Inside the Maelstrom

by Grace McGinty

  We all climbed out of the cab, and bellhops hurried over to collect our baggage. I wouldn’t say it to Aviva, but I was getting tired. I wanted to go home, and I wanted to see my parents. Hopping from hotel room to hotel room, bookstore to bookstore, was starting to wear me down. I wasn’t like Sampson, who was literally at home in a hotel, or Hendrick, who’d never really had a home where he felt comfortable and safe. I’d grown up loved, and secure in the knowledge that I’d always have a safety net to fall back on.

  Hendrick hung back, and Aviva sidled up to me while Sampson checked us in. “What’s wrong with him?”

  I swallowed hard, and looked at the man who had my heart in a vice. “He’s bipolar.”

  Aviva didn’t gasp with shock, or look horrified. She just nodded, like I was confirming all her suspicions.

  “You knew?”

  She shrugged. “I suspected. You don’t spend ninety days in an institution and not learn the difference between a personality quirk and an actual illness.” She looked at him, not with pity, but with empathy. I guess that was one possible perk of dating a girl who also suffered from mental illness—she understood. “What can I do?”

  I sighed, because that was what was so hard about mental illness, from a bystander’s point of view—the helplessness. “His self-talk gets really dark. Just let him know you’re there. That you aren’t going anywhere just because he’s a little fucked up.” I paused. “Forgive him for the stupid shit he’ll inevitably do once he decides you’re too good to him. He’ll try and drive you away, because obviously it’ll be easier than owning up to his bullshit.”

  She nodded as Sampson came over, the room key clutched in his hand. “Let’s go up. This jet lag thing is killing me.” We walked to the elevator, and Evan slipped in beside us. The guys would be horrified, but I could tell Evan wanted Aviva. Wanted her badly, but he was a professional. He would never act on it, especially because he’d sound like a fucking hypocrite after that stupid speech he gave us back in Paris.

  “Firth texted me while we were on the flight. He’s coming down on Saturday to hit up the clubs with us,” Sampson stated, looking back down at his phone as the doors closed.

  Hendrick nodded, and in the reflection of the elevator mirror, I could see him scrolling through some Insta posts. Following the pattern like a champion, just like he always did. He’d lose himself to meaningless hookups that made him feel like shit, because then he wouldn’t have to face the fact that I—that we—meant something. Like he could just push us away. It hadn’t mattered to me before, when it was just me and him, and we were only a casual hookup between friends. But I wasn’t sure I could stand back and let him purposefully hurt Aviva like that.

  Our suite was actually two connected rooms, and Hendrick grabbed my arm, pulling me into the first one. “I’ll sleep with Otto. Sampson won’t rub my dick in the middle of the night.”

  Sampson gave him a sharp grin that was all teeth. “You’ve never asked,” he teased back. “Come on, Good Girl. I want a nap and a spooning buddy.” He dragged her into the other room, not bothering to shut the door.

  I looked at Hendrick but he raised a hand. “No lectures, Otto.”

  I tilted my head at him. “Maybe you should have bunked with Sampson if you didn’t want lectures. Or maybe you could have had Aviva all to yourself.”

  He scratched the back of his neck in a gesture I knew meant he was about to give me an excuse that I wasn’t going to like. I’d known this man too long.

  “About Aviva...”

  I held up a hand to stop him and went over to shut the adjoining doors. Finally, I waved for him to proceed. Honestly, I couldn’t wait to hear what his fucking excuse was for this.

  “I like her. I like being around her. But we aren’t good for her. Our—I mean, my life wouldn’t be good for her. It isn’t even good for me. Getting attached, or letting her get attached, will only lead to bad shit.”

  Fuck, he wasn’t even spouting selfish lines that I could shoot down as his illness talking, because I’d actually thought those very things myself. Hendrick’s life was complicated, not just with the bipolar, but with the constant attention he’d received ever since he was young. Him and Sampson, they were the darlings of the tabloids. That was without the added pressure of Hendrick’s family, especially his fucking dad.

