her face, he leaned forward to rest his arms on the table. His gaze was solely locked on Victoria now, and he lifted his top lip in a half sneer. “No fucking with her.” He raised one eyebrow. “You got me?”
No one spoke.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Her friends’ mouths opened an inch. Their own eyebrows rose at a slower pace, but they waited until Victoria’s mouth mashed together and a glare was directed toward me. If she’d had superpowers, I would’ve been incinerated right then and there, but she turned as a strangled growl left her. She stalked right back down the walkway before turning toward another booth of guys. Seeing them, Chester nodded. “Mattson and Atchins are over there.” He scanned them. “Don’t know the rest.”
Tony grunted. “Do we care? Mattson can suck my dick.”
Just like that, the matter was settled. What the matter had been, I had no clue, but it was decided. The guys went back to the girls in front of them. Tony stood, his hands finding one of the girls’ hips. He raised his chin up toward Matt. “We’re going to move more private.” His eyes flicked to me, back to my brother. “You want to come?” They landed on the girl Matt had been making out with, still standing next to the booth. Matt’s arm had wound around her waist, pulling her against his side.
Chester scooted to the edge of the booth, but he didn’t stand.
Victoria’s two friends were still standing at our table. It was clear they were waiting to be addressed by the guys.
Matt glanced to me, his eyebrows up in a question.
I didn’t know what “private” meant, so I just shrugged and reached for the drink Matt had had a waitress refill ten minutes before.
“Nah.” Matt tugged his girl back to his lap. “We’re good here.”
“Gotcha. See you around, then.”
Tony tapped the girl on the hip and she led the way, moving off in a seductive sway. Her two friends gazed at Chester a second, but he only shook his head and flicked his fingers at them. “I’m not interested. You all can go and make sure my boy’s taken care of, hmm?”
They flushed, getting what he was saying, and hurried off.
One muttered, “Asshole,” under her breath, searing him with a glower.
He didn’t care, rolling his eyes before addressing Victoria’s friends. “You still here?” He paused a beat. “Why?”
The blonde sucked in her breath. “You’re such a dick, Chester.”
He lifted up a shoulder, lounging back against the booth so his head rested against the cushion and his feet were stretched out past the table. He idly scratched at his neck. “That seemed to turn you on last night, Fleur.”
She shook her head, pointedly turning away from him. “Matt.”
My brother had gone back to nuzzling the neck of the girl on his lap. He didn’t lift his head, but he did stop in his ministrations.
“Matt.”
He groaned, looking up now. His eyebrows moved together. He wasn’t happy. “What?”
She tried to act impassive under the heat of his annoyance, but shifting on her feet, she dropped her gaze. “Where’s Kash? Victoria’s worried about him. He’s not been gone this long, not for a while.”
That got Chester’s attention.
He sat forward, leaning, resting his arms on the table as Matt had been when the three girls first approached. “That’s why you stayed back? To ask about Colello?”
Matt grinned, a dark amusement lining that smile. He rested his head back against the booth, watching this play out and enjoying it in an almost cruel way. “She stayed back to do Victoria’s dirty work. Didn’t you, Fleur?” Then it was as if he grew bored with this new toy. His eyes flashed his annoyance and he sat forward, reaching for his girl again. “Go away. Stop being Vic’s bitch and asking about Kash. If Kash wanted her to know, he would tell her. Says enough right there.”
“Matt.”
His head snapped up again, his nostrils flaring. “Fuck. Off. What don’t you understand about that?”
Chester stood, almost lazily. “Come on.” He hooked his finger around her hand and tugged her behind him, heading down the walkway. “Let’s go get some shots.”
Glaring one more time at Matt, she followed behind, her other hand resting over his.
The last friend remained, looking almost bored.
“What?”
She lifted up a shoulder. “Nothing. Just … you know the real reason she’s over here.” Her eyes, like everyone else, darted to me and held there.
I got it then. Or I thought I did. Chester and Tony might not have cared about who I was, but these three did. The other girls hadn’t. They weren’t in the “club,” as Matt had first explained, but Victoria, Fleur, and this one were. I was here. I was in the booth, and it was obvious I wasn’t here to be a sex play toy to the guys. Since Matt was sitting on the outskirts of the booth, that meant I was someone to them. They just didn’t know who I was.
Matt had already pushed back at Victoria about me, and he’d pushed hard, but the other was crucified as well. I had a nagging feeling that her asking about Kash wasn’t really asking about where he was, that there were other levels mixed in, other dynamics playing out underneath those words. I wasn’t sure what, but I’d have to learn if I was staying—
What was I doing?
I was sitting here acting like I was a part of this world, but I wasn’t.
I was here because of a threat, but after, I was back to my mom.
Matt, Seraphina, Cyclone. Could I go back to not knowing them?
Pain split down my middle, tearing me apart.
Matt was watching me, his head lowered. “You okay?” I felt his concern, and my God but it was too much.
It almost unglued everything I had just shoved down and I felt tears coming to my eyes. Blinking rapidly, I jerked my head in a nod, but motioned to get out. “Can I—I have to go to the bathroom.”
Matt didn’t move, not at first. “Bailey.”
“Pee, Matt. I have to do it, here or there. I’d prefer there.” I wasn’t looking at him. I couldn’t. He’d see I was hurting, more than he might’ve suspected right now. I couldn’t hold it back. I didn’t know why, but the wall I had tried to erect was gone and I was raw, exposed in that moment. I couldn’t be like that, not here, not among these people. This was the worst place to be bleeding out.