The Heart Series: Complete Boxed Set

by King, C. M

  “It will be perfect,” I insisted and Sam smiled.

  “But just in case.”

  “We will nod and smile and pretend it is, don’t worry,” I said, placating him.

  “I think we might need to hit the chip shop on the way home,” Mike moaned and Joel smiled. It didn’t last long until I dug him in the ribs.

  “What the hell was that for?” he groaned, glaring at me as he rubbed his side.

  “A warning.”

  “I never said anything; he was the one that said it.” Joel’s eyes flashed over to Mike. Kara slapped Mike on the bicep when he grinned.

  “Ow seriously, Kara?”

  “I mean it, Mike, you say one bad word to offend him and you will have blue balls after this.”

  “You don’t mean that, you couldn’t keep that up if you tried. I get my way every time,” he replied smugly much to my horror.

  “Oh not this time, I have my BOB to keep my entertained should we have a dry spell.” Kara grinned in delight, while Joel and Mike looked on confused.

  “What the hell is a BOB?” Mike barked.

  I laughed as she winked. “Oh so you don’t know already?”

  “What is it?” Joel asked confused. I whispered in his ear and he frowned. “Have you got a BOB?”

  “Do I need a BOB?”

  “I think not, I never have my hands off you,” he teased.

  “Exactly!”

  “Can someone tell me what the hell a bloody BOB is?” Mike snapped, his eyes flashing around us all waiting for an answer.

  “It’s a battery operated boyfriend,” Kara announced, putting him out of his misery.

  “A what?” Mike asked confused. I had to stifle a giggle.

  “It’s a vibrator, sheesh do I have to spell it out for you?” Kara shook her head in disbelief, but my brother was always a little slow.

  “What do you need a vibrator for?”

  Talk about asking an obvious question.

  “Well, if you have to ask.” Kara snorted as the rest of us laughed along with her.

  Mike’s face physically turned red with rage in front of us, I think he’d just reached boiling point. “I swear if I find it, I will snap it in half.”

  “You will not, I paid good money for that.” Kara shrieked.

  “The only place it will be going is in the bin.”

  She pointed her perfectly manicured finger in Mike’s direction. “You touch my vibrator and that signed Arsenal shirt that hangs up on the wall will be burned.”

  “You wouldn’t fucking dare!” Mike growled, looking completely horrified.

  “Try me, Mike, test me and see how far I can go.” From the look on her face it was all the way, even I was scared.

  “What is it with you ladies being so anti Arsenal, your own sister said she would call our baby girl Chelsea earlier,” Joel pipped up.

  “You did not!” Mike sent an angry glare my way.

  “Oh for god’s sake, it was a joke!” I exclaimed, feeling irritated by it all.

  “Not a funny one,” Joel muttered still looking pissed.

  Mike nodded. “Yeah, couldn’t agree more, football is more than a game to us. We live and breathe it.”

  “And you call me overdramatic,” Kara snorted. She did have a point he was blowing a stupid joke completely out of proportion.

  “It’s not a joke and you, little sis, you’ve grown up in an Arsenal home, you do not mention the C word ever.”

  “Sheesh, calm the hell down,” I muttered as I took a swig of wine. The mood was now growing darker, and we were all supposed to be here for a nice evening.

  “What the hell is going on through here?” Sam ranted as he walked through the door, cutting our little argument short.

  “Well—”

  “I don’t care what it is, put a smile on your faces because first course is served, remember, he’s slaved over this all afternoon, so plenty of compliments.” He gave us a look of warning, even I felt slightly scared.

  “I can’t believe you dragged me along to this,” Mike grunted, giving Kara a dirty look.

  “Oh, quit your bitching and suck it up,” she hissed back.

  “You’d better be sucking something else later to make up for it.”

  “Seriously, Mike.” I hurled a bread stick at him that just missed his eye.

  “You nearly blinded me.”

  “And the overreaction award goes to.”

  “Oh shut it, Iz,” he snapped, giving me a look of disgust.

  “He’s coming through with the starter, butternut squash soup, warning you now, it has a weird taste.”

