Soul Searcher Book 1
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Cassie sends me a text about a half hour after Samael had disappeared letting me know that she and the strawberry-blonde friend of hers had made up which is a good thing since they both have to work together at the bar tonight. I send her a happy face and then immediately after I send her another message letting her know that a friend of mine had paid me a surprise visit and asking if it would be okay if we came out to the show tonight.

Friend huh... of the male or female variety? Cassie Reading her question causes me to laugh out loud and with my head bent over the phone I shake it as the stupid grin plasters itself on my face. Hmm, do I sense a bit of jealousy in that question? Damn if I can’t keep the ridiculous smile from my lips! Thank the stars Samael isn’t here to witness this bout of dorkiness I am suffering through. I thank the heavens silently for this. Seriously, I feel like a tween with a first crush.

A few seconds pass before my phone vibrates in my hand and I wonder if she was trying to think up some witty retort to respond with before I click on the message. Oh, you got jokes today I see. Maybe I will have to tell Khloe that ass-wipes and associates are not allowed entry tonight...

hmm. Cassie

This comment has me bent over with laughter. Well, it seems as though you’ve got them same jokes, ‘sweetheart’, but if you must know, my friend Samael is a dude.

She growls at me via text message, and I sort of want to know if I can get her to growl at me in person. I’m betting it’s sexy as hell. SWEETHEART! Grrrr. She adds a few R’s to show her aggravation at me calling her sweetheart, but I smile widely to myself as I contemplate how to respond to it.

Ha! You secretly love it when I call you sweetheart, just admit it. As I send my response, I can picture her giving a cheeky grin but probably grumbling some unladylike words as well.

Watch it Mr. Or you might get a beat down... Just sayin’ Cassie. The emoji she sends isn’t the politest of images I have seen. I mean really, a fist with the middle finger sticking straight up, how rude. Her snarky yet witty banter has my heart racing. She can be so damned feisty and stars above if it doesn’t make me fall even further in love with her!

***

“So,” Sam begins, “where’s this chick of yours at?” His arched eyebrow becomes obscured by his hair that’s falling upon his face. I grit my teeth clenching my jaw in the process as I try to control the aggravation that’s trying to possess me at him having referred to Cassie as ‘chick.’ I know, why am I getting pissy over that when I was referring to her as a chick at the beginning.

Forcing a chuckle, I look at him, “she works at the bar here so I’m sure we’ll see her at some point tonight.” As I say this, we step up to the window to buy entrance into the club. Khloe notices me right away and just puts a wrist band around my wrist completely ignoring the twenty-dollar bill I hold in my hand. She turns her attention to Samael and does the same. As I watch Khloe do this, I swear I see a spark ignite between the two of them. Blinking I question the validity of what I witnessed.

Nudging Sam in the arm I tip my head for him to follow me through the inner doorway and into the club itself. I motion for him to go up to the bar with me and we lean against the counter. “Dude, have you ever had something called tequila?” Samael is genetically like me and most alcohol has no effect on him. I grin and look to see if I can get the attention of a bartender. At first, I can’t see Cassie anywhere, but I do see two other bartenders and Ginny. She spots me and glowers at me before turning on her foot and walking away. Damn she’s such a bitch. Lifting my hand, I’m just about to wave down to one of the other bartenders when Cassie comes from a room that Ginny had just gone into, guilt flashes in my head for a second for having called her a bitch.

As soon as Cassie spots me her face lights up and the stupid grin consumes her face ultimately causing a massive grin to take over my face as well. She comes bounding over to us and leaning across the bar top, gives me a quick kiss. “Hey stranger,” she says as she falls back to her feet and continues to grin at me. Next to me Sam clears his throat pushing his left elbow into my upper bicep as he does so.

Rolling my eyes, I glance at him before turning back to Cassie, “Samael would like me to introduce you to him, Cassie.” She laughs before sticking her hand out to shake his. He takes her hand but instead of shaking it, he kisses the back of it. Her eyes go wide at the gesture because it isn’t something people do in this day and age. I on the other hand am doing the best I can to keep the possessive beast caged inside me from lashing out and saying, ‘she’s mine!’ For one, I know Cassie wouldn’t appreciate the Cave-man theatrics and two, I don’t want Sam to know how much I actually care for this girl.

Cassie pulls her hand from out of his grasp, “it’s nice to meet you Samael,” she says, and I can’t help but smile as I see her brush the back of her hand against a rag, she has half tucked into her back pocket as though trying to wipe his essence from off her hand. Glancing over at Samael I catch a look flash in his eye, something like intrigue maybe... I try to shake the weird feeling that overtakes me as two words flash in my head: Pure Soul. I cannot think about that while feet away from Sam.

I never thought I’d be happy to see Ginny but as she strolls over to us from behind the bar, I’m thankful because she has interrupted my thoughts. “Hi-ya Rim,” she says pleasantly enough though I do catch her eyeing Sam. “Would you guys like a drink?” Grinning, I asked her for two shots of Tequila causing Ginny’s eyes to go wide in surprise. “Well okay then. I’ll be back in a second.” She gives us a smile and then walks away.

Returning, Ginny sets the drinks in front of us but before we could consume our beverage she asks, “and who might you be” all the while gazing at Sam.

With a dramatic sigh I say, “right. Apologies. Ginny, this is my friend Samael. Sam, meet Cassie’s best friend Ginny.” They exchange pleasantries and then Ginny has to leave us and help the other bartenders serve more drinks to the other patrons hanging out at the bar. After Ginny walks away, Sam and I clink our glasses ‘cheers’ we say before consuming the drinks. Cassie gives me a quick smile before walking off, having been summoned by a co-worker for assistance in filling a drink order.

