“No problem here.” I smile back at the bouncer, then tap his chest with both hands. His eyes twitch and I can see that he’s contemplating whether or not putting me in whatever he thinks my place is, is worth losing his job over. In the end, I just roll my eyes, step to the side, and have a little chuckle to myself about how truly fragile some men’s egos really are.
Reeze isn’t much bigger than me, but there is a certain presence that comes with age. He steps closer to the bouncer and raises the clipboard that had been in his left hand the whole time. “Reeze Akana, and Skye Knox,” is all he says, and when the bouncer begrudgingly hands him a pink wrist band for Skye, I quickly snatch it and jump back.
Within seconds I dragged Jintae back into the crowd.
“I could have just put up with it. It really wasn’t worth it.”
I look back at Jin. “You’re the one with my brother and you thinkthatwasn’t worth it?”
“What’s so funny?” Tek asks when we’re back at the table.
“Just the fragility of a toxic ego.”
Nodding slowly, he lets out a deep exhale, because without needing to explain a thing to him he already knows what just happened.
“Do you have a death wish?” Reeze asks as he and Skye approach.
“Not at all. But I do find a lot of joy in taunting authority.”
“D’you think you’ll ever grow out of it?” Eden asks.
“You didn’t.”
He shrugs as if to say,true.
“I don’t want you to ever change.” Tek’s hand makes its way back beneath my coat as he pulls me to his side, avoiding my new piercings.
“The new renovations look really good,” Skye says, speaking for the first time. “I bet it feels great to finally have a room where you can work.”
“He’ll be taking clients starting next week,” Tek says, and I can feel how proud he is radiating off of each of those seven words.
It was a hard slog getting the shop renovated. Obviously I needed to get my certification first, then came the discussion phase. When it was just Tek and Eden, I know my brother would have agreed to just about anything as long as he didn’t have to be the one to organize it. But now that Reeze is a partner too, things need to be more meticulous. And add onto that how imperative it is to still operate a fully sterile environment while also renovating, and you realize why it took so long to add an extra ten feet onto the back of the shop.
“Ahhhhhh!” A high pitched squeal makes me jump, and one second later Liv’s body is barrelling into the side of mine.
“Watch my hip,” I warn, but before her squealing dies down I’m already lifting her up and spinning her in a circle, her own upper cheek dermal piercing catching the light as we turn.
“The fuck is wrong with that bouncer?” Austin says, still looking back over his shoulder.
Reeze picks up the drinks menu from the middle of the table. “He was challenged by some surfer kid and he got his feelings hurt.”
“That checks out,” Anaise smiles, approaching me to place a kiss on my cheek before moving onto Tek.
“What the hell is a Joseung Saja cocktail?” Reeze asks.
I look at Tek, and warm happiness flushes my entire body.
He shrugs nonchalantly. “I dunno. The organizers just asked for some names inspired by the collection and said they were gonna handle the rest.”
Eden leans over Reeze’s shoulder and his brow instantly rises. “Cali boy? Eternal sunshine?”
I lean onto the table from the other side. “Your jealousy’s showing.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Then go order yourself an Eternal Sunshine and cheer the fuck up.”
“The life of a muse is hard,” Anaise jokes, and pulls on Eden’s huge arm so he turns to face her. With her tiny hands around his biceps, she tugs him down to her eye level. “Tonight isn’t about you.” Her tone is kind, but perhaps the most authoritative I’ve ever heard. And it has the exact same affect on Eden as it does Tek.
