by Nikki Ashton
Gigi’s voice shattered Rocco’s daydream.
“I went for a shit,” he replied, chuckling quietly to himself as he turned to his sister. “Why?”
“Because Papa said we have to have everything ready by ten, and I’m not doing it all on my own. The deal was I’d help you.”
Gigi was livid, she’d ended up doing most of the set up in the rehearsal room, which had led to her missing the arrival of Alchemy Dream. She only knew that they were in the building because she’d heard Rachel on reception, complaining that Drayton Carmichael was a rude, big-headed dick. Apparently, as Rachel told Gigi’s Uncle Tom, he’d sauntered in, refused to sign in and had then demanded Rachel send out for Sushi for him and the band.
“It’s not my job, Tom,” Rachel had complained. “But he was adamant, or he was going to report me and get me fired.”
“Rach,” Tom sighed. “As if we’d fire you for not getting some raw fish for a fucking little dipshit, wannabe like Drayton Carmichael. He’s a tool and I’ll go and tell him he’s got no authority here. He’s signed to the fucking label; he doesn’t own it.”
“I didn’t want to involve you, Tom, but he was horrible.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll warn the little fucker he’s off the gig if he doesn’t behave.”
Gigi’s eyes widened. How could she put her plan into action if Alchemy Dream weren’t playing at the concert? Plus, it would be a total waste of her summer; she didn’t want to help Rocco, she wanted to lose her virginity to Drayton Carmichael.
“So,” Gigi demanded of her brother, back in the present. “Are you actually going to help me, or do you feel the need to have another shit that lasts a lifetime.”
Rocco grinned. “When you gotta lay a cable, sis, you gotta lay a cable.”
“Ugh,” Gigi groaned. “You are disgusting, and I have no idea why any girl would want to spend time with you.”
“Because I’m a rock star in bed apparently.”
“And who told you that, some bimbo who wants to meet Papa?”
Rocco shrugged. “Doesn’t matter who said it, Gee. What matters is, it’s the truth.”
Gigi groaned, turned on her heels and stalked off with a laughing Rocco following behind.
Chapter 8
Eliza looked at her bank balance and sighed; extremely heavily.
Buying a new guitar had been extravagant, especially when her dad had the exact same model in his den and let her play it whenever she liked – but Eliza had coveted the midnight, sapphire blue Epiphone Les Paul, in the music shop window for an absolute age and had felt obligated to buy it, despite its cost.
Her parents were very strict about her allowance—if she spent it before the next lot was due, tough. They were pretty generous in how much they gave her each month, more than most kids her age got, but it wasn’t thousands by any stretch and all the money she’d saved was now gone with another three weeks until ‘pay day’.
She had to get some money somehow and the only option was to get a summer job, but they were few and far between in the village that they lived in. Eliza thought about asking Valerie, at the local shop, but her great-niece, Polly, already helped out at the weekend and during the school holidays, so it was highly unlikely Valerie would need Eliza too.
“Hey sis, watcha doing?” Hendrix asked, flopping down next to her on the sofa. “You looking for a hook-up on Tinder?”
“No.” Eliza scowled at him. “I’m actually checking my bank account and it’s not a pleasant picture.”
“I can lend you some bank if you’re strapped.”
Eliza gave her younger brother a soft smile. “Thanks, Squid, but I’ll manage.”
“I don’t mind,” Hendrix said, shifting around to lie down with his feet in Eliza’s lap. “I haven’t spent my modelling money.”
“No, honestly, Hen, I appreciate the offer, but you worked hard for that money. I’m not sure when I’d be able to pay you back either.”
“Oh well in that case.” Hendrix laughed and adjusted the cushion under his head. “No, seriously sis, I honestly don’t mind—just pay me back when you can. No dramas. Anyway, it was hardly hard work standing around all day trying to look moody while wearing board shorts and t-shirts.”
Eliza patted Hendrix’s leg and smiled at him. “Well thanks, Squid, but I think it’s about time I started to earn some money. The ‘rents are great in giving us an allowance, but you earn your own money, so it’s only right I try as well.”
