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Zack made a strangled sneer of paltry hypermasculine bluster as he pulled himself up and readjusted his shirt. “Whatever, man. Pussies. Party’s dead anyway,” he said before summoning his boys to leave. He nodded at me, “You know where to find me.”
I released a false, wide grin and chirped, “Rot in hell.”
Simi, clearly bored by the absence of a true fight, had already made her way out. The boys made sure Zack and his minions were moving along while the girls assisted with a chorus of cusses, Shanti shouting, “Shoo, motherfucker,” as Aminah released a string of Yoruba curses and Chi made sounds that might have been a summoning of malevolent ancestors. A strange lump formed in my throat as I watched them, and I felt my eyes start to fill.
“You okay?”
I turned to Malakai to see the wild fury in his eyes had now mutated to soft concern. I exhaled heavily. “Yeah, I just... I haven’t really had a group of people... friends, stand up for me before. It means a lot. And I hate that I brought all this drama to you.”
Malakai’s brows creased as he reached for my shoulders, holding them with gentle hands. “Scotch, we care about you. A lot.... And you didn’t bring the drama. Zack did. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you about not following you, I really did try and wait it out, but I couldn’t sit there knowing you were alone with that fucking creep. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I am. Thank you. I just... kind of don’t feel like going back to the party.”
Malakai nodded slowly. His unaddressed confession was now radiating heat. “Yeah. Me neither.” He drew his eyes across my face and all our unsaids swirled about and made it stickier, harder to breathe. Questionshung in the air, dripped onto our tongues, made us thirsty. “I have a lot of footage from tonight, and we got enough interviews. Would it be super unsocial if we—”
“I think we should claim our prize. Ty said the master bedroom has an eighty-eight-inch TV. Has all the streaming apps. The bed is Alaskan king sized.” I gestured at the huge kitchen with the equivalent of a Tesco Metro stocked on every counter. “And I think we’re good for snacks and drinks.”
Malakai released a small, sweet smile that trilled a charge through my veins.
“Alright then. After-party. Just us.”
