Page 55 of Little Did You Know

Lucky's—too public, too many people. And "us"? Who was "us"?

I opened the locate iPhone app before I could talk myself out of it, telling myself I just wanted to make sure she was safe. The blue dot pulsed on my screen: Lucky's Bar & Grill.

My throat tightened. Olivia was with Justin. The same Justin who'd been asking too many questions lately. The same Justin who'd been watching her when he thought I wasn't looking.

"Jackson." My voice sounded strange in the quiet car. "Change of plans. Take me to Lucky's." I didn't feel like hanging out, but if there was where Olivia was that’s where I was going.

The neon sign for Lucky's buzzed and flickered against rain-slicked brick, casting pools of red across the cracked sidewalk. Jackson eased the SUV to a stop, tires crunching over broken glass from a shattered beer bottle.

A group of smokers huddled under the rusty awning, their conversations dropping to whispers like they recognized the car. "Park around back," I muttered, eyes scanning the street for the telltale glint of camera lenses. "We might need a quick exit." The smell of stale beer and fresh rain hit me as I stepped out, along with the muffled thrum of music bleeding through the weathered door.

Bass thrummed through the floorboards of Lucky's as I shouldered past clusters of people clutching drinks. Cigarette smoke hung in lazy ribbons beneath the exposed rafters, catching light from the vintage Edison bulbs. For a Tuesday, the place was packed—weekend crowded—with the kind of energy that made the air feel electric. Through gaps in the press of bodies, I caught glimpses of the back corner where old bourbon barrels had been converted into tables. That's when I saw them: Justin lounging against worn leather, Hannah gesturing animatedly, Liam nursing what looked like whiskey neat, and Olivia—Olivia with her head thrown back in laughter, the dim light catching the curve of her throat.

"It's about time you got here," Justin said as I approached the table.

The cracked vinyl booth groaned as I slid in next to Olivia, close enough to catch the faint vanilla scent of her perfume. Condensation from scattered glasses had left dark rings on the scarred wooden table, like timestamps marking the evening's progression.

Justin leaned forward, elbows propped on the sticky surface, his words barely carrying over the clash of pool balls from the corner and the steady drone of conversations around us. "Where have you been all day? Olivia told us you had to go out of town for business."

"Yes," I replied, giving him a facial expression that screamed shut the fuck up, but of course, he didn't get it.

"I wasn't aware of any business you'd need to take care of in...." I kicked him hard under the table. "Aw, what the fuck?" he yelled, reaching under the table. I gave him a shut the fuck up look again, and this time he got it. Olivia and Hannah both eyed us suspiciously.

The opening notes of some Top 40 remix cut through the ambient chatter, and Hannah's eyes lit up. She grabbed Olivia's wrist, nearly knocking over her half-empty cosmopolitan in her excitement. My gaze followed them as they weaved between tables toward the dance floor, where multicolored lights swept across the crowd in hypnotic patterns.

Bodies pressed together in the artificial fog, silhouettes merging and separating like shadows in a kaleidoscope. The bass was so heavy it made the ice cubes in my glass jump. When Olivia disappeared into the crowd, the last thing I saw was the flutter of her dark hair catching blue light, like ink spreading through water.

Justin's fingers drummed against his glass in that precise rhythm he always fell into when piecing together a puzzle. His eyes, sharp despite the alcohol, tracked every minute shift in my expression. "Are you going to tell us what's going on?" The question came with the same measured tone he used in boardrooms, when he already knew the answer but wanted to hear someone else say it.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I met his gaze with ease, but his slight head tilt told me he'd caught the lie. Fifteen years of friendship had made him fluent in my tells.

"You don't?" Justin asked quizzically. "You don't know why you have a security detail on her or why you don't want her to know you went back to her home today?"How did he know that?I could never hide anything from Justin; he was too observant.

"It's complicated, and I don't have time to explain everything now."

Justin's fingers stilled on his glass, his voice dropping to barely a whisper. "Is she in danger?"

I tracked the girls' progress through the crowd, buying time to choose my words carefully. "I thought she might be, but I don't think so now." The bass thrummed through my chest as Hannah and Olivia wove closer. "I'll explain everything later."

Justin's slight nod carried the weight of fifteen years of shared secrets.

A slower song sounded over the speakers, and Hannah grabbed Liam and led him out to the dance floor as Olivia slid in beside me.

Justin pushed back from the table, his chair scraping against the uneven floorboards. "Another round," he announced, disappearing into the press of bodies between us and the copper-topped bar. The DJ had switched to something slower. Olivia shifted closer, and I slipped my arm around her, the warmth of her skin seemed to burn through the thin fabric of her dress. Our corner of the bar felt suddenly intimate, sheltered by shadows and the drunk-loud laughter of strangers.

I leaned in close enough for my lips to brush her ear, inhaling the vanilla scent of her perfume. "I've been thinking about you all day."

The corner of Olivia's mouth curved upward, her lashes lowering to half-mast. "Good thoughts, I hope."

Heat bloomed in my chest at that look—the one she'd perfected without even knowing it. My lips grazed the shell of her ear, voice rough with promise. "You keep looking at me like that, and I'm going to fuck you right here until you can't hold your eyes open anymore."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" she asked, batting her long eyelashes at me. I smiled. She was good, and I didn't think she knew it. I wanted to touch her, but I knew we couldn't leave yet, or everyone would suspect something. Still, I didn't think I could wait until we got home, either. Our booth was tucked back in a corner, and the bar was dimly lit.

The leather booth creaked beneath us as I traced patterns on her thigh, each touch leaving trails of goosebumps in its wake. The silk of her dress whispered against my knuckles, riding up inch by inch. Her eyes, already dark in the low light, went darker still, pupils expanding until only a thin ring of blue remained. Around us, the bar's chaos faded to white noise, our private moment suspended in amber like a secret trapped in time.

She released a small gasp and gripped my leg as I began to massage between her legs slowly. With more pressure, she tilted her head back, trying hard not to make any noise, and I leaned in and let my lips graze her ear as I whispered, "You are so fucking sexy." I pulled her panties to the side as she relaxed, spreading her legs further apart. I stroked down to her opening, slowly entered her with one finger, and moved slowly in and out. She bit her bottom lip, and I so badly wanted to take it in my mouth and suck it hard, but I resisted.

She started to squirm in her seat. I knew I didn't have much longer before everyone would return to the table, so I couldn't take my time like I wanted. I exited her warmth and moved up to her clit, applying enough pressure and moving enough that I knew it wouldn't take her long to fall to pieces around me.

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