by C. L. Stone
I sucked in a deep breath, trying to swallow back the emotion in my throat.
He backed away from me. I turned around. I bent over at the hips until my fingers were touching the floor. I couldn’t see behind me but I sensed his eyes.
“Remain bent over and lift one foot at the knee.”
I did.
“Other one.”
I put my leg down and lifted the other one.
“Now put your leg down but just kind of... shake or something.”
I blushed again, but I put my leg down and I wriggled my hips at him.
“Oh god, okay. Yes. It’s fine,” he said quickly. I stood up. He turned partially away from me and his ears were still red. “Okay, we’re good.”
“This is the one?” I asked, curious as to why he had turned around.
“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled. “You’re perfect.” He shoved the curtain out of the way without looking at me again, walking out.
The moment he did, a loud voice sounded right outside the curtain. “Sir,” said a burly male voice, “you can’t do that. There can’t be two people in the dressing room.”
“Who says?” Gabriel asked. “There’s no sign.”
“I’m the manager,” the man said.
My heart jumped and I lunged for my clothes to pull them back on.
“Don’t you know who that girl is?” Gabriel said in a low tone.
“I don’t care who she is,” the voice said, though softer.
“This girl has a shoot tomorrow and we’re here to get her a bathing suit because that’s what they want her in and I need to make sure it doesn’t look like shit.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m her photographer.”
I smothered a giggle as I put Kota’s shirt back on.
The manager huffed. “You still can’t just...”
“Get over it,” Gabriel said. “This isn’t the pervert show, okay? I was just giving her my opinion. Besides, you need to let boyfriends have opinions about their girls’ in their suits. Girls get it all wrong.”
I wanted to toss my shoe at him. Instead I finished up, opening the curtain with the pink bathing suit hanging over my arm.
The manager was a husky man in a blue dress shirt and khakis. He took one look at me and started to mumble. “I… just...um...”
Gabriel smirked haughtily and grabbed the bathing suit from me, tossing it at the guy. “Will you ring this up for us?” Gabriel turned to me. “Can you go fetch your agent, please? Let him pay for it if he wants it so bad.”
I dashed off to fetch Victor. By the time he followed me back into the store to the registers, the manager had already bagged the bathing suit and was waiting for the payment.
“Don’t I get to see it?” Victor asked.
Gabriel leaned against the counter with his arms folded against his chest. He looked distracted, distant. “Later.”
♥♥♥
When we got back to Victor’s car, Gabriel opened the front passenger side door for me.
“You can sit up front if you’d like,” I said to him. “I really don’t mind.” I was trying to be nicer since I spent a good part of that morning complaining about him. I felt badly about it now. He’d worked hard today to do all this stuff for me and I wanted to let him know I appreciated it.
He seemed confused by my response and tilted his head at me. He glanced at the others, but they had already gotten into the car. He tucked his head closer to me. “Okay, but only because I hate Victor’s music and I can’t switch the stereo from the back.”
I shared a conspiratorial smile with him and he opened the back passenger door for me. I slid in next to Nathan, who beamed. Victor flicked a confused glance at us.
“Where do we want to go?” Victor asked. He readjusted his rearview mirror until he could catch my eye. “What are you hungry for?”
My eyes flashed to Nathan. He mouthed: Italian.
“Italian,” I said out loud for him, pleased that someone else made this choice.
Victor rolled his eyes. “What’s your favorite food, Sang?”
“Pancakes.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “All right, we’ll get Italian. Only because Erica makes the best pancakes and we’re not asking her right now.”
Victor drove to a nearby Italian place. When we got inside, he said something to the hostess and she guided us to a table.
Victor held a hand toward the booth and gazed back at me. I slid in on one side and he slid in next to me. Gabriel sat across from me and Nathan sat next to him.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” said a tall waiter with slicked back, dark hair and a nametag that read “Cody” as he handed us menus. His eyes caught mine and he grinned. “And lady. Can I interest you in our specials or the wine menu?” The last part sounded more like a joke. He had to know we were underage.
“No, thank you,” Victor said.
“May I get you something to drink?”
“Coke,” said Gabriel.
“I want one of those strawberry smoothies,” Nathan said.
“Sprite,” Victor said.
Cody looked at me, an eyebrow raising. “And for you, sweetie?”
Victor flinched but said nothing.
“Water, please,” I said.
“You can get more than water,” Victor said to me.
I blushed. I wasn’t sure what else to get. “Um, a strawberry smoothie, too, please?” I checked with Victor who nodded.
Cody shot glances between Victor and I. He gave us a small smile that was oddly curious. When he left, we opened our menus. The prices were more than I expected for spaghetti and other pasta dishes. I tried to calm my heart. After all, Victor just spent several thousand dollars on clothes. Thinking of it made my stomach twist and I started to rattle again.
“What are you getting?” Gabriel asked. His foot nudged mine under the table, pulling me from my thoughts.
“I was thinking of the chicken salad,” I said.
“Get what you really want, Sang,” Victor said coolly without looking up from the menu.
“How do you know that’s not what she wants?” Nathan asked, closing his menu and dropping it on the table.
