Glitter

I clutched Seth's tux jacket tightly around me and raised an eyebrow as Ethan held the door to the restaurant open for me. "What's up?" I asked.

Ethan's boyish smile slipped off his face. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you holding the door open for me? You've never done that before."

"Things are different now."

I bit my lip to keep from frowning. "How different? Different enough that we can't share our secrets or binge watch Grey's?"

Ethan bowed his head before shooting me an amused glance. "Of course we can still do those things. It's—" he paused and shrugged his shoulders. "We're not just best friends anymore." He finished with a sweep of his arm, gesturing me forward.

I gave him an appreciative nod and walked through the door, turning to wait for them. I smiled as Ethan waited for Seth to follow me and bit my lip as Ethan's hand settled on the small of Seth's back. For someone who still claimed to be 'in the closet' about his sexuality, he was sure to open with it here. I found myself wondering if even realized it. I could tell Seth had because the reddish glow on his cheeks and the twinkle in his delicious green eyes wasn't because of the change in temperature.

Turning my attention to the greeter I frowned as I finally allowed myself a look around. Instantly, my senses were assaulted with clinking wine glasses, the mouth-watering smell of high-class food... super high, stuff I'd never even heard of super high. I knew we were going someplace high end and classy cause of clothing, but this... this was extreme. I didn't even want to look at the menu.

My shoulders stiffened as Seth nudged me forward. "Ethan, this is a rich people restaurant!"

Seth frowned and scratched the back of his neck. "What's a rich people restaurant?"

Swiveling around, I glared. "Oh come on, my fellow wrong-side-of-the-track-kid. You know what I mean!"

"Um-"

"Cassie, don't be difficult," Ethan mumbled. "This is where I wanted to take my boyfriend and my girlfriend on a date to. The food is wonderful and best of all you won't be able to complain about the price because there aren't any on the menu."

Which meant one meal was hella expensive!

Ethan's hands landed on my shoulders and he smoothed his fingers down the arm of the jacket he'd placed around my shoulders and he pulled it off me. I twirled, letting the arms of the tux slip off me. The fabric grazing my skin and the scent of Seth as Ethan pulled it off sent chills up my arms. "I'm not being difficult! They just eat weird."

Seth held in a choking laugh, his sparkling green eyes wide with amusement. "How do they eat?" he asked.

Ethan shook his head at Seth. "Please don't encourage her." His mumble so low I doubted Seth even heard him.

"You know, they have to use those tong things for corn on the cob. I mean is it so hard to just pick it up with your hands? And don't even get me started on the pinky thing—are we walking or stopping?"

"What? You lost me. I'm back at that 'pinky thing'. There's a 'pinky thing'? What's that?" Seth asked.

"Ethan? You know about that pinky thing I'm talking about. Remember we used to make fun of your parents' friends? It can't have surprised you enough to make you stop. And they talk like this 'Daawling'. I mean-" I paused and frowned up at Ethan as he remained facing towards me, not moving. Snapping my fingers in front of his eyes did nothing.

"She looks gorgeous, doesn't she?" Seth mumbled next to Ethan's ear.

I blinked, not sure why I was surprised... Seth was like a cat, always popping from one place to another, so smoothly that it startled onlookers. Luckily, two, almost three years of being friends with him had made me mostly immune to his cat-like speed.

"Oh," I whispered as it finally dawned on me. I followed Ethan's line of vision down to my dress.

So that's what made him stop.

I smiled brightly up at him, more pleased with his reaction than I'd care to admit out loud to them. "Then you like it?" I asked, resisting the urge to do another twirl for him because I'm not that type of girl. I couldn't be that type of girl. "Look at what it does for my breasts? I'm like: 'how did those happen?' Right?"

Ethan swallowed. His arm lifted and he trailed a finger down my bare skin, stopping shy of the slope of my right breast. He let out a controlled exhale. "I do, like it that is," he said softly. His trailing fingers moved back up and stopped at the base of my collar bone. He cleared his throat and pulled his hand away. He offered a hesitant smile before sidestepping me and gliding up to the greeter to tell him our reservation.

I watched him speak to the man in the penguin suit, feeling my cheeks burn slightly with pleasure as I replayed his reaction. Seth bumped my shoulder gently with his and I turned to smile sheepishly at him.

"I told you, but he covered it up pretty well. It's hard to get him to break in public, but I warn you now, that dress may not survive the night," Seth whispered next to my ear.

I frowned. "What do you mean? I won't spill anything on it! How much did this sucker cost anyhow? Maybe I should wear a bib..."

