CHAPTER 31 Strippers and Snowstorms
We dropped to the floor at Aaron’s command and took cover under the table. My hands were shaking, and I couldn’t speak. Instead, I searched for William’s hand and squeezed it.
Bang, bang, bang!
“It’s us!” a familiar voice shouted from the other side. Liam. The tension building inside every muscle of my body relaxed, and I summoned my lungs to resume their function.
Aaron slid the door open, his gun aimed at Nina and Liam. They stood with their palms raised as snowflakes poured heavily around them, dusting their shoulders with flurries. “Geez! Settle down, mate,” Liam said. “It’s us.”
Aaron lowered his gun and cursed under his breath. William stood and helped me up to my feet while Joel did the same with Lily and Naomi.
“You scared us to death,” I said, rushing to get them inside. It was freezing out, and Nina wasn’t appropriately dressed for it. She was shaking, and her nose and cheeks were red. I closed the door behind them. “Is everything okay?”
“We tried calling.” Liam brushed the snowflakes off his shoulders as he walked further inside. “But none of you were answering your phones.”
“Sorry about that,” I said. We all agreed to leave our phones in silent mode and away from the dining room table for the rest of the evening to avoid getting distracted.
“Shoes,” William warned, pointing at Liam’s feet. His shoes were covered in melting snow, leaving a trail of water behind him. Nina had taken off her knee-length boots already. She crossed her arms at her chest and shivered. Liam stood behind her, gently kneading her arms to warm her up. The gesture looked natural and comfortable, like they’d been doing that for years.
The Prince Federico Hoax had worked, though. Since that day, Liam had been texting Nina daily and asking to hang out on their own instead of using me as an excuse to see her. Nina was tempted to tell Liam that Prince Federico didn’t exist a few days after that happened, but William convinced her to let him suffer a bit longer.
“So what happened?” Lily asked as we all took a seat at the table. Aaron marched toward the kitchen to fix himself a cup of coffee. Naomi followed him with her eyes as he walked away.
“Nina and I were attending Elias Sterling’s party tonight,” Liam explained. “But some of the roads are blocked. We came here before it got bad. It was safer than attempting to drive back to Manhattan.”
“Oh, man,” Naomi said. “Elias is my client. I’m supposed to be at his party tonight.”
“I don’t think you’ll be able to make it,” Nina added. “We were lucky Liam’s car could get us this far.”
Liam had recently purchased a small sports car, which could easily get stuck in the snow. They made a good call by coming here.
“Damn it.” Naomi pulled out her phone and walked away to make a call.
Aaron came back with his coffee and took a seat at the table. A few minutes later, Naomi returned, blowing an exasperated breath through her mouth. “The driver that was supposed to pick me up and take me there just confirmed he won’t be able to make it.” Naomi typed frantically on her phone.
“You are more than welcome to spend the night here,” William said to Naomi. “There are enough beds for everyone. Same goes for you two.” He turned to Liam and Nina.
“Are you sure it’s okay?” Nina asked.
“Of course.” I smiled and grabbed her hand. “God, you’re freezing!” I stood. “Let’s get you warmed up. Can I get you some wine?”
Liam and Nina accepted the offer, so I fetched a couple of wine glasses from the cupboard and filled them halfway with merlot.
Lily and Joel seemed like Lily and Joel again. She was sitting on his lap and feeding him dessert with a spoon. Naomi kept her attention fixed on her phone’s screen, but her hopes of finding a way to get to that party seemed to diminish. She tossed her phone inside her purse with a sigh.
“Aaron?” Naomi said in a sweet voice that she’d never used with him. Or ever.
“No,” he replied instantly, taking a carefree sip of his coffee.
“No?” She scoffed. “You don’t even know what I’m going to say!” Her voice was back to normal.
He put his cup down. “You want me to drive you to the party. And the answer is no.”
“You have an SUV,” Naomi pointed out. “A big one. I’m sure we could make it. I really need to be there. It’s important. Elias was going to introduce me to a potential client.”
