“Perv!” I yell and move to hit him with one of my small wings.
He ducks. “And not ashamed of it.”
We all talk, and some of us sign up to sing while others decide to watch. Then we wait for the announcers to start theevent while pop music plays in the background. I look around the bar as Cameron catches us up on his upcoming tattoo shop that he’s opening with his cousin next year. Followed by Levi, who talks about a new kid he’s teaching. Then Stevie tells us about the musical she’s auditioning for, which will start early next semester. Kami announces that her internship at King’s Wolf is ending soon. Finally, Jake shares the latest tales of the girls his parents have tried to set him up with so he can get engaged before finishing his last year of college.
“Fuck me sideways.” Jake groans.
I look at him with a raised brow. “What?”
He simply points to a table on our right, and it takes me a moment to find a familiar face when I see Dakota. She’s the girl from the soup kitchen, and the woman Kami, Levi, and Stevie met briefly last semester, aka someone Jake really doesn’t like for some reason.
She stands from where she is and saunters toward the bar. My jaw drops at her Jessica Rabbit costume. She’s wearing a seamless red wig, a bright red sparkly dress with a slit, and gloves—basically the whole shebang.
I turn back to look at Jake, who glances at her one more time before shifting his attention back to me.
“Oh, come on, Jake. You still hate her even when she looks that good?” Dakota is a gorgeous woman…and now she’s headed straight to our table.
“Shit,” I hear Jake mutter.
Levi leans in. “What’s going on?”
“Dakota?” Stevie gasps. “I haven’t seen you in months. How are you?”
She gives her a warm smile. “I’m surprised you remember me, but I’m good, just dropping in to say hi to Emma.”
That’s interesting, considering we’ve only really spoken once or twice, aside from the day at the soup kitchen. I have a gut feeling that she isn’t here just to see me.
“Hey, Dakota.” I wave to her from the middle seat in the booth.
She lays a hand on her hip and shifts her gaze to the man sitting next to me. “Johnathan.”
Kamila and Levi flinch, knowing how much that’ll piss Jake off.
He leans back and flashes a shit-eating grin. “Dax.”
After she gives him a disgusted look, Dakota turns to me. “Are you coming to the soup kitchen this weekend?”
“Um, no, not this weekend, but next Sunday I will.” I clear my throat. “Kamila, Levi, and Jake are coming too.”
“It’ll be nice to have you there, Levi and Kamila.” I bite my lip at the silence that follows, feeling Jake’s anger radiating from him. “All right, I should get back to my friends.”
“Yeah, you do that, Dax.” Jake tilts his head.
Why does he keep calling her Dax?
She decides to ignore him. “Bye, guys.” Dakota walks away, swaying her hips with every step, drawing nearly everyone’s attention except for Levi and Cameron, who are only watching Jake. Dakota’s silver eyes peek over her shoulder, noticing Jake’s stare, and she smiles as if she’s won some kind of contest.
The six of us sit there in silence, waiting to see if the man of the hour will say anything.
“Do. Not. Ask,” he grits out.
Everyone in the group mutters their own version of “wasn’t going to,” while some of us cough or clear our throats, deciding it’s for the best that we don’t ask.
After ten minutes, people are onstage singing and pointing to their friends, having the time of their lives. I momentarily get distracted thinking about Grayson and what he might be doing tonight. It’s only been a day since I last saw him, but the memory of Tuesday keeps crossing my mind at the most unexpected times.
Sighing, I debate whether to take out my phone. Jake and Levi are both too close for either of them to see who or what I’mtexting. Instead, I settle for people watching while someone sings a song that’s been played to death. Thankfully, there’s nobody else here dressed as Tinker Bell, though I do see a lot of the same repetitive costumes from movies. Harley Quinn, the Joker, characters fromGrease,Clueless—hold on. My head swivels back, doing a double take at a girl in a basic witch costume sitting next to another woman and two men. My focus stays on the man dressed as a fireman…a sexy fireman.
Grayson is here. At King’s Wolf, students surround him everywhere, but more importantly, the woman in the witch costume has her arm wrapped around him as he talks to his friend, who has his own girl leaning on his shoulder.
