Page 42 of House of Bass

Harley tilted her head in surprise, that was not what she expected to hear but she let her proceed, “I do. We work together and see each other far too often. And for whatever reason seeing you talk or laugh with just Bloss or Lil makes me feel a little jealous. Left out.”

Her eyebrows raised at the confession, not expecting that level of honesty from her. “I would’ve never guessed that. You seem so sure of yourself.”

“I am but I guess when it comes to you, I feel different.” She didn’t say it but Harley knew exactly what she was talking about. The pulsating need to have her attention, this must be what happened in friendships.

“Then we have to do something about that, don’t we?”

“How about this? When we’re together, I’m just Scarlett and you’re just Harley. No siblings or family to be mentioned ever, and if we have to, we can just pretend you’re an only child. I try to do that already anyway.”

“That’s fine with me.” Harley shrugged, desperate to put it all behind her. “Fresh start?”

“Fresh start,” Scarlett said with relief. Then, she raised her hand and Harley stared at it in confusion, as she gave her a coy smile. “Hi, I’m Scarlett.”

Harley rolled her eyes with no malice, and with a smile of her own she clasped her hands with Scarlett’s hanging one. “Harley.”

They didn’t pull their hands apart from each other. It was odd that they had this conversation at a place where they could barely hear themselves speak but it felt like the right time to have it. She wanted to spend forever just talking to her, everything about it felt just right.

As they sat there talking, a pair of hands pounced on her, taking her out of the moment. She turned to see Bloss and Lily stood there with drunk smiles, “What are we talking about?”

Scarlett answered, “How stupid drunk you are.”

She made a buzzer sound, “Wrong. Not drunk but really tipsy.”

“That’s the same thing when it comes to you.”

Harley smiled as they bickered. However, the arrival of a man had the attention in the room centred on him. Men stood a little straighter and the girls tried to be flirtier, yet beneath it all the room seemed to hold a mixture of respect and fear.

He was tall and quite broad, his black hair shone under the club lights. Everything about him was cocky and self-assured like he knew the authority that he radiated when he walked in. He was beautiful and he knew it.

The whole thing really stumped her because even Bloss and Lily stood a little straighter at the sight of him. But not Scarlett who appeared bored by the entire ordeal. Pointing to the man in question, Harley asked her, “Who is that?”

“It’s Lucas.” The name didn't ring a bell and she shaked her head to show as much, and “Lucas Carney.”

“The Entrepreneur? The Forbes one?” Even Harley had heard the name Carney, he had been featured in last year’s 30 under 30. Lately, she had heard whispers about other things.

“The one and only. Don't mention the Forbes thing when he gets here, he already has an ego the size of a whale.”

The buzz in the room started to near as the man of the hour walked towards them, flanked by two black guys who carried just as much arrogance with every step. She was confused why but then remembered they were still at the bar. “How do you know?”

Yet what he did next caught her by surprise, Lucas reached them and immediately wrapped his arms behind Scarlett. The familiarity startled her.

“Because he’s also my insufferable twat of a cousin,” She finished.

“Who are you calling a twat?” His deep voice rang out.

“You. Get off me.” He gave her a peck on the cheek that she wiped off with her sleeves which led to him presenting them with his first blinding smile. Harley just knew he was a problem when it came to women.

Luckily, the last thing she cared about was a man but the same couldn’t be said for the other two girls standing next to her, who currently bestowed them with bright grins.

Bloss hugged the darker guy in greeting, “Hey, Amb.” Then gave Lucas a small wave and hi in tow, an indicator of the bridge in relationship, who said, “Having fun, tonight?” and she nodded.

The lighter skinned guy next to him scowled at this, “You can say hi to them but not me. I see how it is.”

She turned her head towards him and gave an identical scowl, “That’s because I actually like them. You, not so much.”

He took an intimidating step towards her, and her breathing hitched, “Say that again.”

Her eyes narrowed with determination, “Leave me alone.” They glared at one another, the tension bouncing off the walls.