Misery played three new songs in all before walking off stage to earsplitting cheers. Jett, Milo and Anders had lost their shirts somewhere along the way, to the extreme and loud appreciation of the female members of the crowd, and Jett had remarked that the string jockeys were being uptight tonight, which had caused Rhys to tease his shirt up just a little before shaking his head and giving a small smile that had left her dizzy and wanting. Along with every other female and most males as well probably in the crowd.

Rhys walked straight to her from the stage and pulled her into a tight embrace. He was seriously sweaty, but she didn’t mind. She’d take these moments with him any way she could get them, these moments where it felt real. She breathed him in, sweat and bourbon and that thing that was just completely and uniquely Rhys.

“You like them?” he asked into her ear, still not letting her go.

She let him go then so that she could look him in the eyes, but she put her hands on his hips so as not to break off all physical contact when she said, “I love them. They’re wonderful, Rhys! You’re wonderful!”

At this he pulled her back into his arms and started jumping around a bit. A jump hug? Okay then…

The jump hug didn’t last much longer, as someone cleared his throat behind her and she turned to look into Milo’s amused smile. Jett, Luc and Anders stood behind him, all carrying bottles of water and all fully clothed again. They tossed a bottle of water to Rhys, who caught it in one hand and drank it all in one go, his other arm still firmly around her waist.

She followed them to a corner table and slid into a chair next to Rhys. Rhys, Jett and Milo ordered a bourbon each from a server who looked like she was about to faint because they were talking to her. Rhys ordered a glass of wine for her while Luc and Anders stuck to their water.

She sat back in her chair at Rhys’ side, listening to them banter back and forth, sipping her wine and actually really enjoying their company. She'd grown used to them, she felt more comfortable here with them than she had felt in her own house with her parents for years. There was a scary thought.

Although it was made scarier by the fact that while she felt like part of their family, she wasn't. At any point, Rhys could end this game he was playing with her and she’d never see any of them again. She’d had a taste of that these past few days, and it had sucked!

Damnit, she could feel the sting of tears in her eyes. No one seemed to notice though and she tried to plaster a smile back on her face before anyone noticed, swallowing hard. At least, she had thought no one had noticed, but Rhys was looking at her with a strange look in his eyes, so maybe he had noticed. He smiled at her and fixed her blue eyes with his piercing green ones, causing her stomach to bottom out. She really was never going to get used to that smile.

“Come on princess, let’s go dance!” He jumped up and pulled her onto the dance floor with him. For the next few hours, that’s what they did, they drank and danced a lot and her earlier depressing thoughts had all but disappeared from her head. Today she still had him. She was just going to let herself enjoy it while it lasted.

He led her off the dance floor after a particularly exhausting song, given the amount of jumping around it had inspired, and back to their table. It was empty now, the guys must have all been out there somewhere, though she couldn’t see any of them.

“Be right back, princess. I’m gonna go get us another drink.” He disappeared into the crowd and she smiled at his retreating back. He was being so sweet tonight…

She relaxed into her chair and looked around her, taking in the varied feather and sequin and bead covered dresses. Now that she had been surrounded by them for a few hours and had had some wine to help with dealing with how skimpy they were, there was a certain beauty to them that she was starting to appreciate.

What she didn’t appreciate, however, was the person, or people, who had just caught her eye and were now walking toward her. Her heart dropped, and her ears rang. Bryan. Bryan and the raven-haired woman he had been fucking when she had surprised him at his apartment that night.

Why was he even coming over here with her? Still, he walked straight up to her, and she rose from her chair to avoid being looked down on, physically, at least.

“What are you doing here, Serena? And why are you dressed like a whore? You waiting tables now that you’re not getting along with your parents? Oh, you remember Andrea? You almost met that night at my apartment.” His hand was placed firmly on Andrea’s ass as he practically hissed this at her.

She felt, rather than saw, Rhys returning to the table and like magic he appeared right at her side at the exact moment Bryan finished his sentence. She turned toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she leaned in to kiss him deeply.

If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. Instead, he put on one hell of a show, pulling her against him so tight that she didn’t think you could fit a sheet of paper between them and leaving her completely and utterly breathless, all thoughts she had been having jumbled, and then evaporated.

He broke the kiss gently, but didn’t let go of her. She turned toward Bryan in the circle of Rhys’ arms. “Uh no, actually, not waiting tables. This is my new boyfriend, Rhys. Rhys, meet Bryan and Andrea,” she said sweetly.

Bryan’s face fell as he realized who Rhys was, and he paled when Rhys extended his hand to him. “Nice to meet you. Any friend of my princess is a friend of mine,” he said easily.

Without a word, Bryan turned on his heel and stalked off in a huff, dragging a reluctant Andrea behind him.

Rhys still didn’t let her go as they watched Bryan and Andrea’s backs disappear into the crowd. “You know,” he whispered to her, still in the circle of his arms, “I wasn’t really ready to be done with that kiss and what it was doing to me. Want to go somewhere?”

She turned to face him again. “Absolutely, lead the way.” She was pretty sure she would follow this man into hell, as long as he kept touching her.