Aaron refused to make eye contact with Naomi. He picked up his cup again and said, “It’s not safe.” He took a sip, unbothered by her dilemma. “Besides, the SUV is not at my personal disposal.”
“Oh, I don’t mind,” I said. “You can take the SUV.” But Aaron turned to look at me with dark, narrowed eyes. Oops. It was best if I didn’t stick my nose where it didn’t belong. Aaron was probably right. It didn’t seem safe for them to go, especially when they had confirmation that some roads were already blocked.
“Care for a trade?” Naomi pulled out her phone again and tapped her screen several times. She placed it on the table and slid it toward Aaron.
He picked it up with a frown. “What the hell is this?”
“Your very own fan club.” Naomi let out a wicked giggle as Aaron scrolled through the site with a furrowed brow and a clenched jaw.
Nina squeezed my bare arm with her cold hand, making me wince. “Sorry!” she whispered. “Show me!”
William pulled his phone from his pocket and googled Aaron’s fan club.
“Hey, we said no phones tonight!” I complained, but he rolled his eyes and kissed my cheek.
He passed the phone to Nina, and she gasped with amusement.
“Let’s see it.” Liam leaned in to see the screen while Nina scrolled through the photos and comments. “Marvelous!” Liam laughed. “You’re famous, mate!” He clapped Aaron’s back twice, and Aaron’s eyes turned two shades darker.
I pressed my lips together as firmly as I could to avoid laughing. Aaron would never forgive me if I did.
“Fix it,” Aaron demanded, sliding the phone back to Naomi. “Undo this.”
“Aaron,” I cautioned. Something about Naomi made Aaron lose his composure, and it seemed like she was well aware of it and using it in her favor. But still, I wanted him to check his tone.
Naomi clicked her tongue and slid a finger around the rim of her wineglass. “That’s a privilege reserved exclusively for my clients or people I owe favors to.”
Nina passed William his phone, but Lily intercepted it. Aaron watched as she and Joel perused the fan club website with raised brows and delighted smiles on their faces.
“Grab your things.” Aaron let out a defeated grumble and stood. “I’ll get the engine started.”
Naomi placed her hands on the table and pushed herself to a stand, a victorious grin appearing on her face. She rushed up the stairs to get her things while Aaron stepped out to warm up the engine.
“How’s Prince Federico?” William asked Nina out of the blue. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Great, I suppose.” Nina rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile. Liam stiffened in his seat at the mention of the nonexistent prince’s name but remained silent. “Although I haven’t talked to him much lately.”
The corner of Liam’s lips quirked up into a subtle, pleased smile.
“Who’s Prince Federico?” Lily tilted her head.
“A figment of William’s imagination created to torture me.” Liam tossed a balled-up napkin in William’s direction.
“Torture you, you say?” William threw the napkin ball back at Liam and smirked with satisfaction at seeing him expose himself. “Why would the thought of a prince going out with Nina be a reason for torture?”
Nina’s gaze widened, surprise radiating through her big brown eyes. She knew there was something special between her and Liam, an undeniable attraction constantly kept at arm’s length for the sake of the friendship. But the lines were getting blurry, and even if I understood why putting their current relationship at risk was a reason enough to give them pause, their affection was getting hard to overlook.
“No, what I meant was I-I looked him up. This prince fellow,” Liam explained, running a nervous hand through his light brown hair.
“You did?” Nina stared at him with lovestruck eyes.
“I—yeah. I wanted to make sure you’d be safe with him.” He took a quick, nervous sip of his wine. “But I found nothing, so I assumed it was all made up.” He dismissed the whole thing with a carefree wave, but we all knew better. We saw how jealous he got that day after Nina had supposedly left with “Prince Federico” to NYU’s Christmas party.
Lily got up and started clearing up the table with a smile. Joel helped her carry a few things back to the kitchen.
“Thank you for worrying about me.” Nina smiled at Liam and looped her arm around his, pulling him closer to her. “That’s so sweet of you.”
