by Alexa Davis
“Wow, you’re really talented,” I told her with a brutal honesty. “You’ve brought out a beauty in the model that I might not have seen otherwise.” I’d spent a lot of my life at art and photography exhibits. I might not have been an expert in the subject, but I knew enough to know what I was talking about. “And in that one, I like the composition.”
“Oh, thank you.” She looked a bit put out by my comments, which was probably understandable since the last time I talked to her I was offering a cheap fuck. That was my first mistake – she was much too classy for that. “They’re due in today which is why I needed the computer.”
A lightbulb flickered above my head – this was my chance. I could casually mention the night out at the club right now, before Cameron came back into the room. “So, you should come out and celebrate with us. Cam has been invited to some club opening. I couldn’t think of a better way to blow off some steam.”
Shit, Cameron had heard me. Still, the words were out there now, there was no taking them back. I sent him an apologetic look, as if the words had just slipped out, but he still didn’t look too impressed.
“Oh, right.” Blair looked awkward, too, but luckily, she agreed. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll give Maddie a call and see if she wants to come, too.”
That wasn’t totally the response that I was looking for, but it was better than nothing. As she stalked from the room with the phone attached to her ear, Cameron glowered at me. “What are you playing at? I don’t want them there.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said it, but it’s a bit late now.” I shrugged and smiled sweetly. “It’ll be fine. We can still do our own thing.”
“Yeah, okay, I just really want to hook up with Hellie.”
“I thought you liked Sasha.” I chuckled loudly, glad that he was coming around. At least if he was focusing on other women, he wasn’t thinking about Blair. I really needed her to come to the club. It wouldn’t be the same without her.
“Oh, yeah, well, whatever. As long as I’m not cock blocked, I don’t care.”
Chapter 8 – Blair – Saturday
The last thing I wanted to do was go out shopping with Maddie for outfits to wear to impress Marcus tonight, but what could I do? I’d agreed to go along with this. I’d instigated it by going along with the club idea. I knew it was the best way for all of this to happen. So why do I feel so off about the whole thing? Why do I feel like something doesn’t quite sit right?
“So, where shall we go?” Maddie was buzzing off the walls, practically bouncing up and down like a little bunny. “I need something amazing. I mean, when I had that cleavage-enhancing top on the other day, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of me, so I probably should go along that route. I don’t know, what do you think?”
“Yeah, sounds good.” My voice was hollow. I was starting to make my emotions obvious here, and I needed to try and reel that in. “Probably as much boob as possible.”
“Okay, are you finished with your coffee? I need to get going now. There’s only about eight hours left to get ready.”
“It won’t take you that long, will it?” Why was I asking that? She was throwing everything into tonight – I already knew that it was going to be a long day.
“You need to get something amazing, too,” she insisted with a massive smile on her face. “I know that you don’t usually like to spend a fortune on clothes, but if I’m going to be hooking up with Lord Marcus, then you’ll need a distraction, too. Unless you want to spend all night arguing with your brother?”
She was right. If I wanted to avoid Cameron and the really obvious PDA that I could only imagine I was going to have to witness, then I needed to find a way to enjoy myself. I would probably have to throw myself into things even more than Maddie.
“All right, all right, you have me convinced.” I threw my hands in the air in a surrendering gesture. “Let’s get going.” I stood up and smiled brightly. “But you’re going to have to help me. If you’re going to have your tongue shoved down his throat all night, then I’m going to need to look good.”
“Ah, I like Marcus so much,” she squealed excitedly as her arm linked through mine. “He’s so hot, and he’s a lord. Like, I might turn out to be a lady.”
“Whoa, wait, I thought this was only supposed to be a fling.” I knew that I had a bad feeling about this, I just didn’t realize that it was because Maddie was going to fall too fast, too soon. “You aren’t actually throwing your all into this, are you? You know what Cameron said – I don’t want you to end up with a broken heart.”
“I don’t care what Cameron says.” As her expression darkened, I remembered the tragedy of the last time we were all together and the drama that had ensued. It was going to be difficult to survive this, and I wasn’t entirely convinced that I could do it. “He can fuck off. He had his chance with me.”
As she almost revealed her feelings aloud, we both fell into an awkward silence. This was it; either we faced this head on or we continued to ignore it. The wise thing for me to do would be to finally say something, but I just didn’t feel brave enough.
“I think we should hit the mall first,” I ended up saying lamely. “I heard they opened that new vintage place in there, should be cool.”
“Yeah, yeah, sounds cool.” Her voice was distracted, but still she didn’t address it. “Whatever you say.”
As we walked out onto the streets, I felt really strange about all of it. Everything about this was wrong. For God knows what reason, I didn’t want Maddie hooking up with Marcus. I didn’t want her heart getting broken, I didn’t want him screwing her over, and I didn’t want Cameron treating her like shit, either. Sure, she went for the wrong guys, which didn’t help anything, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t up for protecting her. If she was blinded by revenge and lust, someone had to be thinking straight – it just seemed that person was me.
***
“Are you sure this is the right dress?” Maddie asked for what felt like the hundredth time. “I just want to look good for the lord.”
