Freed

23

At dinner, I finished the plate of pasta even though I felt sick doing so. I was trying to eat more like Mariam had told me I needed to.

Ethan had finally managed to get himself alcohol by snatching Kaiden's glass away and downing it in the blink of an eye.

I was mindlessly scanning the crowd when I caught sight of the pretty, wavy-haired woman glancing at Kaiden every few seconds as she walked around the tables. She'd served our drinks earlier, but that had been all. She seemed quiet and kind, but nervous whenever she came by to grab our menus or drop off dishes. Especially when she had to talk to Kaiden.

I studied the waitress intently and my suspicions were confirmed when she glanced at him another time, before she noticed me staring at her. She offered me a small smile, before glancing away and I found myself grinning. I recalled her saying her name when she'd led us to our table, and I was almost a hundred percent sure it was Skylar.

When I sneaked a peek over at Kaiden, he was on his phone again, distracted so he didn't notice anything around him.

I glanced back at the woman again to see her disappear inside the restaurant.

"Hey, Kaiden?" I nudged him with my arm and he glanced up from his phone. "Do you have a girlfriend?" A distant memory came to mind about a time when Kaiden, Caleb and I had been spending the weekend together and I'd asked the same question.

Ethan chuckled and our heads whipped over to him. His grey eyes glittered with amusement. "So innocent, Izzy," he laughed and I ignored him.

Kaiden rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to me. "No."

"What about him Amina?" Ethan interrupted again, his eyes glinting as he watched Kaiden. "Weren't both you and Elijah – "

Kaiden cut him off. "One more word, Ethan, and I'll throw your ass over the edge of this balcony quicker than you can scream help."

Ethan opened his mouth to speak again, the intoxication clearly getting to him, but this time, he was cut off from speaking when Caleb's hand smacked into the side of his head.

Ethan's glare whipped over to him and Elijah chuckled against the rim of his glass. Caleb met Ethan's dark stare head on. "Shut up," he said flatly. "Or I'll help Kaiden."

"Thank you, Caleb," I emphasized, giving Ethan a dirty look before turning my focus back to Kaiden. Ethan grumbled something about me being a bitch and Caleb being a follower before shutting up. "Did you see that girl?"

"Who?" Kaiden asked.

"The waitress," I told him, catching sight of her when she walked out again, holding a tray of drinks. "I think she said her name was Skylar."

Kaiden followed my line of sight and saw her. "What about her?" He asked calmly, shifting his gaze over to me.

"Oblivious fucking idiot," Ethan muttered and I held back a smile. "She's been staring at you all night. How did you not notice?"

Kaiden studied the girl again, before he shook his head. "It doesn't look like it to me."

"See," Ethan pointed at Kaiden, raising his eyebrows at all of us. "Perfect example of beauty without brains. I, on the other hand, have both beauty and brains, so you got the whole deal going over here," Ethan continued cockily, grinning. It was in that moment that I realized he truly was drunk.