He didn’t say anything about my outfit though, he just flicked his head to the hallway. “Let’s go.”
Oliver gave me a grin, his teeth very white against the dark tones of his skin. He crossed the space, and showcasing not an ounce of shame, interlocked fingers with my bestie. Go Jayden! I had quite the happy feels. Nothing like knowing your bestie was all hooked up with some hottie.
Ryder gave me a side glance, distracting me. “The boys have been bugging me to go out.” He flicked his head to the group. Kyle fell in on my other side. I tilted my head back to meet his lazy smile. Strangely enough, I was immediately comfortable with this guy. He induced no confusing and often x-rated feelings like Ryder, and even though he had the same tough, badass vibe going on, he seemed a little more relaxed.
“Fuck yes,” Kyle said. “It’s been boring as shit here for a while. Even my request in the UK proved to be nothing. The action has dried up since we got that call all those weeks ago about our mythical ash girl.”
Those black eyes twinkled at me and I found myself smiling in return.
“I’ll bet you thought that was some sort of system malfunction.”
He gave me a wink. “I was more focused on keeping Ryder from smashing the shit out of every single one of the ash who were at your mom’s house when we got there.”
My eyes shifted across to the silent enforcer again. “What did they do?” I asked, as some worry seeped into my voice.
He shrugged. “Nothing much, but they were too caught up in what you were. They abandoned protocol.”
“And the fact that one of them was cradling her in his lap while she convulsed had nothing to do with it?”
Ryder turned that dark stare on Kyle, who just laughed. You could tell they’d been friends for a long time. He was one of the few males not afraid of him. We walked in silence for a bit. I was still pondering Kyle’s words, even though I really didn’t want to be. Ryder shifted a little closer, and as my eyes rose to meet his, he said, “Your hair looks good down.”
Whoa. That was completely unexpected and I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t used to Ryder dishing out compliments. I didn’t want to read too closely into it. He was an honest guy. Probably there was nothing more than simple approval.
“Thanks,” I finally murmured.
You look good in a towel.
We traveled the rest of the way through the Hive in silence, before ending up in the courtyard. Everyone piled into a big black unmarked van and then we headed to the club. Hell yes. Finally, some normalcy in my life.
The doorman was a vampire. They must completely change shifts when the curfew ended. I had no idea, I wasn’t one to break curfew much. Ryder nodded at the bouncer and we all strode in without paying or ID checks. Ryder posse perk.
The club was pumping, the music louder and more bass driven than the last time I was here. I felt my body loosen up as we strode further in. This was my world, not the fucking Hive.
“Charlie!” my bestie shrieked, bounding over to me with blond curls bouncing. Girl looked all kinds of gorgeous in her short, tight blue dress, eyes extra blue against the dark liner. She slammed into me with the force of a truck and I laughed as I hugged her. We stayed like that for an extended moment, flashes of our past flittering through my head, and I knew she’d be thinking the same thing. The last time we were in a club everything had been normal. Then that very same night, everything changed. You really couldn’t take anything in life for granted, it could be gone before you even had a chance to really know you had it. Eventually we had to untangle ourselves and I handed her over to my other bestie. Tessa and Jayden had been chatting over email but hadn’t met in person.
“Girl, your hair is Marilyn Monroe gorgeous,” he told her. She grinned and hugged him. My heart overflowed at my two BFFs finally meeting.
“It’s nice to finally meet you. Thanks for dressing Charlie tonight.”
I scowled. “What! How do you know he dressed me?”
Tessa rolled her eyes. “Please…”
Her next words were cut off as she finally focused on the enforcers, her eyes running across the six tall, buff, and badass guys. She lingered the longest on Ryder. Somehow she knew which one he was. She had never really met him; the last time she’d been passed out. I was a little nervous about the glint in her eye.
Please don’t say anything stupid, Tessa.
“So, you’re Ryder,” Tessa said. Her words made it sound like he was some important person in my life. Shit. My cheeks reddened.
Ryder extended his hand and shook hers. As he pulled away, a vampire strode in beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. I bristled at the sight of a bloodsucker so close to her.