Ugh, that word was starting to grind on me now, everything was “the lord this” and “the lord that.” I couldn’t stand it anymore. Much as I wasn’t impressed by Marcus and his attitude toward women, I did know that he had more to him than just his title. I doubted he wanted to be only thought of for his name, so if she wanted to impress him, it wouldn’t go down well.
Still, I’d tried to give her some advice and it’d fallen on deaf ears. This was all on her now. I’d done my part by ignoring my brother’s piggish behavior just to sort out this night.
“Yes, you look wonderful.” I forced a smile. “He’s going to love you.”
“You look good, too. I’m glad that you went for the black dress in the end.”
I twisted from side to side, checking out my reflection in the mirror. I didn’t feel totally comfortable in a dress that cost more than the rest of my wardrobe put together, but I had to admit that it fit really well. It clung to me in all the right places and fell away nicely. It did actually make me look pretty good, and since Maddie had forced me to get a blowout at the hairdresser, my whole appearance was pretty nice. I actually looked like I was out on the prowl... not that I was.
“Thank you. I think you were right, it does look better than the red one.”
“And with those heels, you look incredible. You’re going to blow them away tonight. What time are the guys coming to pick us up?”
“Oh, they aren’t. I told Cam we’d meet them there just in case we wanted to go for some pre-drinks first?” That wasn’t the real reason, I just didn’t want to be stuck in a confined space with the three of them, but I couldn’t admit that out loud. “It’ll be fun, we can steady our nerves.”
“No, I want to get there as soon as possible,” Maddie pouted. “The more time I spend with Lord Marcus, the better. I’ve been missing him all day long. I want to get him into bed as soon as possible.”
Yeah, and don’t I know it! What I didn’t know w
as why it made me feel so odd, all empty and weird. “Okay, I’ll call a cab then and we can go now if you’re ready.” I smiled through the pain, determined to get past it. “I’m sure Cameron’s already there. You know what he’s like... first to arrive, last to leave.”
I ordered the cab while Maddie fiddled with her hair in the mirror for a little while longer, really preening herself to perfection. I gulped down the massive ball of emotion that lodged in my throat, trying to prepare myself for a good night. If I went out expecting this to be bad, then it would be. I needed to get myself in the right frame of mind before I stepped out that door or misery would get in the way.
Yes, it was going to be strange to see Maddie with Marcus, for some inexplicable reason, and yes, Cameron would probably get on my nerves, but if I accepted that and decided to have a good night anyway, then I’d probably be okay.
Probably.
***
The music was so loud it vibrated every bone in my body. This was one of those super hip places that assumed it needed to have incredibly loud music and strobe lights flashing to be cool. It might not have been the worst night club that I’d ever been in, but it certainly wasn’t the best.
“Oh, look, there’s Cameron,” Maddie screamed, tugging on my arm. “Come on, let’s go and talk to him.”
I had hoped that I was going to have the chance to get at least one drink in me before I had to start this nightmare, but it seemed I wasn’t about to get so lucky. “Okay, sure,” I mumbled pathetically. “Whatever.”
“Hey, girls.” Cameron threw his arm over our shoulders joyfully, looking a little worse for wear. At least he seemed to be happy drunk, not the bitter horrible drunk he was the other day. Luckily, my brother and I were close enough to blow past that without properly falling out. “How’s it going? Don’t you love this place? It’s so awesome.”
“Yeah, it’s great,” Maddie agreed a little too enthusiastically. “I really love it. I’m so glad that it opened.”
“Yeah, sure, it’s great,” I repeated, but with much less happiness in my tone. “Really awesome.”
Cameron burst into a round of silly dancing, which Maddie joined in with. I wanted to let loose and have some fun, but something was holding me back. It certainly wasn’t my desire to look cool in front of all these people.
I spun around, gazing at the rest of the people in the club, but I barely got to see anyone else. My eyes were magnetically drawn to just one person – the man I’d been dreading to see most of all.
Marcus.
As he moved toward me with a playful smirk on his lips, I felt the rest of the world simply fall away. It was almost as if the entire world had shrunk down to just me and him, and I couldn’t move my limbs even if I tried.
Does he have me under some magical spell? Am I actually being entranced by him? What the hell is wrong with me? I didn’t even like this guy. Just because he was hot, and he did have a nice side deep in there somewhere...
“Blair?” Maddie hissed loudly into my ear and bumped my hip. “What are you doing? You’re staring!”
My face flamed, and I forced my gaze away. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to think that I was actually into this man. I’d just become lost in his eyes for a moment. “Oh, sorry, I’ll just...”
It didn’t matter; she was by his side, ignoring me completely. I felt a sick, green jealousy twist and turn in my stomach as her hands fluttered over his body, driving me insane. I had to gulp it down to stop myself from throwing up.
“Hey, sis, do you want a drink? Shall we go to the bar now before it gets too busy and we can’t get another drink for love nor money?”
Oh, thank God, Cameron was coming to my rescue. “Yeah sure.” I smiled weakly. “Take me to the bar, there’s no way I can stand another minute in this hell hole without a drink in my system.”
“Oh, come on, it isn’t that bad. The music isn’t terrible, and there are a lot of fun people in here.”
