Without Claire

by Mallory Funk

  “Settles what?” I ask suddenly suspicious, and suddenly regretting the decision to tell them that I trim my own hair.

  “You’re coming!” Courtney adds with the same smile that has me stalling.

  “I don’t like the looks on your faces,” I tell them feeling pretty proud that I sounded confident saying that when inside I’m shaking like a leaf.

  “Wait here a second,” Paige says, and runs down my hallway. I hear the bathroom door open, but I don’t think anything of it.

  “Nope, nothing! She doesn’t have anything but a dull razor!” Paige yells coming back down the hallway.

  “What do you mean? It worked fine last week, or was it two weeks ago? I don’t need to shave,” I tell them chuckling nervously. Who did I need to shave for anyways?

  “Yes, you do! At some point, you are going to be alone with Sam! Do you want him to get lost in the jungle you probably have going on down there? Or maybe even be able to braid your leg hair! Look at it! We need to take care of this situation A.S.A.P!” Courtney says getting louder with every word.

  I look at her with disbelief. “Did you really just say that to me?”

  “Hun, she’s right. Let’s get this taken care of. Trust us, once you’re cut, waxed, and have your nails done, you will feel like a brand-new woman!” Tara says with excitement.

  “I’m sure that you girls have a busy schedule. I wouldn’t want you to cancel any appointments for me,” I make up a lame excuse, but they’re not really believing it.

  “Don’t worry, we all have an hour here and there free today. It’s not like we are cancelling appointments. You are pretty much going to be there all day anyways, so you might as well come over for supper after. Trevor and Sam are amazing cooks, so they won’t mind adding you to the list of people. We always have to make lots anyways since there are so many of us,” Paige tells me. The look on her face tells me that I shouldn’t bother with arguing. After a couple minutes of a stare down with them having their arms crossed over their chests and my hands on my hips, I sag my shoulders in defeat and nod. I grab my phone and purse, and then head out with them.

  I’m kind of scared of what this day is going to bring. Are they really going to make me wax everything? I cringe at the idea of being waxed. Doesn’t it hurt?

  Chapter Eight

  Sam

  I end up texting Claire throughout the day. She has been taking a long time to reply, and I’m wondering what is keeping her so busy. Since I know she spent the morning with the girls going over a plan of attack, I wonder what else she had to do today. I know that she works from home.

  It is about the middle of the afternoon when she finally texts me back more than one-word answers. I can’t help the smile that comes to my face when I see her name.

  Claire: I don’t know about these women you call family.

  Me: Why… What did they do?

  Claire: I have been held hostage all day in the salon… that’s why I haven’t been able to get back to you much. They aren’t giving me any free time.

  Me: You have been with the girls all day? How did they sucker you into going to their salon?

  Claire: I made the mistake of telling them that I snip my own split ends… have done it for the last six years… I should have kept my mouth shut.

  Me: Yeah that will do it. Lol. Why have you been there all day? I’m sure a haircut doesn’t take that long.

  Claire: They made me wax my legs and eye brows, and they did my nails and toe nails. They also cut and coloured my hair, well highlighted it, since I didn’t want anything drastic because it has been awhile.

  Me: You really didn’t need all of that. You look beautiful just the way you are, baby.

  Claire: It’s okay. It is kind of fun. I haven’t had girl friends in a long time. They are fun to be around. They are also making me come over for supper. They said that you wouldn’t mind cooking for me. ;)

  Me: I will cook for you anytime if that’s what it takes to get to see you. Do you have any allergies to anything, baby? Any food that you don’t like to eat?

  Claire: I don’t have any allergies. The only thing that I don’t like to eat is cauliflower. Don’t ask why because I really don’t know.

  Me: Alright then, baby. Get back to the girls and I will see you after you are done.

  Once I put down my phone, Derek comes in and smirks at me.

  “Texting your girl again?” he says crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall.

  “She’s been with the girls all day,” I tell him. I don’t miss noticing the shocked look on his face.

  He raises his eyebrows. “Shit, and she is still not running?”

