Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Iris
Walking in through the front door, Iris yawned, stretching.
The apartment was dark, the way she’d left it.
When she flipped on the light, she screamed.
Someone was sitting in the living room. When she realized it was Noelle, she sighed.
Closing the door behind her, she winced as she glanced into the hallway, hoping no one had heard her scream. Her heart was still pounding.
Then she whirled around to face her roommate.
“What on earth are you doing sitting in the dark?” She pressed her hand to her chest, where she could feel her heart thudding against her palm as she willed herself to calm down. “You scared the shit out of me.”
It wasn’t until the words were out of her mouth, she registered the unhappy scowl on Noelle’s face. She’d been too freaked out Noelle was there at all.
Inwardly she groaned. Crap.
“Oh, you were scared? Imagine how I felt when I came home, and you weren’t here. You didn’t text or call or anything to let me know you were going to be out.”
She hadn’t thought she’d need to, figuring Noelle wouldn’t be here when she got home, that she’d be with Tyler for the night. Or she’d bring Tyler with her and wouldn’t even notice Iris’ absence. If Iris was completely honest, she’d been happy about both possible scenarios.
So, where was Tyler?
Iris got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“What happened? Is everything okay?”
“You mean other than my so-called best friend lying to me about what she was doing tonight and sneaking around with her new friends?” Noelle spat out, resentment and betrayal emanating from every line of her body. Her eyes filled with fire as she leaned forward accusingly.
“I wasn’t sneaking around! I didn’t realize you’d be home. I thought you’d be with Tyler all night, and I didn’t lie to you. I didn’t make plans until after you left.” Iris spread her hands wide, holding them up on either side of her in a gesture of surrender, hoping logic would calm Noelle down.
Unfortunately, it seemed to make her even angrier, and she got to her feet, her voice rising with everyone.
“Right, you waited until after I left so you could sneak around behind my back! Why didn’t you just say you wanted to hang out with your other friends instead of pretending like you wanted to spend time with me?” Noelle shouted.
Iris made shushing noises. Between her scream when she’d come in and Noelle’s shouting, there was no way they weren’t disturbing at least one of their neighbors.
“Noelle, it’s two in the morning!” Even though she was speaking vehemently, she still kept her voice lowered, giving Noelle a look.
“Then maybe next time don’t stay out so late! And don’t lie about it either!”
“I didn’t—”
It didn’t matter what she protested. Noelle stormed off to her room, slamming the door behind her. Iris winced.
There was no way in hell she would knock on Noelle’s door now. It would have to wait until a decent hour in the morning because she didn’t know if Noelle would keep shouting or calm down.
Granted, she might be even angrier tomorrow that Iris hadn’t come begging for forgiveness, but…
at least she would be yelling during daylight hours.
To be perfectly honest, Iris didn’t feel like begging for forgiveness.
Yeah, she’d gone out with friends, but only after Noelle had ditched her for the evening.
She might have told Noelle she was staying in to read, but that really had been all she’d planned when Noelle had left.
She hadn’t realized she’d fly through the book the way she had.
Rae and Domi might not have even been available.
Maybe she could have come home earlier, but Avery hadn’t been able to join them until close to midnight, and she hadn’t wanted to leave immediately.
Besides, she should be able to go hang out with friends without Noelle freaking out. Especially since Noelle had been the one to ditch her.
Feeling justified indignation made things a little easier as she passed Noelle’s door and heard her best friend make a hmphing noise from within. She knew she would eventually end up apologizing to keep the peace, but right now, she wouldn’t give in. She wasn’t in the wrong, dammit.
Hopefully, a good night’s sleep would put them both on a more even keel. She could find out how things had gone with Tyler, which would probably explain why Noelle had been home and in such a bad mood.
Law
“Take a step back!”
“I’m fine where I am.” Asad lifted the axe over his head, stepped forward, and let it fly.
It thunked against the target and fell to the ground. Law smirked.
“I told you to take a step back.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Asad glared at the target before turning to glare at Law.
Dressed in a tank top and jean shorts, he was at his most casual.
Normally, he preferred to be a bit more dressed up, as did Law, but the summer’s heat and humidity were brutal, even in the shade of Connor’s yard. “Alright, Mr. Know-it-All, your turn.”
Getting up from his seat, Law placed his can of sparkling water in its Stronghold koozie on the table while Connor chuckled and took a swig of his beer.
Where Patrick had gotten the idea to make koozies with Stronghold’s name on it, Law didn’t know, but he had to admit they came in handy. Connor’s had the Marquis logo.
Granted, looking at them, no one would immediately know that they were advertising kink clubs, especially since Marquis had become known for its restaurant on the first floor, but still. It felt a little surreal.
