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“So?” Baxter asks, frowning.
“You wanna be one of us, you call her Princess too.”
Baxter laughs, but I’m not convinced that Reb’s joking. The guys grab the drinks and I grab the cookies, not caring if it’s before dinner.
I enter the lounge with the others and take a seat in the centre of the velvet sofa. I run my hands over it, admiring how soft it feels. I love the feel of velvet; always have.
“What?” Ace grins at me.
“I like the velvet,” I tell him.
“Okay, Lennie,” Baxter teases and I snort. Kudos to him for the literary reference.
“What are we watching?” I ask.
“Who cares!” Rebel replies. “Where are we sitting?”
I pat the spaces on either side of me. There’s plenty of room, but there’s also other seats available. Rebel immediately jumps on the space to my left and slings his arm around my shoulders and I cringe. Slipping out from under his arm I ask him not to do that.
“Do what?”
“Don’t…don’t put your arm around me...like that. Please,” I beg.
“Sorry, Princess, I won’t do it again.” The guys shoot significant looks to one another which makes me feel awkward as fuck, so I sit back and try to act normal.
“It’s just...Charlie...always threw his arm around my shoulders, and I hated it.” His name is hard to say; it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
“No problem. C’mere,” Baxter sits on the other side of me and pulls me into his chest so that I’m falling sideways. Rebel grabs my feet and pulls them into his lap. Ace sits on the floor in front of me, despite all the room, like he can’t bear to be any further away from me. Thorn takes an armchair, but Jax hesitates in the background.
Our eyes meet and I give the tiniest nod in response to the question in his eyes. Yes, he’s okay to be here. I can be in the same room as him without wanting to kill him. Actually, the anger has subsided - don’t get me wrong it’s still there - but now when I look at him I just feel overwhelmingly sad. Hurt. Betrayed.
Am I allowed to feel betrayed? I don’t know. But I can’t deny how I feel. I wish he hadn’t told me. Some secrets don’t need to be shared.
And some do.
“Can you pause the film,” I suddenly blurt out, just as the opening credits are rolling. Thorn quickly complies with my request and Rebel switches on a side lamp.
“Everything okay, Princess?” Rebel asks.
“Yes. No. I have to say something!”
“Floor’s yours,” Baxter smirks with a sweeping gesture. I flip him the bird, because, why not?
I take a deep breath and I’m just about to begin when the silence of the room is interrupted by the ringing of a phone. Jax races to pull the phone from his pocket, glances at the screen, scowls and sends it to voicemail. I wonder who’s calling. I mean, everyone’s here.
“Sorry,” he quickly mumbles.
“While I’ve got you all here-”
Only, I don’t get any further than that because Baxter’s phone rings. I whirl to face him and level him with an accusing glare. It’s too much of a coincidence.
“Who’s calling the both of you?” I ask quietly. I have that weird feeling in my gut again and I can feel my elevated heartbeat thrumming in my fingertips. Jax laughs nervously and squirms in his seat. I catch the panicked expression he throws Baxter. I whip around to face Baxter once again and just catch the end of the shake of his head he throws Jax.
What. The. Fuck?
“No bullshit,” I quickly throw out as Jax goes to open his mouth. I shoot him a look; it’s make or break. Will he really risk lying to me right now?
“It was nothing, Raven, relax,” Baxter tells me with a squeeze to my shoulder. He pulls me back against his chest. “It’s just a work thing.”
