He stops and scowls over his shoulder at me. “What?”
I tilt my head toward Aaron and Emilio snorts. “You’re going to pick Henderson over us?” he asks as if the very idea of doing exactly that is unfathomable.
“Uh, yeah. I came here with him. I’m not going to just bail because you three showed up.”
He frowns like he never thought of it like that and I have to smother a laugh. The Devils really are used to always getting whatever they want. I tug my hand free from his grip and reclaim my seat, but rather than heading to the booth as I’d expected, Emilio grabs the stool beside me and Roman takes the empty seat beside Aaron, who looks anything but thrilled to be seated beside him. As soon as he reaches for a menu, Dom rises and heads toward us, taking the last empty seat next to Roman.
Aaron’s jaw ticks and he clenches his hands into fists on the counter. I rest a hand on his knee and mouth one word—Sorry.Roman sees the touch and his eyes narrow so I quickly snatch it away.
“We can head out,” I mutter. “Grab something on the way back to—”
“Nah. Don’t be like that.” Emilio moves to squeeze between Aaron and me, throwing his arms around both our shoulders and pulling us toward him in a weird side-hug embrace. “Stay. You want us to get along, right?” he says to me. “Be friendly and shit?”
I nod.
“Alright then. We’re doing our part. Henderson,”—he meets Aaron’s frustrated green gaze—“you don’t mind, do you? It’ll be just like old times.”
Aaron shoves out of his seat, forcing Emilio to stumble back a few steps. “I’m not fucking doing this.” His chest rises and falls with each heavy breath and he bares his teeth. Roman and Dom also stand, folding their arms over their chests.
I jump to my feet, eyes wide. “Hey, it’s fine. We can—”
“No. It’s not fucking fine.”
I flinch at Aaron's tone.
“Don’t talk to her like that.” Roman comes to my defense, taking a menacing step forward. All of this is escalating way too fast.
“Hey.Hey!” I draw everyone’s attention back to me. “What am I missing here?”
“Nothing,” Aaron is quick to snap back.
Emilio laughs. “Keeping secrets, Henderson? Then again, that is your M.O., isn’t it?”
“Fuck off. I’m not dealing with your shit.” Aaron storms past him, making a beeline for the door before he catches himself and turns back to me. “Come on, Allie.” I step forward to follow, but a hand on my elbow stops me.
“Not happening. You wanna storm out that’s on you. But she’s not going anywhere with you like this.”
Before I can argue—because, yeah, Aaron is angry but it’s not like he’d hurt me—he’s cursing out a, “Whatever.” And leaving me behind.
Un-freaking-believable.I consider chasing after him. He’s my ride after all, but a firm shake of Roman’s head has me deciding against it. Was it too much to ask to have a normal day for once? No mean girls or asshole fathers or stupid boys to ruin it?
My stomach rumbles again. “Come on, vanilla.” Roman steers me toward a nearby booth. “Let’s feed you. I’ll take you home after.”
TWENTY
Roman
Aflare of something eerily close to jealousy burns hot in my chest at the thought of Allie on a date with AaronfuckingHenderson. No. Scratch that. I’m not jealous. I’m pissed. Who the hell does Henderson think he is?
I told him to stay away from her. Emilio made it public knowledge that she belonged to the Devils. He saw us together at Shadle Creek. Heknowsshe’s mine. And he’s still sniffing around.
It’s like the guy has a death wish. After what happened that summer before junior year—when the asshole nearly got all four of us killed—you better believe I’m not taking his shit anymore. I can’t believe I was ever friends with that asshole.
I pull Allie closer to me, conscious of my mounting anger. My arm wraps around her narrow waist as I lead her to our usual spot. Lust stirs and my dick twitches as I take in her slim legs and narrow waist, breathe in the strawberry scent of her shampoo. She isn’t wearing a lick of makeup, exposing a faint sprinkling of freckles on the top of her nose. God, she’s so fucking beautiful.
And she was here with him. The get-up she’s in is all forhim.
I grind my teeth together as we take our seats. Heather returns, takes our drink orders, and slaps a few menus down on the tabletop before retreating to the counter. She isn’t trying to flirt with Dom anymore and that’s fine by me. Every chick in this place is team Henderson. His aunt owns the place, so I’m not surprised.