  “Well I’m not eating it then,” Mike replied adamantly.

  “Oh you will,” Kara hissed.

  “I will not.”

  “Neither am I,” Joel added. “We could have been eating pizza, watching a film, but no, we’re stuck here,” he fumed.

  “Listen up, you two, you know the deal to get you tickets for Arsenal, well one word from me and that will be dropped. You understand?”

  “That’s blackmail,” Mike snorted, looking completely horrified.

  “Yeah, well whatever it takes to get you two fuckers to lie. So do we have a deal, every course is amazing.” His eyes stayed pinned on Mike’s before moving to Joel’s.

  “Ugh, I’m not a great actor,” Joel protested.

  “Just smile and eat, that’s all you need to do, even you two can manage that,” Sam quipped, shaking his head.

  “Ha bloody ha,” Mike retorted.

  “I mean it, any negativity and those special tickets I helped get for you guys are revoked indefinitely.”

  “Fine, we get it, smile and eat,” Mike muttered sarcastically.

  “Oh and you maybe need some extra wine, you know to wash it down,” Sam muttered, pointing towards the drinks cabinet.

  “Good god, how bad is this soup?” Mike whisper yelled.

  “Shush, he’s coming back through. Hey Elijah, I was just telling them you cooked up a treat in the kitchen.”

  “God, I’ve been slaving away all day. I hope you all like it.” Elijah grinned. His face as proud as punch. He placed down the pot, and we all wrinkled our noses slightly before Sam shot us a look and we smiled.

  “Now just tell me, boys, if you want second helping as I know you are all growing men. You especially, Joel.” He winked at him, and Joel nearly broke the bones in my hand.

  “Extra ladle for you, Mike.” Elijah winked.

  “Oh wow, thanks,” he bit out, focusing his eyes on the thick orange concoction in front of him.”

  “Oh shit I forgot the cream.”

  Sam grabbed his hand. “It’s fine we don’t need—”

  “It helps to bring out the flavours more,” he shrieked running through into the kitchen.

  “Trust me, we do not need anything that will give it anymore flavor. God, it smells like something died, that or cheesy old socks,” Mike mumbled.

  Kara gave him a swift kick under the table.

  “Ow, what the hell was that for?”

  “You know fine well, keep it shut and eat,” she warned, her eyes boring into his.

  “I don’t think I can …” I muttered, almost gagging at the smell of it.

  “Please, Iz,” Sam pleaded.

  Oh he owed me big time.

  “Here’s the crème fraiche, now how many spoonfuls do you want?”

  Mike doused his in crème fraiche, and I wasn’t surprised, anything that could disguise this putrid taste was welcome. I learned if I held my nose, the taste wasn’t as severe. Thankfully Elijah hadn’t given me an overly big bowl so I had just about managed to finish it. Joel looked green around the gills throughout, and he would normally eat anything. I’d seen him scrape mold off food in the past, much to my disgust.

  “Does anyone want any more?”

  “NO,” we all replied way too quickly.

  Sam gave us a look and we all smiled. “We wouldn’t want to be too full for the other courses,” Kara offered
. Even she looked queasy.

  “What is the second course?” Mike asked, almost looking like he was going to puke right then and there.

  “Steak.”

  “Oh thank god—”

  Mike suddenly looked pained and Elijah looked at him confused, Kara must have kicked him under the table.

  “I meant oh thank god, the soup was so lovely and rich that I wanted a course that wasn’t too fancy.”

  “Well I did my own sweet potato with a special sauce to go with the steak. Think you boys will love it, I know you love your red meat.”

  “Yep,” was all Mike could get out.

  “So Joel, what was the score today?” Elijah asked, as both Mike and he looked confused.

  “Errmm well it was …”

  “I’m kidding, I couldn’t give a toss. Now I need to go see my sweet potatoes, they should be done. You guys will just have to entertain yourselves.”

  “Oh we’re fine, you go and get that second course ready. I can’t wait to taste your special sauce.” Sam winked and Elijah chuckled, stacking up the bowls before walking back through.

