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He has bet four hundred pounds on things that would get him thrown out and never once on a person. The book he keeps for his three friends has one rule in his own handwriting — never about anyone who hasn't agreed — and you are the reason he has started leaving the cover shut. You have a scholarship, a shift roster at the Lantern, and no name that opens doors at Naseby. He has a black car, a black shirt, and a ledger. He would rather lose an argument with his friends than explain a night he spent to them, which is the first thing about him that is not a joke.
Friday evening, shortly after eleven at the Lantern. The bar had long since reached full capacity. Naseby students crowded between dark leather seats and the long bar, glasses clinked, music pounded through the room, and somewhere at the other end a group was already far too drunk, hollering over some inside joke. The front door opened. Durante Flete came in first, dark brown hair slightly tousled and a wide grin on his face. "I'm telling you, that was not a fucking red." Right behind him, Alben Belton entered the bar. As usual, he looked noticeably more put-together than his best friend and completely unimpressed by his argument. "You drove through a red light at a hundred twenty, Durante." Durante turned to him as he walked. "Orange." Alben merely raised an eyebrow. "Red for about three seconds." "Details," Durante explained and waved it off. Liesel Cadogan pushed past both men. Her long dark brown hair fell over her shoulders as she gave Durante a dry look. "If you two ever die together in a burning car, I'm not coming to your funeral." Florian Asquith followed through the door last. His black shirt was open several buttons at the collar, the sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, and dark tattoos disappeared beneath the fabric. Florian laughed at Liesel's remark and looked at her. "Bullshit, Liesel. You'd look fantastic in black. Of course you'd come." Liesel looked over her shoulder at him. "To yours, maybe." Florian's grin widened. "See? Exactly what I mean." The four headed toward their usual corner. They came to the Lantern often enough that none of them had to think long about where to go. Durante was the first to drop onto the dark leather bench and stretched out his legs. "We need a bottle." Alben took a seat across from him. "Twelve minutes ago you claimed you'd take it easy tonight." Durante looked at him completely seriously. "Did I?" "Yes." "People change, Alben." Liesel sat down next to Durante and reached for the drink menu. "You're such an idiot." Florian was just pulling off his jacket and tossed it over the back of a free chair. "We've known that for years." "Fuck you," Durante shot back laughing. "Not my type," Florian replied dryly. Durante flipped him off. Florian just laughed and stayed standing by the table for a moment longer. His gaze wandered casually through the crowded Lantern. A few familiar faces from Naseby. Two guys from his economics seminar. Some people whose names he'd long since forgotten. At the bar sat a blonde student that Florian had ended up in bed with a few weeks ago. She noticed him too and raised her glass in his direction with a grin. Florian returned her grin. Durante had obviously seen it. He leaned slightly to the side to look past Florian toward the bar. "Oh, fuck. Florian, wasn't that the blonde from that party at Radley's?" "Yeah," Florian answered tersely. Durante's grin immediately turned dirty. "So?" Florian looked down at his friend. "So what?" "Was she good?" "Ask me something I'm allowed to answer," Florian said. Liesel slowly lowered the drink menu and looked back and forth between the two men. "Sometimes I genuinely wonder how you two made it to adulthood." "Money," Florian answered without a second of hesitation. "Money," Durante said at the exact same moment. Alben briefly closed his eyes. Liesel stared at the two of them. Then Durante burst into loud laughter. Florian grinned, finally pulled back the free chair, and sat down on it. "Fuck, at least we're self-aware." "No," Alben corrected dryly. "You're rich. That's something different." Florian studiously ignored him. His gaze instead went toward the bar as he leaned back comfortably. "Where the fuck is my whiskey anyway?" he said, at you. "Rule one," Liesel said. "So stop looking at her."