Behind the Secrets (Behind the Lives #4) (13 page)

10

Dante

Dante followed L and Jade into the Korean
restaurant, annoyed that he had to go with them. All he wanted to do was sleep,
especially since the new meds he’d been given were making him feel shit-tired.
But Jade had insisted on celebrating L’s arrival, turning it into a big deal.
Fuck, Jade was worse than a girl, waving his hands about, all excited as though
they were going to some major event. He was also dressed to the nines in black
pants and an open neck white silk shirt, which Jade had said he’d gotten from
the Army ... no, it was Armani, whatever the hell that was.

They stopped in front of the restaurant hostess.
Jade started jabbering to her in Korean, probably asking for a table. L was
standing next to him. She flicked her long orange and gold hair over her
shoulder, which stopped right above her tasty little arse. Shit, she wasn’t a
she
;
she was a
he
... but that arse... Dante bit his bottom lip, thinking
that L had to be a lady, because no dude could have an arse that fine. Plus,
L’s waist was tiny, not straight up and down like a man’s.
Day-yam
, she
was fine as fuck.

“Dante!”

He looked up, finding Jade glaring at
him. “What did I do?”

“If you don’t know the answer, I have
nothing to say about it.”

Dante screwed up his face. “Fuck, you’re
worse than a chick. I never know what I do wrong with them either, yet I still
get yelled at.”

L placed a hand on Jade’s arm. “Let’s just
sit down, Jade,” she said.

No, L was a
he
! Dante grimaced, feeling
like nature was playing with his head. He’d seen a lot of trannies and they
sure as hell didn’t look like L. Instead, L really did look like a drop-dead gorgeous
chick, and it didn’t help that she ...
he
dressed like one. Well, sort
of. She ... Goddammit!
HE
had hot red leather pants on and a flowing
white blouse, which made something glorious stand out—besides Dante’s cock.

Tits.

Jugs.

Melons.

Cock Warmers.

Breasts.

And they were as perky as her tight
little arse.

Dante hadn’t noticed them at home since
L had been wearing a vest, plus he’d been half-asleep. But he fucking noticed them
now, especially since L wasn’t wearing a bra. And they were definitely not
man-boobs, because man-boobs weren’t perky looking B cups that gave him a
hard-on. He wondered whether they were natural. He flexed his fingers, aching
to do a grab-test.

“Dante!” Jade snapped.

He looked over at Jade, who was glaring
at him—
again
. “What did I do now?”

“You were staring at L’s chest.” Dante looked
back at L, whose face had gone a splotchy red, the colour even running down
her
 ...
his
neck. Dante smiled, finding it cute.

Jade grabbed his arm and yanked him to a
chair.

“Jesus, you’re a bossy twat,” Dante
said, sitting down next to Jade. “I just got outta the loony bin, so you could
at least be nice to me.”

Jade’s face dropped. “Oh, of course, I’m
sorry. I just… I’m just sorry.” He patted Dante’s leg, leaving his hand there.

Dante moved it off. “Public affection
not approved of, stalker.”

Jade’s eyes widened. “Don’t call me that!
We’re friends—”

“—without benefits, so don’t touch me
again.”

L slipped into the seat across the
table, looking amused. She dropped the smile when Jade looked her way. Oh,
hell, he was calling L a
she
again. Fuck it, until he saw a dick she was
a chick.

Dante smiled back, the chick definitely eye-candy.

Jade elbowed him.

Letting out a yelp, Dante rubbed his
side and glared at him. “Stop pissing me off,” he snapped, aching to punch the
twat.

Jade indicated to something ...
no
,
someone. Dante turned his head, finding the Korean hostess, who’d been talking
to Jade earlier, staring down at him. She had long black hair, which was tied
into a ponytail, and a tight little body like L ... just with smaller tits, her
white blouse hiding nothing. Still, she was worthy of fucking at least once,
although he knew he wouldn’t, because Beth was his future now, and he couldn’t
afford to screw up a second time.

