Liam was more having the confrontation with Matt.
Matt was more not doing anything.
Not quite true. He was smirking and half grinning, two hands on the table behind him, and he was half sitting, half lounging there. There was a lot of “half” with Matt, but not with Liam. He was fully in Matt’s face, fully angry, and no one could argue otherwise. As we approached, Liam’s arms had been spread wide in the air, but then he pointed a finger in Matt’s face, and that’s when the “half” of Matt ended.
The smirk vanished. So did the half grin. A scary glare formed and his eyes narrowed as he stood slowly from the table. He was now squarely in Liam’s face, and Liam registered it. He paused, the finger still pointing in Matt’s face, but he moved back a step and swallowed. He lowered his hand, and it was the right move.
Matt’s glare lessened, and the side of his mouth went up in a half smirk, but his eyes remained hard. Liam had messed up.
Hoda was a few feet behind Liam, along with two of the guys from our class—Dax and Shyam. Both were looking around, nervous, shifting on their feet.
The woman next to Hoda was not what or whom I expected Camille Story to look like. She was petite, with the fairest skin I’ve ever seen and strawberry-blonde hair that was nearly white. She almost looked albino, except her eyelashes were black. She was wearing a pale pink sweater hanging over a white top, and white slacks that were baggy and loose. There was a slit up the side of the leg, showing a full thigh. They were the type of pants that truly could be pajamas or could be mixed with a nice sweater, like she was wearing, and be classy and chic.
The girl had fashion sense.
She had a row of three braids that ran the length of one side of her skull, then fell down. The other side of her hair was loose and curled lightly.
She was in the know with the trends. That was for sure.
Before she saw Kash and me, her lips were parted. She was watching Matt like she couldn’t memorize his face fast enough. Her eyes were dark and hungry, and sharp.
If I hadn’t already known she was smart, I would’ve known for sure then. Those eyes weren’t missing a thing—unlike Hoda, who was standing next to her, half hugging herself. Her arms were folded in front of her, but slightly loose, so she was cupping her elbows with only a couple fingers. Her gaze was wide and looking panicked.
Melissa was off to the side. She wasn’t a part of Matt’s group. She was standing a few feet forward and away from Torie and Tamara. But Melissa was also not standing with our classmates. Her eyebrows were furrowed. She was biting her lip, and her head was bouncing from Liam to Matt and back again. Her body shifted as her head moved, too.
Camille’s entire demeanor changed when she saw us. She was the one who saw us first. Everyone was focused on Liam and Matt, but her eyes went from sharp to panicked. She paled for a second, her mouth clamping shut, and she jutted back a step. She bumped into Hoda, who was jarred, threw her a frown, and moved aside as she reached to rub her elbow. Then Hoda clued in. She followed Camille’s gaze to us, and her reaction was a twin of the blogger’s.
Kash didn’t move, though I felt his intensity ramp up a notch. His hand touched my hip, and he fitted me back to him. My entire back side was plastered to him.
“Yo.” Matt noticed us, and he resumed his half-leaning stance. His eyes remained alert, but everything else about him was relaxed, and he almost looked like he was bored.
Tony. Chester. Guy. They all remained sitting in the booth.
Everyone quieted after Matt’s greeting.
They were waiting for us to take over whatever this was.
I frowned. What was this?
Liam snapped out, impatient, “Melissa sent out a nine one one to the entire group chat: ‘Nine one one, I’m at Naveah.’”
“What?” Melissa squeaked. “I did not.”
“You did. Nine one one, Lissa. So we scrambled who we could, and we’re here, and this guy is all in Melissa’s space. He’s crowding her, making her uncomfortable. We show up, and I’m here demanding to know who this guy is, and not one of your staff will call the police.”
I looked at Melissa.
She flushed, hanging her head. “I meant to say ‘Four one one, I’m at Naveah’! In like an excited thing, not a nine one one that I need help. ’Cause I don’t, and I didn’t.” She motioned to Matt. “We were just talking, Liam.”
