by Mia Mills
“Me? I was here last year too.” My phone vibrates in my bag and I ignore it. Whatever it is can’t be as important as whatever’s happening in this room.
He looks at me like he knows what I’m trying to do, “Were you? I hadn’t noticed. I usually leave halfway through the award’s ceremony.”
My heart can’t keep still, his gaze makes me feel like I’m about to melt, “Aren’t you glad you stayed this time?”
“I’m glad your acceptance speech caught my attention. I was right at the door when you started.” He breaks eye contact with me and pulls out his phone, I feel like I’ve just lost a battle. He’s lost interest.
But I won’t accept defeat that easily, “I was thinking, I can’t deny that you guys have been making this night better than I’d ever have hoped for. So if you’d like, I could invite you over for dinner?”
“I’d love that.” Jonah blurts out.
The others look at him and from the corner of my eye I can see Wyatt try to suppress his laughter.
Letting out a small giggle, I continue, “I’d like to ask when you’d all be available.”
All of us are now on our phones, I assume that we’re all checking our schedules for the week. Jonah and Wyatt are typing several things down while Gavin continues to scroll through his. Ryder, on the other hand, doesn’t even bother with his phone.
Jonah looks up, “I’m available three days from now.”
“I’m not, but I texted my secretary and told her to clear my schedule. I’m free.” Wyatt spins his phone between his thumb and index finger.
Almost at the same time, our heads snap towards Gavin, without looking up, he answers, “I don’t really mind. Fuck schedules.”
Jonah’s smile turns into a grin, “Damn, Gavin. Being such a boss.”
Gavin shakes his head and chuckles at what Jonah says.
“I’m free. At any day. Any time.” Ryder’s baritone voice sends a shiver down my spine, our eyes meet and he adds, “You’re going to be my priority. Over anything else.”
His words make heat rise from my chest to my face, it spreads to my ears and I feel like I’m beet red. Five seconds go by and none of us break the silence. It doesn’t help that Ryder doesn’t even seem fazed by what he just said. He’s like a child who said something scandalous and has no idea about what it meant.
I purse my lips as I think about how whatever happens from here on out may be completely out of my control despite whatever measures I might take. One, I could have handled well. Two, I would have struggled but managed to pull through with. Three, I would most probably have a hard time with but persevere until the end. But four bigwigs? That’s a challenge I never thought I’d have to face.
Gavin
The drive to Zoey’s address has been smooth so far. So far it’s been a clear day, a few clouds in the sky and there’s crisp, clean air. The sun’s setting as I drive to her house.
The whiskey I bought sits in the passenger seat next to me, it’s a Knappogue Castle 1951 14 year. I had it brought in specifically for this night. Zoey’s made a strong impression on me; I can’t deny how attractive I find her.
It’s not just because she’s smoulderingly beautiful. She’s also incredibly intelligent and quick-witted. There’s also her innate charm, the way she moves feels calculated and precise. It’s as if there’s no such thing as a wasted moment when it concerns her.
My car, a sleek white Jaguar F-Type R convertible, is something that I got after closing one of the best business deals in my career. It’s one of my favorites among the many cars I own. Although it might not be the most impressive of cars, it holds a place in my list because of its sentimental value.
I’m not sure if Zoey will be impressed by it, but I want to show her that I’m a man that carries a high value of respect for things that I have fond memories of.
“Turn left in fifteen meters.”
My eyes spot a portion of her house as the GPS announces it. Her home is two to three stories high, it has a very modern look to it but it’s surrounded by plants. Vines with yellow flowers climb the walls but it appears to be more intentional than otherwise.
As I get closer, I notice more details. One of her window boxes is fitted with terra cotta pots; I assume that it’s the window to her room. Although from this distance, I can’t tell what plants she has specifically, I can tell that it’s a lot. Some not as flowery as others.
I come to a halt and notice the four cars on the driveway. Disappointment washes over my body, it’s almost physical. When I check the time, I take note of how I’m fifteen minutes early. The others must have all thought of coming here the earliest to sneak in some alone time with Zoey. I start to wonder how long they must have been there before me.