  I was silent, and Hendrick took that as confirmation. “We both know I’m right.”

  I shook my head. “No, you’re not. You definitely don’t have the right to make those decisions for her, or for me either. Or for Sampson, who—in case you’ve been blinded by yourself these last couple of days—might actually be in love with her. It’s hard to tell with Sam.” I stepped closer to him, pulling him against my body so he’d be forced to look at me. “If I’ve learned anything about Aviva, it’s that she does what she wants. You can try pushing her away, but in the end, I think she’ll love you whether you like it or not.” I lifted his chin a little so I could kiss him. It was a soft kiss, a rope that I could wrap around his body and use to keep him tethered tightly to me. “You deserve to be happy, Drix.”

  He just grunted, and I knew that was about as much as I was going to get out of him. I hung up our clothes, watching as he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, pretending to go to sleep despite the fact he’d slept the entire fourteen hour flight here, and it was now the middle of the day.

  This was the beginning, but I was determined to drag him out of his spiral before he hit the bottom. I stripped down to my boxers and climbed into bed beside him, holding him to my chest so he knew that he had me, no matter what.

  Turns out, the bookstore we needed to visit for this little expedition was about forty minutes away, so we hired a car. Evan left the other two bodyguards at home for a well-deserved rest day, and chaperoned us himself down south.

  Hendrick seemed a little better today, handing out his usual dirty one-liners and smiling brightly, even if it didn’t quite make it to his eyes every time.

  I’d done some research while everyone recovered from the flight yesterday, and while I couldn’t find the exact address for the bookshop, I knew its general location. We’d unanimously decided that shopping was also in order, because so far we hadn’t done much on these trips other than sleep, eat, and chase down a ghost.

  Evan parked, and we all piled out. Instantly, you could tell that this area was off the tourist trail. The locals eyed us with surprise, but just kept going about their day. It was your average, working class neighborhood, complete with a shopping strip. Except unlike the US, everything was insanely clean.

  We ducked in and out of back alleyways as a group, exploring and laughing. Sampson bought several silk scarves in jewel colors and when he handed them to Aviva, he gave her a look so hot it even made me hard. Somehow, I didn’t think they were for his great-aunts back home.

  If Aviva noticed though, she didn’t let on. She skipped ahead, giving Evan a heart attack as he kept one eye on her, and one eye on us. Bet he was regretting not bringing the rest of the security now.

  “Relax, Evan. It’s fine. Enjoy yourself,” Sampson grumbled, and Evan just gave him a droll look before going back to scanning the street for potential threats. Aviva ducked down one of the alleys, and we all strode after her.

  “Guys! I think this is it!” she called, following the narrow walkway. There was a hand-painted black and white sign, the word Tabi painted like a title on the front of a book. I caught up to her in a few long strides, and grabbed her hand, keeping her with me. I was being overprotective—it was just a store after all—but I’d feel better if one of us was with her all the same.

  As we stepped in, a little old man behind the counter greeted us with a smile and a bowed head. He looked about a hundred, but blaring over the speakers was a Red Hot Chilli Peppers song. I laughed before I could stop myself.

  Aviva stepped forward, bowing respectfully. “Do you have any Jules Verne?”

  The old man smiled, but didn’t answer. She pulled a book from
her bag, pointing to the name. The old man smiled wide and yelled loudly in Japanese. Aviva squeaked in surprise, jumping slightly, but the man kept smiling.

  From the back, another guy appeared. He was about our age, maybe as young as Aviva. He said something in rapid Japanese to the old man, then looked over at us. He was handsome, with a jawline so sharp it was basically a work of art. Aviva’s mouth dropped open and she stared—at least, she did until I nudged her with my elbow.

  “Hi, I’m Kato. My grandfather says you are looking for a particular book?”

  Aviva continued to blink, and I cleared my throat. “Yeah, a Jules Verne novel.”

  He gave us both a bright smile with perfect teeth, and honestly, I totally got his dazzling appeal. He didn’t compare to Hendrick, but he had that easygoing, sweet book nerd thing going for him with those thick-rimmed glasses and a t-shirt that was just this side of too tight.

