“She’s fine,” I whisper as I take a step in. “And for our first course, we’d love for you to try the small plate sampler, which has six new menu items to start the palate off on the right course for thenight.”
Lex picks up her fork and begins stabbing away as if the appetizers were running amuck on the table and she needed to pin them down with hertines.
I catch Levi stepping away and spot his mother along with Chip and Meredith making their untimely appearance. Great. Levi tries his best to seat them, but they insist on following him over. Of course,theydo.
Crap. The more people goggling Lex, the more her blood pressure will skyrocket—and with my luck, her cholesterol levels will, too. Two things she’ll blame me for over coffee tomorrow morning. And seeing that I was unsuccessful in making her ex disappear for the night, I’m out an extra two hundred fifty dollarstoboot.
I glance back to find Meredith cozying up to Levi, and my stomach sinks. Did I expect anything less? Now that he’s no longer legally hers, she wants him back. Poor Chip is brooding next to Bonnie, and they both offer a polite wavemyway.
Levi makes his way back and lands a kiss to my ear. “She seemshappy.”
“Not as happy as Mer.”Sorry,I mouth. “I couldn’thelpit.”
“I promise you, there is nothing to worry about in that arena.” He digs his fingers into my hips, and we watch as Lex annihilates all the tiny samplers we’ve set out before her. I provided her with a food map so she would know exactly what she’s noshing on. Lex mentioned that an eatery down in Jepson had done that for her once and scored major points on the write-up, so of course, I utilized my inside information to the hilt. Now, if only my main menu options hit it out of the park, The Sloppy Pelican will be on its way to becoming the new premier eatery in the tri-city area. If we can start hauling them in from Jepson, too, I know for a fact we’ll be out of the red innotime.
“You should start with the truffle wagyu beef burger.” Brody has the nerve to pipe up, and she glares at him, only the way a frosty-heartedwomancan.
“Thank you,” she says it curt and stuns the entire lot of us with the simple sound of her voice. She cuts a glance my way that saysI want his head on a platter—but only after I whack off Axel’s major apex, I’m assuming. Lex would make a wicked evil queen, and a part of me loves it. She basically amounts to having a real life Disney villain right at myfingertips.
“Surprise!” a high-pitched wail of a voice cries from behind, and the entire bar turns to the entrance to find a beautiful tan bombshell of a girl with long black hair and those familiar killer oceanblueeyes.
“Oh my God!” I gasp along with Bonnie. “Raven!” I scream as my in-the-flesh bestie bolts over, and I pull her into a tightrockinghug.
“I’m here!” she squeals as a dog pile of bodies tries to get in on the action and all attention is diverted from Lex. “I felt so bad that I’ve missed so much I just put my damn foot down.” She covers her cute little bowtie lips with her fingers as she looks to Bonnie. “Sorry, Mom!” She pulls her brothers in. “Chip—Levi! It’s been forever since I’ve held my two favorite brothers. You feelsogood. I have so much to tell you. We have so much to talkabout.”
Levi does his best to blink back tears, and instinctively I wrap my armsaroundhim.
Raven takes a lunging step back. “What’sthis?”
“Oh!” I set my arms back to my sides as if I just pulled them out of a bonfire. “I was about to tip over in these damn heels.” I kick a Louboutin in the air. Dear God, forgive me for lying so blatantly about my blameless beautiful stilettos. I can only pray karma has a forgiving heart and a weakness for agoodshoe.
“Oh, hon”—Bonnie waves a hand as if I were silly, little does she know how very fucking silly I really am—“that’s Levi’snewgirl.”
Raven’s mouth falls open, and her eyes go red with rage in a flash, cartoonstyle.
“Why, that’s right!” I say a little too loud as Levi shakes his head at me. Okay, so he’s not so hot on doing the big reveal at the moment, but lucky for him neither am I. “This is his new girl, right here.” I back up and hold a hand out to Lex as if she were the booby prize—and at the moment, she sortofis.
Lex glances up with a napkin paused to her lips. Apapernapkin? Who the hell disobeyed my wishes and chose to forgo the damn linen? This entire night is going to hell in a cheap paperhandbasket.
Lex flexes a smile, and everyone in an eight-foot circumference freezes. You only need to be around the girl for five solid seconds to figure out her face doesn’t crack. At least not for something as trivial as joy. In fact, she’s the only woman on the planet who can evoke a holy terror in me at the curve ofherlips.
Lex stands up and nearly towers me in her six-inch heels. Her vampire red lipstick is still perfectly in place, and it showcases that wicked grin twitching to life like the anomalyitis.
“Well, well”—she looks down at my bestie with those soulless eyes—“you must beRaven.”
Raven swallows audibly, unsure of what to make of the glamazon in our midst dressed like a biker chick on a mission to eviscerate every male in the great state of NorthCarolina.
“Why yes, I am.” The words come out curt as Raven’s own rock solid beauty comes out strong, and I can’t help but think this feels like a battle of the Titans. “People tell me you’ve been seeing mybrother,Levi.”
A smattering of whispers and gasps breaks out around us, because well, Raven, Lex, and I are the only three people who actually think this to be true. And at the moment, I’m doing my best not to glance my new boyfriend’s way. One look and he’ll see right through theseshenanigans.
Lex drops that smile on her face like a bad tick and is right back to glaring. She glances up at Levi and gives a simple nod. “You—comehere.”
She points to the spot next to her, and he’s slow to comply. I’m pretty sure he’s more interested in garnering a good review than he is in disobeying her dominatrix-like command, but a part of me is purring at his responsiveness. I’ll have to turn up my inner dominatrix once we get back to the bedroom. I glare over at Raven for even thinking of cock-blocking me thisevening.
Raven gasps as if mortified to see her brother listening to this needle-laden goddess. “Levi Masterson, what is this skank doing in your establishment? Don’t tell me you’re still entertaining the likes of her. I’ll tell you right now. It’s time to dropkick this ho tothedoor.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Lex rotates her head as if it were on a swivel. “Did you just call me a skank and a ho? In front of God and my boyfriend,Levi?” she roars it out with such power I’m about to wrap myself around Raven like a human shield. God, I’ll never forgive myself if Lex goes rogue and starts in on a hacking spree. She can take all our eyes out with that regalia she’s armedherselfwith.