Liam growled, “You were squished so far down in the booth that you were a slide away from going under the table. He was all over you, and leaning in your space.”
I looked at Matt and raised an eyebrow. “You were hitting on my classmate?”
Matt’s smirk turned into a rakish grin. “She’s cute and I’m single.” He shrugged. “Why not?”
Liam’s face got beet red. “She’s cute and you’re single and why not? Why not? Why not? Who are you?”
Matt straightened again, some of the bored look fading as he narrowed his eyes. “Bailey is my sister.”
Liam’s eyes bulged out. His mouth closed, before falling open again.
He knew Matt was now Matthew Francis, and then he closed his eyes. A curse left him. I couldn’t hear it, but I saw it and could read it. Regret tightened his face. He swung his gaze to me. “I didn’t know.”
My brother equaled Peter Francis’s son. That’s who Matt was to Liam, but Liam didn’t know that Matt didn’t give two shits about our father.
I stepped away from Kash. “It’s fine.”
Liam rolled his eyes upward. He was gripping the back of his neck and cursing more, staring at the club’s ceiling.
I frowned at the same time that Melissa moved to Liam’s side, touching his arm. She was saying something to him, and then that moment was done. They moved aside.
Matt turned to me. “Your friends are interesting. We should have them out more often.”
I threw him a dark look.
He meant “interesting” in the way that a wolf would play with its food. Melissa, Liam, Dax, even Hoda—they weren’t on the same level as Matt and his friends. They were less jaded, more pure in their world. If they mixed with us, we’d ruin them. I knew it, and gritting my teeth, I hated it. I should’ve fought against coming to Naveah. Torie and Tamara fit in both worlds, and if we had stayed away, this wouldn’t have happened, but I saw the spark in Matt’s eyes.
He was interested. His gaze swept back over Melissa, and I saw where his interest centered on.
“Shit.”
Kash moved up against me again, his hand on my side, anchoring to me.
It was his turn.
He spoke over my head. “Camille Story.”
Matt’s head snapped to attention, whipping to the person Kash was talking to.
I frowned at that. Matt had dated the blogger, but he answered my question when he stepped away from the table. “You’ve changed,” he said. His tone was confused. I couldn’t tell if he appreciated the change or not. Then his face clouded over and he growled, “Get the fuck out of here!”
He didn’t like the change.
At his tone, Chester, Tony, and Guy were no longer amused bystanders. All three slid out of the booth, taking Matt’s side, and all three were glowering at the girls. I’d never seen Guy without some sort of grin on his face, but I was seeing it now, and he was menacing.
I remembered the first time I had met Tony and Chester.
They’d been intimidating then, and that same air was moving around them again.
Melissa and Liam both stopped talking, feeling the change and cluing back in to the next exchange happening.
Hoda cursed, her hands darting to her mouth then falling back in front of her.
Camille blanched as she lifted her chin up. “I came in for assistance, with a friend of mine.”
“Fuck whoever you came to assist. Get out of this club. You were banned long ago.”
Chester drawled, “I’d leave. You’ve done pieces on all of us.”
Tony’s face was glacial ice, as was his tone. “Or stay. Have a drink. Let’s get to know one another.” His eyes were mean, and Camille paled all over again.
A man was coming up the aisle toward the table. He paused, his gaze sweeping, and that’s when Kash moved.
He set me aside and moved around me, his hand lingering on my stomach. He waited, not stepping away, and I looked up.
His gaze was on me. He said one word. “Stay.”
I nodded.
He turned toward Camille and Hoda, his hand leaving my stomach.
At Kash’s movement, everyone paused. All eyes went to him.
Camille looked like she was watching a dragon rise up over her in real time. Hoda’s gaze was on him too, her head cocked to the side, and she was back to biting her lip.
Kash motioned for the man, who was wearing a business suit. He was older thirties, dark hair swept to the side. Lawyer. His entire walk and how he was taking everything in, no-nonsense and brisk. Nothing fazed him.
Kash raised his head up. “You have it?”
