by K. A Knight
“Not yet.”
This time I do spit my water and he leans across and pats my back as I choke. I glare at him as he smiles sweetly. Leaning back, I try to catch my breath, my mum throws me a look and leans in closer to him.
“Do you work with my Gabby? Is that how you met?” She looks so excited and I turn as if in slow motion, panic tightening my body, but it's too late, his mouth is already opening. It’s like a train wreck I can’t look away from.
“Yeah, she just signed on to be our new manager. She’s working out really well actually, I didn’t think a woman in a strip show would do well.”
It goes silent, and I turn my head slowly to see my mum’s face frozen with an awkward smile. “Strip show?” her voice screeching, causing people at the closest tables to look at me.
Awkward.
“Erm…” Damon says, for once in his life lost for words as he tosses me a pleading look.
“Gabrielle, look at me right now. Tell me that isn’t true,” my father rumbles and I wince as I look into his disappointed eyes.
I didn’t know where else to go, sitting with my back against the stage wall I let the tears fall silently, trying to hold in my sobs. Dinner was terrible. I told Damon to leave halfway through when my dad stopped talking to me. He tried to stay, but I convinced him to go. As soon as we got home my dad marched upstairs and I followed, only to see him throwing a suitcase at me. I let it fall to my feet in shock. His words still ring in my head, the disgust and disappointment on his hard face as he told me to leave and never come back, that he wouldn't be caught with a whore for a daughter. The word whore was like a blow, making me gasp and stumble back, but it also unleashed my anger. I fought back, trying to explain my job and that it was a honour, one I wouldn't let him sully. That I wasn't ashamed. He wouldn't listen, this immeasurable gap between us only growing and opening into a chasm as he flung more words at me and I defended. Nothing would change, he would never accept this. That much is obvious. The worst bit? My mother didn't even fight for me, didn’t even look at me as I lugged my suitcases down the stairs and to the cab they had called. They didn’t even say goodbye.
In a numb state, I found myself coming here, curling up on the empty stage with my bags next to me. I have some friends I could stay with, but it fills me with shame. Fuck, I hate this. This isn’t who I am. Are they really willing to lose me, their only child, over my job? It’s not like I decided to become a sex worker and so what if I did? All they have to do is support me. Rob, my brother, would understand. Pulling out my phone, I stroke over the picture of us together.
“Fuck, I miss you big bro. If you could see me now,” I say through a hiccup.
Dropping my phone into my lap, I lean my head back and try to staunch my tears, loneliness growing in my chest.
“Angel?” comes a hesitant voice and I groan, of fucking course. Turning my head away I swipe at the tears, trying to correct my makeup so I don’t look like a panda in front of them.
“Gabs?” comes a second voice, brilliant.
Gritting my teeth, I turn to see Emmett and Liam hovering at the edge of the stage. When they see my face they rush over and drop to the floor in front of me, reaching out but then quickly pulling back, unsure whether I want to be touched or not.
“You okay?” Liam asks, then cringes. “I mean I know you aren’t but…” He rambles and it’s adorable, making me snort.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, my voice still thick with tears.
Emmett scooches closer until our legs are touching, and then picks mine up and drops them into his lap—I don’t even have the energy to fight it. “Damon told us he messed up, we figured we would see if you were okay, but we didn't know where you lived so we were going to break into your office,” he says with a smile, not the least bit ashamed and I can't help but laugh.
“Yeah, I’ve never stalked a girl before, Angel. You should feel lucky.” Liam winks, making me smile, it’s hard to be sad when he’s around.
“I’m betting it’s usually the other way around?” I ask, wiping my face again.
“Pretty much.” He shrugs and tugs at my dress, his palm landing on my bare thigh revealed by the split, warming my skin and making me think about other things. “Love the dress by the way, Damon snuck us a picture earlier but damn…”
Emmett leans over and smacks the back of his head. “Something you were supposed to keep a secret.”
Grinning even with a tear-stained face, I find myself happy again, their company chasing away the loneliness and pain. “They kicked me out,” I blurt and they both blink at me. Anger burns in Emmett’s eyes and Liam looks at me sadly.
