Page 65 of City of Wind and Lies

I fire off a text to Dallas, filling him in on what's transpired. Then we just… eat our dinner. The waiter must have felt the tension, because he never comes back by the table. Wren avoids the topic at hand, and I don't push it further. Instead, we force some small talk while both of us pick at our tepid meals.

Dallas is waiting outside our door when we get home. Wren swipes her key and hurries inside to grab a few things, while I linger in the hall.

"You call me if anything, and I mean anything, seems off,” I instruct.

Dallas nods.

"Between us," I say, lowering my voice and stepping closer, "Wren's carrying my child, and your fault or not, if anything happens to her I will kill you with my bare hands, so help me god."

His eyes widen at my words, throat bobbing with a swallow as he answers, "Yessir."

Wren appears in the hall, my eyes zeroing in on the small black duffel bag in her hand. She can't be planning on being gone too long with a bag that size, right?

I peck a kiss on her cheek as she passes me to enter the elevator, then all I can do is watch as the doors slide shut and a part of my heart disappears from my sight.

21

Acloud of cigarette smoke assaults my sinuses, making my stomach churn as Drea drags me past a couple of hipsters posted up outside the bar we're meeting Cami at in the West Loop.

"I think I'm gonna throw up," I groan as we fall into the entry line.

Drea spins around, brows creased in concern. "Can I help?"

With my hands on my knees, I gently shake my head. "No." I close my eyes and draw in a deep breath. "It's passing."

Who knew something as simple as a smell could be my pregnancy kryptonite? It's not even just bad smells. It's random smells.

"Okay," I say, straightening and opening my eyes. "I'm good."

"Ya sure, babe?" Drea tilts her head to the side.

Humming in response, I take a few steps forward as the line moves quickly. I slip my phone from the back pocket of my ripped skinny jeans and fire off a text to Cami as we get closer to the bouncer.

Bowie told me earlier that Cami had been asking about me the other day, and I instantly felt guilty for the fact I hadn't even thought to shoot her an email. We've easily become work friends, and even though Bowie transferred over pictures and contacts from my old phone, sending out a mass new number text was the furthest thing from my mind.

"ID's," the bouncer states flatly.

Drea and I hand ours over and he inspects them, then us, eyes wandering further down than what our driver's license photos show. Studying the ground as I shift nervously back and forth on the balls of my feet, I try to ignore the heat of his stare. No matter how much Drea reassured me I look great tonight, I’m still self-conscious about the way the sage green long-sleeved cropped top shows off my midsection without some creep staring at it longer than necessary.

"Stamp their hands before I spoon your eyes out," Dallas spits, plucking our IDs from the bouncer's meaty tattooed fingers and handing them back to us.

I don't know if he senses how uncomfortable I am or is just miffed that someone was taking an extended visual tour of me and Drea's bodies. Either way, I'm low-key thankful for his big dick- so I've been told- energy, right now.

The bouncer's eyes shoot up to Dallas’ and they engage in an intense non-verbal standoff. Even though he's sitting down, I know the two would be pretty evenly matched in height and weight if it came down to a brawl.

"Hands," the bouncer finally says after a beat, not breaking eye contact with Dallas.

All three of us offer up the backs of our hands as he presses the '21+' stamp onto our skin before waving us inside.

"Geeze, caveman much?" Drea tosses over her shoulder at Dallas as we weave through the small crowd right inside the door.

He grunts in response as he stays two steps behind us.

Feeling the vibration, I check my phone and slip it back into my pocket. "Cami says she's at a table near the stage by the hall to the bathrooms."

It's early enough that the place isn't packed yet, but there are still plenty of sweaty bodies to bump into as we cross the room

"Wren!" Cami shouts, eagerly waving a hand in the air. "Over here!"

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