Chapter 12 Derrick
DERRICK
We’ve made it back to Australia, and it is so good to be home.
Vegemite. Normal bread. The sunshine. Clean air.
Good chocolate. All the things I didn’t know I would miss since leaving her behind, and the best bit was arriving at Sienna and Vanessa’s family retreat in the Byron Bay hinterland, a gorgeous part of Australia.
It’s my happy place here. You feel like you’re a world away in the ancient rainforest, nothing but the sound of the birds and cicadas echoing around you.
The slow pace of life is what I’ve needed after the whirlwind of a year I’ve had, and not to mention the stress of starting up a business.
As the days tick by, I can feel my batteries slowly recharging.
We celebrated Christmas with the Dirty Texas gang and their families, with Sienna and Vanessa’s families before the rest of the crew head down for the wedding.
It was funny seeing the boys freak out over the insects or the weird animal sounds that the rainforest produces.
These burly, tattooed, womanizing rock stars shrieking like little kids because a cockroach flew near them or a possum screeched at night near their cabin, or a snake was found on their deck eating a frog. Hours of entertainment.
After Thanksgiving, I distanced myself from Chance.
Anytime he messaged me to see if he could come over or if I could come over to him, I told him I was busy, which was the truth, I was helping Sienna get things ready for Australia and making sure the boutique was set up while we were gone.
I ran into Chance while out with Parker one night.
He turned up on the arm of one of Parker’s model friends.
That wasn’t awkward. Thankfully, I was able to busy myself with one of the guys Parker introduced me to, a hot Italian stallion named Andrea.
The man was hot. And kinky. He spoke dirty words to me in Italian, and I was gone for.
Chance who? I took him home, and we ended up spending the entire weekend together, never leaving the bed.
Of course, my phone was blowing up with messages from Chance, but I ignored them, he was having fun with his own fuck buddy.
After that weekend and my subsequent ignoring of Chance’s messages, he stopped chasing me.
Do I miss him? Yes. And that sucks, I still want him.
“Derrick!”
That voice, it’s been a while since I’ve heard it.
The wedding guests have flown in after Christmas and have been slowly arriving at the resort in dribs and drabs.
I didn’t know Sons of Brooklyn had arrived yet.
It was only a matter of time until we ran into each other.
The resort is big but not that big. Turning around, I slide a wide smile across my face and greet Chance warmly.
“Hey, Chance, how are you?”
“How am I? I’m surprised you remember who I am,” he answers snarkily. I raise a brow in surprise at his tone. “You’ve been ignoring me.”
“I’ve been busy, see all this,” I state, waving my hands around, “I’ve been helping Sienna and Evan organize their big day. Plus, the shop and my styling business have been busy, and I’m also looking at buying my first home. So, like I said, I’ve been busy.”
Chance frowns at me. “I’ve missed you.” He pouts.
“I doubt your bed has been left cold.”
He rolls his eyes. “Derrick …”
I hold up a finger to stop whatever bullshit he is about to say. “Don’t you Derrick me. You owe me nothing, just like I owe you nothing. We aren’t dating, we aren’t anything.”
“Derrick …”
I shake my head. “Friends, Chance, that’s all we are. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go.” With that, I turn on my heel and head toward my cabin, leaving Chance alone in the rainforest.
Chance has left me alone the past couple of days, and I am thankful I’ve been busy helping Camryn with Sienna’s bridal and baby shower, which distracted me from his absence. I felt guilty after telling him to basically fuck off, but I’m also proud of myself for standing my ground.
“Dessert time,” I say giddily because I know what is about to happen.
Bursting through the doors are the half-naked hunks that have been serving us all day. They start dancing and gyrating around the party.
“Derrick!” Sienna screams, covering her face as they dance around her.
“This is your dessert.”
She shakes her head. “Evan is going to kill me.”
“He better not or I’ll be having words with him.” Momma Wyld grins as she hungrily looks over the strippers.
“Knew you were my kind of woman,” I tell her, which makes her giggle. I think someone has maybe had one too many champagnes.
Eventually, Sienna relaxes and starts enjoying the show as much as she can while being heavily pregnant.
I love that the mums have got in on the action as well, I knew they would be a good time.
One of the strippers comes over and pulls my chair out from the table with me in it, and starts dancing on me.
“You’re so hot,” he whispers into my ear. I still. Did I hear him correctly?
“You’re not so bad yourself.” I smirk as he grabs my hands and runs them down his abs, my fingers enjoying every bit of muscle. He then pushes my hand further down over his crotch, and my mouth falls open as he’s hard.
“I’ve been watching you all day,” he confesses.
I swallow. “You have?”
He nods as he continues to push my hand against his hard cock. “Are you single?”
“Yes.” I pant as he takes my hands and runs them all over his slippery body.
“You up for some fun later?” he asks.
“Yes.” He doesn’t need to ask me twice.
He then leans in, and his lips touch my ear, sending shivers over my body. “Good, I haven’t stopped imagining what this fucking mouth would look like wrapped around my cock, all day.”
Shit. This is so hot. New fantasy unlocked. This mouth will do whatever he wants all night long. He then turns around and starts waving that peachy booty in my face, and what else do you do when someone does that except slap it.
“What the fuck, y’all?” Evan yells, quieting the party.
“Oh, fuck!” I gasp.
“Mom, seriously?” Evan says, looking utterly disgusted by the stripper who has their crotch in his mum’s face.
“Oh hush, boy, I’m enjoying my first-ever lap dance. Oh, hi, sweetheart.” She giggles, waving to her husband.
“Looks like you’re having fun, dear,” he calls back to her.
“Oh, yes, this young man can dance. You could learn some new moves from him.”
See, couple goals.
“Shit, that’s Dirty Texas. Are we screwed?” my new stripper friend asks, looking slightly uneasy.
I shake my head. “No. It’s all good. Trust me.” Well, I sure as hell hope it is. If he ruins this for Sienna, I’ll murder him.
“Oh God, not you, too, Charlotte. Seriously, I’m going to need therapy after witnessing this.” Evan groans.
“Baby, I’m sorry. I had no idea this was going to happen,” Sienna says, walking over to where Evan is standing in shock. I still can’t tell if he’s angry or not. He might be in shock.
Evan’s dad puts a hand on his shoulder reassuring him. “They were just having fun, son.” As if he can read his son’s inner thoughts.
Sienna reaches him and wraps her arms around his neck and whispers to him, and he softens, then I hear her say, “I can buy you a stripper if you want? Send some down to the marquee. Seems only fair.”
“That’s so nice of you, but no, I’m good.” He kisses her softly.
“Um … hello, I think that’s a brilliant idea,” Christian chimes in.
They both ignore Christian’s request as Sienna whispers something else in Evan’s ear, which must have been saucy as you can see the hunger in his eyes as his fingers tighten on her. No one else would notice the subtle changes, but I’ve seen that enough at the shop to know what is going on.
Evan realizes everyone is watching his and Sienna’s private moment and he clears his throat. “Fine, continue, don’t let me get in the way of the party. But I need to borrow my fiancée for a moment.”
Which means he’s going to bang her brains out as he drags her upstairs.
“Now the fun police have gone, let’s party,” I call out to everyone. The music starts pumping again, as do the strippers even with the extra guests.