27. LYRA
LYRA
B lack Velvet is a ghost town, and it’s not because people don’t want to come.
Believe me, there’s been more than enough noise from the bar crowd protesting this curfew, but until the police believe they’ve caught whoever was responsible for all these killings, the curfew will likely stay in effect.
It’s seriously fucking with my vibe, because let’s be honest, there’s no way in hell we’re about to let the cops anywhere near us.
The bar isn’t packed by any means, but there are still people here. Enough to keep a few bartenders on until closing, but to me, this is considered as dead as it gets.
It’s bullshit. Complete bullshit. But instead of dwelling on how gut-wrenching it is, I choose to keep focused on Maddox instead, and more specifically the way his eyes light up like fireworks when the “Toxic” bell rings loudly through the bar.
Hunter sits in front of me at the bar as the small crowd cheers, knowing exactly what’s coming when this song starts to play, even Hunter sits back, knowing he’s in prime position to watch me dance.
Only as I go to step up onto the bar, Maddox throws himself over it, and presses a hand to my chest, stopping me.
“Uh-uh,” he says, shaking his head. “I’ve got this one, baby. ”
My brow arches, but before I can question him, he steps right up onto the bar in front of Hunter and immediately starts pulling his shirt off and whipping it around.
The women in the bar go crazy, and honestly, so do I. Maddox Blake stripping is a sight to behold. Absolutely flawless. Now, I’ve always known the man had moves, but goddamn, these are the kind of moves that could break a drought.
My mouth goes dry.
The only person in the bar who seems to not be enjoying Maddox’s show is Hunter, and it probably has something to do with the fact that he has prime position and the man that is Maddox Blake is all but gyrating his dick right in front of Hunter’s face.
It’s pure perfection, but judging by Hunter’s expression, this isn’t the first time he’s had to deal with something like this.
And if you ask me, that just means that Hunter Cole is one hell of a lucky bastard.
I would give everything I have to watch Maddox dance like this, but luckily for me, all I’d have to do is bat my lashes and he’ll give me a private show.
Damn. I’m a lucky girl. Mostly.
As Maddox gives the performance of a lifetime to the one and only Britney Spears, I grab a dish towel and start wiping down the bar. We’ll be out of here soon enough, so we might as well get a head start on close procedures.
When Maddox drops to his knees and grabs the pitcher of water to tip over himself as he rolls his body, Hunter rolls his eyes and pushes out of his seat before shuffling over to stand in front of me, letting the random women in the bar get a better view of my man.
“Fuck me,” Hunter says. “How much longer does this dance have?”
I shake my head and indicate to the other bar staff. “They finished ages ago. Maddox is just improvising now.”
The corner of his mouth twitches with a laugh. “I should have known,” he says, and damn it, the way he’s looking at me has something boiling deep within, making me weak.
What has happened to me?
A few short weeks ago, I wanted to throw this man into traffic, and now, the idea of him ever walking away would cripple me.
And the worst part? It’s not just him. It’s both of them.
I can’t recall the moment it happened, but somehow they went from random guys who would drive me wild in the most insane ways to the very men I couldn’t possibly live without.
I need them more than anything, and that realization should terrify me. Yet, when I look at them, I feel nothing but home. They’re my world now, and I wouldn’t give them up for anything.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hunter asks, not missing a damn thing.
My lips press into a hard line as I consider him, but I let out a heavy sigh and give up the act. “I think I’m done trying to hate you,” I tell him. “It’s too hard.”
Something softens in his eyes, and he leans into the bar, reaching out to pull me closer. When he tilts my chin up to meet his stare, everything fades around me: Maddox’s dance, the bar, the crowd— everything but him.
“You only just figuring this out now, Savage?”
My heart skips, and I catch my breath.
Shit.
I shrug a shoulder, a small smirk pulling on my lips. “I might have known for a little while.”
“Is that so?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Hunter presses his hand down on the bar between us, and in one fluid motion, he launches over the top until he’s standing right in front of me, one hand wrapped around my back, the other around my throat, making everything tremble within.
“Are you in love with me, Lyra?”
Ahh fuck. With the way he’s looking at me right now, there’s no denying it. He’ll see right through me. And I could lie just to make it easier, but I don’t want to, not about something so important.
I push up onto my toes and gently brush my lips over his. “And if I am?”
“Answer the question, Savage.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to hear the words.”
“Shit. It’s so much easier to hate you.”
“I know,” he murmurs, his arm tightening around me. “Say the words, Lyra.”
My heart races, and I take a shaky breath, and as I keep holding his stare and his arms remain secure around me, the heaviness lifts off my shoulders, and I realize that I have nothing to fear by allowing myself to be vulnerable with him.
Not a moment later, a wide smile stretches across my face, lifting my cheeks until I feel it hitting my eyes.
“Hunter Cole, I have absolutely fallen head over heels, stupidly in love with you, and unfortunately for you, I think you’ve fallen in love with me too. ”
His eyes seem to dance. “Oh, you think so, huh?”
I nod. “Oh, I know so.”
Hunter laughs and lifts me off the ground before settling me on the bar and stepping between my knees, his gaze eating me up. “You might be right about that.”
I grin as I lean into him, kissing him briefly before smiling against his lips. “Say the words.”
He shakes his head. “No chance in hell.”
“Say the words, Hunter, or risk my wrath.”
He pulls back and holds my stare for a moment, amusement dancing in his deadly eyes that has my heart swelling a million times its size.
It’s not often he looks at me like this.
So carefree and happy. He’s usually so serious, so broody, and huffy.
