He said goodbye to his friend when he noticed us approaching, pulling Kira into a kiss once we arrived. His arm wrapped around her shoulders before he gently steered her to one side to smile wryly at me.
"Hey, Lil' Lily.” His dark eyes sparked with sarcasm as he kept Kira tucked under one arm. "You made it."
The volume of the music was a little more bearable over here.
"I did." I pressed my lips together in a tight smile.
"Kira told me you had dinner with the family tonight. It's amazing they let you out tonight. Aren't you the golden child or something?"
He was pushing at something, or at least trying to get a rise out of me. It was something he did because he craved deep discussions and debates. I just never had the energy to get involved.
"They're just overprotective," I shrugged before turning to Kira to change the topic. "How are your feet, by the way? Mine are killing me."
Kira agreed, so we took a seat at the booth behind us. It wasn't long before she brought up Aiden's new tattoo, which he was more than happy to show off. He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it down to reveal Kira’s name written in small, cursive writing directly across his heart.
"I couldn't think of any other way to showcase my love for her." He looked at Kira with doting eyes.
"That's very sweet of you," I complimented but couldn't help but think a necklace or a candle-lit dinner would have been just as good. Maybe better.
Kira kissed him on the cheek before resting her head on his shoulder. Not wanting to feel any more intrusive, I politely excused myself to get water for the three of us.
I ordered three bottles from the bar, practically yelling at the curly-haired bartender before he could make out what I was trying to say, and then squeezed my way back through the crowd. At one point, I stopped at what I thought was our booth, except it was occupied by a group of grumpy-looking men. I excused myself, yet again, and headed along the booths until finally, I caught sight of Kira standing beside ours, craning her neck to see over the crowd.
"There you are!" she laughed.
"I have water," I grinned as I gave them their bottles. "I figured we needed it after that dancing."
"Definitely. It's important to stay hydrated," Aiden pointed out before chugging back half his bottle.
Really? I had no idea, I thought sarcastically while trying to keep myself from rolling my eyes.
"So," Kira began after she sipped her water. "Aiden was saying he felt like leaving."
"Oh. Okay, yeah. That's fine." It's not like I had wanted to stay too long anyway, but it did feel like we were doing things only on his terms.
"We could always go out another time anyway. Make it a girl’s night," she smiled, lifting her bag to her shoulder before looping her arm through mine as we left for the exit. "We could go to that pop-up art gallery that’s coming soon! Aiden isn't a huge fan of them, so I'll take you instead—"
"Uh, ladies?"
We both paused to look around, finding Aiden hadn't moved from the booth yet as he gestured over his shoulders with his thumb.
"We're going this way," he said.
Our gazes drifted to where he was pointing, and I frowned in confusion. "Isn't that the bathroom?"
"I wanted to show you girls something. It's pretty cool but kind of a secret." He started backing towards the direction of the alcove in the back, just to the left of the bar, wiggling his finger in a 'come here' gesture at Kira.
That very moment was a great example of the stark difference between Kira and me; The extroverted friend and the introverted one. Though she was my best friend, and I adored her carefree ways, her intuition and gut feeling were often way off the mark. Or missing completely.
I get it. He was her boyfriend, so she knew him better than me. But even if he's saying he's got a pretty cool secret hidden in the back of a club, she probably should've questioned it first.
Instead, she skipped to him and dragged me along behind her.
Chapter 3
Lily
Ever since I was young, I tried to be the least judgmental person I could be and often worked hard to see the positives in many things. Whenever something became overwhelming, I told myself it wouldn't last forever. It was a coping strategy for whenever simple anxieties arose, usually whenever my parents volunteered me for something and told me about last minute.
