“You must be Ivy,” the stranger says.“I’m Riot and this is Havoc.We grew up with Raegan before she went to live with her dad in Seattle,” he tells us.
“Ahh, yes, I’ve heard a few stories about you guys,” Ivy says.
“Let’s get you ladies a couple drinks,” he offers and leads us over to the bar area.Ivy has an arm around my shoulders, navigating me every which way.Beckett follows and stays right by my side, watching me.
“You guys got anything good to drink round here?”Ivy asks as a guy my age stands behind the bar waiting to be told what to do.
“Beer and hard liquor, Darlin’,” Riot says.
“Wow, talk about a variety,” she jokes.“I’ll have a beer I guess, and Sutton will have…” She looks over at me.
“Water, please,” I say.
The guy pops the cap off Ivy’s bottle then hands me a sealed water bottle.Thankful to give my hands something to occupy them, I hold onto the plastic like a lifeline.
Riot leads us back over to the table where all this began.I scoot my chair back farther away from the table where a naked woman was just lying.I’m sure there’s a health code violation somewhere about that.Ivy must feel it too because she holds her beer in her lap and doesn’t touch the table top.
Beckett must notice.“Prospect,” he yells and within seconds a guy in a vest comes over.“Clean the table off.”
The guy doesn’t even hesitate before he starts to remove all the bottles and glasses.He comes back over with a spray bottle and rag and starts to wipe it down as if it were the most important job that was ever given.Once he finishes, Beckett waves him away, never taking his eyes off me this entire time.
“You both went to college with Raegan?”Riot asks, and I dart my eyes away from Beckett’s gaze.
“I was her roommate in college, but Sutton is from here,” Ivy says.
“Really?”Riot raises an eyebrow.“Are you new to town?”
I clear my throat hoping to sound stronger than I feel.
“I’ve lived here my whole life,” I say.
“Really?How come I’ve never seen you before?”he continues to press.Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Beckett lean in and place his forearms on the top of the table.
“Not sure.I’ve been out of town for the last few years though,” I tell him.
“When did you graduate?”Beckett asks, and everyone turns their attention towards him.
I swallow the lump in my dry throat.“Four years ago.”
His eyes ping back and forth between mine as he’s thinking.
“So you were a freshman when we were seniors?”Riot asks and I shrug.I don’t know when they graduated.“I can’t believe I can’t place you, because I’d definitely remember someone as sexy as you in high school.”
I blush as his compliment, but a growl over the loud music has us all looking over at Beckett.
“Keep those fucking thoughts to yourself,” Beckett snarls making Riot post up his hands in surrender.
“Point made, brother,” Riot says.
“Can I talk to you a second?”Beckett stands from his seat, staring down at me.
Unsure what to do, I look over at Ivy.
She pats my knee.“Just stay where I can see you, and you’ll be fine.These guys aren’t going to hurt you.”
I nod then stand on shaky legs.I walk behind him as he goes in the same direction Raegan and Stone just went.
The noise of the music and people fades slightly the farther we walk down the hall, but I can still see the room a bit.There are doors on either side of the dark gray walls.I’m looking around and not paying too much attention so I don’t see him stop, and I ram right into his back.