  Mike’s eyes met with Sam’s. “I don’t care what Arsenal tickets you get me. They could be in the box area, I will never eat soup like that again. God, it’s going to take me all week to get rid of that rancid taste. He chugged down some more beer in the hope that it would mask the lingering after taste that was plaguing us all.

  “I know, I know and thank you all, though I thought you weren’t going to make it at one point, at least there was bread to try to dilute the taste.”

  “Now that was good, I enjoyed that part,” Mike replied, taking another long draw of his beer.

  “Yeah, you almost ate half the loaf,” Kara added sarcastically.

  “I ate the soup, didn’t I, so please stop complaining.”

  “I feel sick,” I muttered turning to Joel. I was seconds away from my starter making a reappearance.

  “I could have been at home with a beef chow mein,” Joel muttered bitterly.

  Mike’s face lit up in agreement. “Oh god, I could just eat that right now? Do you think he’d miss us if we happened to bow out early?”

  “Yes, he would. Keep those bottoms parked you’re not going anywhere, capisce?” Sam snapped, giving them a look of warning.

  “Jesus, Sam, it’s not Goodfellas. I’ll be waking up to a horse’s head next.” We all laughed hard at Mike.

  “You’re quiet, Joel,” I remarked, but his frown soon changed to a smile when his eyes locked on mine.

  “Oh I’m just sitting here thinking of ways to torture you when we get home.”

  “What kind of torture?” I asked intrigued. I could feel my body stirring at just the thought.

  “It’s a surprise, but you have to wait till later. We have this torture to get through before I can unleash my own.”

  “Maybe just a hint?” I pleaded, giving him a look.

  “Not gonna work, Iz, you get nothing till we get home.”

  “Are you sure about that?” I ran my fingers up his thigh to be met with an ever-increasing bulge.

  “Always ready I see.” I remarked.

  “You know me, hard at the drop of the hat when you’re in the same room.”

  “Ewww, Joel, that’s my sister.”

  My eyes flashed to Mike’s. “Oh purlease, what about your blow job remark?”

  Kara laughed and planted a long hard kiss on Mike’s mouth. “These lips of mine are amazing even if I do say so myself.” She winked.

  Wow, too much information.

  I think the soup was definitely about to make a reappearance.

  “Anyone want any more wine or beer.”

  “Yes, beer,” both Mike and Joel piped up.

  “Seriously, guys, do not get wasted, loose lips and all that,” Sam warned handing over them over.

  “I need to be pissed so I don’t taste the food anymore,” Joel said, chuckling.

  “Shhh, he might hear that,” I hissed.

  “What warbling as loud as he is with Lady Gaga on in the background, I highly doubt it.”

  “I might need to fish out my old CD, he’s really getting me back into her. I love a bit of bad romance,” Kara replied, singing along.

  Mike scoffed. “Trust me when I say that CD will last two seconds before it’s tossed out the window.”

  “I’d take the Foos over Lady Gaga any day,” I remarked, sipping on my wine.

  Joel smiled. “See, that’s why we work so well, we have the same amazing taste.”

  “Unlike Elijah,” Mike added, chuckling.

  “Was that my name I heard being mentioned?” Elijah remarked, breezing through the door. “Now are my ears burning? I bet you were trying to prize out of Sam the recipe for my amazing soup, but Sam knows better, don’t you, Sam?”

  Sam blushed as we all tried to keep a straight face without totally giving the game away.

  “Oh my lips are sealed, believe me,” Sam quipped.

  Mike snorted then quickly took a swig of beer.

  “Dinner will be served shortly. I just wanted to check how you all like your steak,” Elijah asked.

  “Rare,” Mike replied, smiling.

  Eww, I hated blood, the thought of it there on my plate just made me want to heave.

  “Joel.”

  “Medium rare, thanks.”

  “Izzy, well done?”

  “You know me well.” I smiled.

  “And Kara?”

  “Well done, I can’t abide any pink, it gives me the heebie jeebies. And if you think you are coming near me after this, you have another thing coming.”

  “Oh relax, will you, it’s just meat,” Mike huffed.

