"Tell me something I don't know," I mumble.
We manage to make it into the bar and find a table that will hold all of us, unfortunately. I wouldn't have minded expelling Erica and Courtney to another section of the bar.
I start to sit down beside Wren, but Erica steals the seat, and Courtney takes the one beside her. Which leaves one last seat next to the vain bitch who never shuts up. The more she talks, the more I hate myself for ever having dated her. What was I thinking?
"We need two martinis and two beers—anything on tap," Wren orders when a waitress finds us.
Courtney tosses her arm around the back of my chair when a girl across from us winks at me. This is a terrible night. The wrong girl is staking a claim on me.
Tag shows up, stealing a few gushing sighs and gasps as he makes his way toward us. He grabs a chair from another table and pulls it closer, putting himself next to me. I want to trade seats.
I keep watching for Raya, ready to pull her to another table so we can talk, but she never walks through the door.
"Where is she? Did you leave her in the car?" I ask, turning back to Tag.
"She wasn't there," he says while shrugging, acting as though that's an acceptable response.
I dial her number again, cursing as I glare at him and get her voicemail.
"Where the hell else could she be?" I ask as the waitress drops our drinks off.
"Ah, hell," Wren groans, his eyes trained on the far side of the bar.
I turn to look, but all I see is a mess of people gathered in a crowd, all of them talking and bidding farewells. Tag's eyes widen when he looks in the direction, and I start to stand to see over the crowd, when they part.
A divine ass with thin material covering it is splayed across the pool table as a perfect shot is made. That ass is familiar, and so is the tool staring at it up close. Ah, shit.
Lyle and Raya are here. Together. I'm going to jail.
"Calm down," Tag says, sighing as he watches me watch Raya move around the table, smiling as though she's having the time of her life. Then she leans forward, hitting another ball just right, and giving Lyle a peek down her shirt.
He looks. The perverted son of a bitch looks. Fuck jail—I'm going to prison.
"Damn," Tag says as she sinks another ball. "I didn't know Raya played pool. She looks like a pro."
I'll add it to the list of things I didn't know she could do. Along with go out on a date with a douche like Lyle. I've been working so hard to ease her into dating me, and she just goes out with a guy she's known for less than a minute?
"You look like you're ready to murder someone," Erica says from behind me.
"They're just playing pool," Wren says, even though he sees Lyle staring at her ass as she lines up another shot, now standing in front of him as she bends over.
"Kade," Courtney says, groaning as though she's annoyed by my rage.
She really doesn't need to push me right now.
She takes the hint, and she and Erica start talking about mundane shit they do on weekends. I'm on the verge of killing Lyle Hughes, and they're talking about what stores have the best service.
Tag and Wren study me, acting as though they're terrified to spook me. Lyle is the only one who needs to fear me right now.
"Did she really just make that shot?" Tag says in awe as Raya puts down the pool stick and dusts her hands, her lips moving as she says something to the walking dead man who’s laughing for the last time.
Tag turns to Wren to gush over Raya's impossible shot, acting as though that's what's important, and Wren actually joins in, speaking about it as though it's brilliant. There are far more severe things going on at this moment. For one, Lyle Hughes will be walking around without arms if he touches her in front of me.
Raya turns with her hand toward a waitress, but she freezes, letting her eyes lock on mine. That's right, baby. You're busted.
Tag and Wren look back toward them, and Tag's smile for Raya's masterful shot dissipates when he sees just how far past crazy I've gone. I stand, ready to kill Lyle and drag Raya out of here, but Tag jumps up and puts his hand on my chest.
"Let it go," he says, warning me.