14: Perfectly concrete

•Draven•

“Are we really your friends?” Henry whined, aggrieved, before emptying a shot of vodka.

He planted the glass on the drinks table and leaned over to rest his head on my shoulder. His big curly brown hair found its way to my mouth. I frowned and shoved him with my elbow.

“Don’t touch me.” The warning was filled with irritation. If the kid knew better he’d behave himself.

However, he didn’t.

He brought his legs up to the leathery cushion, squeezing his lean build as he knelt on the chair. Just so he could grab my left arm tightly and act spoiled.

“Rave, I can’t believe you would do this to us. You don’t love us anymore because of her, right? And you never even told us about her!”

While prying off Henry’s lean fingers from my arm, his older cousin, who was the last person in the private lounge with us, spoke up.

“Stop being annoying, Hen. This is literally the reason why Rave didn’t tell you in particular about Odette.” Adrian said monotonously, wearing his signature straight face.

I could count on my ten fingers how many times I’ve seen the guy moved enough to speak at a pitch that wasn’t even with emotions on his facial features. Heads up, I’ve known him all my life.

“What do you mean by that?” Henry scrambled over to Adrian’s side, shifting his short-span attention from me.

Adrian didn’t answer the question immediately as he shifted his dark gaze to me. I didn’t bother giving him a warning or ordering him not to disclose anything.

“I’m Draven’s legal adviser. I know everything he does.” There was a hint of smugness in Adrian’s eyes, one of his highest forms of expressing himself.

As a top business lawyer who ‘abides by the law’, Adrian and I were almost the opposite of each other. The law could fuck itself for all I cared.

Adrian’s form of legal advice to me was threatening those who stood against me with the consequence of ‘justice’ and writing up most of my contracts.

Like the one I signed with Odette Valmont. It was drawn by Adrian Hawk himself; perfectly concrete and impossible to go against.

“Why do guys keep things away from me? You never tell me anything!” Henry pouted and shoved his cousin away, then picked up my glass of champagne.

“We never tell you anything because the entire world knows everything you know.” I accidentally stretched my arm too wide while speaking and hit the glass in Henry’s grasp, causing the content to spill over the table.

“Fuck you.” Henry narrowed his eyes at me, making a noise out of dropping the glass down.

The guy had a big mouth for a man of his age and class. Always talking; even about the things that had no business with him. As a formula one racer, he lived life on a high, treating today like there was no tomorrow.

He seemed to have mellowed down, making peace with the fact that we weren’t going to tell him anything. At least I thought so, until Adrian decided to flip Henry’s switch on once again.

“Stop making a fuss. So what? He didn’t tell you he was fucking your dream princess. There shouldn’t be much to it, should there?”

“What dream princess!?” Henry shot up his feet, glaring at Adrian like he wanted to punch him.

Oh, yes, Henry had once mentioned he had a huge crush on Odette. He was three years younger than Adrian and I, a year older than Odette.

They had both been in the same high school. Though he was her senior, she’d caught his eye. He’d attempted to flirt with her and woo her, but unfortunately, teenage Odette Valmont was an even tougher nut to crack than her adult version.

She had declined and told him she was promised to another. Such a simple gesture wasn’t enough to deter Henry. He still continued in his attempt to sway her heart and promised to help dissolve her engagement to that coward if she chose him.

That was when Odette took action. She reported Henry’s actions to her parents. Her parents then chose to make it a big thing by speaking to Henry’s parents and telling them to warn him off her.

Like that wasn’t enough, they’d forced Henry to apologize to Odette for ever having such thoughts about her and putting her in an uncomfortable situation. Then they even transferred Odette to another school, a semester into her second year of high school.

That was how serious the issue had once been.

I hadn’t even thought of how Henry would feel once he saw me swallowing up his old treasured diamond.

That was a lie, actually. I had thought about him. Thought of how hurt he would feel and how he’d pretend to be nonchalant. I imagined how saddened he would be about the entire ordeal.

Then I’d smiled and did as I wanted either way because I didn’t give a fuck about his feelings.

“You’re gonna pretend you didn’t write about fifty love letters to her and spent more than three months’ worth allowance buying her things that she never accepted?” Adrian goaded Henry passively.

“I- That’s not what happened!” Henry defended himself, falling for the ragebait.

Adrian shrugged like he didn’t believe, then casually sipped on his whiskey. “Sure.”

“Yeah, sure! I didn’t even like her. Just wanted some fun.” Henry tried to act unbothered, sitting back down.

I tuned out of both men’s back and forth conversation. Any other day, I would’ve either joined Adrian in pitting Henry or I would’ve tried to mediate. But I did neither today. Not in the mood for them.

I was only here because this was the only day the three of us would be in the same city before the wedding, and Henry needed to ease off with drinks since we were his only friends.

I would have liked to spend tonight with Odette on one of our false dates. It has been two weeks since our secret relationship became everyone’s business. And a day before it was publicly announced that we would be getting married.

We were working towards meeting my grandfather and wedding preparations now. A turnout out that myself from a month ago would have never predicted.

“... Yeah, you should call her up so we can meet her.”

I finally tuned back into the discussion when Henry bumped shoulders with me while speaking.

“Huh?” I missed his point.

“Call up your babe so we can welcome her into the fold properly.”