“Why don’t I get to wear jeans too? Kendall, what’s going on?”
Each one of them yells out a number and Harper writes them down.
“Four.” Kendall.
“Six.” Abbi.
“Seven.” Charlie.
“Ten.” Harper.
“Only one.” Ella states matter-of-factly.
“Ye of little faith, Ella, look at her closely. She’ll have at least one before we get through the door.” Kendall replies with a smirk on her face.
“What are y’all talking about?”
Since Charlie has no filter, she pipes up, “We each threw five dollars into a pot. We’re betting on how many guys hit on you tonight. It was all for the cause. You look like sex on a stick.”
I’m so glad I’m across the room because I want to strangle her. “You are joking, right? There is no fucking way I am leaving this house. Wait, what cause?”
“The Declan don’t-fuck-up-again cause.”
“You’ve got to be crazy. You realize he’s insanely jealous, right? I have spent months convincing him that Finn is just a friend. If I show up deliberately trying to attract attention, he’ll freak.”
“Serves him right. He needs to know how lucky he is to even get a second chance. This will be good for him; I promise you. He has my seal of approval, but I think he needs to be put in his place. He needs to understand how desirable you are.”
I think about this for a minute and decide it could be fun. I smile widely, but then remember Ella’s guess. “Okay, I’ll play along. But Ella, why did you guess only one?”
“Because when Declan sees you, he’ll flip his shit. My guess is you’ll get hit on once on the way to see him. He’ll openly threaten anyone within hearing distance not to touch you.”
“SHHEEEAATTT,” Abbi says. “I didn’t think about that. Well, I have a solution. We’ll just have a few drinks before we go to the back. I plan on winning at six and Ella has a point.”
“Well, let’s just go and see what happens. I’m not comfortable with this plan. And the more we stand around and talk about it, the better chance I’ll chicken out.”
We have to take two cars, but we find parking easily enough. Since our name is on the list at the door, we don’t have to wait in line. The place is already packed. The six of us try to make our way to the bar, but only Harper and Charlie actually make it. We make eye contact and I mouth I want a beer.
A guy jumps in front of me trying to talk. But before I know it, I have a hand on my back. When I look up, I see a huge man wearing all black with tattoos peeking out of his shirt. His head is shaved and he reminds me of Max when he came home from boot camp. You can tell this man is all muscle and not to be messed with. I see Abbi, Ella, and Kendall right behind me and their eyes are huge. He leans down and shouts in my ear, “Follow me.”
I’m not sure if he can hear me, but I try to get out of his grip at the same time I reply, “No thanks, we’re on our way to meet our friends at the bar.”
I think I see a smile cross his lips. He gently grabs my hand and starts walking. “It wasn’t a request.”
I’m nervous. The others follow me and we’re led in the backroom. The room is filled with about fifty people but I only recognize Blake. The big guy let’s go of me and leaves. Abbi makes it to me first. “Um, Rave, that was Mark. He’s a good friend of Declan’s.”
“He didn’t seem like a conversationalist.”
“Nope, never has been.”
Kendall and Ella join us and Ella is grinning. “I win.”
Kendall argues right away, “No way, we didn’t even get to the bar. Looks like this room’s off-limits, but when we get back out to there, it’s on.”
I break in. “Will one of you text the others and let them know to come back here? They’re probably waiting for us.”
Abbi steps up, “I’ll go get them. But don’t move! I want to be back in time for the fireworks that are going to go off when Dec sees you.”
She leaves and I move towards the private bar. Once we all have a beer, I look around for Declan, trying to discreetly locate him before he finds me. The others join us as I tell them what happened with Mark. There’s a commotion across the room and see a large door I never noticed before open. Declan, Cooper, and Nate walk through and I see about five girls run over to them. Declan looks around until his eyes meet mine. I give a light smile while he continues to stalk through the room until he’s directly in front of me. Before I can protest, he has removed my beer and is dragging me across the room to the now closed door.