Chapter 5
We make it downstairs, to the main floor of the club, and just like Kratos requested, the floor’s deserted.
With the exception of Dom, who stands guard right outside the main area at the stairs.
Food is laid out at one of the larger VIP booths in the far left corner of the room across from the DJ setup, and while everyone heads that way, Jade makes it to the middle of the room and freezes.
She dropped Kratos's hand somewhere along the way, but he still followed her, standing and watching her while she takes in everything around her.
I really want to go to her, but decide against it, instead standing a few feet away from everyone at the table, but far enough away from them to have this moment.
Jade’s eyes bounce around the room, and the pure look of wonder in them has me looking around as well.
Hopper’s is top-of-the-line. Every light, speaker, and booth is the best money can buy.
The bar is stocked with literally every fucking drink you can think of and a million and one fancy cups for different specials.
It’s fancy as fuck, and that's not even taking the VIP section into account. I wonder if Jade even knows about the VIP areas, not that it matters with the club. Clearly, we can enjoy it down here, but I make a mental note to show her someday. I remember one of the first times we came here, and how in awe of it I’d been.
Maybe not so much as Jade is now, but it also wasn’t my first club, just the best one.
After a few minutes, she grabs Kratos’s hand and hauls him toward the table. Her eyes catch mine and her smile widens, making my stomach tie itself in knots. A second later, she reaches me, hardly even letting Kratos go before she flings herself into my arms.
“This place is amazing, Zan!” she says, pulling back and bouncing around. “Tell me we can come here sometime!” she pleads, looking right up at me with so much hope in her expression that I would have said yes to anything she asked.
“I’m sure we can, Doll.” I tell her before I realize what I just agreed to. I quickly find Kratos's eyes over her shoulder, and he gives me a nod.
Thank fuck, if he would’ve said no, I would’ve had to sneak her in.
I’d rather deal with Kratos’s wrath than go back on my word, but thankfully, that’s not required this time.
I link my fingers with Jade’s and tug her toward the booth.
The majority of the club is open floor since the idea is to dance, but there are a few booths along the far wall opposite the bar, and the corner booth is the biggest.
“For now, how about we eat something, though?” I ask Jade, hoping to get her attention as she continues to take in the room.
The mention of food does it; just like that, the room’s forgotten.
A girl after my own heart. I swear she was fucking made for me.
We slid into the booth after Kratos. I let Jade go first so that she’s next to him, and I’m at the end.
Kratos might be relaxed right now, but I would still rather not be bumping elbows with him while I eat.
Spencer’s on his other side, followed by Rick and then Trent, at the other opening of the booth.
I’m almost shocked he’s stuck around this long, honestly.
Being in a gang wasn’t something Trent really loved the idea of after losing his dad.
I’m pretty sure that’s one of the main reasons he became a cop, actually.
He’d decided all gangs were the scum of the world.
Looking at him now, I can see that he looks a little uncomfortable, but not so much like he’s going to bolt anymore.
Funny enough, his level of discomfort has nothing on Spencer’s.
I can’t imagine sitting next to Kratos is what he would consider ideal.
Especially not after the stunt he just pulled.
Serves him right, the fuckface.
“Dom helped me pick the restaurant since all I really know is Thai food and what Roderick’s been making at the house,” Jade tells everyone once she’s seated and starts passing out to-go containers.
It doesn’t escape my notice that she didn’t say home, even though it’s where she lives now, and I can’t help but hate the idea that she doesn’t consider our house her home.
“He seemed to know what everyone would order, but if you don’t like what we got, we can always order something else.
” She gives a sheepish smile, and while it’s adorable, I don’t really like that she’s so clearly worried about this.
It’s just food. Most of us aren’t picky, and if they are, well, that's too fucking bad.
After she hands Trent his box, I watch her shoulders slump slightly.
He was the last to receive his food, and when he takes a bite and gives her a smile, she smiles back at him, the relief clear on her face.
