“Had some girl crying so loudly that we had to go check on them.”
My heart raced, and I balled my hands into fists. “It wasn’t Athena, was it?”
Was that why she had started crying after sex earlier? No, it couldn’t be. I would’ve noticed marks all over her body. But still … if he had been here with someone last night and I smelled his scent all over her …
With every second that passed, I became more and more enraged that Derek would say something to Athena about me or about her, making her insecure in her own body, trying to put a wedge between us. Or worse … actually hurt her.
“No, it wasn’t Athena,” Hector said. “Some woman with pink hair.”
“But it was red by the time they left,” Steven hummed.
“Not judging them,” Michelle chimed in. “But we all thought something was wrong.”
I ran my hand over my face and blew out a breath, calming down—only slightly—now that I knew it wasn’t Athena. Derek hadn’t hurt her yet, but if he had been practicing at Radiant … I feared that, one day, he might try to convince her to do something that she didn’t want to do.
Coerce her by using her insecurities against her.
“If you see him or Athena, please text me.”
Michelle smiled and pinched my cheek. “Look at you, little lovebird.”
After shoving her hand away, I pursed my lips. “I’m not in love with her.”
Lie.
Steven and Hector shared another chuckle, as if they didn’t believe a word I’d said while Michelle rocked back on her heels and scrunched up her nose and eyes.
“You remind me of Steven when he met Sierra for the first time. Lying to yourself.”
Hector sipped on his drink. “He’s not lying to himself. He’s lying to you. Big difference.”
“Damn, what is it? Bully Charlie Day?” I asked.
Michelle giggled. “Yes.”
When my phone buzzed in my pocket, I whipped it out in case it was Athie.
Nadia: Who was that girl in your stream earlier???
Nadia: And why have you been ignoring my messages?
After staring at the texts for only a moment—because I couldn’t handle any shit with her right now—I turned off the screen and slipped the phone into my pocket. Nadia could wait until I found Derek and kicked the shit out of him.
“I think I’m going to—” I started.
“So, you’re just going to ignore my texts?!” someone exclaimed from behind me.
I turned my head to see a woman dressed in a slutty pink dress, storming toward us.
Nadia.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
ATHENA
“I don’t like it here,” I whispered to Evelyn after I stripped off my coat and handed it to the nice lady at the coatroom.