"That's-that's not what I meant, Cass," Seth said. He leaned in closely, surprising me with an intimate and gentle, wet kiss between the junction of my neck and jawline. "Glitter looks good on you."

"How did I get glitter on me?"

"The powder I put on your face. It fell to your shoulders and a few specks pooled into your collar bone. I think I have a new fetish."

"Do you?" I asked, encouraging him to continue. He wrapped his arm around my waist and ushered me forward, closer towards Ethan and the waiter.

"Collar bone fetish."

I frowned and raised an eyebrow at him. "No way! That is not a fetish! Who likes collar bones? Are you yankin' my chain?"

"It definitely is," Seth said, sounding distant as he stared at the topic of conversation. He lifted a finger and placed it in the indent between the bones. "I wanna cum right here."

I gasped, my eyes widened as I glanced around to make sure no one heard him. My hand slammed against his bicep and I tried to push him away, but he barely moved an inch. "Seth, you can't say things like that! This is a very public place!"

He positioned himself behind me, pulling my hips back, so my behind settled nicely against him. He placed another kiss against my neck, his smiling lips playing there for half a second more. "Can you feel it?" he whispered.

"Feel what?"

"How hard I am for you? Or maybe it was Ethan's reaction to you. It could be him in a tux too. Tonight is just hitting on my fetishes hard. I think I'd much rather skip dinner and tie the both of you together. Unable to move, unable to touch each other... the only sexual relief either of you would get would be from me. You'd both be begging--"

I gasped again, this time covering my mouth to hide part of my reaction because the male waiter cast me a look—more knowing that I'd like to admit—thoroughly scandalized. "Seth! Ethan, he's not behaving," I tattled on him.

An amused, curving grin was Ethan's only answer as he gestured for us to follow the waiter. I gnawed my bottom lip at his reaction, casting a nervous glance around again to make sure no one heard. Had Seth said it too loud? Had Ethan heard? Had anyone else heard? Oh my God, I would die.

Heaving a sigh, I hunched my back over, pushing my weight slightly into Seth as he walked us forward. I had a feeling this was going to be a long night. The 'long night' started a few seconds later with a deep voice calling behind us.

"Damn little brother, is that yours?"

I felt Seth stiffen and whip around. His arms darted backward, keeping me behind him, clearly blocking me from the man who'd appeared out of nowhere and spoken behind us. I stood on my sneaker-covered tiptoes to sneak a peek over his shoulder—Ethan and Seth either forgot about the nice shoes or didn't get any, but lucky for me the dress swept the floor. No one was gonna notice, plus I felt like the runaway bride.

My eyes shifted, examining the older Seth look-a-like and that meant this dude was Seth's family—Seth's mafia family. These rich gangster people were like wild animals, one wrong move and shit would hit the fan. Having my white, scuffed tennis shoes on made me feel even safer now. I could even feel the tingle in my ankles and the itch in my toes; they were getting ready to make a dash for it. My hands were ready to grab Seth's and Ethan's too. I could pull off being the hero tonight. I could do anything in this dress.

"Grant." Seth's voice was hard, angry, but very, very sturdy. Almost threatening, even... it was a sign that I never wanted to get on Seth's bad side.

From behind him, I wrapped my arms loosely around his waist and gave him a quick hug, letting him know that I was here. Reminding him that Ethan was here too. I worriedly glanced back at Ethan who, after closing the distance between us, was frowning so deeply his dirty blond eyebrows almost connected.

"Is that yours?" Grant asked, gesturing towards...

I felt my eyebrows dive into my hairline as I followed those rude hand gestures. "Wait? What the fuck? Are you pointing at me?" I asked, feeling my face flush with anger as I tried to sidestep Seth, but he kept me in place, forcing my arms to wrap around his waist again.

If I had been a rational person, or if Seth had spoken more about his family instead of saying 'they're basically the mob' when the topic was brought up, I wouldn't have even spoken to 'Grant'. I expected a menacing look from him because guys like him seem to think girls and women should be quiet unless spoken too.

Yeah, I know your kind you douche bag.

But there was no angry look, just a look that made my stomach churn and sink. Interest. Intrigue. And the worst one: lust. His eyes were glued to me and I bit my lip, suddenly more scared than I've ever been in my life.

"She," Seth corrected. "And she is off-limits."

A tiny smile played on my face as I stared at Seth's back. At that moment, Seth felt like one of those alpha males that you read about in books, the one that growls and says 'you're mine'. Those scenes always got on my nerves and I'd skip the rest of the sequence in the book but having it sort of happen in real life made me feel like a million bucks. That may not be a lot nowadays, but it was loads to a poor college girl like me who lived off dollar canned spaghetti-o's and twenty-five cent ramen... at least when I wasn't mooching off my friends.

