The HimLock thread lights up with a new message, and I’m already logged into the admin feed, so I decide to have a conversation with her… If she wants it.
Eris:
So, I went to the coffee shop today with my best friend, and the barista was flirting with me. It was a little weird at first, but now I’m wondering… Should I be flattered? Or find a different coffee shop?
I stare at it for so long the system almost answers for me.
Locke:
Yes, you should find a new coffee shop. I can flatter you all you want.
Eris:
Are you… Jealous?
Locke:
No, but if he touches you, I’ll start a war.
That should have felt like a win, a snarky reply to match her witty remarks. It doesn’t, though. It feels like I just handed her a live wire and told her to hold on. I can’t delete the message, not that I want to.
“Next time she goes out,” I say, raising my voice so the guys hear me, “I’m going.”
Silas glances over, catching my attention with a quirked brow. “To watch?”
“To intervene.” I shrug, though I’m so far beyond noncommittal. “If we have to.”
Quiet steps sound behind us as Kieran joins our conversation, leaning against the hallway threshold, his armsfolded, eyes shadowed. “If she goes back to that bar, any bar, and someone so much as sits across from her again?—”
“I won’t just be watching,” I finish, smiling at my possessive friend.
Silas doesn’t argue with either of us.
Which means we’ve all already crossed the line.
There is no coming back.
Roo wants glitter, loud music, and trouble.
I want tequila and to stop checking my phone every five seconds like it’s oxygen and I’m suffocating.
We compromise.
Sort of.
The bar is louder this time, bass pounding through cracked walls. Bodies press together until the air is too humid to be comfortable. We’ve been here for like ten minutes, and Roo has already made three new friends and is halfway through a cocktail that is literally on fire.
I stick to something simpler.
Vodka soda. No lime. And no tequila to facilitate bad decisions.
It’s just enough kick to blur the edges of a week I don’t want to keep.
My phone buzzes in my bag. I ignore it for a full five seconds. Maybe six…. Then I peek. Because I’m weak.
Locke:
You look distracted tonight.
