by Amy Davies
“And they are?”
“That I am good enough, that I want you to know that you are good enough for me, even though I think sometimes you don’t think you are.” My heart is pounding in my chest so hard that I think it’s going to burst through my chest any second now. Lipsy takes a deep breath. “I’ve fallen, Reeve. I have fallen in love with you. But I don’t think that you are ready to hear it or say it back and to be honest, that hurts but I will deal with it. I always bloody do.” With that she gets out of the car and walks into the building.
Well, fucking shit.
I sit there just staring at the door my Lipsy just walked through, my thoughts running around my head at a mile a minute. I shake my head and head to the studio; it’s my only sanctuary. People are mulling around but I go straight to our private recording studio. I bypass Nix, who just gets a chin lift from me. I throw my aching body onto the black sofa and pull my song book out, and start writing. This book holds all my thoughts and feelings, most of which I turn into songs that my boys and I lay down as tracks. I have enough for two Inside Noise Albums, one day. One Day.
I wake up to my phone playing Foo Fighters ‘All My Life’. Fucking Ryder, calling me so damn early. “What?”
“Where the hell are you, man? It’s after ten. You need to get your ass down here, now.” Shit, I bolt off the sofa and run to my car, driving back to my apartment. Lipsy comes to the front of my mind again and I can’t keep from smiling. She has me, I think she always has but I was too scared to acknowledge it. I run into my apartment and shower and dress in no time. Before I know it, I am driving down to the beach where Phoenix Records is holding the charity car wash.
Pulling up, I see there is a good line of cars already waiting, but I also see that there are pink balloons and banners and blue balloons and banners. I chuckle to myself, Demi got her challenge. Climbing out of my car, I walk over to where everyone is waiting.
“About freaking time, dude,” Zach states.
“Uncle Reeve, we are waiting for you. Can we get started now, please? All of the girls are going to beat you down. That’s what Auntie Leah said.” She pokes her tongue out at me. My back stiffens.
“Where is Lipsy?” I ask Skeet, who points behind me and my heart skips a shit load of beats. She is wearing a black bikini top and white linen pants and flip flops. Her hair is down and wavy and she looks so damn beautiful.
All the girls walk towards us, Lucy in the middle with Letty and my Lipsy flanking her. Tru, Ren, Maisey, Kenzie, Quinn, Sophie, Loren and Nix’s new girl Amy all walk towards us and I think to myself what damn shame it is that Trinity isn’t here. Rafe elbows me in the ribs and I let out a rush of air that I was holding and that is when I see that the boys are all lined up in order of their girls. This is one big ass Phoenix family and extended Phoenix family day. Hell, even Uncle Roger and Lisa are here with our cousin Kurtis.
“Boys,” Juicy says.
“Girls,” Rafe replies.
“So this is how today is going to go. I am taking a count of cars since I cannot do much else. Every time you finish a car, hand over a color slip to the driver and they will hand the slip to me near the exit. I will count the pink and blue slips at the end of the day and we will see who wins. Since Miss Demi threw the challenge down, there will be no loser activity. You all clear on the rules?” Everyone nods. “Ok then, let’s get started.” Everyone walks over to their ports but Lipsy and I stand there, staring at each other.
“Lipsy.”
“Phoenix.”
“I want to say that I am sorry about everything yesterday, it was a shitty day and I want today to be a fresh start.” I step towards her. I was expecting her to step back but she doesn’t. “I went to the studio last night and did a lot of thinking. Lipsy, I want to be somebody to you, I want to be somebody that is good enough for you. I have fallen also, Leah. I fucking love you, Leah Adams. I don’t know when it happened but fuck it did and I am so damn happy it did.” I look around when I hear a gasp. Everyone is standing around listening to me pour my heart out to my girl. My eyes meet Skeet’s and he nods with a big ass smile on his face. Taking a deep breath, I continue,
“You Leah Adams, are my Inside Noise.” I don’t let her speak; I kiss her, and I kiss her hard. “I love you baby,” I say breathlessly into her mouth.