Picking up the bottle of whiskey after shutting off the engine, I exit my car and make my way to her large beige door. My eyes scan the cars parked in the driveway and I can tell which car belongs to which. And since the four of us escorted Zoey back to her car a few days prior, I’m pretty sure that the cherry red Mazda 3 is hers.
The blue 2016 BMW i8 is familiar. I seem to remember seeing Jonah pose with it in one of his posts on Instagram. I’m guessing that the bright yellow Ferrari 488 Spider 2016 is Wyatt’s, it just seems to match his personality the best.
And of course, there’s Ryder with his matte black Audi RS7. His taste in cars don’t really have that wide of a variety, it doesn’t help that he prefers matte black paint jobs. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him drive a car that isn’t black.
Hell, even his Ducati is matte black.
Sighing, I turn back to the door and ring the doorbell. It doesn’t take a while for someone to answer.
I’m greeted by Jonah’s hearty laugh, “Gavin! Late to the party!”
Shaking my head, I reply, “You’re all early. Why am I not surprised?”
“You brought drinks, too!” Jonah looks at the others who are in the living room and they all laugh, I notice that Zoey’s not with them.
“Yeah. It’s whiskey. Knappogue Castle 1951. Did you guys bring anything? A gift maybe?” Jonah steps back so I can move inside. When we get to the living room, I take a quick look around my surroundings.
The house is a lot more spacious than it seems from the outside.
They all laugh again, this time it’s Wyatt that answers me, “We all brought drinks.”
I blink, suddenly understanding why they kept laughing, we all look desperate.
Ryder nods his head towards Jonah, “He brought wine.”
Jonah puts his hands on his hips, “Wasn’t sure what to get so I consulted experts, they recommended the Duckhorn Merlot Napa Valley Three Palms Vineyard 2014. And that’s what I got. Zoey seemed pretty pleased with it.”
“I brought vodka.” Wyatt is leaning against a doorway, “It’s called the Tovaritch! Premium Russian Vodka. Heard it was highly rated and I just knew I had to check it out.”
Of course Wyatt brings vodka, of all drinks.
My eyes shift to Ryder, waiting for him to tell me what he brought. When he notices, he chuckles.
“I didn’t know it was a roll call.” He shrugs then shakes his head, “I brought moonshine.”
My eyes widen at this, “Moonshine? I thought that was illegal?”
“In some states.”
“And is it illegal here?” I raise a brow at him but he still looks nonchalant.
“Maybe. The one I got is called Arctic Ice Moonshine.” His eyes look up, like he’s thinking, “Not sure if it’s legal here.”
Before I can say anything else, Zoey pops up from behind another door. She’s wearing her hair up in a ponytail, making her eyes even more piercing.
“Gavin! You’re here! Sorry if it took me so long to greet you, I was still preparing some stuff when they got here. You’re all pretty early.” She wipes her wet hands on the apron she has on.
My lips involuntarily curl into a smile, “Slow day at the office, figured I might as well spend my time with something I’m
more interested in.”
She pushes my arm lightly after what I say, “Oh, that’s smooth—I see that you know your charms, Mr. Hughes.” She laughs then turns around to go back to where she came from, “I still have a bit more to do, but it’s almost done.”
“Oh.” I almost say a little too loud, “I almost forgot, here.” Her eyes go to the whiskey and she smiles when I hand it to her, “Sorry. I didn’t know the others would bring something to drink too. If I did I would have gotten you something else.”
“No, no. It’s nothing.” Zoey waves her hand off, “What’s dinner without something to make you warm and fuzzy afterwards?” She leans in closer and pretends to whisper, “Let’s hope that someone won’t get drunk out of his wits.”
Wyatt’s brows furrow and he squints, “Are you guys talking about me?”
We all laugh while Wyatt is visibly confused. Zoey then excuses herself and heads back to the kitchen.
The interior of her house has a pastel pink shade. The drapes over her windows are white, matching the furniture. There’s one sofa and two arm chairs on each side of it. Her television is mounted to the wall, under it is a cabinet with music CDs, Blue-ray discs and a PlayStation 4 with a few games beside it.
