Chapter 29 This Night Is Ridiculous

Chapter 29 This Night Is Ridiculous
SHELBY'S POV

The moment the door swung open, all hell was already breaking loose. I walked in expecting a calm meet and greet, maybe a polite handshake or two, even Niko's explanation on why he kept the fact he was a rockstar from me, but absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the sight in front of me.

Vicky was practically plastered to Niko's face, her hands gripping his cheeks as she tried to kiss him.

Before I could even process it, Niko shoved her off him so hard she landed flat on her ass with a painful, cartoonish THUD.

Everyone froze.

Vicky let out a wounded gasp. Niko didn't even look at her. His eyes locked onto me like the world had narrowed to a single point.

"Wildfire," he breathed. "This is not what it looks like. I swear to every god in existence, this is not—"

"You're choosing this bitch over me?!" Vicky shrieked as she stumbled to her feet.

Alecia stepped forward. "You need to keep your legs and your damn mouth closed," she snapped, pointing a finger. "Preferably at the same damn time."

But Vicky ignored everyone, still raging. I held up a hand.

"Listen...Vicky, is it? I'm not interested. You need to leave," Niko said. Then he turned to me. "Shelby, I..."

"Niko, you don't have to explain," I said, though my voice shook. "I get it. You're a rockstar... something I obviously wish I had known earlier when we were in my bedroom. I know you must have hundreds of desperate whores throwing themselves at your feet all the time."

"Who are you calling a whole?" Vicky began again, but Ally slugged her in her mouth.

"Didn't you hear to leave?" Ally asked her.

"You broke my nose!" she yelled.

"Good!" Ally snapped. "Now back to you, Shel. Did you just say Nikolai was in your room?"

I nodded.

"Shut. The. Front. Door!" Lala shouted, grabbing her own hair. "You've met before tonight? He was really in our apartment?!"

"Yes... it's a long story," I said, wishing the floor would kindly open up and swallow me alive.

Ryder suddenly stalked right up to me and sniffed me. Like a literal dog.

He leaned back with wide eyes. "Holy fuck! She smells like Niko... YOU TWO HAD SEX!"

Ripley sniffed in my direction as well and nodded. "Yep, his scent is all over her," she announced, sounding both irritated and annoyed that she had to stand in the same room as any of us.

Ally shrieked and grabbed me by both shoulders. "GIRL, you fucked a rockstar and didn't tell me?! Jail. You belong in jail."

Larna, who had fully recovered from her near panic attack, was grinning like she won the lottery. "You've been holding out on us!"

Niko stepped protectively closer to me, and I felt my cheeks burn while Vicky continued shrieking nonsense in the background like an unpaid extra.

Marcus stood stiffly with his arms crossed, glaring at me like I had personally ruined his evening. He didn't even look at Vicky, his date who was currently being ignored by literally everyone.

Ripley groaned. "Someone shut her up. Please. I cannot deal with this."

As if summoned by divine irritation, security burst in, grabbed Vicky mid-rant, and began dragging her backward while she kicked and screamed.

"YOU STOLE MY MAN! YOU HOMEWRECKING CHEAP GREEN-BLOUSE-WEARING NOBODY!" she shrieked while being hauled away like a stray raccoon.

"Bye!" Ally yelled and waved. "Tell your therapist I said hello!"

"Good riddance," Ripley muttered.

Marcus folded his arms, still glaring at me and simmering with anger. He clearly did not care that his date had been carried out like a feral cat.

Lorenzo had been quiet through all of it, though not because he was calm. His eyes were glued to Lala like he physically couldn't look away. He looked... transfixed. Confused. Obsessed. Like someone had swapped his brain with something feral and hungry.

Niko noticed and subtly stepped to the side to block his view.

But the next explosion came from Ryder.

He suddenly spun toward Alecia like he'd been shot with fifty volts of revelation. His nostrils flared, his pupils blew wide, and he inhaled sharply.

Then he roared, loud enough to shake the walls.

"MATE!" Ryder's voice sounded like a demon.

Alecia froze, blinking.

"Oh hell no," Ripley groaned.

Alecia blinked. "I'm sorry—what?"

Before she could finish, he grabbed her waist, yanked her forward, and kissed her like he was trying to claim her soul through her lips. 

She stumbled, squeaked, and pulled her face away. “It’s nice to meet you too, Zaddy,” she grinned. “And for the record, you don't have to buy me a drink or dinner first.” Then she wrapped her arms around him like she was being abducted by passion and sucked on his face again. 

Ripley facepalmed herself.

Marcus sighed like he regretted being alive.

Lala couldn't take the craziness of it all, so she fainted.

Like full-on collapsed.

Lorenzo caught her effortlessly and cradled her as if she were spun glass, and he could not risk letting her shatter. He was acting weird too, he didn't take his eyes off her even for a heartbeat.

Marcus exhaled dramatically. "This night is ridiculous."

Ripley rubbed her temples. "You're telling me."

And somehow, in all that chaos, Niko ignored everything else and stepped in front of me. His arms framed my shoulders, his eyes softened in a way I had never seen.

"Wildfire," he said quietly, yet with an intensity that made my knees wobble, "I'm sorry for keeping my identity from you. I should have told you I was the lead singer, but I enjoyed... us. The first night we met. The heat and realness of it all."

He swallowed.

"I liked your attitude. Your stubbornness. The way you didn't fall all over me like everyone else does. You challenged me, and you didn't care about who I was supposed to be. It hooked me instantly. It pissed me off and fascinated me at the same time."

My breath caught.

Niko smirked, proud and unapologetically smug, as he leaned down to whisper: "And just so you and the world know? I'm damn proud you smell like me."