Chapter 2 #2
Three hours later, the seven of us were gathered around that same table, Sam squeezed in between Vince and the dreadlocked Chauncey while I perched between Prince Oliver and Tej, who appeared to be in his mid-twenties despite his prematurely gray hair.
Knox had pulled a chair up to the open end of the table, seeming to prefer his personal space unimpeded.
Vince and Chauncey had spent much of the last hour silently vying for who got to drape his arm around Sam’s shoulders, with Vince currently winning.
The three men dressed in black—the prince’s security for the weekend—now occupied their own booth with a clear view of our table, thanks to the late hour and the nearly empty bar.
Most of the earlier patrons had moved along to one of the city’s many nightclubs.
I had cleared our table of beer cans and bottles several times but could easily fill another tray with the empties that had accumulated again.
“I feel like we kind of crashed your party,” I said, looking at Prince Oliver. “What did you have planned?”
“Nothing appropriate for two women to tag along to,” Knox interjected.
“Ah.” I smirked. If he was under the assumption that Sam and I had never been to a strip club, he could think again. Our early twenties had been a wild time. Plus, there was the time Sam’s brothers had busted up my twenty-fifth birthday pretending to be strippers.
“This morning when you said you were visiting the city, you didn’t mention being friends with a prince,” I said, looking at Knox pointedly as I took a sip of my beer.
“It’s not something I typically lead with. You never know if people are just looking for an in,” Knox replied as he looked straight into my eyes. My stomach flipped.
I raised my eyebrow, offended. I certainly wasn’t “looking for an in”—whatever that meant. I had never even heard of Wexstone or Prince Oliver and wasn’t sure how the group had ended up at Americana, of all places.
“Wait.” Prince Oliver interrupted my thoughts. “Do you two know each other?”
“Yeah,” I answered, as Knox replied, “No.”
We side-eyed each other. The rest of the group had quieted, the alcohol making it impossible for them to hide their curiosity.
“Sort of,” I amended. “We met this afternoon at a coffee shop and Knox here belittled my opinion on bagels and how I like my eggs cooked.”
“I think ‘belittle’ is an exaggeration,” Knox cut in. “I simply stated that runny eggs are a product of the devil.”
“Ah, so you were treated to a classic Knox argument,” Prince Oliver said, laughing. His face had become more and more flushed the more he drank.
“I don’t know if you can call it an argument. It was more like a proclamation,” I replied.
The prince gave me a warm smile that made me believe he too had been on the receiving end of those proclamations a time or two.
“Do you know how to play darts?” Sam asked, glancing to the men flanking her.
Chauncey nodded. “Knox taught us how to play years ago.”
“Perfect. Let’s go!” Sam grabbed both Vince and Chauncey’s hands and dragged them from the booth to the opposite corner of the bar, where we kept two dart boards and a few high-top tables.
Prince Oliver, Tej, and Knox followed, watching as Sam, Vince, and Chauncey started throwing the darts, while I grabbed us another bucket of cold beers. As I walked back over, the entire group let out a roar of laughter.
“What did I miss?” I asked.
“Your friend is quite cheeky!” Prince Oliver laughed.
“Oh no.” I chuckled. “What did she do this time?”
Sam grabbed a beer. “I didn’t do anything. I just told Vince and Chauncey that if they want any of this”—she waved her hand over her toned body—“they’re going to have to work for it.”
“You’re making them play against each other and you’re going to go home with the winner, aren’t you?” I rolled my eyes. I had seen her do this once or twice.
“Yeah, that’s what I said.” She giggled.
I saddled up to the nearby high top as Chauncey and Vince played their little hearts out. They were like teenage boys, talking shit and interfering with the other’s throws.
Prince Oliver, Tej, and I talked as the others played darts for about an hour.
I couldn’t brush off the feeling that Knox didn’t want me there, though.
Other than looking completely disinterested, he didn’t participate in any of our conversations.
He just focused on his beer bottle and tearing off the label.
What a buzzkill. Not that I really cared—I was in a bar with my best friend and a prince; I wasn’t going to let Mr. Moody ruin our fun.
“I’m going to find the loo,” Knox said to Prince Oliver as he stood up.
“He wasn’t always like this,” Prince Oliver murmured, leaning close to me and inclining his head toward Knox. “This brooding, I mean.”
“Oh?” I said, trying to pretend that the prince hadn’t just read my mind. “Have you been friends for a long time?”
“For over twenty years now,” Prince Oliver answered as Tej stepped away to moderate the darts competition.
“Knox’s family moved to Wexstone when we were children; his father was a professor of literature at the university.
We became friends at prep school and were inseparable.
When his parents passed away when we were teenagers, we found out that my parents had been listed as his legal guardians, and he’s been a part of our family ever since. ”
Hearing about Knox’s parents hit a tender spot in my heart. I knew that sort of loss and what it could do to someone. “Is he a prince too, then?”
“No. My parents offered to legally adopt him, but he didn’t want that. Yet it never changed the way they treated him. They have set the expectation that he be treated and respected as a member of the royal family, regardless of title.”
“A tie?!”
“How the hell do you tie at darts?”
A commotion in the corner interrupted Prince Oliver’s story. The darts game was over, but it looked like Sam wouldn’t be going home with anyone just yet.
“Okay, we need a tie breaker. Rock, paper, scissors!” Chauncey said.
“Boys, boys, it’s okay. I guess this just means that you’ll both have to come with me.” She winked at me.
The guys looked at each other like they were considering it before Chauncey spoke up again.
“Rock, paper, scissors or you concede, Vincent.”
“Don’t call me Vincent—and saddle up, mate,” Vince said, shoving Chauncey’s shoulder.
They brought their hands up, slapped their fists three times, and threw their choices out. Paper for Chauncey and scissors for Vince.
“Fuck! Best out of three?” Chauncey shot Sam a charming smile.
Vince laughed loudly and Sam grinned at them both. My minx of a friend was loving this. She had spent so much of the past few years wrapped up at the law firm, but her dating resolution had brought back a side of her I had missed. Seeing her flirt with these men was a welcome change.
The guys played two more rounds and Vince came out victorious.
“Better luck next time, mate.” Tej patted Chauncey on the shoulder.
“Fuck off,” Chauncey shrugged him off. “Let’s go, I’m tired.”
“And a sore loser,” Tej muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. Chauncey punched Vince in the arm before pulling him into a hug as he said goodbye, showing that maybe he wasn’t such a sore loser after all.
I was loving the dynamics of this group.
They reminded me a lot of Sam’s older brothers and even a little bit of my younger brother Connor and his friends.
I had never been a part of a big friend group like that, typically sticking to one or two girlfriends at a time.
But watching these guys interact and joke around with each other made me feel like maybe I was missing out on something.
“Hey, Bee!” Sam called out to me as she and Vince meandered to my table.
“Yeah?”
“Vince invited us to meet up with them again tomorrow, you in?”
Another evening with our new friends? Twist my arm, I thought. “Yeah, I work the lunch shift tomorrow, but I’ll be done by four or five. I’m in.”
“Great! Are you okay getting home tonight?”
“Of course. I do it all the time. Plus, I have my trusty taser in my bag thanks to Connor.” I patted my purse.
Years ago, after a rather wild shift at the bar, I was walking home, and a mugger stole my bag right off my shoulder. Once my brother caught wind of it, he sent me five different cans of pepper spray and a rechargeable taser to keep in my pocket.
“I’ll walk her home,” I heard Knox’s deep voice say over my shoulder.