“I love you too, Reeve.” A beautiful smile graces her face. She truly lights up my life. Corny I know, but I don’t give a shit; I have my girl back.
Music blasting through the speakers makes us all jump and laugh. Maroon 5’s ‘Animals’ starts playing. We have a DJ playing in between our live bands.
“It’s go time people. Boys, let’s move out,” shouts Ryder. I kiss Lipsy once more and turn to join my brothers. I high-five Kurtis as I reach the boys.
“Damn, Reeve she is fine piece of…” I slap him up the side of the head and warn him.
“I dare you to finish that sentence, boy. That’s my girl you are talking about.” He shrugs his shoulders and walks off laughing to himself. We all follow Kurtis over to our blue port. Why couldn’t it be black? I look over towards the girls and see Letty placing Demi’s hat back on her little head; I have no doubt that she is plastered in sunscreen. I hear a loud cough and look to my left, only to see all the boys staring in the girls’ direction. I whip my head in the girls’ directions and see them all slowly peeling away their clothes to reveal their bikinis underneath.
HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT
My eyes focus on Lipsy as she bends over and slowly, ever so fucking slowly, she slides her linen pants down her slender legs. I can feel my dick getting hard, which is not a good idea with all the people that are standing around. I look back at my boys and they are all drooling and adjusting themselves in their board shorts.
“What the living fuck? That’s cheating. She knows what her body does to me. Damn it to hell,” says Ryder as he turns his back on the girls. We all chuckles but I know damn well we all feel his pain.
“Thank God that my girl is in a dress and sporting my baby in her belly, so no fucker will be eyeing her up today, even though she is the sexiest pregnant woman ever,” Rafe says, not really helping the situation. We need pay back.
“Well boys, if they want to use their bodies then we can use ours too; what do you say? It’s time for some Phoenix skin.” I wink at my brothers and we the all crack up laughing. We all turn back to the girls and Oscar places his fingers in his mouth and wolf whistles out loud. Everyone turns, not just our girls.
“Our turn. Ladies, you ready for some Phoenix skin?” The ladies that are waiting in their cars all scream. We are a sexy bunch of guys if I do say so myself. I wink at Lipsy and she winks back and picks up a wet sponge from the bucket at her feet. Mom stands between us all and speaks.
“We, at Phoenix Records, thank you for coming out and supporting us today. All the money will be raised today will be divided up between a number of charities that we support. So, how about we get some cars washed? As you can see, we have a little family challenge today, boys versus girls, thanks to my granddaughter.”
“That’s meeeeee!” Demi screams and everyone laughs.
“So choose wisely. We have music and food over there under the tents, so have fun. I declare this year’s Phoenix Records Car wash OPEN!!!.” Mom shouts the last word and we all get to it. Kurtis is on water duty, making sure that our buckets are always full and I know that the girls are using Tru for that job. The music is blaring and the cars start rolling in.
I try to keep my eyes on the car I am washing but they seem to have a mind of their own and they drift over to my girl, who is currently bending over an Audi. I drop my sponge and make my way over, only to be stopped my Gunner.
“Don’t do it, it’s what they want. They want us to stop and stare so they can wash more. Don’t do it, dude.” Shit, he is right. Leah feels me watching her and she turns her head to face me, with her wicked smile on her face. I point to her.
“You will pay for that, baby. You mark my word
s.” I turn with Gunner, who is now watching Maisey.
“Hard, isn’t it?” I smile at him. He reaches down and tugs on his dick.
“Yeah, man it is.” He smirks at me and we join the others, laughing.
This goes back and forth for an hour or two, but I see that the girls are using their secret weapon, my Ladybug. They have called in all of Demi’s daycare parents to help out. Ok, if that’s how they want to play. Then let’s play. I drop my sponge and make my over to the DJ and request a song. We have had plenty of college girls bring their cars into our port but I see some women in cars with their kids. Bet they could be nicely persuaded to drive around to our port instead. I explain the plan to the boys and they are on board.
The song starts and so do we. 5 Seconds of Summer’s ‘Don’t Stop’.