The hostess smiled at him. “Are you
ready to order?” she asked, sounding Kiwi, taking Dante by surprise.

“I want to order one of you,” he said,
jokingly. He yelped as he got another elbow in his side. “Quit it, Jade, cos
the next time you elbow me, you’re gonna get your arse kicked back to Yank
town.”

“Don’t be insulting.” Jade looked up at
the hostess. “I do apologize. Please give us a few minutes.”

She nodded and walked off.

Dante glared at Jade. “You needa stop
bein’ a jealous twat. Get it into your thick head I’m straight and with Beth.”

“Then stop hitting on L and every chick
you see.”

“I’m not hitting on L.”

“Well, you kissed him.”

“There’s nuthin’ wrong with kissing a
chick when it’s platonic.”

“L isn’t a
chick
and it wasn’t
platonic; you kissed him on the lips.”

“Still platonic.”

 “No, it’s not, it’s cheating.”

“Bullshit, I wuzn’t doin’ it to get off;
I just wanted to check if she still wore Cherry Chapstick.” Dante smiled over
at L. “And she does,” he said, winking at her.

L’s blush spread, making Dante grin
wider.

“I told you, L’s not a she,” Jade
snapped. “So stop treating him like one.”

“She’s got tits; that makes her a she to
me.”

“And a cock.”

Dante looked back at L. “That hasn’t
been proved yet.”

L’s face dropped.

“Oh, shit, honey,” Dante said, “I’m
sorry, I didn’t mean it as an insult.”

L shifted about in her seat. “Can you
please stop talking about me?”

“Yeah, sorry, gorgeous.”

“And stop calling me names.”

“I didn’t insult you.”

“No, you keep calling me female
endearments.”

Dante shrugged. “It’s just how I talk to
chicks.”

“I’m not a chick.”

“Well, until I see a dick you’re a
chick.”

L frowned. “I told you this was a bad
idea, Jade, plus I’m not really hungry. You two can stay. Just give me the key
and I’ll let myself in the house.” She went to push up.

Not wanting to be left alone with Jade, Dante
quickly shifted to L’s seat, trapping her in. He bumped his hip against hers to
move her over. As soon as their hips touched, L shot across the seat, pushing
herself into the wall, looking scared.

Dante frowned, wondering what the fuck
he did wrong. He didn’t push her hard, it was only a tap, and it wasn’t like
his hand went anywhere near her. His gaze moved to Jade, who also appeared
surprised.

“Are you okay, Llewellyn?” Jade asked, sounding
concerned.

L glanced at Dante, her eyes so round, a
touch of fear in them, like there had been when he’d caught her outside his
bedroom. She returned her gaze to Jade. “I’m just a bit jumpy because I’m
tired. I really would like to go back and sleep.”

“Let’s just grab a quick bite, then we
can leave,” Jade said.

L sighed, but nodded, appearing resigned
to staying.

Jade raised a hand to get the waitress
back, quickly ordering some food in Korean.

Dante grabbed the waitress’s hand before
she could leave. “Get me a pint of beer, preferably Lion Red.”

She smiled at him, staring a bit too long,
then turned and left, pushing through the kitchen doors.

Dante indicated to her. “She wants me.”

“Everyone wants you, stupid,” Jade said.

“Don’t call me stupid,
stupid
,
cos straight dudes don’t want me.” Dante looked over at L, who was looking anywhere
but at him. He wondered what the hell her problem was, because as far as he
remembered she had the hots for Ash, who looked just like he did, so by default
she should have the hots for him too. Though, not like it mattered, since he
wasn’t on the market. Dante looked back at Jade, who was glaring at him.
“What?”

Jade shook his head at him, then shifted
his gaze to L. “I can’t wait for you to play in my studio, Llewellyn.”

L smiled, her face lighting up for the
first time since Dante had seen her. “I’m looking forward to that too.”