"Well, when you break-up—"

Seth cut him off. "Always off-limits, in fact, any woman that I've ever spoken to is off limits!"

Well, now I didn't feel so special. I couldn't help the pout I shot at Seth's back. And when I lifted my attention back to Grant his eyebrow lifted and his green eyes twinkled with amusement as he winked at me and focused on Seth.

"She'd fetch a pretty penny on the market," Grant commented casually.

The market? What the fuck was that?

But I knew. Seth's comment made perfect sense. I wanted to spit on Grant but didn't want to chance him taking me away. It was obvious he and Seth were related—so maybe Seth's demand of how off-limits I was would hold some merit— the only difference was how aged Grant looked. The wrinkles around his eyes and mouth indicated that he either lived a hard life and aged prematurely or that he was at least a decade older than Seth. He'd said 'little brother,' so I was assuming this was the bad news Mafia brother that dealt with human trafficking.

What type of person could do that? I scowled over Seth's shoulder and eyeballed the no-soul individual.

"Off limits," Seth spat out more forcefully.

Grant held his hands up as if in surrender. "I'm just saying when you're done with her..."

"Never," Seth snapped.

Grant nodded, a small smirk curling his lips before he lifted his gaze to check out Ethan. "Little boys are more popular anyway. How 'bout him? He could pay for your fancy too-good-for-the-family-business law degree with just one night."

"Grant! No. Not ever. I've told you-"

Grant rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'm just yankin' your chain, pretty boy. Besides, I'm a kept man now," he said in a way that I couldn't tell if it was addressed to Ethan or Seth. "When do you pass the bar? We could use another lawyer."

"Well, I have to graduate first. Nothing happened to Merk did it?"

Grant smirked. "Not yet," he said, but then something changed. Grant's features morphed, sobered, and the sorrow in his eyes was somewhat off-putting. It's hard to think of evil people like him as being capable of caring, but there it was. "It's Maddie's birthday tomorrow."

Seth breathed deeply and cast his eyes down. "I know."

"You gonna be there with the rest of us? I know you think you're too good for your family—"

Seth held a hand up. "I love my family it's just the field they choose to work in that I hate. You're better than this, Grant. We were all better than this, but Dad—" Seth tilted his head to the side, clenching his jaw. "Yes. I'll be there."

Grant nodded. "Fine," Grant said and started to turn away, but he paused. "You know, Seth, you have to play the cards you've been dealt."

"Or fold when it's a bad hand," Seth said.

That seemed to piss Grant off. He whipped around. "If I'd done that who the fuck do you think Dad would've put in my place? Simon? Andrew? Hunter? You? You owe me more than you know little brother."

Grant was speaking softly, advancing towards Seth with every word until they were nose-to-nose. This man emanated danger and menace like he didn't care who he hurt to get what he wanted. I'd never been afraid of a person before, but a minute in Grant's presence and I knew. I just knew that this wasn't a man someone wanted to be in debt to.

I curled my fingers into Seth's jacket, hugging his back tighter to my front in fear for him, Ethan, and myself because of Grant's close proximity to all of us now.

Grant continued his index finger punching into Seth's sternum. "Every time you fuck your girl, every time you wake up in the morning next to her and then go to class without a care in the world, and especially when you fall in love—every happy moment you ever have just remember that I gave that to you. We never had the chances you did, the chance to walk away, but you were the youngest. The last of the Katsaros' and Maddie wanted you to have a better chance—" Grant paused to compose himself, clenching his teeth and straightening the lapels of his tuxedo jacket. "I'll see you tomorrow! You better be there to pay your respects!"

When he was gone, Seth's shoulders drooped and his head bowed. He heaved a sigh and turned slowly towards us, his face blank of emotion. "I really want to leave right now and I don't want to ruin the mood, so I'm just gonna go wait in the car while you guys eat. I don't think I can stomach looking at Grant and Andrew right now."

Andrew?

I briefly glanced over at the table where Grant had sat down and saw two other men seated with red wine glasses sitting in front of them.

"Are they your brothers?"

"Yeah, but not that other guy to the left... I don't know who he is. Another potential client probably," Seth said. He placed a chaste kiss against the side of my mouth. I saw him take a step towards Ethan, but Ethan tensed enough that Seth pulled back. Seth didn't show any hurt at the action, but his jaw clenched. Instead of kissing Ethan as he had me, he nodded towards him and turned towards the door.

I quickly reached out and grabbed Seth's arm. "Hey, if you leave, we leave."