Creed rolled his eyes and ignored the man.
“Jinx, how are you?” Creed said.
Jinx nodded, then shook Creed’s hand.
Creed gestured to his left before looking at Laikyn again. “The beautiful one is Journey Zeplyn. The pain in my ass is Jacob Hawkins.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Laikyn said, nodding in greeting to them both.
Several guests were already walking around behind us to avoid the chaos that was starting now that Jacob Hawkins had made his presence known. Although he hadn’t been on the UFC circuit in quite some time, recent events had brought his former championship titles into the spotlight, and Hawk was using the notoriety to get the spotlight on Primal Instincts, LLC.
“Is it true that all five of you are in a relationship?” one reporter asked, moving closer to Hawk as he steered the attention his way.
It was then Monica walked up, her lawyer fiancé at her side. Or rather, one step behind her. Heaven forbid she not be the center of attention.
“It’s true, yes,” Hawk announced as the reporters’ interest was piqued by the very untraditional aspect of Creed’s relationship.
“Let’s take this inside, shall we?” I whispered to Laikyn.
She glanced around as though trying to figure out where she was. I took her hand and felt the tension in her arm when she noticed her mother was behind us. I didn’t give Monica a chance to pull Laikyn aside as we navigated behind Creed’s group as they spoke candidly to the reporters.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Laikyn asked, her eyes wide as we walked into the main doors of the resort.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She turned to me, grinning from ear to ear. “Yes, you do.”
I touched her face before I realized I was going to do it. I almost told her it was my job to protect her, but I refrained. It was the truth, but for the first time, I didn’t want her to think that was all this was. As much as I was still fighting it, I knew it wasn’t. Not anymore.
“Let’s get something to drink.”
“And here I thought I was going to be a spectacle with two guys,” Laikyn said as we headed for the grand ballroom. “Is she really with all of them?”
“Yes.”
“How does one tiny woman keep up with four men?” Laikyn mused.
I chuckled and looked at Jinx. “We’ve been working hard to keep up with one woman. How do you know that’s not the case with them?”
Laikyn blushed even as she smiled at both of us. “Thank you for being here.”
Her thanks weren’t necessary. I would’ve been here whether she invited us or not. Protecting her from her mother was my endgame, after all.
* * *
Jinx
Although I could tell Rule wasn’t fondof this party, I didn’t mind it so much.
Perhaps that was because Laikyn was sticking close to me, creating a wall between anyone who came to speak to her. She would introduce me and then dominate the conversation without having to tell anyone that I didn’t speak.
I didn’t mind that people knew. It was the people, in general, that I had an issue with. Anxiety was a bitch. More so when you couldn’t blame it on one particular thing. I was anxious in crowds and around people I didn’t know well. Tonight was no exception. If it weren’t for Laikyn being there beside me, I would’ve exited through the back already.
“You okay?” she asked, turning into me when some movie producer who used to work with her mother walked away with her husband in tow.
I nodded, holding her gaze.
“Would you dance with me?” Her eyes swept over my face. “You can say no if you’d like.”