“Yeah, I loved the CDs Jade gave me of
yours,” Dante cut in, relieved with the new topic, something he was sure
couldn’t get him in trouble. “You’re really good.”

L blushed again. “Thanks. Music’s my
life.”

“It’s not mine, but I still love it.”

“I’ve played the guitar since I was
little,” L said. “Aside from my family, it’s the only good thing in my life.”

“The only good thing? Shit, I could
think of lots of good things in life. Booze is good, pornos are good—”

“Dante,” Jade said in a warning tone.

He ignored the bossy little twat. “—sex is
good, just depending on who you do it with…” Dante sneered at Jade, “…which
isn’t you.”

“You don’t have to be so rude,” Jade
snapped.

“I wuz being honest, not rude.”

“Talking about porn and sex
is
rude, and I thought you didn’t like that topic now.”

“I’m a freaking addict; I always think about
it, and I’m speaking to L, not you.” Dante turned back to L, who was looking
uncomfortable. “Chill, there are other good things besides sex. Like dirt
biking, pumping iron, that gives me as much a high as drugs do, and yeah, pot
is great.”

L dropped her gaze, still looking
uncomfortable.

Dante rolled his eyes, thinking the
chick was obviously a prude. He turned as the waitress appeared by his side. She
placed his beer in front of him, along with a slip of paper. She smiled at him,
then left. He looked at the slip. “Boo yeah, told ja I’d get a number by the
end of the night,” he said, showing Jade.

Jade snatched it out of his hand and
screwed it up, throwing it at Dante’s face.

Dante laughed. “You really are a jealous
prick.”

“I don’t know how anyone puts up with
you.”

“Me neither, other than they wanna fuck
me.” He picked up the beer and chugged it down, wanting to get blotto so he
didn’t have to think about Jade, Beth, or anyone.

“Dante, slow down,” Jade said.

He finished the beer, then put his hand
up, waving for the pretty hostess to come over. “Another beer and your number
again, cos the jealous gay twat stole it offa me.”

She smiled and headed away.

“You can’t ring her,” Jade said. “You’re
with Beth.”

“So I’m with Beth now, am I? Apparently,
I thought I wuz with you with the way you’re acting.”

“You still can’t phone the waitress.”

“I’m not; I just wanna piss you off.”

“That’s cruel. That poor girl will think
she has a chance with you.”

“No one has a chance with me. I ruin
every relationship I have. Chicks always leave me, so I might as well save her the
trouble.” A sudden wave of exhaustion rushed through him, pulling his attention
away from Jade. He leaned the back of his head against the red cushioned seat
and closed his eyes, feeling like drifting off...

“Dante ... Dante. Wake up!”

Dante jolted. He opened his eyes,
finding a concerned-looking Jade staring at him. “What?”

“Have you taken drugs?” Jade asked.

“Just what the doc prescribed.”

“Then you shouldn’t be drinking beer.”

“I’ve popped pills and drunk a ton of
beer and spirits and wuz fine.”

“You didn’t look fine just now, you fell
asleep. You’re going to drink yourself into the ground. I don’t want a drunk
rock star on my hands.”

“I’m not one yet, so chill.”

“A rock star or a drunkard?”

“Har-de-fuckin’-har, arsehole.”

Jade shook his chopsticks at Dante, telling
him off for his language.

Dante’s gaze shifted to the table. “Shit,
when did the food get here? I didn’t see the waitress return.”

“I told you, you fell asleep. So, eat
your food, L wants to go home.”

Dante looked down at his plate, pushing
the fish with his finger in disgust. “I don’t eat fish unless it’s fried and
covered in batter.” He looked over at L’s plate. “How come she gets that?”

“Stop calling Llewellyn a she; and I
ordered that dish especially for
him
,
because
he’s
a
vegetarian.”

Dante leaned over. “What is it?”

“Tofu in a honey marinade sauce,” L
said, picking up a piece with her chopsticks.