“She’s conveniently picked the lowest priced item on the menu that isn’t an appetizer.” He lifted his head. The fire in his eyes seemed amused as he faced me. “Sang?”
I blushed and scanned the menu. “Tortellini?”
“Better,” he said. He folded his menu, placing it on the table.
The waiter came back with our drinks. The smoothies were served in big green glasses with strawberry wedges around the rim. Nathan’s had two. Mine had six. Nathan’s eyes narrowed on my glass but he said nothing.
“Have you decided?” Cody asked. He looked intently at my face. I was confused and felt a finger fluttering up to my lip.
“We’ll start with the zucchini fritté,” Victor said. “I’ll have the veal marsala. She’ll have the tortellini.” He paused, gazing at the others across the table.
Nathan and Gabriel put in their orders, but Cody kept glancing at me. “Anything else?” he asked, seemingly to the table in general but his gaze never left mine.
“That’s it,” Victor said.
Cody’s smile teased his lips in an almost smirk. “Call on me if you need anything. I’ll get these right out.”
The air pressure around the table seemed to lift when he left.
“I don’t like our waiter,” Gabriel said.
The others mumbled in agreement.
“Did he do something wrong?” I asked, not completely understanding their displeasure.
None of them seemed to want to answer, so I focused on the strawberry smoothie. I picked up one of the strawberries from the rim and took a bite.
Gabriel stretched in his seat. “Mmm... long morning,” he said. “We got a lot done, though. And Sang’s got a new wardrobe.” He wriggled his eyebrows at me. “Enough room in your closet?”
“I don’t know how I’m goi
ng to get it all up to my room.” I absentmindedly rubbed at the collar of Kota’s shirt at my neck. “And I’m worried. I mean, what if Danielle comes back? And my parents might wonder...”
“We’re taking care of that,” Nathan said. He snagged one of the strawberries off of my glass and popped it into his mouth. He’d already eaten his.
“How?”
He glanced at Victor. Victor only shrugged. Nathan turned back to me with a smile. “Don’t worry so much.”
“Besides,” Gabriel said, “Danielle won’t be able to get her ass in your clothes now that you’ve got shit that fits. I saw her in your skirt. I’m surprised she didn’t rip it.”
“I don’t understand why she wanted my things, anyway,” I said. “They weren’t exactly expensive or new.”
“She was trying to get attention by wearing what you wear,” Victor said. His fingers slipped through the condensation on his drink. “A lot of the girls are doing that.”
“Doing what?” I blushed.
“They’re all wearing nicer things. I’ve seen the girls starting to wear skirts.” Victor’s eyes lifted to settle on my face. “Apparently you’re a trendsetter.”
“Yeah well,” Gabriel said, sitting back and hanging an elbow over the back edge of the booth. His foot slid next to mine again, this time staying pressed against me. “They’re about to get their minds blown. She’s got a whole new look now.”
“I don’t know, guys. I don’t want to stand out.”
They all laughed.
“You’re wearing skirts to school in the first place,” Gabriel said. “You started it.”
I shrugged. “It was what everyone wore at my old school.”
Under the table, Victor found my hand. His fingers interlocked mine, his thumb smoothed over my skin. I tried to feel calm about it, but it set my heart speeding along.
“What were they like? The kids at your old school? What did they wear?” he asked.
“The clothes were a little nicer than what kids wear here, I suppose,” I said quietly. “They were a lot calmer. Quieter. There wasn’t as much fighting. The girls wore skirts and blouses most of the time. During the winter they might trade for nicer jeans.”
His eyebrow rose and his thumb stopped. “Were you that different from them?”
“Who?”
“The other kids.”
“Their clothes were nicer. Newer.”
“You didn’t look like a monster in yours, so I don’t understand. And they still didn’t talk to you?”
I shrugged, feeling cornered. “They weren’t mean to me. They just never said anything to me. After a while, I settled into a routine. I was usually reading at my own table. It wasn’t as crowded at my old school, so I could find space for myself.”
Gabriel smirked. “I think Kota was right. They were probably blown away by you and didn’t know how to approach you.”
Heat radiated my face again.
Nathan cleared his throat. “Anyway,” he said, his blue eyes on me. “Do we want to go help the guys when we get back or are we doing something else?”
“Else,” Gabriel said. “We’re going to get roped into working at the diner soon enough. Might as well take the time off while we can get away with it.”
“Want to swim, Sang?” Nathan asked.
I brightened, nodding. I was grateful he was interrupting the others and redirecting the attention. “Sure.”
“We’ll tell the guys when we get back that Sang wanted to swim so we have to stay behind.”
After we had eaten the appetizer and the meals were delivered, Cody took special care to place the boys’ plates first.
When he got to mine, he stopped halfway as if he was feeling awkward about reaching over everyone else. His eyes fell on me. I caught something in what he wanted and without thinking, I reached out to help, taking the plate from him. His rough hands traced over mine as he let go.
“Thank you,” I said to be polite, even though I was confused. Why was he touching me?
He flashed an amused grin. “Need anything else?” he asked, though his eyes were on me alone.
“No,” Victor said shortly.
Cody shot him a glare. He bowed his head at us and left the table.
