"Hardwick," I corrected. I couldn't tell if he was getting my name wrong on purpose or not, but I was going to keep reminding him until he got it through his thick skull.
Although, this one, as mistakes went, wasn't so bad. I made a note to use it when I wrote my play. Maybe Arnold Hardbattle? That sounded like a good protagonist name to me.
"Yeah, yeah." Boner flapped his hand in my direction. "We should get going. The party should be starting soon."
"Not without Harlow." Cass stepped over to take her hand, pulling her to him so they could walk together out the door.
"Definitely not without the guest of honor," Boner agreed. He opened the door and held it for the rest of us to file out. "Is Jules coming?" he asked as he closed it behind us.
"He said he'd meet us there," Cass said.
It was Jules we were talking about. He might decide not to show. The man was difficult and unpredictable, but Harlow liked him for some reason. They were constantly at each other's throats, but anyone could see the sparks flying between them. Sooner or later, she'd be calling him 'boyfriend' as well.
I wasn't sure how I felt about sharing her with another guy, but we'd made it work so far. I wasn't going to beat myself up about not staking my claim long before the rest of them came along. She wasn't ready for it then, and neither was I.
What changed? I wasn't sure. Possibly getting closer to the bottom of her list, like the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Psychology probably had something to say about that kind of optimism. Either way, we were here now, and I wasn't going to let her go.
Before we got onto the elevator to take us down to the street, I ordered us an Uber.
"It's only a couple of minutes away," I said. I caught a hint of regret in Boner and Cass' eyes.
Clearly they were thinking the same thing I was. We'd like to peel the dress off Harlow and make her scream a few times. If we were fashionably late to the opening, where was the harm?
We sighed in unison and stepped out of the elevator, arrayed around her like we were her bodyguards.
I could add that to my play. Playwright by day, bodyguard by night. Hero when required. Maybe I should think bigger. A screenplay instead of a play.
Before I could start thinking about who'd play me in the movie, the Uber pulled up in front of us.
"Your carriage awaits, my lady," Boner said grandly, opening the back door and gesturing for her to slide inside.
"It's not going to turn into a pumpkin at midnight, is it?" she said with a laugh.
"I hope not. Although, I'd make a cute mouse." Boner slid in beside her, leaving Cass to hurry around to the other door and me to slide into the front passenger seat.
"Of course you would," she said.
I twisted around and watched them kiss. His tongue slid over her lips and into her mouth.
If they kept doing that, Boner wasn't going to be the only boner around here. I'd have one in the front of my suit pants. Cass too, judging by the expression on his face, and the way the fabric rose, tenting in his lap.
The driver cleared his throat, confirmed the destination with me, and pulled away, narrowly missing running into another vehicle.
"Watch where you're going, asshole," he shouted out of the window, even though it was him who hadn't looked.
There was nothing like a hair-raising car ride to start the night.
Of course, if he got one of us killed, the rest of us would go after him. He didn't know that, and didn't seem intimidated by the glance I slid his way. Not surprising. There were more intimidating people in the city than me. On the outside, that was. He had no idea what I was like on the inside.
Which was why you should be careful who you pick up when driving an Uber.
Although I've seen that meme. The one that says one out of every four people is a serial killer. Since there were five of us in the car, the statistics weren't in his favor. I couldn't rule out the fact he was also one, but he wasn't going to be taking us to a side street and murdering us tonight. Or any other night, come to that.
The traffic crawled all the way to Angel's Redemption before the driver stopped in the middle of the street to let us out. I paid and followed the others past the line waiting outside, and into the restaurant.
"There's a line," Harlow said excitedly, looking over her shoulder with wide eyes.
"Of course there's a line," Boner said. "They'd be crazy not to stand out there for hours waiting to eat here."
