She closed her eyes, but it didn’t do any good. "'Thia! 'Thia! Fancy seeing you here!"

“You’re drunk, Trip. Go home."

“No..no. No. Who’s your friend?"

“Sam, this is Trip," she muttered, looking down at her feet. Then she turned to glare at Trip. "This is Sam. Where’s Billy?"

“He ... left. With a girl. But I knew you were. Coming. Because youuu always come here on Saturdays. But you usually don’t have a piece with you."

“Trip," she said sharply. She felt Sam’s eyes on the back of her neck, but couldn’t turn to face him. "I think it’s time to go home."

“Are youuu coming over tonight again? After he leaves, of course..."

Alethia closed her eyes against the sharp sting that was threatening to become anything more. She opened her eyes again to see Sam lunging past her, and Trip’s arms twitching, ready to fight back. He was too drunk for this. Shit.

She grabbed Sam’s arm before he got past her, yanking him back towards her. She wouldn’t have been able to do that if it’d been Trip lunging. "Trip, no. Stop," she said. Sam stopped struggling against her and just stared at her. "I meant Sam. Stop," she finished softly, watching the coldness register in his eyes, she could see Trip smirking behind him.

Trip smirked behind her. "Trip, stop," he mimicked, his voice high, "that’s not what you said last weekend, ‘Thia."