  “I can’t wait for you to try my special sauce with it, I thought I had outdone myself with the soup, but this is to die for.” He swept off into the kitchen without a second glance. Once the door was firmly shut, we all broke out into loud laughter.

  “He is seriously going to kill me,” Mike complained.

  “Oh stop being melodramatic.” Kara laughed.

  “I swear if it tastes like feet again, I’m not eating it.”

  “You bloody well will,” Sam added.

  “Yeah, you and who’s army?”

  “Well, a little birdie tells me he has some great seats going at the Arsenal Chelsea match. I did have them put aside for you both, but I must just have to—”

  “Alright, alright we will eat it. But this is the last time. My body is a temple, I should not be putting it through all of this,” Mike huffed.

  “My body is a temple crap, you’d drink beer all day long if you could and eat fry ups,” Kara scoffed.

  “All I know is if I have to go through this torture I’m having those tickets.”

  “You’ll get your tickets just make sure you play along,” Sam warned.

  “Fine,” Mike bit out. They had a staring standoff before Elijah swept through the door with plates in hand.

  “Now who’s ready for the main course?” He grinned in delight.

  Oh god help us all.

  Chapter Six

  “Joel, is this really necessary?” I cringed as he once again pulled out the silk scarf. He seemed to have this constant need to surprise me even though it was something I really hated.

  “Yes, just please put it on, baby,” he insisted, grinning.

  “Ugh, okay, okay, but seriously enough of the surprises just tell me like most normal people do.” It surely couldn’t be that hard.

  “I don’t think we’d ever be classed as normal.” He winked.

  The cheek!

  “Speak for yourself.”

  He grinned. “I promise, Iz, it’s good, you’re going to love it.”

  I grumbled taking the scarf from his hands and tied it around my eyes.

  “No peeking. Let me check that it’s secure. I don’t want to spoil this.”

  “Joel, I seriously can’t see a thing.” I was totally in the dark.

  “Yep, looks okay. Alrigh
t, we are ready.” I heard the engine spring to life and a shiver of excitement ran through me wondering where we were heading.

  “Can you give me a hint?” I asked, feeling hopeful he would elaborate more.

  “That kind of defeats the object of the blindfold.”

  “Spoilsport,” I huffed. You couldn’t blame a girl for trying.

  “Oh boo hoo, we’ll be there soon for you to know.” I could hear the amusement in his voice as I pursed my lips in annoyance.

  “Is it something I will like?” I had to ask, the suspense was killing me.

  “More than like.”

  Oooh.

  “Is it chocolate related?” I always had chocolate on the brain, for me that was the kind of present I’d willingly accept.

  “I think I can do better than chocolate.”

  “Better than chocolate? Now I am intrigued.”

  “Trust me, you will love it.” His reluctance to divulge any information was starting to get to me.

  “Not even the tiniest of a clue,” I begged, he had to give me something.

  “Nope,” he simply replied.

  What a tease.

  “Okay then, turn the music up, if you’re not going to relent them I’m ignoring you.” I was being petty, but I was too annoyed that my persuasive ways had not managed to squeeze even the tiniest hint of an answer out of him.

  His fingers squeezed my thigh. “Trust me, you’ll be more than thanking me later.”

  We drove for what seemed like forever, I was almost at the point of nodding off when I heard the car come to a halt. I sat up bolt upright, itching to take off the mask.

  “Stay where you are, I will come and get you.”

  I didn’t argue, I was now so over the surprise. The cool air hit my legs as Joel pulled the door open and unclicked my seatbelt.

  He helped manoeuvre me out, and I straightened out my body. He pulled me into him and sighed, placing a sweet kiss against my lips.

  “Izzy, kiss me back,” he pleaded.

  “Nope, not until you take this bloody blindfold off.” I was giving him nothing until then.

  “Soon,” he whispered as I pouted.

  “Don’t pout, you know what that does to me.”

  I could hear the chatter of people as we walked along. Joel’s arms around me guiding me while I continued to be encased in complete darkness. When we finally came to a halt, I took in a breath, feeling the silky material fall away.