Midnight CEO After Dark

21.

"Welcome, King Henry, to our beautiful underwater world, Noxus." The mermaid king raised his glass as the crowd cheered loudly. "We are honored to have you here with us tonight, and thank you for giving my daughter a safe passage to the other world. Claudia will be celebrated tonight as she makes the ultimate sacrifice for her people." The crowd erupted again into cheers.

"This is the weirdest shit I have ever heard of," Callan said in my ear as we stood at the back of a huge sea ballroom. "So this guy is happy the devil is taking his daughter? Like it's completely normal to sacrifice your kid. If Cayden were being taken to Hell, we would fight to the death to save him, not celebrate."

"I know. I spoke to Bella about it, and she was offended that I was questioning it. She called my views ignorant. Like I'm the weird one who is against this poor girl going to hell for eternity." I rolled my eyes.

"Bella, is that cute mermaid, right?"

"Yep."

"You sleep with her?"

"Not exactly." I shrugged, keeping my eyes forward.

"What does that mean?" Callan laughed.

"It means...nothing. That's what it means." I grumbled under my breath.

"Did the tail thing throw you off? It was so confusing at first to be in the water, let me tell you, but after a while, I got the hang of it." He proudly winked at me. "You need to try it."

"Yeah, maybe." I keep looking forward.

"What is wrong with you? You haven't had sex in weeks, and now you have these girls begging you, and you're not interested. What is your deal? I mean, you fucked a dead chick!"

"First of all, she wasn't dead at the time, and second of all, shut the fuck up." I glared at him and then smiled innocently at the judging eyes of the mermaids around us, who were obviously listening to our conversation. "She wasn't dead," I said to them as they quickly looked away. "She was undead as best."

"Are you going through some changes or something? I mean, I fully support you if you are." Callan put his arm around my shoulders. "You can talk to me."

"I'm not gay. I'm just...I don't know. I must be tired or something." I shrugged and sighed loudly.

"You must be exhausted because that girl is cute as hell." Callan watched as Bella waved to me from across the room dressed in an almost see-through white dress. "I think she likes you." We watched as she giggled with her friends and pointed at me.

"What the hell IS wrong with me? That girl is fucking adorable." I watched Bella walk over to me, a huge smile on her face.

"Hi." She said to Callan. "My friend over there thinks you're cute, and she was wondering if you..."

"Say no more." Callan cut her off and walked over to the giggling group of mermaids.

"I hope you don't mind them stealing your friend away." Bella pressed her lips together and smiled up at me. "My other friends were asking about you as well, but I told them you weren't interested." She took a step closer to me.

"You did, huh?"

"I just thought we could pick up where we left off. You know, upstairs." She ran her finger up my abs and up to my chest. "Hopefully, we won't be interrupted this time."

My mind flashed back to Bianca and how sad she looked when she saw me with Bella last night. I know she doesn't like me, as she has made that abundantly clear, but I worry she might feel alone. I know how that feels. To be the outcast.