Brynn smiles and bounces off, and I turn back to Lainey.
“I’m sorry. You know I don’t want–” I start.
“Just go,” she says, plopping down into the booth. But I don’t just go. I take a seat in front of her and reach across the table to grab her hands.
“Lainey. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy. My life has been so wild lately,” I say.
“You’re telling me,” she mutters. “What happened to you, Mila? What happened to us?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, my heart pounding painfully in my chest.
“We used to hang out all the time. It’s always been me and you. I was the one who befriended when we were teens, remember?” she asks.
“Of course I remember, and you’re still my best friend.”
“Well, it doesn’t feel that way. Not since you started hanging out with Brynn and those other girls.”
I lean in even more. “I miss dancing, Lainey. That’s all it is. But I promise you, after I learn the routine, I am going to make time to hang out with you, no excuses. I have so much I want to tell you. So much I need to talk to you about. I–”
“Lainey, if you want to eat, you better do it now,” Niko says. Lainey gives me a broken smile.
“I have to go. Have fun,” she says before walking off.
It breaks my heart and makes me angry all at the same time. My life has been such a whirlwind that I feel like I have no control over it anymore. I want to go after her. I want to cry and tell her everything. But just as my chin starts to shake, Brynn walks over.
“Are you excited that you’re going to be the Cockpit’s new lead Ring Girl?” she asks.
“Yeah…” I nod with a smile while simultaneously blinking back the tears.
“Good,” she says before mumbling, “That makes one of us.”
Chapter 36
Dominic
Mila has a spectacular ass.
I’d rather every glassy-eyed man in the Cockpit didn’t get to see it in all its glory. But the way she lights up when she’s on that stage dancing is something I could never take from her. Even if it means I have to share that bombshell body while she’s up there. Which is why I gave her free rein to set up the dance studio below Bad Wolfe. That’s another thing that added light to her already sparkling eyes. I can’t say that I hate any of it. But watching the way men around the room start catcalling and whooping when she hits the stage, pulling wads of ones from their slack pockets, coaxes me toward the bar.
“She’s really something,” Aiden, one of the bartenders at the Ring Room says. He nods over at the stage as he throws a bar towel over his shoulder.
“Two fingers of the best,” I tell him. “And eyes off my girl.”
Aiden grins and grabs the whiskey bottle, pouring a hefty dose into the glass and sliding it over to me. I suck down half of it and pass it back to him for a top-off before turning around to watchthe show. I’m not fighting tonight, so I decide to just take a seat at the bar. For one, I don’t feel like sitting in the swamp of men where I can hear them talking about her. The whole room would turn into a boxing ring if I did that, and I’d be the only one left standing.
The routines have changed since they put Mila in the center. It’s not just twerking and strip dancing without the pole. It’s an actual dance, and she is by far the best dancer up there.
Halfway through the routine, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out to find a text from my dad.
Sigh.
Dad: CALL ME NOW.
Dominic: I’m busy right now. What’s up?
I wait as the ellipsis pops up. Meanwhile, I go back to watching Mila on the stage, taking a sip of whiskey. But then I nearly spit it out.
Dad: It’s about your inheritance.