“Any ideas?”
“I thought of asking Valerie, but…”
“God, you must be desperate. Spending all day with Val wittering in your earhole.”
“Yep, there is that, but to be honest I don’t think she needs me anyway with Polly working there.”
Hendrix whistled, followed by a wistful sigh. “Oh yeah.”
“You got a thing for Polly, Squid?” Eliza tilted her head back to look at her brother. “I wouldn’t have thought she was your type.”
“Why?” Hendrix asked, looking a little affronted. “Because she’s not a size six, but has an arse, hips and tits?”
“No!” Eliza exclaimed. “I just meant she’s quiet and shy. You know I don’t agree with all that shit about girls needing to be as flat as an ironing board and as thin as a toothpick.”
“Easy for you to say with the figure you’ve got.”
“Seriously, Hen, do you really think I would judge someone just because of their size?” Eliza felt disappointed that Hendrix would think that of her. She knew that she was extremely lucky to have been blessed with her dad’s long legs and her mum’s perfectly proportioned curves, but it didn’t mean she thought so highly of herself that she saw anyone else as less than perfect.
“Well do you?” she asked again, more insistent.
Hendrix shook his head, raising his eyes to the ceiling. “No, but some people do,” he said on a long exhale.
“Has someone said something to you about Polly? Because if they have, I hope you told them to go fuck themselves.”
“Now that would get me expelled,” Hendrix laughed, thinking of the times he’d narrowly missed being expelled for the various practical jokes he’d pulled. “It was a couple of girls at school, in the year above me.”
“What did they say?” Eliza sat up straighter, almost pushing Hendrix’s legs to the floor.
“Polly and I were…talking,” he replied, tentatively.
“You’re blushing, you dirty little devil.” Eliza poked Hendrix in his stomach and grinned. “Why didn’t you tell me that you had a girlfriend?”
“Because it’s nothing like that.”
“So, you kiss any old girl?”
“No, I bloody don’t. Polly and I, well, we’re friends.”
“What sort of friends – kissing friends?”
Hendrix blew out his cheeks. “What does it matter?”
“Oh, for God’s sake. Just admit it she’s your girlfriend and you were kissing when the bitches said something?”
Hendrix stared at his sister, keeping his lips firmly clamped together.
“Admit it.”
“Okay, okay,” he said rolling his eyes. “So, we were kissing when they found us and just tore into Polly. Fucking vile bitches.”
“What did they say? You want me to have a word with them, whoever they are?”
Hendrix shook his head. “No, I really don’t need my sister fighting my battles, thanks anyway. I told them what I thought of them. Not that they cared, the insults just washed over them.”
“Were they really horrible?” Eliza asked, anger brewing inside her. “What did they say?”
“They actually asked Polly how someone so fat had managed to bag a model. One of them asked her if she’d paid me.”
Eliza’s eyes widened. “Bloody bitches,” she gasped.
“Yeah, that’s the nicest thing I would call them.”
“So, what did you say to them?”
“Told them that I thought Polly was beautiful and
I was proud to call her mine.”
Eliza’s mouth dropped open as she looked at her brother. Tears pricked at her eyes and her heart felt full to bursting with love for him.
“Henny,” she whispered. “That’s just…oh my God, I’m so proud of you.”
Hendrix shrugged and reached for the TV remote from the coffee table. “It’s the truth. I am.”
“I love you.” Eliza sprang forward and covered her brother’s prone body, pulling him into a tight hug. “Never, ever change, Hen. No matter how famous you get with your modelling, or however many girls throw themselves at you, please stay the same.”
“Yeah, yeah okay.” Hendrix’s muffled grumble came through the mass of his sister’s curls. “Now get off me.”
Eliza sat up and, wiping at her eyes, gave Hendrix the softest of smiles. “I hope Polly knows how special you are.”
Hendrix grinned lasciviously and winked at his sister. “Oh yeah, she does, don’t you worry.”
“Well make sure you’re being careful,” Eliza warned.