  I can’t help but laugh. I shake my head.

  “Yeah, they are making her come over for supper too, so I don’t mind. I am wondering what they plan on doing as a plan of attack.”

  “Me too. I wonder if Claire had some good ideas. Your next appointment is here. Lexi,” he tells me.

  “Shit,” I hiss. She always tries to do more than train. My brother and I made a rule about not sleeping with clients, but sometimes the clients try to get closer than they should. Physical training can be, well, physical, so sometimes the clients can take things a step too far. Lexi still comes to her appointment once a week. I can’t deal with this today especially now that I have someone else that I am interested in. I don’t want to put up with the “accidental” ass and bicep touches.

  “Tell Carter to do it. I can’t deal with her shit today,” I tell him. He nods his head with a smirk. He knows what I am talking about since Lexi used to be his client.

  I get to work on the payroll. Derek always leaves it for me since he isn’t good with numbers. I make sure that everyone’s hours are right. Before I know it, I look at the clock and see that it’s almost five. That is usually the time we leave. Today I am in a hurry since I need to shower before I start cooking. Everyone usually comes for dinner around six.

  I get home, hop in the shower, and then make sure my room is clean. I am not going to try and have sex with Claire yet, but I would love to see if I could get her to sleep in my arms again. I slept like crap last night because I couldn’t stop thinking about her all night. She had felt so good the night before. I couldn’t sleep without her last night.

  I head downstairs and start cooking. We all have lots of table space in our homes since we spend time at each house. Usually, we end up switching off. Coffee is always at Paige’s since we keep all the coffee makers there. The guys and I hid a bunch of instant coffee at our house though in case the girls decide to lock us out and steal our car keys again.

  I decide to make pasta since that’s usually a safe choice. Shit, I really don’t want to mess this up. What if Claire doesn’t like it, and decides that I’m not worth her time.

  Trevor comes in when I am making the sauce, and starts making the salad and garlic toast to go with it.

  Everything is cooking, and I have my back facing the doorway when I hear her voice.

  “Hey everyone.” I hear the shyness in her voice, low and sweet.

  “Holy shit, Claire? What did they do to you?!” Trevor says loudly. I turn around to see what Trevor is talking about, and my jaw drops.

  HOLY FUCK. She still has long hair, but it looks like they added some layers to it. Its dark brown with light brown highlights. There is also a side bang happening. Fuck, she looks gorgeous. It looks like they did her make up too. I am checking her out from top to bottom. She is wearing one of those off the shoulder tops like she was wearing the last time she was here, only this one is pink. She has on jean short shorts again. Fuck me, I love those fucking shorts. I am instantly hard at the sight of her. When I finally make my way up to her face, she is looking at me and blushing. Yeah, she definitely noticed me openly checking her out.

  “Fuck, baby, you look gorgeous,” I tell her. I don’t care who is in the kitchen. I walk up to her, grab her face in between my hands, and kiss her. I can’t wait until later to kiss her. I have t
o touch her. I kiss her hard, but fast. I reluctantly let her go, and rest my forehead on hers looking into her eyes. “So, I take it you like it,” she says amused.

  I can’t help but laugh. “Yeah, baby, I like it.” She smiles sweetly at me.

  “Cole, get away from the stove!” I hear Paige yell in horror.

  I turn around and grab Cole by his arm, and drag him to the other side of the room while he is complaining.

  “I was just going to stir it. I didn’t want it to burn.”

  “Cole, you even manage to ruin food just by looking at it. There is no way that you are going to touch it,” I tell him seriously.

  “I do not ruin food by touching it,” he grumbles sitting at the table pouting like a two-year-old.

  Everyone laughs but Claire. We never got around to tell her that Cole is a terrible cook, and to never let him near the stove.

  “So, I take it that you don’t know how to cook,” Claire says slowly.

  “I just messed up a couple of times, and now they won’t let me near a stove,” Cole groans.

