Chapter 88

Let's Just Chill

Rhi POV

Our food comes and we dig in. Apparently they were starving because no one really talks much. I stare down at my plate and I feel my eyes widen to an unbelievably size. Good lord this is huge! There's way too much food and I know I won't be able to eat it all. I cut my sandwich into quarters and I notice Ana, Kate and Alex side-eying my plate. I bet they are wondering why. God, please don't say anything, I can't deal with that again. Thankfully, they don't, and we have a good meal.

Mid-way through we finally start a little conversation, nothing serious, just table talk. I do, however, notice that Alex keeps looking into the bar area. He doesn't say anything and I'm not sure if Kate and Ana noticed, so I don't ask.

I can only eat about half of my meal, while everyone else finishes theirs. The waitress comes to the table and asks if we want any dessert. Fuck no I can't even eat this and thank god no one else does either. She asks if I want a box, not particularly, but I say yes, and she walks away.

When she comes back she drops off the check and Kate decides she's going to pay for the meal this time. She'll fight us on this so Ana and I have learned to let her do it when she wants to.

"Rhi, do you want to take your pain meds now or wait until we get back to the room?" Alex asks me.

"I'll wait until we get back to the room. Unless we're planning on going somewhere else?" I look at Ana, Kate and Alex, waiting to see what they want to do.

"I thought we were just going to dinner and then back to the room to rest. It's been a long day and I know I'm worn out." Ana replies.

"Yeah, same here. Let's just go back to the room and chill. Besides, your block is going to wear off and you don't want to be out and about when that happens. You should be resting anyway." Kate says.

Alex looks at me, saying nothing. I smile and respond, "Ok. I'm good with that. Shall we go then?"

I start to get up when Alex stops me. "Wait a minute, I don't want to freak you out, but there's a guy sitting at a table near the bar who's been staring over here for the past 20 minutes. He hasn't done anything, so I'm not too worried, yet, but..." His voice trails off before he continues, "Don't freak, but he has a black eye and a bandage on the bridge of his nose. There are two other guys with him so hopefully there isn't an issue. But I want you to stay on my right side." He pauses and looks from Kate to Ana. "Kate? Ana? You guys walk behind us and watch Rhi's back just in case." Kate and Ana simply nod in silence, a grim look on their faces.

I look over and don't see anything, I must be missing the table or it's in a blind spot. I must have a confused look on my face because he looks back at me and says, "It will be ok, let's just get going. Don't worry, please."

We get up and Alex picks up my leftovers then we put the plan into action. There are people all around sitting at their tables eating. When we walk out, their heads turn, and smiles adorn their faces, most of their faces anyway.

As I'm looking around, I find the table that Alex described and recognize that face; It's King Kong. That fucker! Did he not learn his lesson? My body heats up, my left-hand clenches and my posture stiffens with anger.

I forgot I was holding Alex's hand, "Fuck Rhi, ow! Stop with the hand. You're beautiful, don't let him dampen your spirit. He's not worth it."

I look up at him, then down at my hand, "Oops! Sorry about that. I didn't mean to hurt you." I give him a smile and pull his hand up to my lips and kiss it. "Did that make it all better?" I laugh and smile sweetly and bat my eyelashes at him.

He looks down at me, kind of shocked I think, and laughs, "You wound my ego, baby, but anything you kiss makes it all better." He leans down and kisses me as we pause to allow the people in front of us to clear the walkway.

As we continue to the exit, I turn my head slightly and look at King Kong, hoping it's not too obvious to Alex and the girls. He's got this strange look on his face, not really a smile but an interest and he's watching my every move as we walk away. The two guys with him haven't looked up from their meals so they haven't seen me either. He doesn't look upset or angry or anything, he's just sitting there watching silently and calmly. God, what the fuck is wrong with this guy? It's like he's done a complete 180 and is acting kinda, well, normal. Except for the way he's following me with his eyes.

He's not bad looking, though, even with the black eye and the broken nose, and to be honest, if he didn't approach me the way he did, I would have been willing to have a conversation with him.

We make eye contact and I smirk at him, silently rubbing it in his face that I got the better of him. I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't let anyone touch me unless I wanted them to. He scared me, terrified actually, because he reminded me of Jace both physically and by his actions. Had he acted a little less threatening, I might have been a little less, shall we say, aggressive in my actions. I do feel kind of bad about breaking his face, but he should have thought twice before he tried to lay hands on me.

The look on his face when I smirk at him is priceless. His eyes widen and his mouth drops open slightly. He looks shocked that I would be so brazen to openly antagonize him, especially in front of the girls and Alex. He recovers quickly, smiles and nods slightly, almost like he's accepting the defeat. I look down at my arm in a sling and cast then back at him, use my left hand to lift my right arm at him, shrug and smile slightly.

Turning my eyes up to gaze at Alex, squeeze his hand to catch his attention. I pull my hand out of his and put my arm under his and lay my head on his arm, snuggling into it.

He looks down at me, through his long eyelashes, and smiles. "Are you ok?" He asks, concern in his voice.

I smile back at him, "Yes, I'm just ready to get out of here and back to the hotel.

Kate POV

Looking over toward the bar, I see that the guy he's talking about is Luke. My God he's an idiot. What the fuck is wrong with him? As we walk out, I see Rhi visibly morph into her scary crazy personality, physically anyway.

I try not to laugh when I hear Alex say, "Fuck Rhi, Ow!" I see her holding his hand and it's clenched into a fist, kind of. Apparently she's squeezing his hand hard. I've got a straight face on the outside but inside I'm dying. God I'm going to explode when we get outside. I'm not going to tell Elliot, yet, because Rhi didn't freak out and Luke didn't do anything. This whole situation has been strange and it's getting old.

We exit the restaurant and are once again on the Strip. As we start head back to the hotel, there are a lot of people clustered along the street in groups. We're still in a protective formation around Rhi but I don't feel like there's danger but I just want to get across the street and back into the hotel. I'm worn out like Ana and I know Rhi is going to need a pain pill. I have my suspicions that the block has worn off a little but she's stubborn and has a high tolerance for pain. Alex is really in for a challenge when it comes to taking care of Rhi. He'll never know if she's really feeling shitty or in pain or if she's fine. She's pretty good at hiding things.

Speaking of pain, "Hey Alex. How's your hand?" I ask, laughing.

Turning to look at me he replies, "It still has feeling but for a minute I thought I was going to need a cast too." He laughs and looks down at Rhi, who looks up at him apologetically.

"Sorry, I didn't realize what I was doing. Is your hand OK?" She asks sheepishly.

"Yes baby, I'm fine. You've got a lot of strength, and that was just your left hand. I'd hate to see what would happen if it was your right one." I see him wink at her and smile.

I really miss Elliot.