Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Thirty-Nine

    Mia stared at Zach for a long moment before responding, "No...no, I don't want you to answer that."

    He smiled, just as the waitress returned with their drinks. "That's what I thought," he said while accepting his drink from the waitress.

    Nicki bounced up into the VIP area and Kenneth was close at her heels. She stopped short when she saw Zach. "Oop. Zach? You're still around?" A slender brow arched as she shifted her eyes from Zach to Mia.

    "Yeah, just talking," he said, wearing an easy smile.

    "Talking to a woman who is very much taken?" Nicki sucked her teeth. "Mmhm."

    "So you two know each other?" Zach asked, glancing between the two of them.

    "Couldn't you tell?" Nicki asked. "She is my twin." She plopped down on the couch next to Mia.

    Zach laughed. "Okay, okay. Well, I was just talking to your twin. And she told me that she has a man. So we're just being friendly."

    "How friendly are you being?" Nicki demanded to know.

    Kenneth laughed and joined her on the couch. "Babe."

    Nicki held up an index finger. "Don't tell me to chill!" she exclaimed. "Zach is over here trying to run game on my twin. I'm not having that. Zach, you have to go, boo boo."

    "It's like that?" Zach asked.

    Nicki nodded, pursing her lips shut. She stretched out an arm and pointed towards the dance floor.

    "He was just being nice," Mia said in Zach's defense. "He wasn't trying to put moves on me."

    Nicki shook her head. "Mia, hush. You're a sweet, innocent, small-town girl and you're trying to give Zach the benefit of the doubt. But I saw how he was dancing with you out there and I see the way he's looking at you now."

    Zach rolled his eyes and looked away.

    "You don't have to go home, Zach, but you do have to get the hell up out of here," Nicki said adamantly.

    Mia laughed and touched Zach's shoulder. "It's probably for the best, and I'm sure your teammates are wondering where you are, anyway." She stood up from the couch.

    He stood up, his movements slow. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you. Mia, was it?"

    Mia nodded.

    He spread both arms out. "Can I get a hug, at least?"

    Mia bit her bottom lip, battling with indecision.

    Nicki stood up and slid in between them, staring up at Zach. "No, you may not have a hug. I'm onto you, Zach. You're not fooling anybody."

    He laughed. "All right, all right. I hope you both have a good night. Meek, my man...good seeing you."

    "You, too, man," Meek said with a head nod. "Good game."

    Mia watched Zach leave, then turned to face Nicki.

    Nicki was already staring at her. "You are way too nice."

    "He wasn't being disrespectful."

    "He knew you had a man and he was still trying to talk to you," Nicki said. "Giving you the I-wanna-fuck-you eyes and shit. I know my shit. Trust me."

    More drinks ensued, and more dancing - this time, Nicki mandated that they stay in the VIP area. She said that Mia attracted too much attention by going out on the dance floor.

    "Which is ironic," Nicki said. "You'd think that I would start trouble, but people aren't even trying to get at me."

    "Probably because your man is here with you," Mia pointed out before sipping her drink.

    Three bottles of Moscato and two pineapple and Malibus later, and Mia excused herself to go to the bathroom. Tank offered to escort her, but she declined because of how close the bathrooms were.

    When she was finished making use of the toilet and washing/drying her hands, she exited the bathroom and checked her cell phone to see if she had a message from Drake. The letters from her missed text messages seemingly swirled around her screen, making her dizzy. She reached out and grabbed the wall to steady herself. There is no way I'm this tipsy after those few drinks that I had, she told herself, but when she looked up at the dance floor, the swirling lights made her feel even dizzier.

    "Are you okay?"

    She turned her head and looked up into the face of Zach. His warm hazel eyes were filled with concern for her, but Nicki's warnings rang in her mind. She shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, and started to walk away from him.

    He reached out and grabbed her by the elbow. "Hey."

    She slanted a look at him over her shoulder. "What?"

    "I want to talk to you for a minute."

    "That's not a good idea, Zach," she said flatly. "I need to get back to my friends." She tried to pull her elbow from his grasp, but his grip remained firm.

    "Just a minute," he pleaded.

    She glanced towards the VIP area; she couldn't see Nicki and Ken from where she stood. "What did you want to talk about?"

    He followed her gaze, then pulled her back against the wall. His steps were slow as he positioned himself in front of her, conveniently placing his back to the VIP area.

    She stared up at him with a confused look, trying to figure out how she'd been in one place one minute and now ended up with her back literally against the wall.

    He looked at her for a moment, then ducked his head down and kissed her softly on the lips.

    "Cute couple!" Mia heard off to her right. The words were followed by a camera flash.

    She pulled back, reached up and slapped Zach hard on the face, glaring up at him. As tipsy as she'd been before, anger had helped to clear the fogginess of intoxication. With wide eyes, she pushed past him and ran back to the VIP area. Drake's face flashed behind her eyes, and the image nearly caused her to stumble as she made her way up the short steps.

    Nicki was straddling Kenneth on the couch and taunting him, but at the sound of footsteps she turned. "I was just about to send out a search party for you," she joked, struggling to get off of Meek's lap. The smile on her face froze, then disappeared when she saw the look on Mia's face. "What...what happened?"

    Mia shook her head. "I need to get out of here."

    Nicki searched her eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Okay...okay, yeah." She turned to Meek. "Call the drivers, Ken."