“She doesn’t have to explain anything to you, man.” Zheng pushes up from his barstool, but a firm hand on his shoulder shoves him back down into his seat. Rafael doesn’t even look at him. His eyes stay locked on mine, a tick now forming along his jaw.
“Isabella…” He draws my name out, the sound low and seductive, sending fire through my veins. He’s using his bedroom voice and God, does it do things to me it shouldn’t.
I take a deep breath. Come on, Isa. Be strong. I square my shoulders. “I’m having dinner with a friend,” I say, proud when my voice comes out even. “Is there a problem with that?”
His eyes flash with silver as he straightens. “Yeah,” he says, “there is.”
“Umm…” Our waitress opens and closes her mouth. She looks like a goldfish, and I almost laugh.
“We’re good, Penny. Thanks.” Zheng waves her off, and we all watch as she scurries away to help other customers before Zheng turns to face Rafael head on. “Look, man. I get you don’t like me or trust me—the feeling is mutual, by the way—but Isa’s my friend. I don’t care what you two have going on, that’s your business, but stop being an asshole for no reason. Why don’t you try being a normal guy and, I don’t know, call her or ask her out sometime?”
The urge to say “Yeah,” in a snarky told you so voice is strong, but I hold myself back and wait for Rafael’s reaction. With exaggerated slowness, he swivels his head to give Zheng his undivided attention. I swallow hard at the look in his eyes. White. Hot. Rage. Had I been standing I would have taken several steps back—and I’m not even the one on the receiving end of that look.
Zheng’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down, but he manages to meet Rafael’s glare for three seconds before looking to the spot on his shoulder. Impressive. Whatever issues lie between them, Zheng’s no coward.
Hostility radiates off both boys as Rafael stares at him, unmoving, never saying a single word. Tension builds in the air. It’s suffocating. I rub my palms over the tops of my knees debating whether or not to intervene when Jordy finally pops out of the hallway, oblivious to the tension in the air.
“Hey, fuckers. We still chatting?”
Like a bubble being popped, the pressure releases and I noisily exhale. “Nope.” I turn to Jordy, a fake smile plastered across my face. “Rafael’s just being Rafael. You guys should probably get back to Des, though. He looks lonely over there.”
Jordy looks over my shoulder and his grin widens. “Yeah, he doesn’t look so lonely.” I turn and spot our waitress—Penny—leaning toward him, her breasts intimately close to his face. Des licks his lips.
I sigh. And then my stomach does the unthinkable and growls like a rumbling bear. How em-barr-essing. “Come on, vanilla. We need to put some meat on those bones.” Jordy tugs me from my seat angling me toward the booth Des is still sitting in but I dig in my heels.
He stops and scowls over his shoulder at me. “What?”
I tilt my head toward Zheng and Jordy snorts. “You’re going to pick Liu over us?” he asks as if the very idea of doing exactly that is unfathomable.
“Uh, yeah. I came here with him. I’m not going to just bail because you three showed up.”
He frowns like he never thought of it like that and I have to smother a laugh. These three really are used to always getting whatever they want. It must be nice. I tug my hand free from his grip and reclaim my seat, but rather than heading to the booth as I’d expected, Jordy grabs the stool beside me and Rafael takes the empty seat beside Zheng, who looks anything but thrilled to be seated beside him. As soon as he reaches for a menu, Des rises and heads toward us, taking the last empty seat next to Rafael.
Zheng’s jaw ticks and he clenches his hands into fists on the counter. I rest a hand on his knee and mouth one word—Sorry. Rafael sees the touch and a snarl curls the edge of his lips, so I quickly snatch it away.
“We can head out,” I mutter. “Grab something on the way back to—”
“Nah. Don’t be like that.” Jordy moves to squeeze between Zheng and me, throwing his arms around both our shoulders and pulling us toward him in a weird side-hug embrace. “Stay. You want us to get along, right?” he says to me. “Be friendly and shit?”
I nod.
“Alright then. We’re doing our part. Liu,” he meets Zheng’s frustrated gaze, “you don’t mind, do you? It’ll be just like old times. All four of us together. Like family again. Like Pack.”
Zheng shoves out of his seat, forcing Jordy to stumble back a few steps. “I’m not fucking doing this.” His chest rises and falls with each heavy breath and he bares his teeth. Rafael and Des also stand, folding their arms over their chests.
I jump to my feet, eyes wide. “Hey, it’s fine. We can—”
“No. It’s not fucking fine.”
I flinch at the furry in Zheng’s tone.
“Don’t talk to her like that.” Rafael comes to my defense, taking a menacing step forward. All of this is escalating way too fast.
“Hey. Hey!” I draw everyone’s attention back to me. “What am I missing here?”
“Nothing,” Zheng is quick to snap back.
Jordy laughs. “Keeping secrets, Liu? Then again, that is your MO, isn’t it?”
“Fuck off. I’m not dealing with your shit. You’re not my Alpha.” Zheng storms past him, making a beeline for the door before he catches himself and turns back to me. “Come on, Isa.”
I step forward to follow, but a