When I caught a glimpse of the kitchen, I saw that there was a walnut island countertop with a few chopping boards and a set of knives in the knife rack. She’s probably done with all the preparation and is now only waiting for a few things to finish cooking. I have to say, I also got a whiff of what she’s making and I can’t wait to see what meals she prepared for us. I’m sure the others feel the same way.
I take a seat next to Ryder in the sofa. Wyatt and Jonah start to snicker.
“What’s so funny?” Crossing my legs, I lean into the cushions of the sofa.
Jonah shakes his head, “It’s nothing. It’s just stupid.”
“Well, now even I’m curious. What’s with the suspicious giggling?” Ryder doesn’t look very amused.
Before Jonah can refuse, Wyatt finally spills it, “We were just talking about how it looks like we all planned to bring drinks to get Zoey drunk. And the fact that we can’t deny anything because it’ll make us look even guiltier is just so stupidly funny. I can’t believe out of all the things that we could have accidentally all brought, it had to be drinks.”
Ryder rubs his forehead with his fingertips, trying to look disappointed, but I see the corner of his lips and I can tell that he’s trying not to laugh.
Thinking about it, I could have brought her flowers instead. I’ve no clue why I thought bringing whiskey to dinner was a good idea. Out of all of us, Jonah’s the only one who brought something viable for the situation. He brought wine, something that goes well with dinner. The rest of us brought drinks that people get to get drunk on.
I guess deep inside we really were thinking how the night would turn out if Zoey got drunk.
Wyatt
There’s a whole line-up of food spread across Zoey’s dining table. There’s a rack of ribs, mashed potatoes with gravy on the side, mini burgers, a bowl of salmon BLT salad, roast chicken, a pan-fried pizza with chopped basil leaves and cherry tomatoes on top, and as if all of those weren’t enough, she also made key lime pie for dessert. I’m not even sure I’ll still be hungry after the main course to be able to eat the dessert, but I’ll be damned if I don’t even try.
None of us are saying it, but seeing Zoey in casual clothes with her hair tied up and her apron messy from all the ingredients is something we didn’t expect to look so sexy. Somehow she’s defied whatever fantasies we ever conjured in our heads and managed to look amazing just by cooking food.
It’s either that or I am really hungry and she’s seduced me through my belly.
I’ve met and dated different kinds of women. You wouldn’t expect it but I think I might have actually gone through the whole spectrum and somehow managed to miss the goddess that is Zoey Foster.
And she wasn’t even trying to hide!
I’ve been going around flirting with almost all the girls I meet and by some miracle I have never come across this woman or any woman of her caliber. For all I know she’s descended from paradise and is here to grace the Earth with her presence. I can’t even try to flirt with her, that was the only reason I drank so much during the award’s ceremony, to be able to walk up to her and at least try to initiate conversation.
Ever since that speech, I can’t get her out of my head. From the way she walked down that stage and the way she tucks her hair behind her ear when she’s interested in the conversation. Everything keeps playing in my head. So much so that I actually cut ties with all the women I was seeing. All of them. Gone. For her. I don’t think I’d have time for any other woman with her around.
While waiting for Zoey to finish freshening up, I decide to conduct a little survey. Nothing like a little competition to get things going.
“So which one of you guys are here because you want to fuck her, and which one of you guys just want to employ her?” I lick my lips as my aqua blue eyes watch their expressions closely.
Gavin tries to hide it, but I saw a flicker of anger in his eyes and how his brows momentarily furrowed when I said ‘fuck’. Jonah’s expression flares up, a bad sign for me, it means he wants her too. And not just as a market analyst. But Ryder, oh boy, knows how to hide his emotions pretty well, he still appears nonchalant despite my rude phrasing.
The first to speak up, unpredictably, is Ryder, “I’m here as a suitor.”
Gavin and Jonah both express enough surprise for the three of us, I take a swig of the wine that Jonah brought. Heat immediately spreads across my face, but I do like the fruity aftertaste.
