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ELEVEN
KAI
When Drake and Jax suggested coming out to Killian’s for a game of pool and some beers, I thought they meant the three of us. Maybe Jax would drag Ruby along, although unlikely since clearly there’s trouble in paradise. It’s for the better after the shit that went down between Scarlett and Drake. We need no more tension within our group.
However, I didn’t think it meant inviting Jade and Scar, nor them dragging Bass and Ace along. And I definitely, under no circumstances, expected Drake to bringher. Again.
“I don’t know how,” I hear her mumble coyly, as Drake shoves the cue stick into her hand. He comes around behind her, wrapping his arms around hers as she leans forward onto the table.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
Looking around, I see nobody else is giving them the time of day. Jax and Ruby are arguing in the far corner, surely about how Jax’s gaze never once left Lexie when she came over to bring us our drinks.
Scar and Ace are sitting at one booth with Jade and Bass, the girls going to town on the nachos and burgers in front of them. They look happy for the first time in a really long time, and I must admit it's unnerving. Not because I don’t want to see them happy. I mean, they’re family. If anyone deserves some peace of mind, it's those two. After the shit they’ve gone through in the last few months, I’m glad they finally found their silver lining.
However, that leaves me standing here alone like a fucking idiot watching Drake make one of the oldest moves in the book onmygirl.
My silver lining, currently tucked under the arms of another. My best friend.
Only she’s not mine.
Because I won’t allow it.
Night in and night out, I tell myself I should quit the bullshit and give it a go. What’s not to want? Stella and I get along better than I do with anyone else. The sexual chemistry is there. Only I know I can’t provide for her the type of life she needs. Stella deserves to be adored, to be cherished and cared for, and I simply am not emotionally available for that. At least I don’t want to be.
The bar is crowded, as always. It’s The Cobra way to be drunk off your ass at four in the afternoon. Thanks to me, we’ve secured part of the top floor for the evening, two pool tables and three booths nestled away in the corner beside Zeke’s apartment. It took some convincing, but that’s the perk of being the boss’s nephew.
Although, Zeke and I haven’t been on the best of terms since the pickup I took care of with Kane Dalton. He wasn’t at all pleased with the fact that I picked up a little extra during our exchange. Apparently, Kane had been trying to get Zeke and The Cobras to deliver Stephan Silver’s merchandise for months, however Zeke never bought in.
And now I know why.
I should have demanded to know what was in the two crates hegiftedus. I sure wouldn’t have accepted had I known.
Tran-Q.
A synthetic substance containing benzo, commonly found in drugs like Xanax, along with MDMA, the key ingredient in Ecstasy.
The calm before the high.
I’d heard of the epidemic of KISS, The Devil’s Kiss, here in Pleasant Hills. KISS was a drug created and dealt by Wesley Servite and his lackeys, a lethal combination of methamphetamine and cocaine, laced with fentanyl. A fucking deadly epidemic that swarmed the streets of Pleasant Hills and Hillcrest Hills before Wesley’s untimely, yet quite convenient, death.
I should have known when Kane said Stephan Silver’s name, nothing good would come of this exchange. Yet here I am, stuck with two crates, twenty thousand dollars’ worth of Stephan’s drug Tran-Q.
And I have to get rid of it all.
I set aside the thoughts of how fucking screwed I’m going to be if I don’t distribute the merch, unable to focus on the dilemma when I have a bigger one to deal with right before me.
Stella giggles childishly at something Drake whispers in her ear, my hands instinctively fisting at my sides. I watch them closely, following Drake’s hand as it continues to wrap around her waist while his other remains on her hand, holding the stick. Using his chin, he flicks her long hair over her shoulder and out of her face, making Stella squirm when the scruff on his chin tickles her neck.
That’s it. I’ve fucking had it with this bullshit. There is no way on earth these two have anything in common. They’re doing this to piss me the fuck off and I have to admit, it’s working.
“Everyone out!” All eyes focus on me as my voice echoes through the room. It’s Jax who’s the first to speak, using my interruption as a way out of whatever heated argument he was having with Ruby.
“We just got here man, what’s gotten into you?” Jax asks, though he is smarter than he looks, turning his attention to Drake and Stella. They’re the only two people not gawking at me with bewildered expressions.
“Zeke called. He needs the room, so I told him we’d leave.” It’s a bold-faced lie, but the only explanation I have for what I’m doing.
“Whatever, I was bored anyway,” Jade grunts, scooting out of the booth, not waiting for Bass to get up.