Still grumbling under his breath, Asad retrieved the two axes he’d thrown and put them back at the end of the run. He passed Law on his way back to the table, where he picked up his beer to take a large swig.
“Has it occurred to you the beer might not be helping your aim?” Law asked, calling over his shoulder.
Asad held up one hand, straight out in front of him, middle finger extended high to the sky, making both Law and Connor laugh.
“It doesn’t affect Connor,” Asad said a moment later.
“That’s because Connor is basically a Viking.”
“It’s true,” Connor said, shrugging one shoulder while Law got into position. He grinned at Asad, whose scowl deepened. Apparently, the reality of the situation—Connor towering over both of them in height and with the extra bulk to go with it—would not satisfy Asad.
Examining his distance from the target Connor had built, so they could throw axes during the Renn Fair off-season, Law nodded in satisfaction.
He lifted the axe above his head, both hands wrapped around the base.
Sometimes, they used the smaller one-handed ones, but Asad had wanted to practice with the larger ones today.
Taking a deep breath, Law exhaled as he stepped forward, his arms swinging forward, carrying the weight of the axe with them.
“Heard you have a date with Iris on Friday.”
He stumbled. The axe rotated twice and hit with a muted thunk, the head half-buried in the ground.
Growling under his breath, he turned and glared at Asad, planting his hands on his hips. Not that Asad cared. He and Connor were howling with laughter.
“Seriously?” Law asked, moving his glare back and forth between them. “That was cheap. I get a do-over on that one.”
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was true until you grounded the axe,” Asad replied, holding one hand against his stomach, laughing through his answer. “Guess I was wrong, thinking maybe you meant it when you said you weren’t interested in her.”
“I’m not. It’s not a date. It’s a scene.” Shaking his head in disgust, Law dropped his hands and went to retrieve the axe.
“Uh-huh.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Asad and Connor exchange a glance, both still laughing, although it was finally dwindling. Despite the stark contrast in their appearances, they had the same annoying grin on their faces. “A scene you didn’t tell either of us about.”
“I knew you’d try to make more of it than it was.” Law yanked the axe from the ground and made a face at the dirt covering its edge. He tapped it against his leg, knocking the worst of it off. “How did you find out, anyway?”
“Iris was at Marquis last night with Rae, Domi, and Avery, and they were talking about it. I also heard about it from Freddy, who got it from Luke, who heard it from Olivia, who had been talking to Shane, who was their bartender.” Asad’s grin widened even more.
“So, you can understand why I was skeptical. I really thought it was a case of telephone gone wrong.”
“Scening with her means nothing, huh?” Connor asked, raising an eyebrow. He might be the quietest out of them, but he had a talent for latching on to the thing his friends least wanted to talk about and choosing it as the topic for conversation.
Law scowled at him.
“She mentioned that no one scenes with her because of her brother. I figured I could scene with her. You’re the ones who were pushing me to do something with her.”
“Which is why it’s so interesting that you decided not to tell us about this scene… since it means nothing,” Asad teased, leaning his hip against the table and grinning.
In hindsight, Law could see how not telling them made it seem like a bigger deal than it was, but he’d wanted to put off the teasing.
Shaking his head, he turned back to the target. Took a step. The axe flew. He frowned as it thunked into the target but not right in the center.
“Hmm, a little off your game there, are we?” Asad asked, taking another sip of his beer.
“Like you’re one to talk,” Law muttered. He picked up the second axe and let it fly. This time it hit dead center, filling him with satisfaction. Heading to the target, he yanked them both out and returned to the other end, where Connor was already waiting.
In Connor’s hands, the axe looked more like a one-handed throwing axe, but the big man still chose to use both hands.
“Why not Stronghold?” Connor asked, loosely holding the first axe by his side, apparently more interested in questioning Law than in taking his turn. “Why Marquis?”
“That’s where she wanted to go. I assume because she didn’t want to risk running into her brother.”
“Don’t they usually go to the club on different nights? I mean, when she wasn’t serving out her punishment.” Asad tilted his head at Law, giving him a significant look. “Are you sure she knows this isn’t a date?”
“I’m sure.” He said it a lot more firmly than he felt, but giving it a moment’s thought, he was pretty sure she did.
He’d only offered after she’d told him about her trouble finding someone to scene with and was pretty sure she’d chosen Marquis for the privacy from her brother and his friends, not because she wanted to be alone with him.
If he felt a little disappointed about that, that was his problem and absolutely not something he would be sharing with Asad and Connor.
Asad and Connor exchanged another look, then the big man shrugged and lifted the axe over his head to throw it. Back to business.
Law wondered what Iris was up to today… what she had told her friends… what she might think about next week. If Asad and Connor weren’t watching him so closely, he would have texted her.