Burning Desire

Lacey

The drinks continued to flow as Dodger filled us in on how long he'd known about the pregnancy and how far along she was. He was clearly so excited at the knowledge that he was going to be a father, and we were all overjoyed for him. After a while, Pixie dragged him off for what she called a 'celebratory dance', and after some gentle persuasion, the rest of us managed to convince Cain and Sam to vacate their seats and join in.

The group of us danced and laughed, enjoying the celebrations and each other's company. Given there were only two girls and six of us guys, Pixie and Rosie switched between us now and again. Rosie had just spun away from Cain and landed in my arms, as another guy moved in close, trying to get a hold of her for himself.

"Hey, back up buddy." She warned, looking over her shoulder and stepping closer to me.

"Alright love, just thought you might want another guy in on the action." He drawled, his eyes roaming over her in a sleazy way that made my blood boil and my fists clench.

"Well you thought wrong." Rosie added firmly, turning to fully face him, her hair flicking over her shoulder and flashing the rose tattoo that sat between her shoulder blades.

He moved forwards, and as if on autopilot, I stepped forwards, coming between them and glaring at him. Picking up on the situation, the others all flocked forwards, gathering around us and facing the idiot. It was clear from his stumble as he then retreated a step, that he was a bit worse for wear.

"Just walk away man, go back to your night and we'll go back to ours." I said cooly.

He looked around at all of us and then slowly nodded, turning away and disappearing through the crowd.

The mood now a little dampened, we all moved from the dance floor and back to the VIP section, Dodger disappearing for a moment to talk to his mate who owned the club, appearing again just as we were preparing to leave. We made our way to the exit, then began splitting off to share cabs.

"You wanna come with us Bane?" Will called, climbing in behind Dodger.

I shook my head, a strong food craving making my stomach roll with hunger. I looked down the street, and saw the sign for a kebab shop a way up ahead.

"Nah, gonna grab a bite. I'll see you later." I called back, waving them off.

"You know what, I'm pretty hungry myself." Rosie added, stepping back from the other cab and closing the door.

"I'm always hungry," Jax said, on the other side of that same cab. "But that's what delivery is for." He winked, ducking inside and shutting the door.

We watched them go, and started walking towards the shop, the sound of our footsteps on the pavement being partially drowned out by the thud of the music from the club. Out in the fresh, night air, I caught a trace of her sweet scent, a delightful combination of fruity and floral, and something warm and sweet in there too.

"How long have Dodger and Emilia been together?" She asked.

"Seven years now. They met on a night out, and it just went from there." I replied, remembering the story that Dodger had told me of how he met the 'love of his life'.

"What's she like?"

"Em? She's great. You'll probably meet her for yourself soon enough, but she's an amazing girl, and perfect for Dodge."

They made a wonderful couple, everyone could see that. She fitted right into the family, and got on well with everyone, especially Eva, Sam's wife, and Cindy, Alex's ex wife. Rosie nodded to herself as we carried on forwards, a comfortable silence stretching between us. We were about halfway there when the image of her tattoo swam in my mind and I found myself too intrigued to not ask about it.