I wasn’t even sure if she spoke with Diana. But Cleo knew I wouldn’t call her bluff, because that would mean getting in touch with my guardian myself, opening up a can of worms that I rarely had the energy to deal with.
Diana cared, but she treated nagging like it was her job. And business was good.
“Ready?” Cleo asked as she rose and tottered on her too-high heels to the door.
A shiver of foreboding worked its way down my spine, even though I had no idea why.
“As I’ll ever be.”
Chapter Three
Adonis was already at the Taphouse when we arrived, sitting with a handful of other people from our theater program. He laughed at something one of them said, and it lit up his face like a beacon of light in the darkness. I’d never met anyone so genuinely carefree in my entire life.
His smile only widened when he turned to see us approach. He scooted further into the booth and patted the seat next to him when I got to the table. “Take a load off, Seph. I didn’t think you’d make it.”
Before I could sit, Cleo slid into the space, forcing me to pull up a chair from a nearby table.
“Everyone is ready to get wasted, right?” she asked, giving Adonis a huge smile.
There was a chorus of cheers, although I noticed Adonis only responded with a small smile and didn’t say anything else. I planned to bow out before anyone ended up under the table, but the rest of them were welcome to spend the night killing off brain cells.
“They have really good milkshakes here,” I said, picking up the menu.
“Oh, don’t puss out on us now.” Cleo shifted closer to Adonis as if they were in on the joke together, even though his expression remained impassive. “I know you keep a bottle of bourbon under your bed for the weekends.”
Alcohol didn’t mix well with my meds, making me groggy and off-balance after only a few drinks. But I liked the taste of it, so sometimes I put up with the consequences. That didn’t mean I wanted to be one of those girls tottering down the sidewalks of downtown Los Angeles in the middle of the night, too drunk to have any idea where they were going.
Drinking took away your control, and I didn’t have much of that left on a good day.
“The burgers here are great, too,” Adonis said to me as he picked up his own menu. “I don’t think the kitchen has closed for the night yet.”
“I don’t eat red meat,” I reminded him.
He cast me a droll look. “I know that. Obviously, I was talking about the black bean burger. They put this chipotle sauce on it that’s amazing.”
It was a small thing, but it made me feel good that he would remember something that I probably only told him once before.
“We need drinks.” Cleo surveyed the other occupants of the table before turning to me. “Seph, you should get the next round since you never come out with us. It’s only fair.”
Adonis’s smile was easy, but he shook his head as he looked at me. “You don’t have to do that.”
“You know Seph is loaded, right?” Cleo insisted, leaning forward, so her cleavage practically rested on the table. “She could buy every building on the block and still have plenty of cash to spare.”
The money might have sounded great, but I’d rather have my parents still around instead of the money they left me. One devastating fire and the lack of extended family had made me rich before I was old enough to understand the concept of money.
I was also completely alone.
My wealth wasn’t a secret, but I didn’t like to make a habit of flaunting it. But whatever Cleo’s game was, I didn’t mind the excuse to leave the table. “I’ll go to the bar. Everyone good with beer?”
Without waiting for a response, I got up from the table. They could drink the beer or drown in it for all I cared.
The Taphouse was busy, even for a Friday night. We arrived just early enough to get a table, but now it was standing room only. I wove through the crowd with my gaze firmly fixed a few feet above people’s heads, so I didn’t accidentally make any eye contact.
I had no idea that Adonis had followed me until I felt a hand touch the small of my back. He pulled away as soon I turned my head and saw that it was him.
“I figure you can’t carry an entire table’s worth of drinks all by yourself,” he said, by way of explanation.
“Having fun?” I asked, gesturing with my chin to the table full of people that I almost never saw him hanging with.
“I needed to blow off some steam. My director for the showcase has been working me like a dog.” He teasingly squeezed my arm, holding on for a beat too long before pulling away. “I was a little surprised when I heard you were coming out tonight. This doesn’t seem like your scene.”
Coming from him, I didn’t take it as an insult. This wasn’t my scene, that was obvious to anyone with a working pair of eyes.
“I may have been strong-armed into it,” I replied with a sardonic smile.
“Do you really expect me to believe that anybody can make Persephone do something that she doesn’t want to do?”
“You might be surprised. I spend more of my time than you think getting bossed around.”
His eyebrows went up. “Bossed around, huh? I didn’t know you were into the kinky stuff.”
“Very funny.” I turned away before he could see me blush. The bartender met my gaze and started moving down the long bar, stopping to help a pair of giggling girls who got there right before us. “Are you drinking the pig swill they have on tap, or do you want something actually fit for human consumption?”
He smirked at me. “Is pig swill for the poors?”
“Oh, shut up.” I hated that I was embarrassed, even though I had no reason to be. “Olympus is a private school. Most people here come from money.”
“Not as much as you, apparently.”
With a sinking sort of feeling, I glanced back at his face. I’d thought he was better than this. “Does that bother you?”
“Nope.” He stuck both hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “It’s just weird that you being a Rockefeller never came up in conversation.”
“And how would that go, exactly? Hey, here’s the blocking for Act One. By the way, my parents died when I was a toddler and left me enough money to buy and sell your entire life.”
There was a moment of tense silence while Adonis stared down into my face like he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen me before.
Then he grinned, and it was like the sun coming out from behind rain clouds. “Fair enough.”
The bartender finally arrived to take our order. The Taphouse made their own whiskey, although most people seemed to think the giant copper still in the middle of the restaurant area was just for show. Their private label wasn’t bad for something local. Adonis widened his eyes when I ordered two glasses of it straight-up.
I raised one to him before taking a sip, welcoming the smooth burn as it slid down my throat. “Cheers.”
“Sláinte,” he replied with a wink. “You’re always full of surprises, Seph.”
The way he said it made a spot of warmth bloom in my chest, or maybe that was just the hard liquor.