  “Sure, come on back.”

  Aviva finally found her voice. “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome.” His English was great, only slightly accented. “This is our English classic section here. I apologize that there is no specific order.”

  Aviva flushed. “No, that’s okay.”

  Kato smiled. “Are you all together?”

  Aviva went beet red. “No. I mean, yes, but not seriously. I mean, I don’t really know what we are, it’s not like—”

  Sampson put his hand over her mouth. “She means yes, we are all shopping together. Thank you.”

  Kato bowed and left, and I lost it. I laughed so hard I could barely hiss, Hendrick and Sampson laughing right along with me. Aviva’s face went impossibly redder, and she punched me in the stomach.

  “Shut up. Help me find this book so we can leave, and I can throw myself off that pretty bridge by our hotel and never face the world again.”

  Sampson curled his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his chest. “Come on, Good Girl. Find your book so I can take you back to the hotel and show you how together we really are.”

  Chapter 34

  Aviva

  I spread the gloss over my lips with precision. Tonight, we were going out for dinner, then on the Cosmo wheel, finishing off the night by meeting one of the guys’ college buddies at a club. I was nervous about that.

  Somehow, I knew that meeting their friends meant things would change. I couldn’t be sure how, I just knew it would. So I put my makeup on with extra care to ensure I looked worthy of their attention, as stupid as that sounded. I’d spent a ridiculous amount of time on my curls after my shower, and they fell in soft ringlets around my face. My lipstick was red, my lashes long, and my dress sparkled softly under the bathroom lights. It would have to do.

  I even put on heels instead of my Converse or boots, which I felt was probably good aesthetics but terrible practicality. Still, I couldn’t argue with the fact my legs looked long and shapely, and I felt confident. Not just confident, but beautiful, which wasn’t something I’d ever felt before this trip.

  Pushing my boobs up in my dress to give me better cleavage, I took a deep breath. These guys had all seen me naked. Hell, they’d all seen me worse than naked. They still liked me.

  So what if Hendrick had been different over the last couple of days? Otto had explained. It didn’t have anything to do with me. At least, that's what my head told me. That stupid voice that might be my heart told me that he’d fucked me, seen me at my very worst, and now he was done. Disgusted with me. Men like Hendrick expected perfection—the girl at the club in New York had proven that. She’d seemed like the epitome of perfection to me, but even she hadn’t been good enough for Hendrick.

  I shook my head, my curls bouncing around my ears. No. It didn’t matter now; I wasn’t going to let the doubts creep in. I was going to go, have a nice night with the guys, and thoughts of the future could just fucking wait.

  I opened the bathroom door, and walked through to the living area. I saw Otto first, his shoulders encased in a stiff white shirt that stretched across his back like a caress. His slacks were very obviously tailored, and they made his ass look divine.

  I cleared my throat, and he turned, his mouth dropping open. “Aviva. You look beautiful.”

  He stepped toward me, and I could see around his shoulder to where Sampson sat sprawled on the couch. He was in tight black jeans and a black button down shirt. A classic leather jacket hung over the arm of the couch beside him.

  A choked noise to the left had me turning, and Hendrick was gaping at me. “Jesus, Viva. I can nearly see your ass cheeks in that dress.”

  I flipped him the bird, falling back into our old antagonistic roles easily. “Then don’t look, you pervert.”

  He looked achingly handsome tonight, a sports jacket giving him an air of propriety paired with his ripped, dark wash jeans and a khaki t-shirt. It made him look both dressed down and effortlessly fashionable. Asshole. It shouldn’t be that easy.

  “You all look nice too,” I said with a smile.

  Sampson uncurled himself from the lounge, and he made it look so graceful that it was definitely a turn on. Considering I was only twenty-one, I felt like I was ninety-nine some days, especially after the accident.

