Our gushing waitress returned to take our orders, and while Braxton told her what she wanted, I texted Houston and Rich the name of the restaurant. Maybe I could use some help since Braxton held onto her grudges so tightly, you’d need the jaws of life to pry them apart.
Feeling Braxton nudge me, I looked up from my phone to see the beaming waitress waiting for my order.
“Hey, sweetheart. I’ll take three Porterhouses and a side of fries. I want two of those steaks cooked medium and one medium-rare. I’ll also take some of those mini crab cakes you charge a left nut a piece for, the creamed spinach, and some bread for the table. Oh, and a coke and water.” I winked at our waitress as Braxton gaped at me.
“Are you really going to eat all of that?” she asked me.
“Not for me.”
Just as the waitress pranced off with our orders, Houston and Jericho entered the room, which saved me from having to explain further. She didn’t say anything when they slid into the booth across from us.
“I hope your luck was better than mine,” I said to kill the awkward silence. Braxton cut her gaze at me, so I guess I wasn’t as cryptic as I thought.
“I lost ten grand,” Houston announced as I put my hand on Braxton’s thigh. She’d worn a skirt today.
“How? It was a cheap bet.”
“He wasn’t betting on the horses,” Rich answered with a smirk.
My hand paused from inching up Braxton’s leg when I caught his drift. Each time I forgot why I hated my friends, they reminded me. “Night’s not over.”
“You know I can leave, and then you three won’t need to talk about me like I’m not here…because I won’t be.” She pushed my hand off her leg, and it felt like I’d taken three steps back from the half a step I’d gained.
So much for help.
Our food came, so I shut the fuck up and ate as I thought of my next move. I’d been honest. I’d been sincere. I didn’t know what else I could do to get through to her.
“What does your medallion mean?” she asked me out of the blue halfway through our meal. Houston and Rich both paused mid-chew as their gazes darted between Braxton and me.
Swallowing my food, I sat back as I looked at her. My appetite was gone. “What makes you think it means something?”
“You never take it off.”
I could tell by her tone that she wouldn’t just shrug it off if I chose not to give her the full and honest truth. Fuck. “Instead of a car for my sixteenth birthday, my father gave me this.”
Lifting the heavy chain off my neck, I slipped it up and over my head for the first time in six years. Before Braxton could react, I placed the medallion depicting a man with the head of a lion forging a sword around her neck. The rest of the crest included the family name and “solum initium est” engraved in the platinum. I don’t remember the exact value, but it was somewhere around a hundred and fifty thousand.
“Just before he kicked me out and left me with nothing, he told me to pawn it because it was the last cent I’d ever get out of him.”
“But you didn’t.”
It wasn’t a question since she wore it around her lovely neck, but I answered her anyway. “Nope.”
“And that’s why you’ve never taken it off and always wore your shirt open,” she pieced together out loud. I could see the wheels in her mind turning as she looked at me. “You knew he’d be keeping tabs and wanted him to know that you didn’t need his money.”
“Yup.”
I let myself be an open book as she studied me, but I didn’t mention my father’s offer to give me everything I once thought I wanted if I quit Bound and came home.
Nodding once, Braxton signaled that her curiosity was settled, and I released a quiet breath for small favors. My old man was the last thing I wanted to discuss while trying to win over my girl. I never thought I’d be capable of wanting more after watching my parents crap all over their marriage. I couldn’t risk anything giving me second thoughts. Spending another moment without Braxton was crippling enough. No way was I willing to go the rest of my life.
We headed back to the bus after eating, but by then, the night was