Her Invisible Knight (Book 4)

Nine

Mackenzie

The anxiety I had been feeling since I woke up today hadn’t stopped. I didn’t know what I was thinking when I answered Maverick’s invitation. My brain must’ve been foggy last night because I had said yes without giving the idea much thought. When he told me that he was going to pick me up at seven, that was when the realization of what I had agreed to came crashing down on me. I immediately declined and told him that I could just meet him wherever he planned to go. He just needs to send me the details. I guess him picking me up would turn his invitation into a real date even though it was kinda a date.

Standing in front of the club called Arcane now, I wish I hadn’t accepted to go out with him. I should’ve thought of a reason to ditch him because I was suddenly feeling queasy. I looked at the long line in front of me and then behind me, thinking that there was still time for me to walk away. But just as I was about to do exactly that, my phone rang. I already knew who it was, so I just answered.

Mackenzie: Hello?

Maverick: Kenzie, are you alright? Where are you?

My mouth opened and then closed because I didn’t know what to say. If I told him that I was suddenly feeling sick, I knew that he would definitely search for me because that was the kind of guy he was. He genuinely cared for people, even the ones who had done him wrong.

Maverick: Hello? Are you still there?

Mackenzie: Uh, yes. Sorry. I-I’m outside waiting in line.

Maverick: What do you mean?

“What did he mean by what did I mean?” I internally questioned myself as I made sense of his question, because why wouldn’t I be standing in line to get into the club? He was the one who invited me in the first place.

Mackenzie: I mean there’s a line to get into the club, so...

Maverick: Hold just a sec, okay?

Then the call went dead. I leaned my head to the left to see if the line was about to get a move on, but the first thing I saw was Maverick craning his neck as he spoke to the man who was letting the people in, looking sublime in a black and white combo. And instead of waving my hand to get his attention, my moronic side had me hiding behind the person in front of me. I was like a student who was desperately trying to make herself smaller so that the teacher wouldn’t call her to answer a difficult question. Like, what the f**k was wrong with me? My phone rang again and that was when I totally made a fool out of myself. The sudden ringing startled me and so my phone bounced from one hand to another, as if I was massively failing a joggling act, before landing on the ground with a thud.

My face turned bright red as the people turned their attention toward me. Yup, to these people, I was officially the clumsy oaf, which was the last description you could use of me as a professional dancer. I slowly reached down, desperately trying to cover my cleavage while making sure that the dress I was wearing wouldn’t ride up my ass using one hand, which was obviously impossible. Once I had my phone secured within my grip, I stepped back in line, cleared my throat, and furiously tapped the now very cracked screen of my phone several times to answer. Nothing happened, of course, so I just waited for the ringing to undergo a slow and painful death.

Once the ringing stopped, I took a deep breath and just placed the phone inside my bag pretending that I wasn’t embarrassed as hell. When I looked up, Maverick was already there, offering his hand out to me with two other guys who looked like his security. I took his hand and he immediately intertwined his fingers with mine. With a gentle tug, he started leading me inside the club, but then the people started greeting him and asked if they could take photos with him. I thought he was going to completely ignore them, but he greeted them back with a cheerful “hey” and posed a few times before apologizing and telling the others that he really needed to get back inside. Not once did he let go of my hand and not once did I take my eyes off of him, so then people started asking who I was. He simply smiled and told everyone to have a great night before leading me inside Arcane.

“Are you okay? You look lovely by the way,” he said as he gently placed his hand on my waist to guide me up the stairs to the VIP section. “Yeah, thanks... So, that was crazy back there,” I absent-mindedly answered, jabbing my thumb toward the direction behind me. "Yeah, I guess," he chuckled before pulling me closer to his side. "Does that happen a lot?" I questioned, still unable to process how people were able to recognize him even though he was wearing a black vintage fedora that was slightly tilted to the front, effectively hiding his forehead down to his eyes. "Does what happen a lot?" he asked. "You know... When people easily recognize you and ask for pictures," I explained, stopping at the very top of the stairs to scan through the crowd inside the club I've never been into since it opened. The place looked surreal and so high-end that I felt like I didn't fit in.

"I guess it does, but Maddox gets the most attention," he grinned. "Naturally," I snorted. Maddox getting a lot of attention was a no-brainer. Even back in high school, people gravitated toward Maddox a lot because of his confidence and flirtatious charm. He wasn't exactly an attention-seeking w***e, but he really stood out like a sore thumb everywhere he went because of his beach blond hair and demi god-like appearance and he wore it like a badge. What can I say? The guy was born to be famous. All four of them were, actually.

I abruptly stopped as I took in the scene that was happening before me. Maddox, Sky, and Jaxon were lounging around on the other side of the VIP section with a few other guys, while James and Sydney sat on the opposite side, clearly engaged in a deep conversation. "What's wrong?" Maverick asked and I simply blinked at him because first, I couldn't understand why I suddenly felt grateful that he invited other people tonight. We were still in a grey area and so having people around made this night less awkward for both of us. Second, because holy hell, I was weirdly star-struck. I was about to hang out with really famous people and I couldn't wrap my mind around it.

"Nothing," I finally answered before pushing him to walk in front of me. "Mack!" Jaxon called out when he saw us approaching. He quickly stood, met us halfway, and scooped me into a bear hug. "Hey, Jaxon. It's been a long time," I laughed. When he finally let go of me, Maddox came up to give me a kiss on the cheek, followed by Sky who gave me a warm hug from the side. When Maddox introduced me to Sydney, I almost fainted because I was such a huge fan of hers, and also, instead of giving me a handshake, she pulled me in for a hug, and my god, she smelled divine. James also enveloped me in her arms and immediately pulled me to sit with her and Sydney. I shot Maverick an "oh my god" look because I couldn't believe what was happening. I'm sitting with two gorgeous famous women and they were treating me like we've been long-time friends.