by I. T. Lucas
“Okay, girls,” Amanda clapped her hands. “Who wants to play charades?”
Sharon groaned, Syssi hid behind her hair, and Bridget stuffed another hors d'oeuvre into her mouth.
Good sports that they were, Tessa, Callie, and Nathalie lifted their fingers.
“I’ll start.” Amanda clicked the music on with a remote.
She lifted one finger up.
“One word,” Tessa said.
Swirling her hips from side to side, Amanda reached for the buttons of her blouse and began opening them one by one. When there were no more buttons left, she parted the blouse’s halves, exposing the stylish camisole she was wearing underneath.
Eva let out a long, suffering breath.
When she’d imagined a striptease, it wasn’t by Amanda. Bhathian, with his incredible muscles and hulking body would have been perfect for the role, but having Nathalie, Sharon, and Tessa look at him doing something sexy was inappropriate.
Heck, it was disturbing to even think about it.
She didn’t mind the immortal females, who considered him a cousin, except for Syssi who wasn’t a relative but who had eyes only for her husband. Nathalie, however, was Bhathian’s daughter, and Sharon and Tessa thought of him as a substitute father.
Amanda twirled the blouse over her head, then tossed it to Syssi who giggled as she caught it.
“Striptease!” Sharon called out. “But please, no more! We don’t want to see you naked. We want hunky guys!”
“Cover it up.” Syssi threw the blouse back at Amanda.
“Tsk, tsk. You hurt my feelings, girls.” Amanda shrugged the blouse over her shoulders and did up a few of the buttons. “Since you’re not interested in seeing me perform for you, I have no choice but to call in reinforcements.” She clicked the music off and turned to the door. “Come in, boys!”
Oh, no, what had Amanda done? Eva was ready for Anandur’s comic relief, but boys implied more than one.
A trumpet, or a similarly loud instrument, started playing outside, and a moment later the front door burst open.
A lineup of skirt-wearing hunks marched in.
At the head of the procession, Anandur was blowing bagpipes so loudly that Eva had to stop the peel of giggles to cover her belly with both hands, protecting the baby from the vibrations.
Behind him was no other than her Bhathian, followed by Kian, Brundar, Andrew, Robert, and Turner. Jackson, who had a drum strapped to his torso, closed the procession while banging on it to the beat of Anandur’s piping.
They were all wearing kilts with white shirts tucked in, knee-high socks with tassels, funny-looking ballet style black shoes, and wide belts. Each had two swords strapped to his back.
“Who is babysitting Phoenix?” Nathalie looked at her husband. “Don’t tell me you left Phoenix with Fernando...”
“Of course not. Okidu is watching her.”
“Are you nuts? He is a machine!”
“Eh, no,” Amanda interrupted the argument. “That machine raised Kian, same as Onidu raised me. Phoenix is perfectly safe with him.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Positive. Okidu is like a nanny and a bodyguard combined.”
“If that’s the case, can I have him?”
“He is not for sale,” Kian grumbled.
Naturally.
Bhathian had told Eva the story behind the Odus.
They were priceless. Out of the original seven, Annani had parted with four, one for each of her children, and retained three for herself. None of them was ever going to part with that treasure.
As the guys formed a line in the middle of the living room, stopped the music and took a bow, Eva finally understood what had bothered her about Amanda’s living room.
She had been wondering why their hostess had gotten rid of the couches and the coffee table, lining the walls with chairs and small side tables instead. There weren’t that many of them. Now it all made sense.
“Ladies,” Anandur started. “I know you wanted a striptease, but you’re getting something even better. A traditional Scottish sword dance.”
The guys stepped forward, unsheathed their swords, and put them down on the floor, one across the other, forming an X.
“Andrew, Robert, Dalhu, and Turner didn’t have much time to practice, so you’ll have to forgive their clumsiness.”
Sharon started clapping. “You show them, baby.” A moment later the other women joined her in applauding the men.
Robert didn’t look too happy about being dragged into the show, and neither did Turner. Dalhu seemed as stoic as usual, and Andrew was grinning from ear to ear.
Her son-in-law never shied away from a challenge.
“Take a bow, men.” Anandur started his piping again.
“I hope you guys are wearing underwear,” Sharon called out.
Without missing a note, Anandur turned around and bent at the waist, showing her his tighty-whities.
Jackson snickered. “I was all for going commando, but I’ve been outvoted.”
Blowing a particularly loud note, Anandur signaled the guys that the time for talking was over.
“Let the show begin,” Andrew called out, then put his hands on his hips and started dancing.
Not bad for a beginner.
Her Bhathian, however, was a pro.
Eva clapped so hard her hands started itching.
The dance was short, no longer than two or three minutes, probably on account of the novices. When the guys were done, they took another bow, and parted into two lines, clearing the middle.
Anandur handed the pipes to his brother, and Jackson transferred the drum to Bhathian.
The big guy clapped Jackson on the back. “Now for the solo number of the evening. Get ready to be dazzled.”
Well, she was duly impressed. The two danced and jumped and performed acrobatics as if they were part of a professional dance team. Eva only wondered where and when someone as young as Jackson had learned to dance a traditional dance like that.