  He strode over to me, getting into my personal space until he was staring down at me with those dark, quicksand eyes. “You look sexy as fuck, Good Girl.” He ran the back of his fingers down my exposed shoulder. “Now go and take it off, because there’s no way I’m letting you out in public looking so fucking beautiful.”

  I snorted, pushing his chest. “You chose this fucking dress, Sampson Rubio. Now you can wallow in your shitty, high-handed attitude.” I grinned, because revenge was a sweet dessert. “Let’s go. I don’t want to miss our dinner appointment. Why are we going to a French restaurant in Japan anyway?”

  “It’s a three star restaurant, Good Girl. Who cares where it is?”

  As we left the suite, Evan was waiting with his team outside the doors. They were all dressed to go clubbing as well, probably so they didn’t stand out in the crowd. Evan looked up, dropping his cellphone, and it landed at my feet.

  “Whoops!” I bent forward to pick it up, but Hendrick was there, swiping it out of my hands.

  “For the sweet love of god, Viva, do not bend over in that dress.” He sounded physically pained, and I laughed. Yeah, I didn’t wear many skin-tight minidresses.

  “Fuck this, I’m calling Firth and telling him we’re cancelling,” Sampson added.

  Someone else muttered an agreement as I straightened my dress, and I frowned. “Listen, I just spent three hours getting ready, so don’t be assholes. I promise I won’t bend over again, though I’m not sure squatting down in this dress will be any better.” Hendrick groaned, and I just smiled. “Loosen up, guys—no one’s going to care. Besides, if it really is the End Of Days and I’m swarmed by eligible bachelors, I have Evan to beat them off.”

  “He’ll be beating something off,” someone murmured, making Evan clench his jaw.

  I decided to save him from further embarrassment. “Let’s go. We’ll miss our reservation.”

  Dinner was amazing. Dammit, when this was all over, I could live without the first class travel and the fancy hotels, and the expensive as hell clothes. But the food—that I would miss.

  We walked across the bridge that ran around the bay and over to the Cosmo Clock wheel. “Are we going up?”

  Sampson chuckled. “If I just wanted to look at it, we could be doing that naked against the windows of our suite. You could watch it go around as I fucked you from behind.”

  Hendrick went over and bought tickets, while security took up separate positions around the entrances. Directing me up a set of stairs, Sampson moved to my side and Otto came up behind me.

  When I was a few steps up, I felt fingers running lightly up the inside of my thigh. I gasped and stumbled, Sampson’s arm around my waist the only thing keeping me steady.

  “Otto,” I hissed, and he just smiled cheekily up at me. Fuc
k, he was cute. “Stop it or I’m going to trip and topple us both back down the stairs.” I looked past him to Hendrick still on the bottom step. “Hurry up, Drix. What are you doing?”

  He grinned, and it was that same smile that had completely undone my defenses in the first place. “The view is better from down here.”

  “You are all perverts, and I hope you know it.”

  We made it to the gate, where the signs announced that the Ferris wheel didn’t stop. We had to jump on when the doors opened. I mean, it was moving slow as hell, but still, I was in six-inch heels. I wasn’t the most coordinated person at the best of times and moving vehicles wouldn’t help. Arms suddenly wrapped around my waist as Otto picked me up, pressing me tight to his body and walking us both on.

  “I could have done that.”

  Otto shrugged. “I just wanted a good reason to have that tight little ass pressed against my crotch and still seem chivalrous.”

  I laughed and wiggled my ass against his dick as he slid me back down to my feet. Hendrick stood at the door, eyeballing the attendant, daring him to let anyone else into our capsule. Eventually, the doors slid closed and we moved up.

  “So, I read that it takes fifteen minutes for this to go around,” Sampson said lightly, though there was no mistaking the undertone of lust in his voice. “You know what that means, Good Girl?”

  I smirked at him. “That I better appreciate the view?”

  He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me tightly to him. “No, Aviva. It means I can only make you come twice.”

  He slid his other hand down my side and over my ass, lifting my thigh so my leg hooked around his own, opening me to him. His fingers traced over the crease of my thigh and then brushed across my underwear.