Chapter 13

**Annabel**

When coming into work, I wasn’t physically prepared for what was about to transpire tonight, no I was prepared to be completely bored with greeting guests and processing payments up here at the front like always. My mind completely baffled by all the things Alyssia had told me earlier during lunch was still mind blowing.

*How in the world did my best friend in the entire world go from A+ student to one of flunking out of College completely? Oh wait, I know, because of that ass hole Brian*, I muse, remembering the first time she met Brian and the weird creepy vibe I kept getting when he first pressured her into being his girl.

Back then, Alyssia was too shy and timid to actually agree so she settled on being friends with the douchebag, but then as they slowly bonded did he manage to worm his way into her life completely and completely take over her entire life.

Frowning, I instantly remember lunchtime when Alyssia and I were sitting down to eat when all of sudden she had told me she wanted to dump him, naturally I was happy for her as he was nothing but bad news, he being an All-Star Player and she a mere nerd who wasn’t by any means popular only to be interrupted by the said asshole.

“Alyssia sweetheart there you are” replies Brian as he moves to saunter up to us causing me to pause in my words when I had wanted to ask her what she meant about last night for clearly there was a hand print along her neck and it made me wonder if Brian had something to do with that.

“Piss off Brian, she ain’t yours no more” I sneer, my eyes narrowing as I watched Brian approach, his hand coming to rest gently but firmly along Alyssia’s shoulder before giving it a slight squeeze.

“How about you butt out Annabel, this doesn’t concern you or with how I treat my girl” growls Brian his eyes narrowing at me as he continues to hold her shoulder.

Not liking his attitude I’m about to tell him where he can shove it only for Alyssia to speak up, “No you butt out.”

Blinking at her words, I’m a bit shocked that she flat out told him to butt out but it was true, he had no right to be here or even a part of our conversation. “What did you just say to me?” growls Brian as he moves to grip her jaw, forcing her to now look at him, my eyes still trained on them encase I was needed to step in.

“I said butt out… it’s over, if you want Lyra then go fuck Lyra but I’ll have no part of that anymore, were done” says Alyssia, knowing she had to have felt 10 times better then if she hadn’t said that to him in the first place.

Growling, I know he isn’t happy with her words, his hand gripping her chin tighter as I watch her wince, the urge to stand up and slug him right in the face all but eating away at me only for me to finally snap and I eventually tell him to fuck off and leave Alyssia alone.

Narrowing his eyes over to me, he all but crushes his lips against hers before finally storming off, allowing us to breathe as we move to relax slightly. “Man, what an ass” I mutter, still not liking him one bit. Once sure that he was gone, do we each move to finish up, Alyssia clearly in the mood to skip her remaining classes and, after learning what I did now I couldn't exactly fault her for it either which led us to where we currently were, Little Italy.

Sighing, I move to focus on the task at hand, greeting customers only to be greeted when two tall yet sexy men both move to enter, one standing at 6’2 with blonde hair and the most stunning hazel blue eyes ever and the other 6’3 with red hair and amber color eyes and freckles. Both obviously athletic and fit except the one with red hair and amber color eyes clearly had a couple of tattoos to him while the other didn’t, at least none that I could see among his body.

Eyeing the pair, I move to wait until they’re close enough for me to speak, “Hello and Welcome to Little Italy, how may we help you” I say, attempting to keep my voice cheerful as I move to greet them.

“Hello Beautiful” replies the man with red hair and amber eyes, his voice sending shivers down my spine, my eyes never leaving his nor that of his friend, my body instantly smitten by his.

*Careful now, he might be good looking but he could be married*, I move to tell myself, for while it’s been known for me to like men much older than myself, never once would I mess with a man who was married, for that wasn’t my style nor would it ever be.

“My aren’t you a charmer” I giggle, hoping to break the tension I was feeling while being in their presence.

“I can do better than be a charmer, I can make you my Princess” purrs the man as he moves to lean forward, his elbows now resting on the counter as he moves to lean closer, making me step back slightly so as not to be too close to him, yet, unsure of what his intentions where.

“Will you stop, you’ll get us kicked out if you keep that up” scolds the other man to his friend, breaking the tension between us as if he tries to reign in his friend.

Mentally sighing, I want to tell him that it’s okay and that I was thoroughly enjoying myself only to hear another voice speak up, “Table for two?” turning towards the voice, I can’t help but see it’s Alyssia, her body hesitant as she moves to approach us.

“Yes, table for two Princess.” is all I hear from the man with red hair, something about him calling Alyssia Princess all but annoying me as I move to push it aside, the other man clearly displeased with the notion as well as Alyssia moves to show them to their seat, my eyes still on the pair even as their seated, curious as to who they were.

Still watching with interest, I can’t help but watch as Alyssia interacts with each of them only to be surprised when the man who stood 6’2 and had lush blonde hair and hazel blue eyes move to stand, his body now standing directly in front of Alyssia as he moves to inspect her face.

*He must have seen the bruise mark along her jaw*, I ponder, his reaction evident that he saw something as Alyssia kept completely still as he moved to touch her, something I was now finding odd, a question I would have to ask her when given a chance.

Unable to hear their conversation, I all but watched as Alyssia pulls herself away, making her way over to me where she then proceeded to get them their drink of choice, knowing this was my one chance to ask her.

“Do you know them?” I ask, my eyes watching her as she moves to grab the bottle of bourbon and whiskey from the shelf, her hands moving to pour each of the amber color liquids.

“I-I know one of them, not the other” answers Alyssia, almost nervously.

“Which one?” I ask.

“The blonde one, he’s my new Psychology teacher, Mr. Zac Hunter” answers Alyssia, something by the way she answered had me all but guessing she knew more than she was leading on, one I wouldn’t push for until she was ready to tell me, our friendship being built on trust.

“Mmm, do you like him?” I move to tease, knowing there couldn’t be anything going on between them only for her to pause, my eye now arching at the movement as she quickly moves to take them their drinks, having yet told me yes or no, something I found unusually odd for usually when I teased her about liking someone older than her, she never had a problem with denying it, but when asking her the same thing in regards to the blonde hair man who sat with his friend I was surprised when she didn’t instantly deny it, making me wonder if she did, which, was totally fine with me if she did, as I didn’t personally like the man with blonde hair, no, I had a thing for his friend, the one with red hair and amber color eyes, something about him calling to me and only me.