When the two were done, the room erupted in applause and hollers.
Jackson and Anandur bowed again, and the entire group lined up behind Brundar, who had taken over the piping.
“Where are you going?” Tessa asked.
Jackson pointed his finger in the general direction of Nathalie and Andrew’s home. “Back to our party.”
“You were amazing!” She blew him a kiss. “See you later.”
Eva waved at Bhathian who departed with a wink.
“That was one of your best ideas ever!” Bridget clapped Amanda on her back. “I recorded everything.”
Amanda snickered. “I’m good, ain't I?”
“The best,” Syssi agreed.
“That’s right. That’s why I’m going to plan your wedding and Syssi is going to help.” She looked at Eva. “Between the two of us, we planned Syssi’s grand wedding in the span of two weeks, or rather Syssi did most of the work and I only helped a little because, well, that's a story for another time. What I'm trying to say is that we can do the same for you.”
Eva wasn’t a woman quick to panic, but Amanda was stressing her to the max. “Are you nuts? Why?”
Amanda chuckled. “Oh, I don’t know, it’s not as if you are not pregnant and not starting to show. How long are you going to make poor Bhathian wait?”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Eva pushed her chin out. “According to your laws we are already legally married, and I have no intention of having a church wedding with a priest presiding. The last time didn’t work out so well for me that I would want a repeat.”
“I understand that.” Amanda crouched in front of Eva and took hold of her hands. “Dalhu and I are not having a ceremony either, but that’s because neither of us wants it. Bhathian, however, would be very disappointed if you wiggle out of it, which is exactly what you’re trying to do.”
With a sigh, Eva let her head drop back. “Ugh.”
Amanda gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “Syss
i and I can handle everything. We are pros at this. All you’ll need to do is choose the dress and come for the fittings.”
“I can help,” Nathalie said.
Callie lifted a finger. “Me too. Just give me a list of things to do, and it will be done.”
Eva looked down into Amanda’s big blue eyes. “I’m very tempted to take you up on your offer. But I don’t feel it’s right to fob it off on someone else. It’s my wedding. I should be the one to organize it.”
Amanda patted her knee. “You, darling, need to stay calm and positive for the baby you’re carrying. It wouldn’t do it any good for its mother to be stressed and doing something she hates. I love organizing parties, and Syssi does too as long as she is not the center of attention. Right, Syssi?” Amanda cast a glance at her sister-in-law.
“Right. Unfortunately, it’s not like Amanda and I are overly busy at the lab. Nothing interesting is happening over there.”
Eva nodded. “So I guess a small wedding is out.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“What about Nick?”
“He can come and we will thrall him after.”
“Is it going to be the whole clan?”
“We can limit it to the locals, but I’ll ask Kian. He may want to use the opportunity to show off the village to the others.”
14
Nick
Like every evening for the past several weeks, Nick sat at the last booth in Fernando’s café, watching Ruth and trying to gather the courage to ask her on a date.
She’d joined a couple of the poker games, but they hadn’t talked much. Hell, she hadn’t talked much with anyone. Ruth was just as awkward around people as he was, maybe even worse, because she was shy around other women too.
Nick was only awkward around girls he found attractive, which was why he was still a virgin at twenty-two—a shameful secret he was guarding fiercely and doing his damnedest to cover up with a lot of macho talk to the contrary.
How did other guys do it?
Not everyone was as good-looking and confident as fucking Jackson the pussy magnet.
Even transforming himself from a chubby geek to a surfer dude hadn’t helped Nick score. He’d lost the fat, gained muscle, grown out his hair, which used to be light brown but had now blond highlights from the sun, and still nothing.
In his latest effort to look cool, he’d pulled his shoulder-length hair into a fashionable man-bun, but he shouldn’t have bothered. Girls just didn’t come up to him.
Not like they were coming up to Jackson.
Ruth seemed oblivious to the guy’s charms, but she must’ve been the only one. The rest of the café’s female clientele was ogling him even though he wasn’t encouraging it at all.
Nick still couldn’t believe a dude like Jackson had settled for Tessa. She was sweet and pretty, but nothing like the caliber of girls Jackson could’ve dated.
It was a shitty thing to say or even think, but that was the reality.
Most guys were all about scoring with the hottest girls, and it was all about the looks. Not that the girls were any better. They wanted hot guys too, preferably ones with money. A lot of money could compensate for deficiencies in the looks department.
Reality was ugly.
Survival of the fittest or rather the hottest, or the richest.
Jackson had chosen love, though. Good for him. The dude was not only good-looking but smart as well. Tessa had definitely scored herself a winner.
Lifting his cold cup of coffee, Nick sighed. Having a girlfriend was all he could think about, and not only because he was desperate for sex. He was even more desperate for love.
Not that he wouldn't settle for a hookup, or two, or a hundred. But he would rather have a relationship—someone to talk to, someone to share things with, someone to laugh with. He didn’t even have guy friends to do it with.
People didn’t get his sense of humor, and he had a way of always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
“Let me refresh your coffee,” Ruth said in almost a whisper as she reached for his cup.
“Thank you.”