We start dancing and singing to all the women that are lining the parking lot, waiting for us. We all dance and wash cars, but at certain parts of the song, we put a little more sexual effort into the dancing, grinding our hips and laughing at each other. The cars soon start moving from the girls’ line over to ours. The girls are not happy but we carry on, singing about three songs. Our line is now far bigger than the girls. Demi comes strutting her little butt over to Ryder. Wow she looks pissed, even for her age.
“No fair, Daddy. You are cheating and stealing our cars. Mama said that you are now going to pay, so…” she pokes her tongue out at him and runs back to the girls. I see Leah walk away from the DJ, oh so they have a plan also. Great, why do I get the sinking feeling I am not going to be happy and neither are my brothers?
The song switches to Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj’s ‘Bang Bang’ and all the girls start dancing, including my little Ladybug. I can now see why Ryder loves taking Letty to her dance classes.
God help us men, we are all going to hell.
Chapter 15
Leah
Bloody Phoenix boys.
Well, two can play at the game, boyo, I thought to myself as I made my way to the DJ box and asked him to play a song that us girls can dance to and pay the boys back for stealing all of our cars. The girls love the idea since the boys have stolen quite a few cars, all being driven by women who think they have a chance but they will soon learn. The boys here all have someone or in Skeet and Oscar’s case, they want something. Oscar has his eyes on Loren who works with Letty at the coffee shop. And well, Skeet has been giving Quinn the come-to-bed-eyes but it isn’t working, she keeps turning away. I thought something was there; I will have to have a talk with her.
The song starts and we all start dancing around the cars, swaying to the music, rubbing the wet sponges over our bodies, being all sexy like. We have a car full of college boys. We dance around the car, washing as we go. I throw a wink to the passenger, who is a cute lad; he reminds me of Jackson Avery from Grey’s Anatomy.
“Hey sweetness, what are your plans after you finish here?” He asks me. He looks at my boobs and I roll my eyes, typical lad.
“Sorry, I have plans with my boyfriend.” I point to Reeve, who is throwing daggers in our direction. I walk away from the car and over to Quinn and Sophie. Out of nowhere, the three of us get pelted in the back with the hose pipe. We all screech as the cold water coats us. I turn to see Kurtis, Reeve’s cousin, laughing his head off. The little shit. He soaks every one of us girls, but to be honest it feels bloody amazing, it’s so hot outside today.
“Well thank you boys, we now look even sexier since we are all wet,” Loren shouts over to the boys and their loud, annoying laughter stops. That makes me laugh, so I high-five Quinn and Sophie. Oscar runs over with a large towel to cover Loren up but she battles with him and laughs as she walks away.
“Hell no. Sunshine, you had better cover up, before I get arrested for beating some ass into the ground for giving my girl his fuck-me-eyes,” Ryder shouts over to Letty.
“Baby, you are the ones who wanted Kurt to get us girls alllll, wet.” She sends him a saucy smile, go girl.
“Fuck,” he mutters.
“So, are you boys going to stop all this bitching and get back to work? We have cars to wash.” Kenzie pops her hip and smiles sweetly at our men.
Skeet comes running from behind the boys with a large pink storage box that I have seen in Demi’s bedroom. Reeve and the boys scatter around the cars and head towards Skeet, each grabbing a water gun from inside the box. Kurtis fills the pink box with water so the boys can refill. Bastards, they had this planned. We all look at each other and run for cover. I see all the girls laughing but hiding between the cars. Demi is taking a nap under the tent by Lucy and Mrs. Dawson, so she won’t get wet or hear us. She has worked her little arse off. I can hear the flapping of flip flops that some of the boys are wearing, so I know they are close.
“Girls, get over here...Now!” Amy shouts. We don’t hesitate and all run in her direction, seeing what she has when we get to her.
“I overheard Nix talking to Brax last night, so I went shopping first thing this morning and came prepared for us all. We cannot let the little shits win. Plus, we get the added bonus of getting them wet, totally worth it. Oh boy, I love watching Nix in the shower, all that wet smooth, yet hard muscles. Oh he…”
“Ok, girly, we get it. Our boys are fucking hot when wet and damn it now, thanks to you, I have a visual of Nix all wet and sexy. Damn, Zack is gonna be pissed that I need to get Nix wet.” We all laugh including Amy; she is such a good sport. She fits in well this Phoenix family.
