“Ignore it, fairy,” Riggs commands.
He shifts both our bags to his other side, then wraps an arm around me and pulls me close. Riggs is a weapon at six foot three and heavily muscled. He might come across as the happy-go-lucky one, but you do not want to be on his wrong side. I have seen him take down men bigger than him like they were nothing.
We reach the table and I sit beside Felix. He pushes a tuna and mayo jacket potato towards me, tapping the plate. I eat in silence as the guys banter back and forth, as my mind drifts to Roman.
I wonder if he is okay.
Part of me says it is normal to worry about a friend, but the truth is, I have always had a soft spot for him as more than that. If anything happened to him, I would never forgive myself.
They try to pull me into the conversation, but I go through the motions, answering where I can. My heart is not in it. I wonder if this is what my whole experience would have been if Robyn had not come into my life. This quiet, consuming loneliness.
“Felix,” a woman purrs, my head jolts up as I take in Rebecca.
I have always hated her. Her and her little merry band of bitches. Rebecca, Maya and Quinn are the epitome of everything I cannot stand and I hate them even more for making me feel that way. I am a girl’s girl through and through. I never blame women for men’s indiscretions, so when I find one who disgusts me to my core, it burns hotter.
She is beautiful. If beauty was only surface level and you didn’t mind losing brain cells every time she opened her mouth. Her blue eyes look lifeless to me and her bleached blonde hair does nothing for her pale complexion.
“Bex,” Felix responds as my head snaps towards him. I must mouth the wordBexbecause she starts to giggle and Felix looks straight at me.
“What’s wrong with your brother giving me a nickname? It’s not like you don’t have one,fairy.”
The way she says it makes my teeth grind, my knuckles whitening around my fork. I cannot ignore the bitterness underneath it.
“Watch your fucking tone,” I snap, and she scoffs, flicking her hair over her shoulder like a horse’s tail.
“Well, we could be family soon,fairy. Don’t you think it’s time we let bygones be bygones?”
“What the fuck is she talking about?” I snap, turning to Felix, who looks part ashamed, part frustrated.
“Felix, so help me God, you better answer me,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Didn’t you tell her, baby?”
“Bex, not now,” Felix bites out.
“There’s no time like the present,” I snark.
“Oh well, I am one of Felix’s promised. Our daddies finalised it last week.”
Daddies. Gag.
“Rebecca,” Felix snaps, loud enough that people turn to look. “Do not make me tell you again. Now leave. You’re causing a scene.”
“But—”
“No, Rebecca. Go.” Felix sighs, his shoulders tighten as he watches her and her minions stumble away.
“When were you going to tell me?” I ask, trying to keep the hurt out of my voice, but it bleeds through anyway.
“Fae, you are going through a lot. I already dropped the other bomb on you. I didn’t want to cause you any more stress.”
“Any more stress?” I scoff. “Felix, for an intelligent man, you are dense sometimes. Why her?”
“Do you think I had a choice? You know who I want,” he says through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, but she’s not here, is she? Whose fucking fault is that?”
“Fairy, that’s not fair,” Riggs interjects.