As he handed it to her, their fingers brushed for a moment, sending a bolt of electricity down to his dick, the fellow springing to life like Frankenstein’s monster.
With a gasp, Ruth let go of the cup, then caught it a split second before it hit the table.
“Wow, awesome reflexes,” he said to fill the awkward silence.
“I guess.” Ruth filled the cup from the carafe she’d held in her other hand and put it on the table. “I’ll be back later to warm it up again for you.”
“Thank you.”
That was the extent of their communication. He would sit in the back eating his dinner as slowly as humanly possible, and she would come over and refill his cup of coffee a couple of times.
Damn, he needed to man up and ask the girl out. But what if she said no? Then he would lose the illusion that something might happen between them and would have no more reason to come to the café every evening.
What the hell was he going to do with himself?
Sharon had moved out and was living with her new boyfriend, Tessa was hanging out with Jackson, and Eva and Bhathian were busy doing whatever couples did.
No one needed him around, and there was only so much television a guy could watch, and so many video games a guy could play—especially since they didn’t offer him much of a challenge.
Damn, he hated his life.
Maybe he should quit his job and go backpacking in South America, or Australia, or wherever else people went backpacking. At least he would have a good excuse for being alone and not having a girlfriend.
Instead of a loser, he would be a nomad. Much more respectable.
“Hey, Nick, what’s up?” Jackson slid into the booth without asking if it was okay.
“Nothing. Eating my dinner.”
“I can see that. When are you going to ask Ruth out?”
Nick felt his ears get hot. “What makes you think I want to?”
Jackson leaned closer. “I think it’s time to make a move, buddy. If you’re waiting for Ruth to ask you out, I can tell you it’s not going to happen. Ruth feels awkward around her own shadow. You have to man up and ask her.”
Damn it. Jackson was the last person Nick wanted to be having this conversation with, but he was desperate, and Jackson was an expert on all things female.
“What if she says no?”
“She won’t. She is doing the same thing you do, sneaking glances when you’re not looking.”
“But she stopped coming to the poker games.”
Jackson shrugged. “Maybe she doesn’t like poker, or maybe hanging out with a group of people is too intimidating for her. By the way, this can be a good conversation starter. Ask her why she doesn't come anymore, and then suggest something else the two of you can do together.”
The guy slid out of the booth and slapped Nick’s back. “No guts no glory, my man.”
Easy for him to talk. When a guy looked like that he didn’t need guts. He could just stand there, and girls would come up to him and do all the work.
But ordinary schmucks like Nick had to sweat for it.
When a few minutes later Ruth emerged from the kitchen, Jackson handed her a fresh coffee carafe and pointed in Nick’s direction.
It was time to grow a set.
He watched her stop at every booth and fill up cups before reaching him.
“Can I warm up your coffee?” Ruth asked without looking at him.
“Can you sit with me for a few moments?”
She looked up at him and then turned her head to glance at Jackson. “I don’t know. I’m supposed to be working.”
“You’re the new manager. You can take a break when you want to.” She wasn’t yet, but she was training for it.
“Okay.” Ruth sat across from him and put the carafe on the table, right in the middle, as if creating a barrier between them.
“I was wondering why y
ou don’t come to the poker games anymore.”
She shrugged. “I don’t like the smell of the incense Eva burns. It’s stifling. It makes me feel like I’m suffocating.”
He wondered if she was talking about the incense or the company. Probably both.
“How about an outdoor activity, then?” He should’ve thought of it before. If Ruth were like him, she might enjoy surfing. It was a solo activity, peaceful and relaxing.
“Like a walk?” she asked.
“Like surfing. It’s awesome. You’re going to love it.”
Looking crestfallen, she dropped her chin. “I don’t know how to surf.”
“I’ll teach you. It’s going to be fun.”
“You said the same thing about poker. I’m still terrible at it.”
“If you don’t try you don’t know. Poker didn’t do it for you, but surfing might.”
“Isn’t the ocean cold?”
“It is. But we will be wearing wetsuits.”
“I don’t have a wetsuit.”
She wasn’t going to make it easy on him, but Nick had a feeling it wasn’t about not wanting to be with him.
On top of being shy around people, Ruth was also afraid of trying new things.
He, on the other hand, loved it, which meant that he could help her out. Which in turn, boosted his confidence.
“No worries. I’ve got you covered. Sharon tried surfing, once, but she didn’t like it.” Ruth’s expression warned him of her next rebuttal, and he quickly continued. “Sharon doesn't like any sports. She is a couch potato.”
Ruth smiled, and it encouraged him to continue.
“Surfing sounded fun to her until she realized it was an actual sport and required the use of muscles she didn’t know she had. Lazing in the sun was more fun for her. In the meantime, though, she bought all the equipment. You can use her wetsuit and her surfboard. She is slightly bigger than you, so it’s not going to be a perfect fit, but it’s good enough for the beginning. Later, when you see how much fun it is, you can get your own.”
“You sound so sure that I’m going to like it. I’m not much into sports either. I do love to hike, though.”
He threw his hands in the air. “Here you go. Sharon doesn't even like to walk. She takes the car to the supermarket that is five minutes’ walking distance away.”