I laughed a little as he dragged me along, glad to have some company in this mess. Sure, it wouldn’t be long until Cameron had his mouth on someone else’s and I would be forgotten, but until then, I could enjoy his company.
Chapter 9 – Marcus – Saturday
“So, how are things going? Are you enjoying it here?” Maddie was trying too hard, and it was driving me insane. I liked her well enough, but she wasn’t the reason I was here. She wasn’t the person I’d been meaning to talk to. “It seems pretty cool, right? Everyone’s enjoying it. It’s really packed, which has to be a good sign.”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s okay.” I smiled as politely as I could manage. “Seems good.” I didn’t mean to be a dick to Maddie when she was doing her best to be nice, but she wasn’t the person I wanted to be talking to.
“So, are you enjoying it in America?”
I jumped as her hands grabbed onto my crotch, totally unexpectedly. I didn’t think that she was going to be this forward. “What are you...” I started, but my words trailed off as she licked her lips exaggeratedly at me.
There was no point in asking her what her motivation was; it was damn obvious. She wanted to get me into bed. Usually, I would’ve been totally up for it – she was hot enough, after all – but tonight she wasn’t even sparking a single ounce of interest in me. I just didn’t care, not with Blair in the same room.
“Erm, yeah, America is good.” If I kept on talking about the normal topics, hopefully she would get the hint: this was never going to happen. “I’m glad I came.”
“So why did you come?” She was leaning in, allowing her breath to stroke my neck, which meant that I needed to play it carefully if I didn’t want to give her the wrong impression. I didn’t want to lead Maddie on, not when I knew that it was never going to happen.
I was not going to answer that, not with this woman that I barely knew, so I simply shrugged instead. “Shall we go and get a drink?” I’d already seen Cameron drag Blair over to the bar, so that was the one place that I wanted to be. “Then we can try and find a booth to sit in.” If I kept things at more of a foursome, it’d become obvious that I didn’t want anything to happen, wouldn’t it?
As we got to the bar, my heart dipped nauseously as I spotted a very buff-looking guy making Blair laugh. He looked so good he could probably be a model, and that made me feel sick. I never competed with anyone, I was confident enough in my own looks, but something about this whole situation made me feel weird.
“Who is that?” Maddie gasped happily. “Blair is about to get laid tonight. He’s cute, too. I certainly wouldn’t kick him out of bed.”
Nope, I couldn’t do it. I didn’t invite her here to witness her hooking up with someone else. I moved too close to her, making the guy trying to hit on her feel awkward enough to move away. I was good at that – I did it a lot to ensure girls picked me on a night out. I was so tall and broad that all I had to do was stand there and make a face.
As the guy scurried, Blair turned to give me an odd look before she moved, too. She certainly didn’t look impressed with me getting rid of her friend, but I didn’t care. Deep down, I felt like she had a thing for me, too. I just had to unleash it.
Oh, God, what was wrong with me? Why did I have to go after the one girl I couldn’t really have? Not without causing an explosive amount of trouble!
“What was that?” Maddie hissed at me, her whole mood falling into anger. “Why did you get rid of that guy? He was hot, and if anyone needs to get laid, it’s her. Do you know how long it’s been for Blair?”
That statement just made it even worse. Now I couldn’t stop picturing myself corrupting her, taking her in bed and unravelling her body. It was bad enough thinking about Blair writhing underneath me, but the image of her having rolling orgasms for the first time in a long time was almost too much to handle.
“Anyway, Cameron’s got us a table. Let’s go.”
I grabbed hold of the drinks Maddie had ordered before tossing a bill at the bartender. Then I followed her over to where Ca
m had his tongue stuck down someone’s throat. I didn’t recognize the girl; it must have been someone he picked on the way from the bar to here. He was a fast mover... so was I, usually.
Great, this is just wonderful. Until Blair came back, it was just going to be me and Maddie, and from the look she was giving me, she liked that plan more than I did. She wanted to be with me, and I got the strong feeling that she wasn’t going to take no easily.
After about five minutes of very stilted conversation, Maddie gave up and started throwing drinks down her throat like there was no tomorrow. I knew I should probably stop her before she went too overboard, but I really didn’t have the heart. All I cared about was how I’d inadvertently managed to upset Blair by getting rid of her date. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten rid of him, but I couldn’t cope too much with jealousy.
“Wait, come back...” Cameron called out to his female friend as she stormed off in a temper. “I didn’t mean...”
“What did you do?” I was just about to try to find out what Cam had done this time, but I had no chance to get a word in edgewise. Maddie grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him onto the dance floor, glaring at me at the same time. She was obviously on a mission now to make me jealous, which was a nightmare. I had no time for a drama girl like Maddie, even if I was interested in her.
As she ground her body all over Cameron, he allowed himself to be seduced for a moment. I flicked my eyes all over the club once more, trying to locate Blair. By this point, it seemed that maybe she’d gone home, which filled me with such disappointment.
Until I saw her, swaying toward me like a vision from a dream. I sat up straighter, smiling brightly, but she wasn’t sharing the same expression. Maybe I deserved that, but I was sure that I could win her around given enough time.