Page 180 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

“Beautiful name,” One of them says, shaking my hand.

We all shake hands as they introduce themselves: Landon, Josh, and Sam. They all seem like really cool guys, to be honest. They even shift seats around and offer me to sit on an empty chair.

But then I turn to Rurik and feel my confidence waning.

He's not even looking at me.

He's on his phone, his brows low and jaw clenched tightly.

Landon has to elbow him, “You’re being awfully rude in front of the lady, Rurik. Introduce yourself.”

Rurik puts his phone down and mutters, “I need to use the toilet,” then leaves.

I frown, staring after him as the entire table sits awkwardly in silence.

“We're sorry about that,” Sam says seconds later. “I don’t know what's come over him just now.”

“It's cool,” I force a grin before getting up. “I should go anyway. It's nice to meet you all, and I hope you enjoy your time in New York.”

Before they can say anything, I head to where Rurik went.

The fucking bathroom.

Chapter 27

Rurik

What the actual fuck is she doing here?

As soon as I see her walking in my direction, I wait until she turns the corner before wrapping an arm around her waist, dragging her inside a stall in the men’s bathroom, and locking the door behind her.

She makes a surprised gasp when her back collides against the door as my body presses her against it.

“Wow,” Briar breathes, blinking up at me. “Seems like our roles have been reversed.”

“What are you doing here, Briar?” I hiss, gripping her shoulders. “Did you follow me?”

She has the nerve to roll her eyes at me, and my hand cramps to slap that ass again.

“Oh, don’t act as if you don’t know I do that sometimes,” She says, placing her hands on my chest. “Since your cousins don’t know about your stepdad’s side, they wouldn’t know me either. I didn’t see what the harm would be to introduce myself—”

“That’s not the fucking point, Briar,” I snap. “You didn’t respect my boundaries about meeting out in public with my family.”

Her lips part as she stares at me. “W-what? I’m sorry, I didn’t think—”

“Exactly,” I interrupt her as fear and anger course through me. “You didn’t fucking think.” I run a hand through my hair, shaking my head. “Jesus, this is why we’re never going to work out. I set rules and boundaries for a reason, Briar. If you’re just going to ignore them because you don’t like them, then…” I trail off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

Her eyes narrow, and she crosses her arms. A fierce storm brewing beneath that calm, collected look she’s trying to portray. “Go on, then. Finish that sentence, Rurik. Then… what?”

I glare at her. “You don't get it, Briar. The media knows who I am. If some desperate pap sees the Senator’s stepson out with a random girl and snaps a picture, internet sleuths will somehow link the Charons gangsters to you, and that'll somehow reach my stepdad, and he'll know about us!”

She throws her hands out and snaps back, “Well, what if I don’t care if he knows about us? I don’t care if anyone knows about us, Rurik! Why should you?”

I stare at her, unable to form the words screaming inside my head.

No, no, no, everyone will know.

They’ll kill each other. Everyone will get hurt. Everything will be ruined!

---