AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"As ready as I'll ever be," Mykie mumbled. She pulled the bottom of her skirt down slightly before climbing into the car.
"Are Corbus and Renly going to be there?" She lifted her brow suggestively. "I want to meet Corbus."
"He should be," Mykie said with a grin. Ever since coming home Saturday, the two of them had been alternating between quick texts and phone calls. They talked mostly about his art, and how he gotten into art in high school. He seemed ashamed of his work every time he showed it off, no matter how much she praised it. He talked about his childhood and the area he grew up in, and about his parents.
They talked that morning, as well, and said the plan was still to come to Pearl's. He'd even given her updates on how Caspar was doing, not that Caspar didn't text her himself. He didn’t know that, though.
The texts that Caspar and she had exchanged since Sunday night were strange, to say the least. Every time she saw his name pop up on her phone, she was still surprised that he was talking to her. If she was on his end of things, she would have already packed up and tried to move away to avoid him coming after her. Instead, Caspar kept talking to her. They had yet to talk about his home life, but instead he asked her more about herself. It reminded her of Renly’s focus on her the first night they met.
"Dexter's meeting us there, right?" Mykie asked, biting her lip. He and Jezebeth were her only hope that Caspar would be okay in the Snake Pit. Jezebeth nodded and Mykie let out a breath of relief.
“Oh, I like this band!” Jezebeth exclaimed, cranking the radio up and they sung along with one of their latest songs for the rest of the way to Pearl’s.
Mykie sent a text to Caspar about meeting her at the bar inside, and she didn’t receive a text back until Jezebeth had pulled into a free spot a block away from Pearl’s. The parking lot behind the building was usually reserved for Chance or anyone near his level, and on a day where a lot of the Cantil would be gathering, the lot would be extra full.
“What do you think Chance is going to say about Caspar?” Jezebeth asked as she locked the car. “I mean, did he hear about him at all? Or that he was seen with you at La Noir?”
Mykie shook her head as they walked down the sidewalk together. “He didn’t say that he’d heard any rumors, but I don’t know. I told him I needed to talk to him, and he said he’d be in his office tonight.”
Jezebeth looked to her friend with sympathy. After a long weekend, Chance staying in his office was never good. It meant that someone didn’t do their job while he was gone. In this case, it was Adam.
“I hope he’s in a good mood for your sake,” she said weakly.
“So do I.”
They walked beside the line for Pearl’s and she didn’t spot any of the boys, so they both went inside. The bar was less populated than it was on Friday, but was still crowded enough that the two girls needed to push past people. Mykie didn’t spot any of the boys around the bar, so she looked around before she found them at a table on the first floor, probably due to Caspar’s injury. After a few more days, his ankle should be fine for him to walk on.
She tugged on Jezebeth’s arm and pointed. “They’re over there. Want to grab a few drinks and I’ll meet you?”
Jezebeth nodded, and the girls went in separate directions. Mykie found that it was much easier to move through the tables when she wasn’t trying to balance a tray of drinks and avoiding wandering hands.
Renly and Corbus were on one side of the table while Caspar and who must be Blaine squeezed in on the other. Caspar was on the outside of the booth and was the first one to spot Mykie coming their way.
"Hi," he said with a small smile, catching the rest of the boys' attention.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Jezebeth took a while to get ready and she offered to drive," she explained. "You guys didn't have trouble getting in, did you?"
"Same guy as before waved us in," a gruff voice said. Mykie focused on Blaine, who was already looking her up and down with critical eyes. He was frowning, as if he didn’t like what he was seeing.
"Well, Jezebeth's grabbing drinks for us," she said. She pressed her hands against the table and her fingers brushed against Renly's and Caspar's.
"Are you two working tonight?" Renly asked, leaning back against the booth.
"Not if we can help it." Jezebeth chuckled. She had a tray of drinks in her hand. "Though it works out when we want free drinks."
As Jezebeth passed out drinks—she’d guessed on the boys' tastes except for Renly—someone tugged on Mykie's arm. She turned to slap it away only to realize it was Dexter.
"Chance is wondering where you are," he said.
Mykie turned back towards the table, catching Caspar's eye. He looked behind her to Dexter and paled slightly as he guessed why he was there.
"Jezebeth and I need to go check on the bar and make sure the bartender isn't swamped," Mykie said, pulling Jezebeth with her.
"You said you weren't working," Blaine pointed out, his eyes on Jezebeth. Particularly, on her jacket.
"Just because we aren't working doesn’t mean we can't help out," Mykie snapped.
Blaine's eyes narrowed.