“On three. One, two, three. Go go go!” Letty shouts. I break from the girls and run around the cars, shooting water at the boys, who return fire.
Everyone’s shouts and commands almost drum out the sound of the band that is now playing on the stage what was set up for us. Ren signed ‘Summer Vinyl’ a few weeks ago and they are pretty good. It’s nice to see an all-girl group up there on the stage.
I come up behind Reeve but he spins at the last minute and grabs the back of my neck and kisses me hard. Shit. He lets me go and hits me in the stomach with freezing cold water from his water pistol. Bollocks.
“Catch me if you can, baby.” He runs off, squirting water at Sophie as he does. Kurtis is shouting for refills. That little shit is gonna get it big time. I run towards Kurtis, getting Beck with my water gun. He turns and laughs at me. I smirk and carry on running. Kurtis sees me and raises his big, red, yellow and blue plastic gun. We are in a standoff.
“So what are you gonna to do, Welshy?” Cheeky shit.
“Well first off, I am going to cut off your supply of water, and then I am going to beat you lads. Because girls are better than boys, boyo. It is a known fact.” I aim at his face and pull the trigger, water hitting him right between the eyes. I laugh at him as he fakes being injured and falls to the floor. I hear laughter and shouting behind me.
“Man, down, well boy down. He needs our help. Team Phoenix, go!” Rafe shouts. I stand guard of the big water barrel and all the boys come to a screeching halt. I stand there in my black bikini, my hair half wet and looking like God knows what. I stand with my legs apart, with my large plastic purple water gun resting on my popped out hip. I give Reeve my come-fuck-me-eyes.
“Baby, put down the gun. We all know who will win in the end.” He winks at me. What I don’t give away is the fact that all my girls are lining up behind them.
“Aww babe. I thought you liked me all wet, so if I let you win, then I say that I win as well, because all of your boys will get me soaked, dripping.” I wink in the boys’ direction, not really aiming it at any of them.
“Baby, I am the only one who is allowed to get you wet.” Reeve growls at me. He turns to the boys and smiles, “Sorry boys, I am waving my imaginary white flag. I am the only guy who gets to get my girl wet.” He stands by my side.
“Let’em have it, ladies,” I shout. The girls open fire on the boys and water flies everywhere. The girls scream and the boys laugh. They all start running around chasing each other again but Reeve pins me to a car, brushing
the wet hair off my face and smiling at me. He kisses me but pulls back too quickly. Bugger.
“Lipsy, what I said earlier, I meant it. I love you, Leah, always baby.” I nod and smile back at him. I lean up and kiss him again, when I hear Mama Phoenix clear her throat.
“Ok you two that’s enough, I am all for young love and all but we need to get back to washing cars. We have people waiting.” Hayley nods to the line of cars waiting.
“Ok, Mom. I will get them back to work. You go and relax with Juicy and Demi. Have some food and a drink to cool down.” God, this boy melts my heart every time he says something sweet. His Mam is everything to him. With a knowing smile and a nod, she walks over to see Juicy and Demi, who has slept through all the water fun.
We spend most of the day catching up the line of cars that we left when we had the water fight. We finally catch up with the cars and we are knackered. Demi finally woke up and missed most of the fun but she enjoyed what she part took in.
Lucy and Mrs. Dawson sold all the baked goods and all the food that was donated so I know that they made a mint just with the food and drinks. I love how the local businesses have all donated items for today’s event. Once the cleanup is finished, we all head over to Hayley’s house. Brax fires up the grill and we have a BBQ. Everyone is just relaxing, sitting around the pool. Demi is in the pool with Oscar and Loren. They seem to be getting along great; I did see them sneak a quick kiss in the kitchen earlier. I don’t see why they just don’t tell anyone. Beck is sitting talking to Ryder and Letty and Beck looks upset. I know it’s because of an email from Trinity. I am not sure what was written in it but from the look on his face, it can’t be good.