“Are you good?” Niko couldn’t help but grin at the difference in her entire being. “Ready?”
She licked her lips, still breathless as she blinked and nodded.
“Alright.” He pressed one more soft, chaste kiss on her mouth. The kiss he’d intended the first to be. Then reluctantly straightened and opened the door, allowing her to enter first.
He kept his hand on her back as they walked in, and he scanned the space. He saw Zion, who stood immediately, waving his hand, and next to him Karina’s face lit up as she extended her arms.
As they headed towards their friends, Niko heard a familiar asshole’s voice.
“Tiara.”
Niko felt Tianatense beside him. He wondered if he’d purposefully called her Tiara, if it was a nickname, or if it was some psychological negging situation, like he’d gotten it wrong on purpose.
Tiana turned her attention to the corner where her ex was seated with Gianna, and Niko did as well. When he glanced overhe saw Gianna was taking photos of her drink as well as selfies. He didn’t miss that, the constant photo taking. At first he hadn’t minded being an “Instagram Boyfriend” and taking photos of G. He’d appreciated the attention not being on him for a change. But after a while, it got old and repetitive. He wanted to live in the moment, not constantly be trying to get the right lighting and angles, and he definitely didn’t miss his partner’s moods being determined by how many likes or shares a post got.
As they walked closer to the corner, Niko could feel Tiana’s entire body shaking. Underneath his breath, without moving his mouth, he whispered, “You’re good. I’ve got you.”
He had no clue if she heard him or not. It was a volume he only ever used with his twin, who could hear him. He was surprised when he felt her body relax as she exhaled.
“Hi,” Tiana said brightly as they approached the table.
“Hey, G,” he greeted his ex.
For the first time Gianna glanced up from her phone. The second her eyes lifted, she did a double take at the fact he had his arm around Tiana. “Niko, what are you…” Her eyes bounced between Tiana and Niko. “Wait…are you two…?”
“No,” Brock refuted the inquiry, staring directly at Tiana with a look Niko didn’t like one bit, a look that said,You belong to me, you are my property.
Niko’s hand wrapped even further around Tiana’s hip. His fingers dug into her flesh as he tucked her more firmly against his side. He noticed Brock’s jaw tic as he did so.
“We’ve been together for a while.” Niko glanced down at Tiana, who appeared to be staring at Gianna’s coffee order as if it was the eighth wonder of the world. “We’re just keeping it private because I think we both realized right away that what we have is so different, so special. Honestly, I don’t want to shareher, to share this, what we have, with the world. I want to protectit.” Niko glanced at Gianna, then looked directly at Brock. “I will do anything to protect it, protect her, and what we have.”
Brock looked like he was about to lose his shit as he slowly rose to a standing position.
Before Brock was able to respond, Zion and Karina interrupted the unhappy reunion.
Karina slipped her arm through Tiana’s. “Hey, are you guys ready?”
Zion stepped between Brock and Niko. “Hate to interrupt, but we are going to be late if we don’t leave now.”
Karina smiled down at Niko’s ex. “Nice meeting you, Rhiann?—”
“Gianna,” G corrected Karina.
“Right, sorry, Gianna.” Karina touched her chest and played it off as if she had genuinely made a mistake, but Niko could tell it was a power play.
Niko’s blood was boiling as Zion shifted his body, basically boxing him out so he had to turn and head towards the door. He wasn’t sure what Zion’s initial “plan” had been, but he was 99.9% certain he’d improvised once he’d seen Brock stand up.
As the foursome stepped outside into the crisp mountain air, Niko could feel himself vibrating with unspent anger. Brock hadn’t done anything overtly egregious, but his demeanor, the look in his eye, and the ownership he seemed to feel he still had over Tiana made Niko want to pound his head against the wall.
He thought he’d hated Brock Bartlett in college. His level of disdain for the man had just amplified by a million.
“Well, that escalated quickly,” Zion remarked as the group rounded the corner of Brewed so that they were no longer visible in the large glass windows. “I thought for sure blood was going to be spilt.”
“Would have been fine by me.” Niko forced his shoulders to relax as his hands fisted.
“What was your plan? Why did you ask us to go there?” Tiana asked.
Karina lifted her hands up in front of her. “That was my fault. When I saw how much of a fan Gianna was, I thought if you came in and I made a big deal about how amazing your classes are, which they are, by the way, that would start things off by showing them that they can come to your town, but your town hasyourback. I figured seeing them on your terms would be better than them ‘randomly’ running into you on his terms.”