As we ate, the conversation turned to school. They started talking about the teachers, the homework we had and expectations about upcoming tests. It wasn’t long before I was feeling full and finally had to push my plate away.
“Left room for dessert?” Victor asked me.
I shook my head, covering my stomach with my hand and rubbing. “It’s too much.”
“They’ve got a nice tiramisu here.”
I slid over in the booth until I was leaning my shoulder against his. “What’s tiramisu?”
He smiled, amused. “You’ll see.”
“I like the strawberry cheesecake,” Nathan said, pushing his empty plate away.
“I want chocolate,” Gabriel said. He speared some pasta from my plate and ate it. “There’s a chocolate cake thing here, right?”
Cody came back and took our plates. Nathan ordered the strawberry cheesecake, chocolate cake and the tiramisu for the table.
“And bring four spoons,” he said.
Cody’s eyes once again landed on me. “Would you like anything else, sweetheart?”
I flinched, not understanding why he kept asking me. “I’m fine.”
He flashed another smile my way and turned from us, carrying the dishes back to the kitchen.
“What the hell is he doing?” Gabriel said. “It’s like he’s waiting for us to punch him or something.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“He hasn’t stopped flirting with you since we got here,” he said.
My mouth popped open and my hand fluttered to the base of my throat. “I thought he was just being nice.”
“He’s being an ass,” Victor said.
I sighed, swallowed, and sat back again with my arms around my stomach. I didn’t understand flirting at all.
Cody returned, and he placed the desserts in the middle of the table, spoons placed beside each one.
He had a small bowl of vanilla ice cream, too, and positioned it in front of me. He held the spoon out for me to take from him. “Thought you might like some,” he said. “It’ll cleanse your palette.”
I glanced quickly at the guys, who were glaring at Cody. He ignored them, intent on me. I slowly reached for the spoon. He turned his fingers to lightly brush at my hand, lingering longer than necessary for me to collect the spoon.
“Thank you,” I said quietly, unsure of how to respond otherwise.
He brightened, flashing a satisfied grin and walked away.
“His tip is standing in the negative,” Victor said. “One more thing and I’m talking to the manager.”
“What are you going to tell him?” Gabriel asked. “That he’s being too polite to a girl we’re with? It makes us look like jealous freaks.”
Victor grabbed the spoon on the tiramisu plate.
Nathan scooped at his cheesecake. “Don’t make it look like we’re bothered by it,” he said. He held his spoon filled with red swirled cheesecake out toward me. “Have a taste,” Nathan said.
I steadied his hand with mine, bringing the spoon to my mouth. The cheesecake was heady with strawberries and something tangy I couldn’t place. I let go of him to put my fingers over my mouth as I swallowed, licking my lips. “It’s good.”
Victor nudged the plate of tiramisu toward me. “Try this.”
I picked up my spoon, taking a bite of the fluffy, creamy dessert. It tasted like cinnamon or chocolate and there was a soft after-bite. “What’s in this?”
“Rum, I think,” Victor said, taking a bite of it himself and grinning. “It’s not bad.”
“Okay now this one,” Gabriel said. He positioned his plate until it was between both of us.
I took a spoonful of his cake and ate it. “Okay,” I said. “I can’t pick. They’re all really goo
d.”
Gabriel’s eyes lit up. He dabbed his spoon into the ice cream cup, scooped up a little and then dug out a corner of cake to eat both together. “I have to admit, the ice cream is perfect for this.”
I took a bite of ice cream, too. Within minutes, the plates were empty. I felt ready to roll out the door.
Cody returned, dropping off the check and taking our plates. As Victor pulled his wallet out again, I pressed my cheek to his shoulder.
He turned his head slightly to me and parted his lips to say something, but I beat him to it.
“Thank you, Victor,” I said softly.
“You’re welcome, Sang.”
When he signed the receipt, he scooted out of the booth. The others followed. I trailed behind them through the crowded restaurant.
Cody materialized ahead of us and made his way along the same path, thanking us for coming.
When he got to me, he held his hand out in a strange way like he wanted to shake my hand. Out of instinct to be polite more than anything else, my hand drifted up and he grasped it. I felt a piece of paper being pressed to my hand.
He leaned in to me to whisper. “When you get tired of being bossed around by those losers, call me.”
My eyes widened and I blushed. I shoved the paper back to him, without checking to see what it was. “My friends,” I said loud enough to draw the attention of the boys to turn and look, “are way nicer than you are.”
Cody’s face reddened. He let the paper drop to the floor between us and turned away quickly, sulking.
The guys laughed. Gabriel hooked an arm around my neck, his head touching mine as he walked beside me the rest of the way out the door. “That’s our girl.”
♥♥♥
Out in the car, I was leaning back in the back seat, my head against the door. Now, in the warmth of the day and with the drone of the car and a super-full belly, I was feeling sleepy.
Nathan popped my seat belt undone. He tugged lightly at my arm. “Come here.”
I was confused, but he pulled me over until my head was pillowed by his thigh. I stiffened, nervous. He rested his arm against my shoulder as he moved his fingers to my ear. He smoothed his thumb over my lobe.
I was asleep in a minute.