“Nope. She’s a lot stronger than she looks.”
I nod my head. “Yeah, Hella is a bit of a—”
“Fuck boy?”
“Well, I wasn’t going to say those exact words—”
“A pig?”
“All right, I get that you’re mad, baby. His loss, don’t sweat it.”
“Does he care about her?”
I pause, nodding my head. “He does. Just… not enough.”
Sighing, she laces her hands into mine, pulling me toward the bar where Jada and Hella are both siting.
“I need to get drunk,” she announces, taking a seat on one of the stools beside Jada.
Jada laughs, sliding the bottle of Tequila across the bar. “Go at it.”
Running my hand across my chin, I pull her stool closer to mine, taking the bottle off her and taking a long pull.
The atmosphere is alive. Goosebumps run across my skin as the effects of the Tequila begin to pulse through me, warming my blood and setting off happy jolts of electricity static over my skin. Peering around, I drag my slightly drunken eyes to Beast, who’s sitting beside me, taking gulps of his drink.
“Wanna dance?” I ask, removing my zip hoodie and placing it on the bar. I push my white tank down to cover my stomach, only it pops back up and rides on my hip bones.
Behind a light chuckle, he shakes his head. “Really?”
I smile at him, turning my back on all of them with Hannibal sitting beside Beast to make my way to the sound system where Ripper is sitting, drinking his beer.
“Hey,” I say, walking to the sofa he’s stretched out on.
“Sup mischief. What are you planning now?” he asks his pierced eyebrow cocked. Seriously, who still has their eyebrow pierced in this day and age? Surprisingly he pulls it off with all his boyish charm.
“Nothing at all,” I answer, stepping over his outstretched legs and picking up the iPod.
“Can I ask you a question?” He places his beer on the table before running his hand through his long blond spiky hair.
I pause my scrolling to peer at him on the corner of my eye. “Sure, only if I can ask you one too?”
His eyes narrow before he pulls his lip into his mouth. “Fuck it, it’ll be worth it.”
“Shoot,” I gesture to him.
“I sort of… ah… know… about what happened.”
My body stills as the alcohol that was once turning my body hot with happy temperaments now drops to an icy level. “Really?” I say, swallowing down the bile that’s formed in my throat.
“Not like that,” he says, taking a stand and moving to me. He pushes his hands into his jean’s pockets and cocks his head. “I only know because I overheard Beast and Hella talking about it a couple years back.”
“Oh,” I whisper, my palms sweating against the metal back of the iPod. “You had a question?” I say after clearing my throat.
“Yeah,” his eyes softening. “Did you ever get over what happened?”
My eyebrows quirk as I think over his question carefully. “No. I just learned to live with it. Why?”
He shakes his head. “No reason. Carry on,” he gestures to the iPod before retreating back to his spot on the sofa. “What was your question?” he asks with a smile around the rim of his bottle.
“How’d you get the name, Ripper?”
His eyes drop and a devious smile invades his face. “Isn’t it obvious?”
After a few seconds of silence, I register what he means. “Shit, really?”
He nods his head. “Yeah, really, really.”
“That’s sick.”
He shrugs, placing the beer back on the table. “Not for me it’s not.”
He keeps his eyes on mine, tilting his head and flashes of him ripping people apart with his bare hands invade my mind. “Why?” I ask. “Why do it? Why not just kill them and get it over with?”
“Why do you think the police can’t pin anything on us, sweetheart. It’s because they can’t find enough of the remains.”
“Okay, yes, got it. Forget I asked.”
He laughs, picking up his bottle again.
I continue through the playlist until I come across the perfect song. Smirking, I tap on Breaking Benjamin ‘Dance with the Devil’ before walking back to the dance floor, pulling Melissa up from her spot on the sofa on my way. “Come on.”
She laughs, tapping my elbow and nudging her head at Beast and Hella, who are sitting at the bar watching us intently. “We dancing with the devil?”
I nod my head before we begin dancing and losing ourselves into the lyrics of the song. Bringing my arms up, I run them down again and drag my eyes to Beast with a small smile. His eyes lock onto mine, a smirk sprawling out across his lips before slowly running his eyes up and down my body. Licking his lips, he places his bottle down on the bar and begins making his way over.