“Hi, Gina. It’s nice to meet you.” She takes my hand, but her shake is limp. I can’t help but feel her judging me,harshly.
“So you’re the famous Britain, huh?” Her tone hovers on cold.
I just shrug softly, “I guess. Famous to whom, though, I don’t know.” I punctuate this with a smile, but Gina just nods with her own smug looking smile, then reaches for my hand to apply a wristband.
“Have my mom or dad come through yet?” Matthias asks her.
“Nope,” she says, then reaches out to apply his wristband. “You kids have fun in there.” I go to say thank you, but she’s already turned her back to help the group behind us.
With one arm still wrapped around my waist, Matthias starts navigating us towards one of the large tented areas.
“Matthias,” I say, trying to get his attention, but his eyes are roving all around, clearly on the lookout for something. He doesn’t respond, though, caught up in his task.
I try again. “Matthias,” I say a little bit louder.
“Yes, babe?” He doesn’t stop or look me in the eye.
“Didn’t we just have a talk about labels, and how I wasn’t ready for one?” This finally stops him, pulling his attention to me.
“We did.”Uh, okay…
“So then why did you just tell your cousin I’m your girlfriend?”
“Because you are.”
“No, we literally just talked about this and I said no.” To be fair, I did lie and tell Liam I was with someone when officially I wasn’t, but that was more about burning him than me being with Mats.
“Okay,” that’s all he says. He puts on a half-dimpled smile, then starts tugging me along again. I’m not exactlymadat what he just said to Gina, but Iamstarting to get frustrated with how he’s dismissing me. I look around and see that a couple people are looking in our direction, most likely because they know Matthias, and I hate that my people-pleasing, good-girl mentality is making me kill this conversation. At least for now.
We arrive at a sectioned-off area in one of the larger tents that has its own separate bar and tables. So far, there’s only a couple people milling about in this “VIP” section. Certainly not anyone I know, though that doesn’t mean much. I fully anticipate knowing a total of three people here tonight.Niko, Max, and Matthias.
Matthias chooses seats for us at the center table, allowing for a decent view of the stage and dance area. “Is this alright?” He gestures towards the seats.
“Sure, it’s perfect.” I look around, making sure no one is in earshot. “We don’t have to finish talking about this right now, but I do want to talk about what just happened.” I look him straight in the eye, hopefully conveying how serious it is to me.
He just says, “Sure.”That’s it?I can’t help but feel like he’s steamrolling me. It’s something Damian used to do…and I fucking hate it. I catch sight of Niko making his way over, and decide to stifle my irritation about the situation until later.
“Britain! You look lovely tonight.” Niko steps in, placing a kiss on my cheek. I can’t help but notice how he looks down at my belly, making me feel severely self conscious suddenly. I should have worn something flowy, not this skin-tight, bare-my-soul-to-the-world dress. My cheeks heat for what feels like the twentieth time of the night.
“Hi, Niko,” I say, returning his megawatt smile.
“Matt, you, uh, didn’t mention you were bringing a date.” Niko says, giving Matthias a look, doing that read-each-other-minds sibling thing.
“Sure didn’t.” Is all he says in return. Niko just sort of nods pensively.
“Well, this is gonna be a great Greek Fest!” Niko’s voice ratchets up an octave. “What are you drinking, bro? Britain, what can I get for you?”
“Just a water for me, man. I’ve got precious cargo tonight,” Matthias says, then reaches over, placing his hand around my upper arm, stroking me with his thumb. Niko just nods solemnly, again.
“Um, I’d love a Sprite or Ginger Ale if they have it. If not, water is perfect,” I say. Niko just pats Matthias on the back before heading off towards the bar.
“Are you hungry, bubs?” Matthias asks me.Hmm, not a fan of bubs.
“Yeah, I could definitely eat, what about you?” Mats runs his gaze over me seductively.
“Yes, but I’ll be eating later.” Okay…so that’s why we’re here at 5:00. Early in, early out. I cast my gaze downward andunconsciously bite down on my lip. When I look back up, I see Niko making his way back to us.
“I think I’d like to go look at the little market, then find something to eat.”