  “A couple of times? You either undercook it, or over cook it! I don’t know how you do it since you stand at the stove the whole time, but let’s face it Cole, you suck,” Tara says honestly. The girls had gotten Cole to try cooking for them, and watched him the whole time. He still messed up, and they couldn’t understand why.

  “I don’t tend to cook much since I live alone. I usually order takeout for my door man and me,” Claire tells us honestly. The thought of her eating alone breaks my heart.

  “That old fox that was there today?” Paige says suddenly her face perking up.

  Claire nods while fighting off a smile. “That would be the one. His name is Thomas.”

  “Wow. Imagine going home to that hot piece of eye candy. Yummy,” Courtney says with a dreamy sigh, while licking her lips. What the fuck? Since when are old dudes hot?

  “You know I’m not usually into older men but, for him, I would be willing to try,” Tara says provoking a glare from Derek.

  I look at Claire. “Are they being serious right now?”

  “Um… I think so?” she tells me with a smile. I narrow my eyes at her.

  “What do you mean you think so?” I growl.

  “Well I mean that for an older man, he is good looking. You know, they just don’t make them like that anymore,” she tells me with a shrug. I don’t miss the way her lips twitch.

  “What the fuck, baby? I am going to look hot as fuck when I’m old,” I tell her.

  “Well, he’s a great guy. Pretty much the only friend I had, so you better be nice to him when you see him. He doesn’t really have any family in the city. They all live far away,” she tells me with a confidence in her voice that I haven’t heard before. It’s sexy as fuck. This man must mean something to her to stand up for him. I know that I will have to meet him now.

  “I will be nice to him as long as you don’t call him good looking anymore,” I tell her as I finish preparing supper with Trevor who is glaring at Paige.

  “Baby, I’m sure you will be as good looking as Thomas when you are older too,” Paige tells him insincerely.

  “I AM going to be fucking hotter than Thomas when I’m old,” Trevor growls at her.

  “Don’t even think it, baby. What does this Thomas have that we don’t have?” Derek glares at Tara.

  “It’s probably because he doesn’t growl at his woman? Or maybe because he is one good looking older man with a killer smile? Or maybe it’s because he only seemed to get better with time? Or he doesn’t mess with a woman’s coffee?” Courtney says taunting us.

  The girls all burst out laughing. “You’re fucking with us, aren’t you?” Trevor asks.

  Their lips twitch. “No, we are not. He is actually good looking,” Paige says.

  “But it’s funny watching you guys get all possessive,” Tara says next.

  “You know, if you want to see for yourselves, I could invite him for dinner. We usually eat once a week together, but I missed it since I was hung over yesterday,” Claire says.

  “Yes! Call him!” The girls say enthusiastically. They are way too excited about this guy.

  Claire digs out her phone, and when she looks at me in question, I nod. I know she’s asking to see if it’s okay with me that he comes. I’d like to meet this guy that they all find so hot.

  “Hey, Thomas! Are you free for dinner?... I wanted you to meet my new friends. Ha, yes them… okay I will text you the address. See you in a bit,” Claire hangs up the phone to find all of us watching her.

  “He’s coming. He just got off work so he’s going home to change, and then he will be here.”

  “We set the tables while we are waiting for Thomas to arrive. We end up grabbing a couple of chairs from outside. This group seems to get bigger and bigger. Just when supper is ready, the doorbell rings.

  I think my brothers stiffen, even Cole, but I’m not sure what that’s about. The only one that doesn’t stiffen is Liam. He has a big fucking smile on his face. I will have to remember to ask Cole about this later.

  I see the women run to the door as quickly as they can, causing some chuckles around us.

  “Fuck, you guys are tense. Relax. Be nice, or your girls will have your balls,” Noah says laughing. The fucker is enjoying this.

  We hear the door open, “Hey, Claire… girls, lovely to see such pretty things twice in one day,” a deep and manly voice says. The girls giggle. They fucking giggle. I hear Liam, Noah, Luke, and Kyle laugh.

  “The guy has game,” Kyle says while he’s laughing.

