When we arrived at BARtanical—a plant-themed pop-up bar that Nicole insisted we had to try—there was already a huge crowd of people blocking the bar.
“Maybe we should try somewhere else,” I commented. “This place is packed, and I guarantee you their cocktails are like fifteen dollars just for having grass in it or something.”
Nicole shot me a look then rolled their eyes. “Artisan cocktail making is a craft, D. You have to appreciate the artistry. Plus, I’m paying for it.”
I couldn’t argue with that last part.
I hung back for a minute, looking around the space and trying to scope out a place for us to sit as Nicole went up to the bar to order our drinks. It had to have been less than three minutes, but by the time I’d found an open seating area and turned back to look for Nicole, there was already a man up in their personal space trying to hit on them. Brown sandals, a Vineyard Vines shirt, and Madras shorts told me all I needed to know about the future Hill staffer burnout who’d probably be back on a flight to his hometown in the Midwest before the next election cycle.
“Demetrius!” Nicole waved me over and the panicked look they were giving me made my body tense as I immediately understood the assignment. “Over here!”
“Hey.” I intentionally dropped my voice an octave as I walked up to them and slid my arm across their shoulders, pulling them tighter into my side as I kissed the top of their head. “Sorry I’m late, baby.”
The pale prep boy next to them was immediately sizing me up. “This is your boyfriend?”
I lifted one brow and cleared my throat. “Thanks for keeping my favorite person company, but you’re welcome to leave now.”
Nicole just gave him an apologetic grin that I didn’t buy for a second. “Sorry. I told you I was with someone.”
He finally got the hint and slinked away with his tail between his legs. As soon as he did, Nicole stepped away from me, letting my arm fall to my side. I immediately wished they hadn’t.
Where the hell did that thought come from? I tried to shake it off.
“I swear to God, some men are so aggressive, D. Like why isn’t I’m not interested enough? No, instead I have to prove I’m already spoken for.” Nicole shook their head. “As if that’s the only reason I’m allowed to not want him, just because I have boobs and a vagina.”
“Goddamn patriarchy,” I replied, because this certainly hadn’t been the first time they’d had me step in to ward off someone skeevy at a bar. “Did you order our drinks yet?”
They nodded and pointed toward a bartender, who was currently sticking sprigs of herbs into tall cocktail glasses before handing them to us. “You’re going to love it.”
I took one, but I was not convinced. Lifting the edge of the glass to my nose, I smelled the heavy scent of herbal fragrance and when I took a sip, I nearly choked on the intense amount of alcohol permeating the drink. “This is strong.”
Nicole took a long sip through their straw. “It’s good though, right?”
“It’s not horrible,” I conceded, but that was the most they were going to get out of me. I led her over to the free seats I’d seen earlier, and we got settled in. Someone dropped off a menu and I perused the food items but didn’t see anything I immediately wanted.
“Nicole?”
A man’s voice caused both Nicole and me to lift our heads and look in his direction. It wasn’t the same man from the bar. Instead, the guy in front of us was wearing a suit, but the jacket was draped over his arm and his cuffs were rolled up like he’d just gotten off a long day.
“Jeremy?” Nicole’s eyes lit up as they sat up taller in their seat. “Oh my gosh, how are you?”
A smile split his face and, goddamn it, even I had to admit the man was a looker. Something about the way he smiled was mesmerizing, and I couldn’t look away even as Nicole hopped up out of their seat and threw their arms around his neck. I tried to ignore the bristling sensation on my skin as I watched his arm slide around their back.
“It’s been forever,” Jeremy said, finally pulling away just long enough to look Nicole in the eyes, his arms still around their waist. “You look incredible as always.”
Nicole’s cheeks darkened, and holy hell, were they blushing? Nicole was always calm, cool, and collected and I’d never seen them go mushy over a guy before. Something about it happening now was really pissing me off, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why.
“Uh, hum.” I cleared my throat loudly to get the attention of them both.
Nicole glanced back at me as if they just realized I was there—and seemed inconvenienced by it. “Uh, Demetrius, this is Jeremy. Jeremy, meet my friend Demetrius.”
Friend. Okay, I wasn’t liking any of this. What the hell is going on with me right now?
Jeremy barely looked at me before returning his gaze to Nicole. “Nice to meet you, Demetrius.”
“Do you want to come sit with us? We have to catch up.” Nicole was already pushing my shoulder so that I’d move down the bench to give him a spot. “There’s plenty of room.”
“Yeah, pull up a chair, Jer. Let’s catch up.” I motioned for him, the disdain in my voice certainly not escaping him. I tried to ignore the discomfort in my boxer briefs as I slid my recently bared ass down a seat.
Jeremy eyed me a moment longer than he had before, sizing me up and down. He then pointed to each of our cocktails. “Are those good? I can get the next round.”
Of course he could.
“Delicious,” Nicole confirmed, taking another sip. “Do you want to try some of mine?”
They pushed their glass toward him and batted their lashes just a little too intently at him for my taste.