But in these rare moments, it’s absolutely everything.
He grabs my thighs and pulls me right to the edge of the bar, right to the point where I think I might fall, but he’s right there holding me up.
“I love you, Lyra,” he tells me. “Since the moment I met you, right here dancing on this bar, I knew you were going to be mine, but I had no fucking clue how hard you were gonna make me fall. You ruined me, Savage. I no longer breathe for me, I don’t survive for me, it’s all for you.
Everything I do now, every beat of my heart, it’s for you. ”
I take a breath, listening intently to every word that falls from his lips. “Shit,” I whisper. “You’ve got it bad.”
A smirk kicks up the corner of his mouth. “So fucking bad.”
I laugh, but the sound dies on my lips the moment Hunter leans in and crushes his mouth to mine, kissing me deeply.
I immediately melt into him, my arms hooking around his neck as he takes my waist, holding me so damn tight.
I pull him in even tighter, getting so lost in his kiss.
Maddox jumps down from the bar, landing with a thud just beside us, and I reluctantly pull back from Hunter’s kiss to find a proud grin on Maddox’s face.
“Fuck, that was such a rush,” he says, absolutely dripping wet. “You saw that, right? Nobody out sexies me. I’m a fucking beast, babe. You should definitely hire me. I’ll have the ladies lining up for days just to get a look at your new star attraction.”
A sharp laugh barks out of me. “Oh really?”
Maddox winks and props his elbow against the bar, trying to catch his breath. “You know it.”
I roll my eyes as Hunter’s hands fall to my thighs, and Maddox watches us, sensing something has shifted. “What’s going on here? Did I miss something?”
“Oh yeah,” I say, my hands roaming back up Hunter’s arms and grasping his strong shoulders.
“Hunter here was just confessing how desperately in love he is with me. Quite embarrassing, if you ask me. The poor guy has got it bad. You know he said he couldn’t even wake up in the morning if I weren’t there to give him something to live for. ”
Hunter just arches a brow, knowing damn well I’m talking shit, but Maddox gapes at his best friend. “You told her you love her?” he demands. “Before I got a chance?”
Hunter scoffs. “You tell her you love her all the time.”
“Yeah, but . . . that was before I actually knew that I did,” he says, swinging his gaze back to me with a wicked grin.
“Whatever the fuck he just said to you that’s got you looking at him like you’re about to drop to your knees and suck the skin off his cock, just know that I felt it first, and he’ll always be the asshole who ditched you on a first date. ”
Hunter smacks Maddox on the back of his head. “Don’t you have a stripper application to fill out?”
“Oh, my God. You two are impossible,” I say, shoving them both away and jumping down from the bar. “Why don’t we get out of here and go home? You can fight over who loves me more there. The girls can handle close on their own.”
Maddox’s brow arches. “Now that’s a plan I can get down with.”
“Okay,” I say. “Let me go grab my things, then we can leave.”
The boys let me wander away, and I laugh to myself as I hear their conversation behind me. “Alright, here’s the deal,” Maddox murmurs to Hunter. “You let me take the reins tonight. You can watch. I’ll set you up your own little cuck chair in the corner and everything. You’ll love it.”
“If anybody is sitting this one out, it’s you, Magic Mike,” Hunter responds. “Don’t make me knock you out and leave you tied up in your closet. I was willing to let you join in, but if you wanna fuck around and find out, that’s up to you.”
Maddox scoffs. “What? You think you could take me?”
“I fucking know I could.”
I zone out as I grab my things, knowing this isn’t going to be pretty. Once my office is locked up, I find the boys waiting for me by the end of the bar.
“Ready to go?” Hunter asks.
“Yep.”
Maddox steps in beside me, his hand dropping to my ass as we make our way toward the back door that leads out to the side alley. “Cool. Just so you know, Hunter agreed to do me a solid, and he’s going to cuck it tonight and let me take point.”
I scoff and glance up at Hunter for only a second before looking back at Maddox. “There’s no way in hell he agreed to sit out and watch. The man would die of blue balls.”
Hunter grins as he reaches for the back door and holds it open for me, pleased to know I’ve been paying attention.
The three of us step out into the chill of the night, the only light coming from the sole lamp that stands tall above the bar’s back entrance.
As we start toward Hunter’s Challenger, having all the time in the world, it’s just silent between us.
Maddox brought his bike tonight as well, and there will no doubt be an argument over how exactly my ass gets home, but I’m happy to sit back and let the boys figure it out themselves.
They walk on either side of me, and we take our time.
All I care about is taking in the night.
It’s so peaceful. I’m not used to it around here.
There’s generally always noise. Always some drunk idiot making a racket, some asshole revving their engine, or a girl squealing with laughter.
But tonight, it’s just quiet. It’s nice.
Though the fact that quiet represents an empty bar still grates on my nerves.
We step out from the side alley and onto the main street, when a deep voice cuts through the darkness. “Well, this just made things easier.”
Every muscle in my body tightens, and for just a moment, my heart stops. The boys pause beside me as the peaceful atmosphere around us vanishes into thin air, and out of the darkness, the figures start appearing. One after another until we’re completely surrounded.
There must be at least twenty of them, armed and waiting, each of them watching us as though we’re already dead.
Hunter’s expression hardens, and when I glance at Maddox, I see the exact moment the depraved psychopath bubbles to the surface, and a wild grin stretches across his lips.
We have nothing. No weapons. No armor. But it doesn’t matter. We don’t need them to deal with whatever the fuck this is. Because whoever these idiots are, they just made the biggest mistake of their lives.