Not one person had a single complaint, not that I thought they would, since Dom’s been in charge of ordering our food for years.
Trent was the one who could have complained, if it had been anyone.
The fact that she went with breakfast food helped, though.
It’s hard to fuck up breakfast, and it just so happens to be a favorite that Trent and I share.
Jade settles in and opens her box, and I glance over to see she has an omelet that is absolutely covered in greens and cheese.
The cheese I can get behind, but the greens have me wrinkling my nose.
Ew, maybe letting her hang out with Rick was a bad idea.
I stare daggers at Rick even though he either doesn’t notice or is ignoring me, fucker.
“Oh, I forgot,” Jade says around a bite of food. “What’s Disney?” she asks casually, but it quickly draws everyone's attention. Shit, Trent all but chokes on whatever he’s eating and has to gulp down his water before he can get control of himself again.
“What?” Jade asks as she looks around the table at our curious stares and then at Trent once he’s done coughing. The only one who doesn’t look at her as if she’s crazy is Kratos.
“Sounds like Disney is something we’ll have to do. I’m sure you and Charlotte would love it,” Kratos tells her with a smile before going back to his food.
“Okayyyy,” Jade says, over-exaggerating the word while she looks around the table at the rest of us. “But why are you all looking at me like I just said the craziest thing?” she asks, stabbing her fork into her food but not taking another bite.
“It’s just easy to forget that you don’t really know the world around you,” Trent surprises me by being the one to speak up and, in doing so, snaps me from my thoughts.
“Yeah, for someone who’s done so much in life, you really haven’t done much as far as living.” I try to explain, though I’m not sure I really get my point across when she turns to me still looking just as confused.
“What he means is that you’ve done and seen a lot, probably more than even we have.
Yet you’ve lived most of your life sheltered and with only one goal, and it’s made you miss out on things in life that are hard for us to understand.
I can’t think of a time I didn’t know what Disney was.
” Rick saves my ass by explaining in a way that makes a hell of a lot more sense, and I nod along because that's what I meant, just not what I said.
“Oh,” Jade says, and I know she understands now. The dejected tone of her voice gives away just how much it weighs on her.
“Here, I’ll show you,” I tell her with a smile that I hope is reassuring. I pull out my phone and flip through dozens of pictures.
We eat while I show her, and occasionally, the guys give their input on things when she talks about certain rides or asks about things like the Mickey ears, but mostly, they just watch and eat.
“Charlotte would love that.” She finally says after I’ve shown her about half of what the parks offer. I could show her more, but she seems satisfied, and I’d like to leave some things for her to see firsthand.
I have every intention of bringing her there one day.
I nod in agreement because, of course, she would.
Everybody loves Disney. I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t like it.
Even a grown-ass man can find something.
The thought has me picturing Kratos there, and for a moment, I second guess my idea of anyone, but as I glance at him over Jade’s shoulder and see the way he looks at her, I know he would be happy to go. Even if only for her.
“You would love it,” I tell her, and her smile falters just the slightest bit before she turns back to her food.
Reaching out, I grab her chin, turning her back toward me. “It’s okay to want things for yourself, Jade.” Her name feels almost foreign on my lips. I’ve grown so used to calling her Doll, but I need her to understand that I’m serious, and as her eyes glance up to meet mine, I see that she does.
“Wanting things is dangerous,” she tells me in a voice so low I don’t think she intended any of us to hear, almost as if she was talking to herself.
“Wanting things is healthy. It gives you something to work toward,” Kratos argues, pulling her attention to him, though she doesn’t pull away from me.
Her eyes go around the table as if to gauge the reactions of the others before they land on me once again, and she gives me a slight nod. I drop my hand, and she goes back to eating.
Jade might have a lot of learning to do, but I’m more than happy to help her. She deserves the world, and I won’t stop until she has it.
Even if I have to burn it down to give it to her.