“They did what? Just because you took this job? They should be proud of you…” Emmett goes on to rant with Liam joining in, and I watch them get angry on my behalf, my smile growing. Shit, I know I shouldn't be feeling these things but Emmett feels like the other half of my soul, like a big brother, and Liam? I have to hold in my shiver. When they notice me just smiling at them stupidly, they stop talking.
“What?” Emmett huffs, still looking pissed.
“You like me,” I tease in a singsong voice. Liam laughs and Emmett rolls his eyes.
“Where are you going to stay?” Liam asks, drawing patterns on my thigh. I should stop him, but it feels nice to be touched after the day I’ve had. Emmett pulls off my shoes and starts massaging my toes, making me groan in pleasure.
Liam watches me, a twinkle in his eyes and I narrow mine at him, daring him to say what he’s thinking. Luckily he doesn’t for once. “She can stay with us,” he says like it’s a no brainer and I shake my head, but Emmett looks up with a grin.
“Yes! Good idea,” he agrees like it’s a done deal, starting to make plans between them when I butt in.
“Er… I can't live with you guys,” I reply, and they both look at me. Liam giving me a pout and Emmett the puppy dog eyes.
“Why?” Emmett questions, and I can't think of one good reason why not—why the hell can't I think of a good reason?
Oh god, I’m going to live with strippers... I wonder if they walk around naked?
Emmett and Liam grab my bags and sling an arm around my shoulders until I’m in a stripper sandwich. I let them lead me outside, and when they drag me to a Range Rover, I raise my eyebrow at them.
“What?” Emmett asks with a smile as he puts my bags in the back.
“I just figured you would drive something… fancier,” I say with a smile. Closing the door he winks at me as Liam remains wrapped around my shoulders.
“Maybe you need to get to know us then.” He rounds the driver’s side door, and Liam and me both freeze and turn to stare at each other.
“SHOTGUN!” we yell at the same time and sprint for the front passenger door.
I beat him to it, but with the smile he has on his lips as he opens the back door, I think he let me win. I hold on to the overhead bar and pull myself in, and then I cuddle down into the comfy seat, turning to the side to watch Emmett. Is he right? Do I not know them at all? I guess I just have this picture of them in my head, and they keep on constantly smashing that.
“Turn on the radio, Angel.” Liam pokes his head through and Emmett rolls his eyes, and pushes it back as he reaches over and flicks the radio on.
“Passengers choice,” he says to me with a smile before turning on the engine, throwing his arm over the back of my seat to look through the rearview mirror, and reversing.
I find myself staring at him, with him unable to stare back. He really is good looking and he has those eyes that scream good boy next door, even though I know that isn’t true, yet my heart doesn’t speed up around him and I don’t find myself wanting to jump him. Instead, I feel comfortable, like you do with someone you’ve known forever. When he touches me or smiles, it’s like we’re sharing inside jokes, I haven’t felt that kind of bond since Rob. He looks over at me with a soft smile, those eyes filled with caring and concern. I smile back and they lighten. The others might be dangerous
to my panties, but he’s dangerous to my heart, because I already trust him.
He turns back around and starts driving away from the rehearsal space as I flick through the phone Liam passes me. Grinning, I press play and the first notes of Cherry Bomb play through the speakers.
Emmett laughs and shakes his head, and I turn to see Liam grinning.
“Oh yeah Em, she’s one of us!” He starts to wiggle in his seat, shaking his shoulders and ass as he dances along. I find myself joining in, singing and dancing in my seat as Emmett laughs at us. It’s not until the song slows down to move to the next when I realise they have cheered me up.
“Chocolate fudge brownie, what the—” I gawk open-mouthed at the house the guys pulled up to. Emmett flicks off the ignition and I hear Liam opening his door.
“Nice right? The company gave it to us.” Emmett reaches over and squeezes my hand before sliding out of his door as I nod mutely.