“Of course.” Liam nodded once and stared into Nina’s eyes, their faces merely inches away. It’s the closest I’d ever seen them.
“Okay, I’m ready.” Naomi rolled her small carry-on bag behind her. “Are you sure it’s okay for Aaron to take me?”
“Yeah, of course,” I replied. “I’m just worried about it being a good idea, considering the weather. But I trust Aaron’s judgment.” If Aaron considered it wasn’t safe to continue, he would undoubtedly turn around.
“Okay then.” Naomi smiled. “Happy New Year!” Aaron entered through the front door as Naomi hugged us all. “Thanks for everything.”
Naomi made eye contact with Aaron, and he extended his hand, silently asking her to hand over her luggage. She did. They left silently, the door clicking softly behind them.
“We’re going to Australia!” I said to Liam, suddenly remembering William’s Christmas gift.
“Fuck yeah, we are!” Liam high-fived me. “Did you just find out?”
“I did,” I said. “William told me earlier today. I’m so excited! I’ve never been.”
“You are going to love it.” He grinned and turned to Nina. “Have you been to Australia?”
“You know I haven’t,” she replied with a smile. “We talked about this when you told me about your annual trip to the Australian Open with your brothers.”
“You should come.” Liam looked at Nina expectantly as she parted her lips to reply, but no words came out of her mouth. “Please.”
“No, Liam.” She shook her head, looking almost embarrassed. She unlocked her arm from Liam’s and rested it on the table. “You don’t have to invite me. This is something you do with your brothers. I’ll only be in the way.”
I wanted to shout, Yes! You should come! It’ll be so much fun if you do! But this was something for them to figure out.
“I want you to come.” He placed his hand on top of hers, and I almost squealed with excitement. “Come on. It’ll be fun. I swear I won’t let you out of my sight.”
Ugh. These two.
“There’s enough room on the plane,” William sang. He probably knew I’d love for Nina to join us, and we all knew they needed a little push.
“I don’t know.” Nina kept shaking her head no. “Prince Federico wanted to take me to his vineyard in Tuscany. I need to double-check my schedule.”
Liam pinched Nina’s waist, and she cried out.
“Oh, you think that’s funny.” Liam pinched her again, and she playfully pushed his hands away. “Is that a yes?”
Nina stared at him, taking her sweet time to reply. “Yes.”
We all cheered, high-fived, and screamed with joy. Well, I screamed with joy. I was leaving for Australia with William and my best friends in a few days. It was so exciting and surreal to me.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Lily said, plopping in her seat. “Australia this. Australia that. What about my bachelorette party, huh?”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I said. “I have everything figured out. We’re going to Vegas as soon as we return from Australia. I’ve already hired five strippers for a private show.” I had nothing planned yet. I only said this to see how William reacted to me suggesting Vegas and strippers.
“Billie said strippers!” Joel clapped once with a laugh.
“Billie!” Lily covered her face with her hands as Joel pulled back her chair with her still in it. “I’m not drunk enough for this, Joel!”
Well, I was. Tipsy, that is. But I didn’t know what anyone meant or why being drunk would help the situation.
William stood and winked at me as he lifted the chair with me in it and set it back-to-back with Lily’s. “I seriously wish you hadn’t said that.”
“What is happening?!” I laughed.
“Do you have the song?” William asked Joel, who replied with a side-eye and an, “Of course I do.”
William stood before me and pressed his hands on the chair’s backrest to lean in. “Remember when you asked why DVD #3 was missing from the box, and I said it was just an old movie Joel and I worked on back in Sweden when I was eighteen?”
“Yeah, and you said you’d lost the DVD but would let me know as soon as you got your hands on another copy.”
“You guys, it’s almost midnight,” Lily warned. “You need to make it quick.”
“Oh, you wish.” Joel made a “psh” sound while looking for “the song” on his phone.
“Anyway,” William continued. “Joel and I can’t say we’re … particularly proud of that film, but Lily here liked reminding us how foolish we were in accepting the roles of two brothers who ended up being male strippers to make ends meet.”
