Chapter 24 #2
"Cool," he says, visibly relieved not to be going somewhere where there are spies for Zachary. "There's another place I was thinking of."
I probably should've asked where. Add it to the growing list of mistakes by Alexia.
We end up south at The Woodyard, an axe-throwing venue with exposed brick, string lights, and the arrhythmic thunk of blades hitting timber.
If Craig had been paying attention walking in, he would've seen a photograph above the door of the three men he'd just met — and who'd just threatened him — a fourth person who looks remarkably like me, and Hunter Monroe.
I don't say anything. I try to forget the looming presence of my brother and his roommates and enjoy my first real night out in months.
Craig's good company. Genuinely funny, a little cocky but not irritatingly so, intelligent. I think he lets me win the first two rounds, but once he realises he doesn't need to, and that I'm competitive to the point of obsession, he stops pulling his throws.
"For future reference," he says, lining up another throw, "you should just bring any future dates here if you want to scare the life into them.
No need to recruit your housemates." He throws and lands just shy of the middle.
"But seriously, you should've warned me your entire household is one threat away from a hostage situation.
I thought you were signalling that you needed rescuing. "
"Really? You’re not afraid of the concrete boots or whatever Zachary was threatening?" I say with a laugh.
He takes a drink from his pint glass. "I've got pretty big feet. Marcus isn't gonna want to waste that much concrete, surely. It'll hurt his margins."
I chuckle, and manage to have a good time. Mostly.
But somewhere under the back and forth, there's a wrongness I can't shake — a low hum of nothing where something's supposed to be. My body knows I'm not with any of the men I actually want to be with tonight.
I'm waiting for Craig to come back with another round of drinks when I hear someone call my name.
A woman with long gorgeous black hair and warm brown eyes is peering at me from the bar, smiling. "Hi! Do you remember who I am?"
It takes me half a second. "Aria Lê!" I shout once I recognise my mother's friend's daughter. We've crossed paths over the years and heard our fair share of stories about each other, but I haven't seen her since I moved to Sydney. "Oh my god. How are you?"
"I'm doing great!" She leaves a tall, very good-looking man watching her every step, and pulls me into a hug like we've done this a hundred times. "Our mums have gotten so close, I feel like I know your whole life story secondhand."
"Well, for that I am very sorry," I laugh. "It's crazy that we know so much about each other even though we haven't seen each other in like eight years."
"Terrifying." She grins, all sunshine and warmth. I introduce her to Craig and we share some easy small talk. I'm about to ask if she and her date want to join us when a woman with wild red hair and a top perilously close to losing its grip on propriety barrels over.
"I have to pee so bad!” she announces to all of us. "Someone come with me, I refuse to die alone in a public bathroom."
"This is Betty," Aria says. "As you can probably tell, she's never heard of social etiquette." She gives me a pointed look. "You wanna come with? Save you a later trip."
It is, unmistakably, not a casual suggestion. I nod, telling Craig I'll be back soon.
"So, like, do I need to perform an emergency castration or what?" is the first thing Betty says the second the bathroom door swings shut, as she checks under the stalls for feet.
I frown. "Sorry?"
Aria shakes her head at her friend. "What she's asking is, is everything okay with that Craig guy? Or do you need us to rescue you?"
"Oh." I let out a relieved laugh. "No, he's not bothering me."
Betty straightens, face beet red, and slides up onto the bathroom bench. "You sure? Cos from where I'm looking, he keeps moving closer, and you keep moving back. Classic 'get away from me creep' body language."
I shrug. "I just think he might be more interested in me than I am in him. But he's harmless."
Betty scoffs. "None of them are harmless. But they can be rendered so."
Aria rubs her forehead and sighs. "Excuse her. She's hyped up because she's about to start her set. Makes her...enthusiastic."
Betty grins and kicks her friend playfully on the arse.
"Never had any complaints about my enthusiasm.
" She turns to me. "But fine, if you say you're okay, that's good.
I'll be up on stage the whole night, so if fine becomes not fine, give me the signal and I will crowd surf directly over and karate chop his dick clean off.
" She jumps off the bench, landing in a Black Widow pose. "Been practising sticking the landing."
I guffaw, enjoying these two. "He's nice. It's me. I'm just not feeling it."
"That's allowed," Aria says. "But, speaking of feeling things—"
"Nice segue, babe," Betty says from the mirror, bouncing up and down.
"—was that you I saw at Marcus's site the other night? At the display village?"
Something in my chest goes very still. "That was me."
She claps. "I thought so! Hard to tell from where I was. My fiancé built the one across the way. Hunter."
"Well," Betty says, entirely too innocent, "one of her fiancés."
Aria elbows her. "Betty."
Her friend could not care less. "What? It's not a secret."
"What's not a secret?” I ask, trying not to sound too nosy.
Aria waves a hand, swatting the topic away. "It's nothing, I have three fiancés. Not a big deal."
I stare at her, trying to remember something my mother might’ve told me about this. But there’s nothing and I’m sure I’d remember. Because having three fiancés actually sounds like a very. Big. Deal. “Weren't you engaged a few years ago? Is he one of them?"
Betty snorts and gets a slap.
"I was," Aria starts, cryptically. "But no, he's not one of the fiancés."
"The three current ones are all his older brothers, though!" Betty shouts with glee.
My brain does one of its buzzing-noise things, then shuts down. Before I can ask any questions, someone raps sharply on the door. "You lot done in there? There's a line."
Aria pushes off the sink, already moving. "Are you here because your brother's part owner?"
"Nope. Coincidence. I didn't know Craig was bringing me here."
"Well, at least he has good taste," she says with a wink, and I follow, biting back the seven thousand intrusive questions I have about her relationships.