  “Well, this is a nice home.” The voices get closer. I look to the door, and see an older man. His skin is tan, he has blue eyes, and salt and pepper hair. He doesn’t look that old to me. He is also built like a mother fucker. I think that the guy has more muscles than me. He’s tall; probably around my height.

  He sees us all staring at him, and I see his lips twitch in amusement.

  “Let me guess. These four belong to you ladies. Claire, which one is your man?” He gestures to all of us.

  Claire comes up to me shyly. “This one right here is Sam. Sam, this is Thomas.” I put my arm around her shoulders, and kiss the side of her head.

  Thomas eyes me up and down. Then he nods his head. “You treat Miss Claire right. She is a sweet girl, and deserves to be treated the best. She hasn’t let many people in, and for her to automatically let you and all your friends and family in so quickly, means that she sees something in all of you. If any of you hurt her, I won’t hesitate to kick any one of your asses.”

  We all stand there in shock with our jaws hanging open. I can tell that, in a way, Thomas here thinks of Claire like a daughter. He is over protective of her like she is one of his own kids. This man has just earned a ton of my respect.

  “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on hurting her. I knew the second I had laid eyes on her that she was special.” I look over to Claire and wink, but I don’t miss how Thomas nods his head in approval.

  “Now, someone mentioned food, and I’m starving,” Thomas says making us all laugh.

  We sit down to eat, and Claire seems to really enjoy the food. She moaned with the first bite she took, and I almost lost it. She can’t make noises like that when there are people around. I’m hanging on by a thread as it is. She sat beside me at dinner, and I had my hand on her the entire time; either on her thigh (which made her jump the first time and caused me to chuckle under my breath), or on the back of her chair playing with her hair.

  During dinner, we learn that Thomas has a son and a daughter. The daughter has a kid of her own, and is married. If I am reading him correctly, I don’t think he thinks too kindly of his son in-law. His son is single, and isn’t in a rush to settle down. His wife passed away when the kids were young. She had died in a car accident coming home from work. He actually lives a couple houses down from here. He never wanted to give up the home they raised their kids in. He also only works as a doorman to keep busy. H
e said he doesn’t need the money. He thought about leaving years ago, but then Claire had moved in and he recognized the sadness in her eyes, so he stayed to watch over her. I looked at my girl while he was talking, and she had unshed tears in her eyes.

  “I haven’t seen that sadness in the last few days, and I know it’s because of your new friends that you have made. I’m happy to see you smiling. It looks great on you,” Thomas says to Claire, and winks at her. She looks down and blushes. Fuck me. How this old guy can make women like Claire, Paige, Tara, and Courtney blush is beyond me.

  “Well thanks for inviting me. I should be going. It’s good to see Claire in good hands.” He gives Claire a hug and heads out the door.

  “That’s the sweetest young-looking old man I have ever met,” Paige mutters sighing.

  “If he wasn’t so fucking nice, I would want to kick his ass for making you swoon like a school girl with a crush on her teacher,” Trevor grumbles making us laugh.

  “Come baby, let’s go watch a movie.” I pull Claire up from her chair. She nods her head and yawns. Everyone else gives us a knowing look. All I do is shake my head at them.

  I bring Claire up to my room, and she automatically falls face first onto the bed. “Claire?” When she doesn’t answer me, I chuckle. “Baby, you okay?”

  She grumbles, but her voice is muffled by the pillow she is laying on.

  “Pick whatever you want. I probably won’t even make it to the start screen. Getting pampered is exhausting,” she mumbles.

  I can’t help but laugh. “Why don’t you put one of my shirts on? That way, you will be comfortable when you fall asleep.”

  “I can’t get comfortable if I’m going to make it home before I fall asleep,” she tells me as she lifts her head and looks at me.

  “Why don’t you stay the night, baby? That way, it won’t matter if you fall asleep,” I tell her slowly, hoping that she says “yes”.

  She looks at me for a long minute. It looks like she’s at war with herself. Finally, she smiles up at me. “Okay, but only if I can have the shirt you’re wearing.”