I take her back to the table and pull her chair out for her. She sits, and I lean down. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Go get ’em.”
I walk over to where Carla and Malachite are sitting. The male pales as I get there. His eyes go wide, and he sits up so straight his spine could double as a flagpole.
I lift both hands, palms out, before I’ve even reached the table. “I came over to apologize. I’m so sorry. That was completely out of line.”
Malachite stands. “That’s okay, sir.”
We shake hands. His grip is firm, even though the rest of him looks ready to bolt. Points to him for holding firm. Carla stands too, watching us like she’s refereeing a fight that could break out again at any moment.
“I was just explaining to Malachite how protective you are after Mistveil,” she says.
“It makes perfect sense, sir, given the male you are and?—”
“It’s Magma. We aren’t at work right now,” I tell him. “Anyway, my apologies. I was out of line.”
“No hard feelings, sir.” He winces. “I mean, Magma.”
I turn to Carla. “I overreacted. I’m glad to see you’re feeling better.”
“I am…um…thanks.” Her face is red. Her jaw is tight. Her chin comes up. “You should probably get back to your girlfriend.”
Shit! She’s pissed
“We need to talk, Carla.”
“No, I think we’re good.”
“I disagree,” I tell her.
“Noooooo, I’m pretty sure that we’re all good and that everything has been said.”
I want to argue with her. But I can see that she isn’t listening. Her arms are crossed, and her eyes are daring me to push. She won’t change her mind. Not tonight. Not here.
“Enjoy the rest of the evening.” I glance at Malachite. “Make sure that Carla gets home safely.” There’s a slight growl to my voice that I can’t smooth out, and Malachite shrinks a little.
“Magma!” Carla warns.
“Again, I apologize.” This time I look Carla in the eye when I say it, and I hold her gaze, so she knows I mean it. I did overreact. I did act out of line.
She stares back at me, and I can’t read a single thing on her face.
I dip my head to them both and walk back to my table.
Brook slides my beer toward me as I sit. “How did it go?”
“I apologized to Malachite. He accepted. Carla told me to go back to my girlfriend.” I take a long pull of the beer. “That would be you, by the way. Congratulations.”
“Lucky me.” She lifts her wine. “Here’s to actually having a conversation with her at some point.”
I sigh. “At this point it will never fucking happen. She didn’t seem open to talking. I asked, and she turned me down flat.”
“And you’re just going to accept it? If you want her, you need to go after her.”
“Oh, I will. Believe you me,” I tell Brook.
I only hope I didn’t fuck things up completely.
