Chapter 12
LOLA
I stayed in their apartment for longer than I first intended, but talking to them was nice, and I didn’t want to leave yet.
Currently, I was sitting on the couch with Kline and Bennett next to me, while Leo stood in front of us, waving his hand wildly while telling a story about the fight he once had. We all listened closely, though I was sure the others had already sat through this.
They knew the story, but they still looked amused. Well, Kline and Bennett did, and Watson just rolled his eyes every time Leo added another shocking twist.
“To be fair, you were a dick to that guy,” Watson said.
Leo stopped and turned to him, raising a brow. “For a reason. And, by the way, I’m still waiting for an apology from you. You could’ve helped me.”
Watson lifted his hands in defense. “It wasn’t my damn fault you couldn’t get into your own show, man.”
I pursed my lips, trying to hold in a laugh.
Kline leaned into me, his knee touching mine as he placed his hand on my thigh. “If you want me to shut him up, just let me know.”
I looked at him and smiled. “No, it’s fine. He’s very entertaining.”
“You hear that? I need to add that to my description on our website,” Leo said, grinning at me.
I looked at him and laughed softly before meeting Kline’s gaze as he spoke again. “Want something more to drink?”
“No, thank you. But I am getting hungry so maybe I should go back downstairs and see if there are still snacks available.”
“We can cook something for you,” Bennett suggested.
I turned my head to look at him. God, he was so sweet. I smiled and placed my hand on his arm. “That’s very sweet, but I don’t want to inconvenience you.”
I could tell he wanted to argue at first, but he accepted what I said and didn’t push or urge me to stay. “Okay. Then…can we invite you to dinner tomorrow?”
“Here?” I asked.
Bennett nodded. “We’ll cook for you.”
“ I will cook for you. The others will just be watching,” Leo interrupted.
Right. He was the cook of the bunch.
I looked around and took in all their expressions, trying to figure out if they were all on board with the idea of having me around for dinner tomorrow.
They all looked hopeful. They wanted me to come, and the longer I took to think about it, the more they became impatient and unsure.
Of course, I wanted to come back and have dinner with them, but I couldn’t just say yes. I had to make them wait. I wasn’t just going to say yes so easily because I wasn’t an easy woman.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Damn,” Leo murmured.
Kline squeezed my thigh, then patted it gently. “Let us know tomorrow morning. You want to go back downstairs then?”
Kline was the leader here. Although he wasn’t pleased with my answer, he wasn’t trying to squeeze a yes out of me. He—just like the others—was extremely respectful, and I appreciated that. Especially because there were four of them, and just one of me. It still overwhelmed me to have four men showing interest in me, but I was slowly getting used to it.
“Yes. I have to go check on Willa too.” I got up and looked around, smiling at them. “Thank you for having me. It was nice talking to you guys.”
“Thank you for coming by,” Bennett said, placing his hand on my lower back.
I turned to him and gave him a quick hug, feeling like that was the right thing to do. “And thanks again for the flowers. I love them,” I said as I moved away from him.
“You’re welcome. Have a good night.”
I smiled at Bennett, liking how warm and calm he made me feel. It was the opposite when I turned to Leo. He made me feel excited. Out of the four of them, I felt like he matched my energy the most, but that didn’t mean I liked him more.
“Bye, Leo,” I said as I stepped around the coffee table to give him a hug.
He pulled me closer and rubbed my back. “See you tomorrow,” he said with a smug grin once he let go of me.
I laughed and rolled my eyes at his confident statement. “We’ll see.”
Watson was next, and while I liked him as well, it was hard for me to read him. He acted all cool and nonchalant, and every time our eyes met, he stared right into my soul. Still, all I felt when I looked at him was nervousness.
I opened my arms to hug him goodbye, and he was the first to kiss my cheek before hugging me back. “Sleep tight, darling.”
“You too,” I whispered, unable to speak up.
It was strange to have four men show interest in me while all of them were completely different from each other. It was definitely something I would have to get used to.
