Page 139 of Drop Three

If only she knew I wore this on purpose.

“Navy. Stay here. Trust me.” Bodhi holds my vibrating body in place before I tackle this wicked witch to the ground.

“As a matter of fact, I bought her this outfit and I happen to love it on her,” Bodhi tells her, making my heart burst.

The woman rushes to speak, “Oh, Mr. St. James, I just meant?—”

“That’s not necessary.” He’s not being rude but firm enough to tell her he won’t stand here and let her treat me like this.

Bodhi lets go of me once he sees I’ve calmed down and steadily approaches Frank. “It’s gonna be a no deal, sir. Thank you for the generous offer.” He turns towardangel pieand looks her in the eye. “Lovely to meet you. Let’snotdo it again. After all, we need to make a good impression.”

Bodhi pulls me away without another word and I gladly follow him to find our friends.

What. A. Man.

41

BODHI

What a night.

First, that asshole Jared and now this. I had to take the blame—it’s instinctual at this point for me to protect her at all costs.

She doesn’t deserve any of it, whether she dressed like this purposely or not. Again, she’s stunning in anything.

I already sent a message to Jack, hoping he sees it later, that we need to have a little chat about the reporter boy keeping his job.

That’s a battle I’m willing to fight until justice is served on Navy’s behalf.

However, now isn’t the time to talk to him about it.

Despite my frustration with our unfortunate encounters tonight, I’m ready to turn things around for my girl and show her how much she means to me.

I hope my standing up for her has already shown her a little, but it’s time for the grand gesture.

We make our way through the crowd off the side of the dance floor in search of our friends. I catch sight of Gus and his pornstache standing against a wooden pillar, waiting for the DJ to open up the floor.

Cal and Kodi are to the side of them.

Navy lets go of my hand when they come into view, and I chuckle before whispering to her mid-stride. “Embarrassed to be seen with me, baby?”

She blushes and murmurs under her breath before we reach them, “No. it’s just inappropriate.”

We’ll see about that.

Little does she know that, if she lets me, I have many inappropriate things in mind for her later.

“Where’d you two run off to?” Gus asks as we take a spot beside them.

I steal a glance at Cal, finding him staring at me with a look I can’t quite read. Typically, I know exactly what he’s thinking without him saying it.

But not right now.

“Oh, Bodhi was approached by a sponsor. I played my role as his buffer perfectly. A+ for me, fuck you very much,” Navy answers.

They all laugh.

I chuckle. “Yep. She helped take the edge off. I’m terrible with my words.”

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