“Interesting. I’m here as a suitor too.” My lips crinkle into a smirk, “She’s hot, isn’t she?”
Ryder, with his arms folded, replies, “Sure. I can’t deny she’s attractive.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. You mean to say that you guys aren’t here to strike a business deal or some shit?” Jonah licks his lips, “And here I thought Gavin was the only one I had to worry about.”
“You didn’t think Wyatt was trying to get in her pants when we met her?” Gavin’s eyes shoot daggers at Jonah.
“Wyatt tries to get in everyone’s pants! He’s a slutty guy!” Jonah throws his hands up in the air, I can tell that he’s riled up.
“Actually,” The two look at me, “I’m done with all those chicks. Right now she’s the only girl I’m after.”
Jonah shakes his head, obviously even more frustrated, but Gavin. Oh, Gavin. He looks like he’s losing control of the situation, and knowing him, it’s probably killing him inside how everything’s turning out to be.
“I think it’s great. At least you won’t be confusing Zoey’s feelings. She won’t think that all of us are just playing with her.” Ryder is the first to say something sensible. I don’t even think he minds the competition. It kind of pisses me off how composed he is right now.
“Excuse me?” I snap, “Maybe if you weren’t such a robot, people would actually know how you felt about them. Don’t try to blame her being confused on me just because I knew what I wanted and went for it.”
This seems to strike a chord with him, “You and I both know that the whole reason you’re being a fuckboy is because you aren’t mentally mature enough to actually decide for yourself and know what you want.” He snaps back, “It’s not my fault you mistake my sincerity for being a robot. All you know is how to chase a skirt and fuck whatever’s wearing it. You’re as primal as humans get.”
“You’re crossing the line, asshole.” I spit.
“Enough of this! You’re the one that started this whole thing by saying what you said. Stop being a child, Stephens.” Gavin slams a hand onto the table.
“He didn’t do anything wrong, all he did was ask why we’re here.” Jonah rolls his eyes, “It’s not like none of us were curious. So could you stop acting like you’re the leader here?”
“Wow! Where the fuck
did that come from, Goldberg? Did you get a sudden spurt of testosterone because you spent a few minutes with us?” Gavin, who was trying to resolve things just a few seconds ago, is now actually fuming. And as interesting as that is, I don’t really care.
“Why do you keep calling us by our last names, Gavin? Do you have a fucking god complex or some shit? Why don’t you get that sorted first before you get yourself a company that buys other companies because they have no ideas and a lot of cash? Oh wait, that’s exactly what the fuck you do.” I stand up, slamming a fist onto the table.
“Shut your fucking mouth, Wyatt. I don’t need you to speak up for me.” Jonah’s now standing up too.
“Could you guys just stop all this crap and get it together before Zoey gets back? We’re all being stupid right now.” Ryder is now the one who tries to get in between us in an effort to cool things down, but it doesn’t work.
“Henderson, not your place. You’re the one who got all fired up after Stephens got to you.” Gavin argues.
“Oh. So just because I got pissed means that I don’t have the right to stop shit from getting worse? Whatever happened to ending things you started?” He responds.
“Are you fucking blaming me for all of this, Gavin?” I laugh sarcastically, “It’s not my fault that you guys are a bunch of fucking pussies who can’t handle a bit of competition!”
“Oh, fuck off, Wyatt.” Jonah scoffs at me.
“You piece of shi—”
“Boys!”
All four of us pause, it’s like we’ve been doused with cold water and we realize what we were just doing. Like we’re sobering up from a long night and realizing how fucked up we were acting.
Except it’s just Zoey’s icy glare waking us up from our squabbling.
“You guys...are being so stupid.” She pinches the bridge of her nose, her other hand on her waist.
“We were just—”
“Fighting.” She doesn’t let Gavin finish talking, “You guys were fighting. Like a bunch of rats desperate for a final meal.”
We exchange glances with each other, now that my anger has subsided a bit, it dawns on me that I probably took it a little bit too far when I kept pushing Ryder until he broke.