She looked back down at her phone, wondering whether it was right that she, a virgin, should be giving her younger, sexually active brother, advice on sexual health. It wasn’t as though she was giving him hints or tips on how to please his girlfriend, just on how to keep them both safe. That was what any older sister would do. It wasn’t that hypocritical, was it?
“Eliza,” Hendrix sighed. “I really don’t want to talk to you about this, but I swear I take care of her. She’s important to me.”
Eliza looked at her brother and chewed her lip. “She is sixteen, isn’t she?”
Hendrix rolled his eyes. “Yes. We’re perfectly legal.”
“You really do care about her?”
“For fuck’s sake, El. I’ve liked her for ages, and we’ve been seeing each other for almost five months—”
“What, since Polly started working in the shop?” she interrupted. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you’re my sister. And, as much as I love you, I really don’t want to talk to you about how many times a day I whack off or, where and when I lost my virginity, and with whom.”
Eliza took in a sharp breath. “Aaw Henny, is she your first? Oh my God, that is so sweet.”
Hendrix’s nostrils flared. “Please do not ever use the word sweet in context with me having sex, ever again. Now please, can we change the subject?”
“I’m happy for you, that’s all,” Eliza pouted, not understanding why Hendrix couldn’t have told her. They’d always been close with only two years between them. “I thought we told each other everything?”
“Yeah, well not this we don’t. Just like you don’t tell me about how you get a lady boner every day for Rocco.”
Colour flooded Eliza’s cheeks as she pushed herself back into the sofa, hoping to become invisible.
“I-I-I don’t,” she stammered.
Hendrix pushed himself up and rested on his forearms, looking at his sister with raised brows. “Really?”
“I don’t,” Eliza protested.
“El, please give me credit for having eyes and for knowing you. You couldn’t hide it if you tried – well not from me at least.”
Unable to speak, Eliza let out a strangulated growl.
“He doesn’t know, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Hendrix sat up fully and dropped his feet to the floor. “He’s so busy hooking up with random girls and making sure his hair is still perfect that he has no idea.”
“I-I…”
She had no clue what she was going to say. There was nothing to say. Hendrix knew her too well and had always known when she was lying.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Hendrix said, pulling Eliza’s hand into his. “If you’ve got the hots for him. But what does matter to me is that dickhead doesn’t see you for the amazing person that you are – not in the romantic sense anyway. Yeah, you’re his best friend, after Ethan, and I know he thinks you’re amazing that way, but as for romance, sis, well he’s too self-obsessed to see what’s right in front of his eyes.”
He gave Eliza’s hand a tug, urging her to look at him. Without lifting her head, she turned her eyes towards him.
“I thought you loved Rocco,” she whispered.
“I do,” Hendrix replied. “Like a brother, but he is self-obsessed, and he can be selfish and he’s kind of breaking my big sister’s heart, and I can’t stand the thought of that.”
Eliza’s bottom lip trembled as she looked at her little brother, seeing the love and care in his eyes. God, their parents had done the best job ever producing him. Who’d have thought the nocturnal kid who could eat his own body weight in food, and could scream higher than Mariah Carey’s top note, would turn into such a beautiful and caring teenager.
“I love you, Hen.”
“I know, I’m very loveable.” He leaned forward and kissed Eliza’s temple. “I love you too, so do me a favour and stop crushing on Rocco and find someone who you deserve and who deserves you.”
Eliza let out a laugh. “Oh yeah, ‘cause there are loads of offers on the table.”
“There could be, El. You just haven’t expanded your gaze far enough past wonder-boy to realise.”
“Hah, like who?”
“Freddie Price.”
Hendrix raised his brows and waited for his sister’s reaction. He had no idea how she hadn’t seen the way Freddie looked at her – how Freddie had always looked at her, from as far back as Hendrix could remember.
“Freddie? God, no. We’re just friends,” Eliza scoffed.
“Yeah, like you and Rocco?”
“Okay, I get it, Rocco isn’t and never will be interested in me in that way, but neither is Freddie.”