“So, to put the incessant teasing to an end,” Joel intervened. “We decided to dance for her whenever the word stripper was uttered in our presence.” Joel tapped his phone, and a raunchy RB song started playing in the sound system.
Jesus Christ. I could feel my cheeks getting warm.
“And you’re going to dance for me?” I asked William.
“Mhm.”
“Will shirts come off?” I teased.
“Yup.”
“And this is a problem … why?” I turned my neck to ask Lily.
“I don’t know!” She laughed. “It’s not. It’s …”
“She loves it, but she’s too proud to admit it,” Joel tosses in. “She wants to keep making fun of us. And we want to keep reminding her it’s not that lame.”
“From the start,” William ordered Joel. He tapped his phone, and the song blared on the speakers from the start.
“Can we join?” Liam stood.
“Sure” and “No!” were yelled simultaneously by Joel and Nina. She pulled Liam back to his seat, looking mortified.
“Come on, it’ll be fun!” He laughed. “I’ll copy whatever they’re doing.”
Liam stood and grabbed Nina’s hands to pull her up. He placed the chair close to ours but with her back facing us.
“Ready when you are boys.” I crossed my leg on top of the other, and William quickly uncrossed it with his foot.
He leaned in and said, “I’ll need you to be able to open those legs for me.”
I grabbed William’s sweater to bring his face closer to mine. “Have you seen this dress?” It was short, and I was wearing a thong.
William squatted in front of me. “I have, and it’s perfect for this. Or anything.”
“Just … I don’t know what kind of moves you’ve got planned, but please don’t flash my ass to the rest of the party.”
William laughed. “Everyone’s attention is going to be busy somewhere else, ?lskling. Trust me.”
“Let’s go! You guys are taking too long.” Lily complained. “It’s almost midnight.”
“Here goes.” Joel restarted the song for the second time. “Try to keep up, Liam!”
“Oh, shut it,” Liam replied. Nina laughed.
Joel and William started their moves, and I focused on him alone. William knelt on one knee in front of me and slid forward, grabbing the chair’s legs. He pushed himself up and sat on top of me, slowly grinding against me to the rhythm of the music. He parted my legs with his knees and took a step on the chair, only to jump back on the floor. He started pulling on his sweater, revealing part of his abs and chest, but released the fabric and kept it on.
I was already drooling, mouth agape, watching with fascination. This was full-on choreography. They weren’t kidding around. And the fact that they still remembered it was both funny and impressive.
William turned his back to me and squatted, and before I realized what he even did or how he did it, he was sitting on top of me again, giving his back to me, his hips gyrating hard against my thighs.
“What the hell was that!” I heard Liam shout. I would’ve laughed, but I was too shocked and beyond entertained watching William dance to even bother.
William stood and removed his sweater. Tossed it on the floor beside him. He grabbed the back of my chair and rotated it 90 degrees, then tilted it back until he gently but quickly settled it on the floor. I let out a short but loud scream, and so did Lily.
But I couldn’t see her or anything else happening around me because of how they moved the chairs around and the fact that William was now crawling behind my head, stopping until he grabbed onto the edge of my seat. He placed each knee beside my face, and all I could see was his crotch moving up and down my face, all perfectly timed to the music as he pulled and pushed the chair back and forth. His hands grabbed mine and slid them up and down his chiseled abs.
Before I could take another breath, William grabbed the chair’s backrest and lifted me back to a sitting position. My hair was a tangled mess, and my jaw ached from smiling, gaping, or both.
He pulled me up from my seat, turned me around, and bent me over, placing my hands on the chair for balance. “William!” He placed his hands on my hips and pulled them against him to grind on my ass, every move perfectly coordinated with the song. His fingers bunched my hair into a fist and straightened me.
“It’s midnight!” Lily shouted.
William stopped the choreography. He slid his hand around my waist, pulling me flush against his chest, moved my hair to the side, and whispered, “Happy New Year, baby,” before spinning me around and lifting me off my feet to kiss me.