ANNABELLE POV

ONE WEEK LATER...

“What if they don’t like me?” I asked while applying mascara to my lashes in the mirror.

Darian and I have been here for just over a week and he already made friends. Friends I have yet to meet and I was nervous. That’s probably why I haven’t made any myself just yet. I was shy and nervous about being here and kept to myself or hung out with just Darian.

“Babe, they’ll love you.” He poked his head into the bathroom and stared at me. “Why are you getting all dolled up? These people don’t care how you look.”

These people? Now I was even more nervous. What kind of friends has he made?!

“I’m not getting dolled up,” I lied. “Can’t I look beautiful for you?”

He stepped farther into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around my waist. “You are always beautiful. You don’t even have to try.” He stepped away then and smacked my ass. “Hurry up, B.”

I shrieked at his ass smack before finishing my face. After fluffing my hair that had natural beach waves with my fingers, I found Darian waiting for me by my door.

His eyes scanned me up and down as a seductive smile came over his lips.

“I hope this doesn’t last too long tonight because I’m about to pounce on you.”

I giggled. “Stop it, you animal.”

“Oh, I’ll sure you an animal.” He pulled me into his arms and nuzzled his face into my neck before he lightly nibbled and sucked.

I squirmed in his arms, trying to push down my arousal for him. “We’re going to be late.”

“Screw it,” he groaned into my neck. “I’d much rather stay home with you now.”

I’d much rather stay home with him too, but I also really wanted to meet his friends. I was curious who he was spending a lot of his time with.

“We’ll have all night to do that. Let’s go.” I pushed away from him and grabbed my purse before tugging my door open.

 *********

“Where are we going anyway?” I asked as Darian drove us downtown and away from campus.

He shrugged. “Lizzy picked out some stupid karaoke bar downtown.”

I laughed. I never pictured Darian in a karaoke bar and now I really wondered who these friends were.

“That sounds like fun,” I joked.

He glared over at me with a cute little grin on his face before he reached over and took my hand with his. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Think about what?”

“I’m not getting up to sing tonight, just so we’re clear.”

I replied with a laugh in my tone, “I wasn’t expecting you to.” But now that he said this, I just might have to get him up on stage with me after all.

Darian parked in a lot just behind a small brick building with lots of neon lights in the windows. Several college-aged people stood outside smoking and talking as we made our way towards the front door. Loud music vibrated through the brick exterior and out onto the sidewalk as we pushed through the growing crowd trying to get in.

“Damn, looks like we’ll have to wait a while to get in,” Darian commented over my shoulder as we stood in line.

“Darian!”

I searched out the girl who called his name and found a beautiful brunette girl standing near the front door waving at us. She was stunningly beautiful and I was a bit jealous; I’m not going to lie.

“Yo, Lizzy!” Darian called out to her, pushing me towards this brunette bombshell.

As we approached her, she was all smiles for Darian but when she saw me her smile faded.

“Darian.” She leaned forward as they kissed cheeks before she stared down at me again. “Who’s this?”

“This is B: my girlfriend.” He squeezed my hip.

“Oh, so you’re the famous B! It’s nice to finally meet you! Darian talks about you all the time!” Now she was playing nice, but I could tell it was fake. She leaned forward and kissed cheeks with me as well.

I don’t like this chick.

“Where are the guys?” Darian asked from behind me, still holding onto my hips.

“Inside,” she replied before looking down at me. “It’s so nice to have another girl in the group. Men can be such pigs sometimes.”

I had no idea what the hell she was getting at but I didn’t like the feeling I was getting in my chest.

“Let’s go in,” Darian suggested as he pushed me forward, following Lizzy into the bar.

The place was crowded but everyone seemed to be having a great time. As I looked around, I couldn’t help but bring my eyes to Lizzy as I watched her walk through the crowd. Her legs were long and hidden behind tight black leather pants and her shirt - if that’s what you want to call it - barely covered her chest. It was also black. That’s when I noticed she had a few tattoos on her arms and a few on her sides that disappeared into her leather pants. She didn’t seem like the type Darian would hang out with at all. He was your typical cute boy next door.

When we finally reached a table with two guys sitting around it, realizing this was our stop, my mouth nearly fell open. These two guys looked older than us and looked as if they just stepped off stage from a Nirvana show. One of them had long hair and tattoos going up his neck who wore jeans and a band tee under a flannel shirt and several necklaces hanging down.

