Rocked (Rock & Romance II.)

Chapter 27. - Birthday Party

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to annacat_w for being a total psychic! Enjoy!

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*Gia*

"Happy birthday, Gin-gin!" Jesse turned me to face him with a wide, mischevious grin, before pressing his lips smack against mine. "Cheers!"

Before I've had time to protest or even consider what just happened, he released me and joined the sizeable crowd in the room. Callie took his place, laughing. "Happy birthday, bestie!" And to my horror, she followed Jesse's tradition and smacked a loud kiss on my lips before dancing off.

I turned to face London, lifting a finger in warning. "Don't you even think about it!"

She grinned. "I'll settle for a hug." She pulled me into a tight embrace and leaned into the hug with her whole being. "I'm so lucky to call you my friend!" London said in a low voice, so only I could hear. "I realize that this is perhaps not your idea of a perfect birthday, but we wanted to make this day truly memorable for you in the best way we knew how."

Then she added:

"It was either this or throwing you out of an airplane."

My brows lifted at her confession, and she chuckled. "Let me guess, that was Jesse's idea."

She winked. "Let's go meet your guests."

I took a deep breath, before facing the crowd that gathered here to celebrate my birthday. I wasn't under the illusion that these people were my friends - because I've really only had three, and they rode in the limo with me - but I appreciated spotting a couple of familiar faces.

"Ginger, you do remember Arielle-" Since London basically worshipped the ground this strong woman walked on, I, of course, remembered her. "-and her husband Maks." I shook the hands of the gorgeous woman and her formidable, frankly scary looking husband.

"Pleasure," I told them, doing my best to smile as London moved us down the line.

"We haven't met." A short, curvy blonde stepped out with a warm smile that I instantly liked. "I'm Savannah, and this one is mine." She pointed to another tall, broad man with long hair. This night really started to have a theme to it - I thought. "Damon. And that's Victor and his wife-"

"I obviously know who the three of you are." I pointed at the men. "London's brother used to bet on you guys all the time," I informed them, referring to the Underground fighting circle the bunch of them basically owned before they retired a couple of years back. "Speaking of-" I reached out to pull Fitz in a hug.

London's older brother patted my back and wished me a wonderful birthday before Callie whisked him away in the crowd. London and I continued on, and we made our way through the rest of the room. She re-introduced me to people I've fleetingly met before, and I recognized a few celebrities from Callie's stories.

"Finally," London breathed, getting to the giant booth that occupied most of the back corner of the place. "I hope you recall this table because I'm losing my voice talking to all these people." She sighed and hopped down on the empty seat next to her blonde boyfriend.

I glanced around the table, saying hi to Lukas LaBelle and Brian Flynn from Hazmat, and the brunette sitting next to him that was most definitely not his wife and I did not recognize. Next to them were Callie and Fitz, and Jesse.

Then, as if my eyes were pulled by a magnet, I looked to the furthest corner of the booth, where a dark, wide figure sat, with both arms sprawled out, resting on the back of the seat - and the shoulders of two gorgeous women.