I turn to stare at the house once again, I couldn’t afford this in a million years. I expected them to live in a penthouse or some snazzy modern house, but this is beautiful. It’s an old school house, with big brown double doors and high arching windows. Three stories tall and red brick, with ivy and flowers growing up the side of the house, a private driveway with gated security access, and that’s only what I can see from here.
My door opens, making me jump and I swivel my head to see a grinning Liam. “Come on, Angel!”
He holds his hand out to me and I grab it, sliding from the car. He twines our fingers together and tugs. Glancing down at our entwined hands, I gulp. How can such an innocent move make my heart pound and send my hormones into overdrive? Fuck, he’s probably just being nice and I’m thinking about naughty, naughty things. I blame it on the emotional trauma from the night. Yeah right. Shaking my head to clear it, I let him pull me to the front door. He’s so cute, like an excited little dog. His eyes are wide and his mouth is pulled into a grin as he keeps throwing me looks over his shoulder like I’m not moving fast enough. I let out a giggle and look back to see Emmett grabbing my bags, making me feel bad. He must feel my gaze because he smirks at me.
“I’ll get them Gabs, otherwise Liam will pull your arm off trying to get you inside.” I nod and turn back around with an ‘oomf’ as Liam drags me to the door, flinging it open and throwing his head back to shout, “We’re home!”
Grinning, I look around, being nosey. It’s... homey. Like I said, they keep smashing all these images and impressions I have of them. Hell, it's clean, probably cleaner than my old room.
There's a wooden shoe rack by the door and Liam kicks off his shoes, still holding my hand as he starts to chatter away.
“It’s big right? We have our own indoor pool, race track, I think there are over fifteen bedrooms, and you should see the master—”
“SHOES!” someone yells from the corridor to the left, making me raise my eyebrows as Liam grumbles. He sticks out his tongue and bends over, grabbing his shoes, and lining them up on the shoe rack. I have to bite my lip to stop my laugh from breaking out. “Anyway, as I was saying. You should see the master bedroom, it’s amazing and it has this amazing whirlpool jacuzzi tub. We kept fighting over who got it, so Blake put his foot down and said none of us would get it.” He stops rambling and eyes me before rolling his, letting go of my hand he crouches at my feet as I blink down at him stupidly.
“Here, Angel.” He pats his knee and I put my heeled foot on it, gently, still confused. “Better get these off, Leo has a weird obsession with shoes not being worn in the house.” As he talks, he pulls off my heel and lines it up next to their shoes on the rack, and grabs my other foot and does the same.
That little touch and thoughtful moment has tears welling in my eyes, I guess I am over emotional today, but looking at my shoes mixed in with theirs makes me feel strange. He doesn't notice as he stands up and twines our hands together again, as I hear Emmett start to come up the drive. Liam doesn’t bother waiting for him as he drags me down the corridor we heard the yell coming from.
I swivel my head, trying to peek into the rooms we pass, but it’s no use, Liam is too fast. I tilt my head as I hear music and laughter wafting down the corridor with the smell of something delicious.
“I wondered when those idiots would be back, it’s going to be burnt at this rate,” I hear Leo grumble.
We round the corner into a massive, modern kitchen. You would have thought that such a sleek, modern kitchen in such a beautiful, old house would look out of place, or ruin the whole aesthetic, but it only enhances it. Grey marble kitchen tops are gleaming, the latest kitchen appliances are on display, and an island in the middle has stools placed around it. The wooden cupboards tie in with the design of the rest of the house, so much so that they must have had them custom made for this room. They have been painted white to make them look clean and modern. Everything is dazzlingly clean, and I wonder how on earth six guys live here and have kept it looking this nice. Okay, so that may be me stereotyping again, but I’ve only seen kitchens this clean on cookery shows!
The boys are scattered here and there. Leo is at the hob, cooking whatever is making that amazing smell. Blake is lounging in a chair with a beer watching the others. Damon is dancing around the kitchen with a beer clutched in one hand. He bends over and starts to twerk, making the usually stoic Blake grin. Leo laughs and grabs the spoon from the counter and starts to spank him with it. Kingston hops down from his perch on the counter and starts to grind on Leo who laughs and backs away. I cover my mouth, not wanting to disturb them by laughing, when Blake’s voice suddenly cuts through the fun.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” he yells and everyone turns to us, Blake’s angry eyes laser into me, pinning me to the spot. I instantly take a step back but run into a hard chest, stopping my retreat. Craning my head back, I spot a smiling Emmett and Liam tugs on my hand, dragging me into the now awkwardly quiet kitchen. The only noise in the room is the beat from the dance music blaring from the speakers.
