Ray moved to the bar to pick up her drinks from Zeke. I followed along. “I don’t see how, especially if they keep ordering and bringing in their groupies,” she said.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s so annoying how everyone at school follows them around.”
“And your friends? They are…?” she prompted, noticing the Elite sat with them and not the other way around, which would have been the normal protocol.
Adjusting my hair into a fresh messy bun, the scent of pizza, beer, and grease lingered in the air, clinging to my clothes, my skin, and yes, my hair. “My sister and my cousin,” I replied, casting a glance in their direction. Kenna laughed at something stupid Micah said.
“Wait. You’re an only child,” Ray proclaimed, brows drawn together and justifiably confused.
Crap. This part of my life still hadn’t been disclosed as public knowledge, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to divulge all those details. “Long story,” I simply replied.
I waited for Ray to come back with the follow-up questions, pushing me into telling her, because it was obvious I was hiding something. Human nature made us curious, but Ray surprised me. “Well, you ever need someone to unload on, I’m a good listener.”
Something told me Ray was exactly that. Someone I could trust and lean on. Funny how we never hung out at school, and yet, I felt more of a bond with her after one night than I did with my sister after a week.
Totally screwed up.
Some people you just instantly clicked with. I just wished Kenna and I had.
I grabbed the food when it was ready and brought them over to the table, noticing that Brock had flipped his chair to face front again. “Did you guys win your game?” I asked. It’s been a rough start to the season thanks to all the inner-team drama between the Elite and Carter. If they started losing games, it could hurt their futures.
“What kind of question is that, JJ?” Fynn asked, his expression full of self-assurance.
Micah dropped an arm behind Mads’s chair. “Of course, we won.”
Mads promptly shoved at his hand, knocking it off the back railings of her chair. “Hands to yourself, Bradford.”
Micah chuckled, loving every second he got under Mads’s skin.
“Is there a party?” Dumb question. There was always a party. The question I should have asked was where was the party.
Brock cocked his head. “You can just ask me if I’m going to a party.”
“Who said I cared?” I snapped back, but in truth, it was precisely why I had asked. Not that I didn’t trust him to go to a party without me. It was every girl there I didn’t trust.
Which got me thinking. Did I trust Brock? He had told me time and time again that he wasn’t boyfriend material, and yet, here we were in a relationship.
I was lost in my head as Brock grabbed my wrist and tugged me down into his lap. “You have nothing to worry about,” he whispered in my ear. “Besides, I don’t want to party. I want you.” His hands slid around my hips to my thighs, moving in between my legs.
A spear of desire spread through me at the feel of his touch. “I can’t. My shift isn’t over,” I managed to say, my voice too husky for my liking, and my attempt to wiggle out of his hold turned out to be a bad idea. It caused my cheeks to warm, knowing everyone at the table could guess why I was suddenly so fucking flushed.
“I’m not leaving here without you, Firefly.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just because you growl at me doesn’t mean I have to listen to you. I can’t leave until this place is cleared out. And don’t you dare try and haul me out of here,” I warned, feeling his muscles flinch. I held a hand up to ward him off.
“Fine. I’ll take care of it.” Brock handed me his card. “Close out our bill.”
I blinked. “You’re leaving.”
“If it is the only way I get you out of here, then yes. I’ll be in the parking lot. Don’t make me wait long, Firefly. You won’t like the repercussions,” he warned, but the hand between my legs suggested a different kind of punishment than what his voice suggested. I didn’t know which was more threatening.
“Brock,” I hissed, but he lifted me off his lap.
The other Elite followed, already up and out of their chairs. It was as if everyone in the bar watched their every move. Brock twitched, and they were all poised to jump. When the Elite left, so did everyone else over the next twenty minutes or so, as Ray and I rushed to close out tabs. Tables emptied as fast as they had filled up.
Forty minutes later, Ray sat at the bar, tallying the tips and sales while I refilled the salt and pepper shakers. Winding down after the rush, I took my time tidying things up, in no hurry, regardless that I knew Brock was waiting for me just outside the building.
“That was… interesting,” Zeke said as he cleaned up the bar, putting away clean shot and tumbler glasses.