“Sure.” Jeremy reached for Nicole’s glass, and I didn’t miss the way his arm brushed against their arm as he did.
“Actually, you don’t want to drink that.” I reached forward and grabbed Nicole’s glass before he could. “Nicole’s got a nasty cold sore. Amazing what makeup can hide, right?” I motioned to the server walking by and quickly ordered another cocktail just for him, asking him to close out Nicole’s tab at the bar and open one with my card. “I’ve got you covered, Jeremy.”
Something sharp hit my shin and I jolted, quickly finding Nicole giving me a death stare.
“Funny story, Jer. Can I call you Jer?” I continued, because honestly nothing could stop me right now and I had no idea why I was acting manic.
“I prefer Jeremy,” he replied.
I nodded as if that was obvious. “Of course you do, Jer.”
The waiter was back almost a little too quickly with the cocktail for Jeremy and a black checkbook from the bar. “Uh, ma’am. Here’s your tab from the bar. We tried to run the card you had on file, but it was declined.”
I bristled immediately at the use of the word ma’am which I knew was going to bug Nicole later once they processed everything else the waiter was saying.
Nicole’s face went beet red as they took the checkbook. “Oh. Uh, thanks for letting me know. Sorry about that. Let me get a different card.”
“I can get that,” Jeremy quickly offered, leaning in to take the checkbook.
I beat him to the punch and swiped it, sliding my card inside and handing it back to the waiter. “Here you go.”
Nicole looked mortified and for a second I wondered if I’d gone too far. “I don’t know why it got declined. I just got paid so I know there is money in there.”
I immediately wanted to provide comfort. “Check your banking app on your phone. I’m sure it’s just a glitch.”
Nicole was holding their phone in their hand already, a frown pulling down on either corner of their lips. “It’s frozen.”
“Your phone is?” Jeremy asked.
They shook their head, and the bottom lash line of their eyes looked like it was beginning to brim with tears. “No, my bank account. It says I emptied out everything at an ATM in Columbia Heights earlier today.”
“Let me see that.” I took the phone from them and began scouring through the transactions.
This was exactly my area of skill being part of a security organization. In fact, my father had founded Kiani Security before I was born and had grown it into one of the biggest and most profitable security firms in the metro area. We now covered everything from physical security to cyber security, and were ranked as one of the top Black-owned businesses on the East Coast. I’d spent my summers working for him when I was in high school and college, but after I graduated and proved myself doing a few years of grunt work, he had brought me on as a Vice President of Operations. I’d been handling the day-to-day happenings since, which allowed my father to focus more on the research and development side of the business.
“I think you’ve had your identity stolen.” I pulled out my cell phone and began typing out some quick messages to teammates. “I’m going to get someone on this right away.”
“Between the cold sore and identity theft, it sounds like you guys have a lot going on right now.” Jeremy ran a hand across the back of his neck then stood up. “I’m just going to pop into the bathroom for a second.”
I’ve never seen a man shuffle walk out of a place so fast in my life.
“I think your boy is going the wrong way. The bathrooms are to the left.” I pointed toward Jeremy’s retreating back. How odd. “Should I tell him?”
Nicole’s expression was frazzled at best. “He’s definitely not coming back. He’s already ghosted me once when I told him I wanted a commitment last year.”
“He really doesn’t like to stick around for the hard stuff, does he?” Jer was a real disappointment for the male species, but I was also grateful that he was gone along with the lovestruck look that had been plastered on Nicole’s face a few moments before. “You’re better off without him, Nic.”
Why did I feel like a dick right then? I mean, Jer was shitty. Clearly. But also…I wasn’t blameless in this interaction either. I hated how easily the threatened alpha male part of me could be triggered, and I knew from previous lectures from Nicole that they wanted nothing to do with toxic masculinity.
“You always do that when I’m talking to guys.” Nicole shook their head but had already returned to looking at their phone screen.
“Do what?” I shrugged innocently, like I had no idea what they were talking about. I didn’t honestly have an answer for her question anyway, but probably best not to open that can of worms right here and now.
They placed their phone down on the table with a loud sigh. “First, I’m going to be single forever, and now, I’m completely broke.”
“To be fair, you were pretty broke before someone stole your identity, too,” I teased, trying to pull a smile out of them.
I was met with an angry glare instead. “That does not make me feel better.”
A protective instinct burned hotter in my gut as I took in the anguish in their expression. The last thing I ever wanted to see was them upset, and despite the fact that they were supposed to be the one who owed me right now for letting them wax my balls, all I wanted was to do more.
I placed my hand on their knee and gave a comforting squeeze. “We’re going to fix this, okay? I’ve already got my team looking into it.”
They nodded slowly, and I could tell they were refusing to allow tears to fall despite how close they were to doing so. “Can I stay at your place tonight? This whole thing feels so…violating. Like what if they have my address?”
“Of course,” I agreed immediately. “That’s probably a good idea until we figure this out.”
I wasn’t ready to let them be alone either.