The man climbed up the stairs to where everyone was. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a stack of papers. He looked between Hoda and Camille and asked, “Which one?”
“The blonde.” From Kash.
The man nodded. “Yes.” He handed the papers to her. As soon as Camille’s hand closed on them, he said, “You’ve been served.”
Hoda gasped.
Camille couldn’t pale any more, but her hand started shaking.
The lawyer guy didn’t care. He released the papers and stepped back. “You are being sued. See you in court, Ms. Story.” He nodded to Kash and left.
Simple as that.
Matt started laughing. “Couldn’t figure out why you were waiting. Now I get it.”
Chester and Tony gave Kash appreciative looks.
Guy laughed. “Savage.”
Kash’s glare ripped into Camille Story. “You and Miss Mansour will leave the premises. Now.”
That was it, too. No other words. No chiding or threats or anything. He didn’t explain what was in those papers. Nothing. Just “You need to leave,” and the dismissal was almost as humiliating as her getting served in front of everyone. Either way, she’d been stupid to come here and she knew it.
Her face changed so it was beet red. She was steaming.
Since she didn’t move right away, Kash motioned to Connor. “I want them out. Now.”
The guards descended.
“Hey. Wait a minute…” Liam was frowning. He made a move to help them, but Kash severed him with a look.
“Miss Mansour and Miss Story have both been notified that they were banned from these premises. Both broke that order.”
“But they came because Melissa sent out a nine one one call. They were trying to help—”
Kash cut him off. “You came. Your friend came.” His eyes moved to Dax and included Shyam. “And a third showed. That was enough.”
The girls hadn’t moved. The guards hadn’t pushed it.
Kash clipped out, “Remove yourself or my guards will remove you.”
Hoda’s eyes sought mine. They were seething, and, her mouth tightening, she stormed out. Camille hesitated, her eyes sweeping over Matt, and a flicker of emotion was there. Brief. Then gone. Matt saw it, and his eyes went cold.
Some of the red had left her face. More of it left again at that flicker. Without saying a word, she followed behind Hoda. The guards moved with them, following behind until the crowd swallowed them.
Then it was just Liam, who was standing close to Melissa, and Dax and Shyam.
Suddenly, no one cared that they were there.
Matt still eyed Melissa, but he yawned and turned to me. He flashed me a grin. “I’m hanging out with you more.”
I muttered, “Great.”
He motioned to the dance floor. “Gotta go do something. Be back when it’s done.”
Guy barked out a laugh, hitting Matt’s shoulder as he passed by, heading for the stairs.
Tony, Chester, and Guy all slid back into the booth.
Guy snagged Torie’s hand, pulling her with him.
Chester motioned for Tamara to join their side of the booth.
Dax and Shyam moved in closer, both eyeing Kash warily. Liam was watching, too.
Kash didn’t care. He moved back into me, pulling me to his chest. Ignoring everyone, he dropped his head to mine and said in my ear, “You want to hang with your friends a bit?”
I didn’t. I wanted him, and I pressed against him to let him know.
He chuckled. “Right.”
Taking my hand, he said to Torie, “I’m taking her.”
Torie nodded and turned back to Guy. That was the end of it.
Kash stepped aside. It was my turn now, and I moved toward Melissa, still holding Kash’s hand.
I asked her, “You okay?”
She nodded, her eyes lowered. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I really meant to hit a four and not a nine. I was just excited to be here, you know?”
“It’s fine. It worked out anyways.” I looked to Liam. “Can you get her home?”
His nod was short, and he was still eyeing the guys behind us in the booth. “I got her.”
Melissa gave him a small grin before saying to me, “I really am sorry.”
“It’s all fine.”
As dramatic as the night in Naveah had started, it was ending on an almost disappointing note. No big scene happened. Melissa, Liam, Dax, and Shyam left shortly after. Melissa went to say ’bye to the girls. As soon as they left, Kash didn’t waste time.
He slung an arm around my shoulders, and we left through that back door. He didn’t wait like Torie had. It opened immediately for him and we were through. He took me home and did as he had promised.
It was a good Friday night.