“Alexa, stop,” Kingston rumbles and the music cuts off.
The silence stretches as they all eye me and I start to fidget, before straightening my shoulders and smiling at them.
“What are we eating?” I ask in my cutesy voice and Liam laughs, and Leo and Kingston join in as Blake continues to glare at me.
I ignore Blake and strut through the kitchen like I own it, peering into the pan to see Fajitas cooking. Yum. I dart my finger in and lick it clean with a groan. “Damn, that’s amazing. I didn’t know you could cook Leo.”
I can feel Blake getting angrier and angrier as I ignore him, and the others follow my lead. Leo moves to my side and stirs the pan.
“Yep, my daddy taught me when I was younger. Told me it was the way to a woman's heart. That’s how he got my mum to marry him.” He grins and I laugh, hopping up on the counter to watch him.
Kingston grins and hops up next to me, as Emmett strides in and grabs three beers. Passing one to Liam and one to me, before uncapping his own. He stops for a second with a frown and reaches for my beer, obviously to do the same for me, but I smile and smash the top down on the edge of the worktop, and catch the bottle cap as it flips through the air.
He gawks at me before laughing and going to sit down at the table. I see Blake glaring at me out of the corner of my eye, but I just swing my legs and smile.
“Alexa, play!” Liam shouts and the music starts blasting again. He starts to hum as he moves around the room, grabbing plates, knives, and forks, setting the table.
I hum along and Kingston bumps his shoulder with mine. I smile over at him and bump him back.
Damon comes over, his eyes clouded, looking unsure. I smile softly at him as he stops in front of me. He’s still wearing his suit trousers, but he has lost the jacket, his white shirt unbuttoned so I can see the top of his chest peeking out.
“You okay?” he asks quietly and I sigh, I know he won’t believe me if I lie, so I tell the truth.
“I will be. I
never said it but thank you for coming tonight. You looked very nice.” His eye’s dart up with a cheeky panty-melting grin.
“Like a man in a suit, do you?”
I laugh and roll my eyes as he winks and moves to help Liam. I glance over at Blake to see his face is red and he looks like he’s about to explode.
“I’m your new roomie,” I say with a smirk.
Leo interrupts the argument I can feel brewing by declaring the food is done. I’m pushed into a seat between Liam and Leo, and served fajitas. I watch in amusement as they fight over the food before inhaling it. Blake glares at me the whole time but I don’t hear a peep from him.
Shrugging, I take a bite and moan. “Fuck, Leo this is better than sex.” I bend over my plate as the others laugh, but I’m too busy demolishing the food. Once I’m done clearing the plate, I lean back and groan, I’m that full. But the food was too good to waste.
I watch the others as they finish and lean back, looking happy now. Blake stares at the table, his jaw grinding, and I decide to take pity on him.
“Look, Liam and Emmett invited me to spend the night here so I didn’t have to sleep on some random bed or in the studio.” He lifts his head and I offer him a smile in truce. “It will only be for tonight and I won’t cause trouble.” Liam coughs and I amend my statement. “Much trouble. The guys should have asked you first, this is your house after all.” Blowing out a breath, I stare at him as he searches my face. “Can I stay here tonight, please?” I tack on and I feel the others staring between us.
He seems to be weighing the options before sighing. “Yes, but only until you find somewhere else to sleep. You can take the master.” Grabbing his beer, he throws his plate in the sink and disappears into the house.
Liam nudges my shoulder as he bounces in his seat. “Yes! This is going to be so much fun! Come on Angel, I’ll show you around.” He jumps up and the others do the same as I eye them. They really are crazy, but I can’t help but stand, excitement buzzing in my chest.