“Right this way,” Silvia smiled at Antonio.
“I know the way to Nirah’s table,” he said to her, then looked over at me with a devious twinkle in his eyes.
“She’s actually quite busy so—”
He instantly cut Silvia off. “I’m a patient man. She should know.”
“Don’t start with me,” I pointed a playful finger at him, and he winked in response. “My shift is over anyway, and I’m just about to head out.”
His tatted hand lifted to hisheart. “You won’t even pour meonedrink?” he mused, acting hurt but I knew the fucker was only teasing me, so I couldn’t help but smile.
“You can’t seem to take ‘no’ for an answer, can you?” Jordan irritably asked, turning to face Antonio completely and my heart dropped.
“And you can’t seem to mind your fucking business,” Antonio shot back, fully facing Jordan. In this unfortunate moment, Jordan’s demeanor had shifted to protective—in the most caring, wholesome manner.
Antonio, on the other hand, had nothing caring nor wholesome about his demeanor.
“What’s with all this macho manliness? Come on, now,” I crossed my arms over my chest. When neither of them budged, my stomach dropped.
“You know, you’re really starting to rub me the wrong way,” Jordan finally broke the silence.
“You can drop the protective older brother act,” Antonio shot back but Jordan scoffed in response.
“Trust me. This isnotan older brother act.”
“You both do realize that I can take care of myself, right?”Nothing.
“Okay, calm down,” Silvia awkwardly chuckled—shifting her eyes between the two of them.
“Yeah, if you guys don’t chill out, we’re going to ask Marco to kick you both out,” I put my hands on my hips but they didn’t seem fazed as they held eye contact. Silvia and I looked at each other then back at them. “Oh no, Silvia,” I said to her, loud enough for them to hear. “They’re doing that thing where they stare deep into each other’s souls, waiting for the perfect moment to passionately crash their lips onto each other,” I said and Silvia snickered.
“I can already see the sparks flying,” she smiled, doing jazz hands and both the guys’ heads snapped to me.Gotcha.
“Works like a charm,” I smiled at Silvia. “My bags in the back, let’s go,” I said to Jordan, grabbing his arm.
As soon as we reached my dressing room, he grabbed my bag but I stopped him. “You’re going to sit down, and you’re going to listen to me,” I demanded. “Sit.”
He dropped my bag and sat down, resting one arm on the back of the couch and looked up at me. “What is it, Nirah? Is there a problem?”
“Yes, Jordan,” I said, pulling a chair in front of him to sit down. “We do have a problem.”
He looked away then back at me, waiting for me to continue.
“Let’s get one thing straight. You’re my best friend and no guy is going to come between us, no matter what. Got it?” I asked and he nodded.
“Yeah, whatever Nirah,” he shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
“It seems as though I do. I hate that there’s this weird tension between us. I have too much on my plate right now for you to be mad at me too.”
“I’m not mad at you,” he said, making me sigh. “I’m not,” he sternly repeated himself.
I smiled, nodding my head. “Okay good.”
We finally left but Silvia pulled Jordan aside so I decided to head out in the meantime. As I reached the doors, my eyes grazed over Antonio at one of the VIP tables, accompanied by a blonde woman.
I stepped onto the sidewalk with my brows drawn together in confusion. The icy air nibbled at my skin as I took a step to my right, standing against the wall. I rummaged for my cell phone in my bag until a large, strong hand wrapped around my throat, shoving me back against the wall.
“Getting me kicked out of your little club? Not very nice,” Sylvester grunted, choking me harder as he pushed his body up against mine.Shit.