Once I had said goodbye to the three of them, I turned to Kline who was waiting for me to follow him downstairs. I went to him, and before walking down the stairs, I turned around to give the others a little wave.
They all smiled and grinned, nodding, or waving back, and they just looked incredibly handsome standing there.
Kline’s hand rested on my lower back as we headed downstairs, and once we got to the front door, he turned to face me. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, with his eyes moving down my body before meeting mine again. “Safe to say you left quite the impression on them.”
I pursed my lips while looking up into his eyes. “Seems like it. On you as well, I take?” I asked in a challenging tone.
A low chuckle left his chest, and he rubbed his jaw before dropping his hand again. “Yeah, definitely. So, can I count on you tomorrow?”
He already knew I would come, and I decided not to keep him on his toes about it. “Yes, but don’t tell the others yet.”
He laughed. “The suspense will kill them, and I’ll have to listen to them whine about you not saying yes all night.”
“Perfect. That’s exactly what I want them to do.” I grinned and took a step toward him.
He opened his arms, and unlike the others, he hugged me around my neck, making me slide my arms around his waist, and resting my head against his chest. He squeezed me against his body, and I felt myself ease and melt into him.
“I’m glad you came up here. We all needed to be sure that you weren’t angry at us for pulling you up on stage.”
“I was just overwhelmed,” I assured him.
We stood there for a moment before stepping away from each other. I looked up at him and smiled, taking in his handsome face. “See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow. Come by around five.”
I nodded, and once he opened the door for me, I left without taking another look at him. If I did, I wouldn’t have been able to leave.
I opened the door to Benson’s apartment, noticing that there were more people inside. The place had gotten fuller, and louder as well. “Good, you’re back. Can you help me with the pizza?”
Benson was standing in the kitchen, with about fifteen pizza boxes on the counter. “You ordered pizza?”
“No, some of the guys brought them. Had I known they were coming here after that concert, I would’ve ordered them myself. Free pizza is fine too, I guess.”
I nodded and went to grab a few boxes to bring them into the living room. I placed them onto the table, then took the one at the top, and headed over to Willa. She was still sitting on one of the bean bags, scrolling on her phone. She was drunk. I could tell by her bright-red cheeks.
“Hey, girl.” I sat down on the bean bag next to her. “How many drinks did you have while I was gone?”
She scrunched up her nose and kept staring at her screen as she answered. “Not as many as you would think. I was a good girl tonight.”
I laughed and opened the box. “I’m proud of you. Eat some pizza with me.”
She let her phone drop onto her stomach, then she reached for the pizza and grabbed a slice. “How are the strippers?”
“They’re great. Still very handsome. They invited me to dinner tomorrow night.”
“Really? Are you going? Please tell me you’re going.”
“Of course I am going. What about Morris? Did he text you yet?”
“No,” she said, biting into the pizza and continuing to talk with her mouth full, she added, “But he did call.”
She grinned at me, and I looked at her wide-eyed. “He did? What did he say?”
“Oh, just that he was too nervous to call and that’s why it took him so long. He promised to take me out next week, but he’s pretty busy, so I don’t know when that will happen.”
“Busy?”
“Yeah, he works at some office during the week. He only works at The Hot Spot on the weekends,” she explained.
“I see.” I took another bite and grinned at her again once I swallowed. “We’re dating again, I guess.”
She laughed. “We sure are!”
Somehow, our lives always aligned. Everything always happened at the right time for us, but even if it didn’t, it wouldn’t matter.
We supported each other no matter what, and we were happy for one another.
“Maybe we can go on a double date someday since Morris knows the guys,” Willa suggested, her words slightly slurred.
I grinned at the idea. It sounded fun, even if I wasn’t sure how a date with four men at the same time would go.
I was good at keeping conversations going, but if I wanted to get to know them all, I needed to do that one-by-one.
“I’ll let the guys know tomorrow.”
“I love how you call them the guys . It’s like they’re already yours.”
We both laughed.
They weren’t mine, and while I didn’t like to think too far ahead and get my hopes up, I did have a feeling that this thing with the guys would turn into something great.