My irritation doesn’t leave me all afternoon. Even the buzz of my gun does fuck all to get rid of it. The only thing I can see no matter what I’m inking is her dark, desire-filled eyes and her full red lips as she stared up at me earlier.
Titch has been in and out of my room like a fucking cuckoo, trying to convince me to come out with them tonight. I can’t deny that a night out with the guys after being away doesn’t sound good, but it’s not just the guys, is it? She’s going. And she’s the reason it’s happening at all. Because Titch wants to get into her pants. I shake my head as anger tightens my muscles just thinking about him trying it on with her.
She’s mine.
Whoa… no, no. She’s messing with my fucking head. We’ve only been under this same roof together for a few hours. There’s no way we’re going to be able to put up with each other long term, and seeing as this is my business, I’m not going to be the one who’s leaving. She is.
“All right, fine. I’ll come. But,” I add quickly, “I’m not spending all night watching you try to hit on Tabitha. I’ve got better shit to do with my life.”
“You really need a drink and to get fucking laid, you know that right?”
I flip him off. Of course I fucking know it. My only issue is that I doubt anyone besides her is going to hit the spot.
After my last client of the night leaves, I sit on my stool hoping that the others will forget I’m here and go without me. I can hear them all chatting and laughing out in reception, but I know I’m on borrowed time. All four of them will have seen my client leave. They all know I’m done and can probably predict that I’m putting this off.
With a sigh, I start tidying up. My need for a pint outweighs my need to stay away from her by the time I’ve finished.
“Ah, here he is. We thought we were going to have to come and wrestle you out of your room.”
I keep my eyes away from where she’s sitting behind her desk. I don’t want to give her the satisfaction that my hiding away might have had anything to do with her.
“We getting a fucking drink or sitting around here having a fucking mothers’ meeting?” I bark, kicking Titch’s foot from the coffee table as I walk past him.
“We’re going, just waiting for you and Biff to finish up.” I feel her eyes burning into my back, but I still refuse to give her any attention.
“You guys go. I need to freshen up, then I’ll meet you there in a bit.”
“You sure? I can wait, it’s no problem,” Titch offers, pissing me the fuck off.
“She told us to go, now let’s go.” I push open the front door, expecting them to follow.
D and Spike step out seconds later, and Titch comes a minute after looking torn.
“I need a fucking pint. Come on.”
Our local is only two streets over. The Pear Tree was an old fashioned London boozer until a couple of years ago when it was modernised into a bar that’s always busy. Thankfully, by the time we usually finish on a Saturday most people have already hit the clubs and it’s quietening down. And that’s exactly as we find it when we walk through the door.
“Lads, long time no see,” Leon, the manager, greets. “The usual?”
“Yes please.” We find ourselves a booth and wait for him to bring our drinks over.
“So, what have you guys been up to?” I ask, needing to get my head out of the studio and away from Biff while I’ve got a reprieve.
“Same as, same as,” D says, but he turns to Spike. “This one’s got a new girl on the go.” I raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate.
“It’s nothing serious.”
“That’s not how it looked last weekend. She was clinging to you like a koala bear.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she thinks it’s more than it is. She’s a fucking good lay though, so I’ll let her cling for a while longer. What about America? Those Cali girls are hot, right?”
I think back to the girls walking around on the beaches flaunting almost everything they had. “Ah man, I could have moved. They we’re something-fucking-else.”
“Hook up much?”
“Every-fucking-night.” Okay, so that’s a lie, but I’m not telling them that. They think I live ‘the life’ and I’m not ruining it for them. “Came back for a rest.”
“Lovely,” a soft female voice says from behind me that sends shivers down my spine. “I’m sure the female population of California were gutted their personal sex god had to leave.”
Her eyes hold mine, her disgust for my actions clear in her grey depths. I hate it, and my need to tell her that I’m exaggerating slightly is right on the end of my tongue.
“Whoa, you scrub up well, girl,” Titch says. “Scoot up, D-man, let the girl in.” Titch slaps D in the chest and he stands, allowing Tabitha to slide into that side of the booth.
Part of me wants to stop her sitting next to him—he could do anything beneath the shield of the table—but not wanting to show it affects me, I sit on my hands and keep my lips sealed. My eyes, however… they feast on her. She’s still wearing the skin-tight jeans but she’s now teamed it with a low cut, loose black top and a pair of black sky-high heels with little chrome studs on them. Her hair is as bright as it was earlier, but instead of straight, it’s got a curl to it and her make-up is dark, making her look even more mysterious and appealing. The posh girl I first met is starting to disappear, and I need to keep hold of that image of her to stop me doing something I’m going to regret.
Titch’s eyes are locked on the swell of her breasts, and it takes every bit of restraint I have not to lean over the table and slap him.
“What do you want to drink?” he asks.
“I doubt Leon stocks Crystal, Tabby Cat.”
“Good thing that’s not what I drink.” She throws me a look that might make a weaker man crumble, but she needs to learn that I’m not going to be backing down from her attitude.
“Jack and Coke would be great.”
“Double coming right up, baby.”
My teeth grind that he’s planning on getting her drunk so he can get what he wants. The fucker knows I’m on his wavelength too, because when he turns to go to the bar, he fucking winks at me.
The tension around the table crackles while D and Spike look between Tabitha and me like we’re going to start a fist fight any moment.
“Don’t let me stop your enlightening rundown of your American conquests,” she says with a smirk.
“With pleasure.” I want to look away from her, but because she’s requested this, I look her straight in the eyes as I tell the story of one of my wilder nights in California. “They’re fucking dirty over there. Corey and I went to this beach party. There were bikini clad girls everywhere, the music was banging, the alcohol was overflowing. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Basically one big outside orgy. Girls and guy, girls and girl, guys and guys. No one was off limits.” Tabitha’s face scrunches in disgust. It’s kind of cute. Unable to hold my stare, she looks to Spike when he starts talking.
“We’re going on a work trip there, right?” Spike asks. He’s basically salivating at the thought alone. Fucking dog. If Tabitha thinks I’m bad then she should hear some of Spike’s tales. He’s definitely one that no guy wants for his sister. I smile to myself, thinking that Danni would thankfully run in the opposite direction of any of my friends. I’ll forever be grateful that her type seems to be suave bankers.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I say with a laugh. “Corey was loving it. It was clear he was right at home from the moment I arrived.”
“Ah man, why didn’t I offer to relocate?”
“Because the girl you were getting your cock wet in at the time was more important.”
“Ugh, Krissy. Do you know that bitch gave me crabs?”
“Yeah, you might have mentioned it.”
“You guys do realise we’ve got a woman present, right?” D asks, glancing at Tabitha.
“The second you employed her she sadly became one of us. She can deal, she knows where the door is.”
I look back to her. Her back straightens and her shoulders square. “I’ve dealt with worse than you lot. I’ve probably even got a few stories of my own that would make you blush.”
“That right, Biff baby?” Spike asks, his interest suddenly focused on her and her possible dirty story.
“Fuck off have you. You’re so straight laced, you’re probably a virgin.”
“Have you about finished?” Titch asks, coming to a stop at the table with a tray full of drinks. “We’re meant to be celebrating Biff starting with us, not scaring her off and dragging her darkest secrets from the closet.”
“Just getting to know her better.” Something crackles between us as our eyes hold. The guys seem to vanish around us as I try to dive into her head to find out if she’s lying. I want to say she is, but that little saying ‘beware of the quiet ones’ rings out in my head.