Hendrix sighed and rolled his eyes. “Considering you’re the elder sibling you aren’t half stupid,” he groaned. “Freddie Price is so hot for you his damn bollocks are on fire. I’m telling you, El, he fancies you like mad.”
“Freddie is…”
“Just a friend, yeah you said, but do me a favour.”
“What?”
“Just look past Rocco for once and consider your options. Oh, and you might also be interested to know, the Leisure Centre is advertising summer jobs.”
Eliza frowned, wondering at Hendrix’s sudden change of subject from her love life.
“You want money don’t you, so there’s your opportunity to earn some.”
“Ookay, thanks.” She gave Hendrix a sideways look. “So. we’ve finished talking about my lack of romance then?”
Hendrix shook his head and laughed. “No way, sister. No, I tell you this to help you in both of the areas of your life that are shit. Call it my gift to you.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You need to earn some money and you also need to get laid—”
“Hendrix!” Eliza snapped. “I do not need to get laid.”
“Semantics, Eliza. Need and want are practically the same.”
Eliza opened her mouth to protest, but Hendrix held his hand up to silence her.
“No, let me finish. I will give you this gift, but it is entirely up to you whether you choose to accept it.”
“Hendrix, just damn well tell me what you’re going on about,” Eliza huffed, impatiently.
“Okay, the leisure centre is looking for staff and who do you think is already working at the leisure centre for the summer?”
“I have no idea.” Eliza glared at her brother. “Who?”
“Only Freddie Price.”
Hendrix grinned, looking as though he’d just given a speech that had resulted in world peace.
“Listen, Hen, don’t try any matchmaking on my behalf. If and when I decide I ‘need to get laid’, I think I can manage it myself.”
God, who was she kidding? She hadn’t managed so far and even more maddeningly her little brother had. Where was the justice in that?
“Really?” Hendrix smirked, as if reading her mind. “All I’m suggesting is th
at you open your mind to the possibility of dabbling elsewhere, even if it’s only until wonder-boy realises that all those vacuous bimbos that he’s been boning are not all that.”
“I’m not going to dabble, that wouldn’t be fair to the other person,” Eliza cried, turning in her seat to fully face her brother. “And who says I want to wait like a pathetic idiot, while Rocco shags anything that moves for the next few years?”
Hendrix raised a brow. “I think you’ll find the way you’ve waited around so far, kind of indicates that’s exactly what you’ll do.”
Eliza couldn’t argue, she knew that Hendrix was right. She had just hung around like a lovesick groupie, waiting for Rocco to see her.
“Sometimes I hate you,” she muttered.
“No, you don’t, not really.” Hendrix laughed and playfully punched Eliza’s shoulder. “So, get down to the leisure centre in Rickeby, get yourself a job and lay some of that Hughes charm on Freddie, and while you’re at it, don’t shut down the idea that maybe he’s a good guy and could be exactly the right man for you.”
“He might be just as shallow as Rocco,” she groaned.
Hendrix shook his head and looked at her earnestly. “No, he isn’t, sis.”
“How do you know?”
“Who do you think I went to when I needed advice about…well you know…with Polly, our first time? He’s a counsellor at school, remember, but I’d have gone to him anyway, he’s always been cool.”
Eliza’s eyes widened. “You didn’t go to Ethan, or Rocco or even Dad?”
“Dad!” Hendrix blurted out a laugh. “You’re joking, aren’t you? He’d have felt the need to regale his tales of how to treat a woman and how to be sure to hit the target. There’d have been a fucking power point presentation, pie charts and role playing.”
Eliza joined in with his laughter, knowing that’s exactly what their dad would have done. “Okay, I get why not dad, but why not the boys?”
“Because they’d have taken the piss, and plus…well sometimes you know, El, I don’t want everyone knowing my business. I love our huge, crazy, unconventional family with all my fucking heart, but they can be really annoying at times.”
Eliza had to agree with her brother. The Dirty Riches family was phenomenal most of the time, but there were occasions when they were a pain in the arse.