He looks concerned, and I chuckle.
“No, just a hit to my pride. Diablo led me to believe that I had to ask El Jefe’s permission and told me to take it to the table.”
He brings his hand up to his mouth in shock. “You didn’t… did you?”
“Yeah… I may have knocked and walked in only to find El Jefe glaring at me. He looked so fucking mad, I literally thought they were going to kill me or something, I was freaking out in my head.”
“Shit,” Donovan laughs, “I’m guessing it all worked out okay though, seeing as though we’re here.”
“Yeah, they realized Diablo was fucking with me and were lovely about it, even asked me to make sure I rubbed it in his face that he failed.”
“Holy shit, that explains it,” Donovan says.
“What?”
“Why he was in such a shitty mood that night, even after you left for work, I could see he was furious but had no idea why.”
I groan. “Oh no, that probably means he’s going to be even more of an asshole to me tonight than usual.” I clasp my hands together in mock pleading. “Please protect me.”
“Sorry, you’re on your own. I’m leaving tomorrow so you’re going to need to learn to handle him by yourself.”
“Well we don’t have to worry about that, it’s not like I’ll be coming here without you.”
“You could you know, I’d like it if you did,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“Beth, come on, you know what you’re like. Without me, you’ll go to school and go to work and that’s it. I hate the thought of you being on your own, you’re my family, so you’re their family too. And I know Ana and the guys will want to see you.”
“I get plenty of social thank you very much,” I say, playfully hitting his shoulder. “Are you forgetting about my nights out at the bar?”
“Finding some random guy in a bar to fuck, then disappearing before he wakes up the next morning doesn’t count as social, Beth!”
I sigh. “Okay, okay. If Ana ever invites me here, I’ll come, I promise.”
He pulls me into a hug. “Thank you.”
“Now,” I say, leaning back to look at him. “Enough of all this, we’ve got a party to get to, and by the sounds of it, a lot of drinking to catch up on.”
Taking his hand, we head to the clubhouse gates and knock loudly. They open immediately, it’s too loud for Walrus to hear us if he were to ask who it is. We walk in and Donovan keeps his hand in mine as he leans in.
“Thank you so much for this, you’re the best.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, kissing him on the cheek.
We make our way around our friends, catching up and hugging them; Tank and Pretty Boy are also mingling with us, mainly focusing on chatting up the college girls. Both are popular with the ladies, which is understandable considering Tank’s sheer size and his rich mahogany skin covered in tattoos, and Pretty Boy with his dirty blond hair, blue eyes made brighter by his tan, and his cheeky smile. Slim meanwhile is probably up in his room, not wanting to be anywhere near college students.
I glance up at the clubhouse where Diablo sits on the porch with El Jefe and Tipo, who both raise their beers and nod at me as I smile in thanks. Diablo glares at me, and there’s no misinterpreting the meaning behind his eyes, he’s furious.
The party has been a blast, everyone’s been getting on well, and the club made the space welcoming for us. Steel drum fires were placed around the yard, so everyone was warm enough for most of the night, drinks flowed freely, and everyone was dancing, laughing, and having a great time.
When it got cooler, our college friends decided to head back to their dorms, probably to either hook up or crash,whichever they needed. But the party continues inside, with the club members and the girls sitting in a circle around some tables we’ve moved together.
“That was actually way more fun than I thought,” Destiny says, “your college friends are nice.”
She’s sitting on Tank’s lap who joins in. “Yeah, I was worried it was gonna be like a high school party or something, but that was alright.”
“You’ll have to explain that to me,” El Jefe says, “I’m too old to know what goes on at high school parties so help me out here.”