Putting our empty glasses back on the bar counter, Samael looks at me for a second, “I’ve never been surrounded by so many gorgeous ladies before. And I must admit, there is definitely something unique about your little girlfriend. I mean besides the obvious beauty. I can totally see why you like her.” Nodding, I offer him a small tight smile because I don’t want to give away the fact that I am completely head over heels in love with Cassie. Meanwhile, in the back of my mind I’m trying to think of something he and I could go do, away from this place and away from Cass.

“Right, well how bout you and I dip out of here and go find something more entertaining to do. We don’t need to hang out here and bother Cassie while she’s working.

“Nah man. I’m having a good time. I promise I won’t bother your girl. Let’s stay and have another drink.” I sigh in frustration but concede his request and then promptly turn my attention to the closest bartender and order us another round of Tequila shots.

**

As Samael took Cassie’s hand in his and brought it up to his lips placing a kiss upon the back of her hand, she felt a shiver course through her body. Bad vibes, there is something off about Rim’s friend; she thought as she wiggled her hand out of Sam’s grasp. Once her hand was free, she discreetly brushed it on a cleaning cloth she kept hanging out of her back pocket in case she had to make quick work of cleaning up a spill. Cassie blushed as her eyes locked with Rim’s because she realized he caught her as she wiped her hand on her towel. Shock made her eyes go wide as she saw he wasn’t mad by the gesture but smiling about it. Sheepishly she smiled back at him and then relief filled her as Ginny came over just then to chat.

The bar began to get crowded, and she jumped in to help the other bartenders, allowing Ginny to ‘entertain’ the guys. At one point when she glanced over at the two, she saw Rim telling Samael something, but Samael shook his head no and she watched as Rim slumped his shoulders in defeat. She watched him order a couple of drinks from the closest bartender and then had to turn her attention back to the bodies closing in on the opposite side of the bar. When she had a moment to herself, she walked away from the bar and dashed over to the lady’s room. While in the stall she pulled out her phone and sent a text to Rim asking if he wanted to meet her out back where she took her smoke breaks. Before she was able to sit the phone down to finish her ‘business’, the phone vibrated in her hand. Cassie smiled as she saw Rim’s name pop up on the screen. Opening the message, she saw one little word, but it was all she had needed to see. Yes.

Cassie opened the side, back door that allowed entrance to and from the bar area itself. Glancing to her left she saw Rim leaning against the fence that blocked outsiders’ views of where the club kept their trash bin. Smiling brightly, she stepped across the threshold and out into the mildly humid evening air. “Hey, you,” she says as she walks into Rim’s open arms for a hug. “Uh, where’s your friend?” She asks as her eyes dart around to double check that they are alone at the moment.

“Oh, Sam is busy chatting with Ginny. I told him I had to use the restroom and then dipped outside instead so I could have some alone time with you.” Rim let his hands slide down Cassie’s arms before stepping back slightly to get a better look at her. “Cass, I’m going to ask a bit of an odd request of you. I know it’s weird in asking this, but would you do me a favor and try to stay as far away from Samael as you can?” Cassie peers at him quizzically and so he gives her a short answer to her questioning gaze knowing he will have to tell her soon the ‘why’ of his request. “I’ve known Sam a long time and well, he isn’t the most savory of characters. Don’t get me wrong, he can be a nice guy, quite the charmer in fact, but the look he bestowed upon you while we were at the bar has me nervous and worried for you to be around him. I’ve seen that look in his eyes before and let’s just say things didn’t end well after.”

“I promise, I will do my best to stay as far away from him as I can. I didn’t get the best of vibes from him and sort of felt put off by him anyway so no need to feel weird about asking that of me. I know he’s your friend but I’m definitely not a fan of his, not like Ginny and Khloe both seem to be.” Cassie wanted to say more but at that moment the door popped open, and Ginny peeked her head out as her eyes searched for Cassie.

“Oh, thank the stars. Samael was asking where Rim was and we are starting to get busy behind the bar again Cass, can you come back in and help?” Cassie gives Ginny a quick nod before turning her eyes back to Rim. Tipping her head back slightly, she reached up and placed a kiss on his cheek before whispering, ‘I’ll see you back inside.’ As Rim nodded, she turned on her heel and followed Ginny back through the doorway.

***

I felt like a jackass having to ask Cassie to do that but the fear tugging at my heart that Sam has already figured out who Cassie is, is just too much to handle. I will do my best to keep him away from her too but knowing she is willingly wanting to stay away from him helps to ease my nerves a bit just the same. Sauntering back up to the bar where Samael is still standing, I place my hands on the bar counter and ask, “another round?” before he has a chance to ask what took me so long in the bathroom. With a quick nod of his head yes, I wave Ginny over since she is the closest to us and ask for two more shots of Tequila.

Sitting the shot glasses down in front of us, I notice there is a third shot and look at Ginny questioningly. She just grins and downs the shot and then walks away without taking our money. I caught her eyeing Samael but chose to ignore this little insight because if she can lure Sam’s attention away from Cassie, I’m all for it. “Damn dude, the Tequila is like the nectar of the God’s; it’s quite enticing, as is that bouncing little blonde friend of Cassie’s. I roll my eyes at him but smile to myself, if I play my cards just right, then I can get Sam distracted and not have to worry over him figuring out what Cassie is. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

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