The other guy had short hair on the side and long on top slicked back perfectly. He wore almost all black and the only tattoos visible on him were on his hands and knuckles.

I didn’t like this at all. These people weren’t the type of people Darian and I hung out with and I couldn’t help but feel like a child standing next to them in my white sundress and wedges.

“Darian! My man!” The long-haired guy reached out his hand while Darian met him halfway. They exchanged a weird handshake with fist bumps before he did the same thing with the other guy. “Who’s the babe?” He nodded at me.

“This is the girlfriend,” Lizzy answered, but I couldn’t help but notice the sour tone in her voice.

“Nice!” The long-haired guy said with a wink in my direction.

The short-haired guy reached over and held his hand out to me. At least this one had manners.

“I’m Cage. It’s nice to finally meet you.” He nodded towards Lizzy and the other guy. “That’s Wizard and Lizzy. She likes to think she’s a bitch, but don’t let her fool you. She’s got a heart of gold.”

Lizzy punched Cage in the arm, causing me to giggle.

“So, how did you meet this colorful group of people, Darian?” I asked over my shoulder, thinking he was the only one to hear me.

“Is colorful your nice word for people that don’t dress like a Barbie doll such as yourself?” Lizzy asked and I felt my cheeks blush.

“That isn’t what I...”

“Cool it, Lizzy,” Cage warned.

Darian cleared his throat behind me. “Cage lives down the hall from me. He helped me move in and get settled. These two were back at his place when Cage offered me a beer.”

Nice. Now he’s drinking beer with strangers? Who is he?

“And the rest is history,” Wizard joked, giving me another wink.

“Why do they call you Wizard?” I blurted out, completely forgetting my manners.

“Darian, come sing with me!” Lizzy latched onto his arm and started tugging him away from me.

This chick is going to be a problem, isn’t she?

Darian laughed a laugh I hadn’t ever heard from him as he shook his head. “No way. Not doing that.”

“Boo! You’re lame!” She let go of his arm and rolled her eyes.

“That sounds like a challenge, Dar.”

Dar? Now they have a nickname for him? What the hell?! They’ve known him for five seconds and I’ve known him my entire life. He hates pet names.

“Fine. Bring it on, Lizzy.” Darian released me to follow Lizzy through the crowd and left me standing back with Cage and Wizard.

Wizard was staring at me, making me uncomfortable while Cage watched the stage. I took a seat next to Cage, feeling safer near him and watched the stage myself.

Darian got on stage with Lizzy acting like they’d known each other for years and were old pals. I didn’t like it one bit.

“So, how long have you and Darian been dating?” Wizard asked.

I kept my eyes glued to the stage while I answered him, “We’ve been on and off our whole lives.”

He whistled, causing me to momentarily avert my eyes away from the stage to look at him.

“So, you two have never been with anyone else?” He sounded so surprised by this.

I shook my head. “We haven’t needed to be with anyone else. We’re pretty much soul mates.” I stared back up at the stage as I watched Lizzy throw her arm around Darian’s neck as a slower rock song came on over the loudspeakers. But, what surprised me more than anything was Darian’s voice. I had never heard him sing before and his voice caused my jaw to fall open. He was good. No, he was amazing. His voice had a raspy blues tone to it and it sent shivers down my spine.

“Soul mates, huh?” Cage asked this time, causing me to glare at him. Why were they asking all these questions?

“Yes. Why is that so hard to grasp? Haven’t you ever been in love?” I pinned both of them with my eyes.

Cage snorted. “Love is for suckers. That word shouldn’t even be in the dictionary. People who claim they need love to be in a relationship are only fooling themselves. Nothing is forever.”

Well, it was clear this guy was burned in the past, but that was his history, not mine.

“Darian is my forever,” I replied sharply, hoping this conversation was over already.

“Are you sure about that?” Wizard asked, nodding towards the stage.

I followed his gaze and stared at Darian and Lizzy on stage. He had his arm wrapped tightly around her waist as he sang to her, his eyes gleamed with something I had never seen before and she was intently staring back into his eyes as well. The sight made me want to throw up and I had the need to get out of here. Memories of the text messages I found between him and that girl from the next town over came slamming back into my mind and I needed some air.

“Excuse me,” I said as I pushed away from the table and shoved my way through the crowd to find the front door. Everything was closing in on me and I needed to get out right now.

So much for me and Darian against the world.