Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
“Finally, come on,” Adam says quickly, reaching for me as soon as we approach the front of the pub. Markus and Adam stood there ready for the exchange like I’m some possession they’re taking turns with..
“We’re on time,” Kai grumbles.
“Barely,” Adam says, and I can’t help but giggle.
“Come on, Songbird.” Markus wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me towards the direction of The Eye. “Our turn.”
Reis and Kai give me soft kisses before they quickly retreat into the pub again and we hurry along to the big, amazing, ferris wheel looking structure in the distance. Markus looks at the security guards and nods.
“How are we going to be able to go up there without security?” I ask quietly.
“Don’t worry, Echo,” Adam says, coming to stand beside me. “It’s all taken care of.” The dark, wolfish look on his face tells me that he has something planned. That the forty-five minutes they were at the pub weren’t spent drinking and relaxing.
It was spent plotting.
“Come on, we’re going to be late.” Markus tugs my hand. When I look at him, trying to figure out more answers, Markus just winks.
And that’s when I know.
I’m not going to make it out of today with my heart intact.
Ten minutes later and we’re standing under this massive structure.
The Eye.
It’s amazing. Like a ferris wheel outside from a carnival, but bigger. Taller. The pods are big enough that we can walk through a sliding door.Not to mention, each pod can easily hold fifteen people. I’m going to be able to see all of London when we make it to the top.
My head has to crane back as we get close, and when we step underneath it, I’m breathless. It looked huge from a distance, but up close? Up close it’s gigantic.
“Wow,” I say in awe. Adam steps up behind me, hand on my waist, pulling me to his body possessively as he mirrors me; head tilted back, looking up. He’s got a hat and with his hood up, and I giggle because he looks like he’s hiding from the law.
“Pretty great, huh?”
“Amazing,” I agree. Markus walks away, going to get us tickets, and my attention goes to where there are groups of people waiting to load into pods.
There are so many people. More than there were at Big Ben.
“Someone is going to recognize you guys. Eventually, you’re going to be spotted.”
“We have it handled, love. Don’t worry.” Adam presses a kiss to my temple, effectively ending the conversation. He doesn't seem worried, but what happens when a group of teenagers walks onto the pod with us and starts to ask for pictures?
“Got ‘em,” Markus says, walking over with three tickets in hand. “The next one’s ours, let’s go.”
Adam guides me down to where the entrance is, and I’m starting to see what Louis meant.
There are people everywhere . I thought it was crowded around Big Ben, but this?
This is like we’re stuck in a fishbowl surrounded by schools of fish.
And I’ve essentially dunked two juicy, hot worms in the middle, all while hoping no one looks at them.
Fuck.
“Relax, Melody,” Markus says quietly as he grabs my hand. “Relax, we’re just two boyfriends taking their girlfriend on a ride.”
“You don’t think people will stare at that alone? Two hot guys holding onto one woman. The more people look, the more likely they’ll start to notice who you guys are exactly.”
“Do I need to grab your ass and kiss you in front of everyone for you to understand that it’s okay? That we’ve got you?” Adam asks, shaking his head, pulling off his sunglasses roughly so I can see the truth in his eyes.
“Melody, baby,” Markus turns my face to his with two fingers under my chin. “We’d never let anything bad happen to you. You believe us, right?”
I nod once, and he smiles.
“Then believe that we’ve got it sorted.”
“Okay,” I say softly.
“Our turn, let’s go,” Adam says, pulling me towards the front of the line where there’s a crowd of people waiting.
I keep my head down, my hair flowing around me, and I notice the guys do the same.
Markus hands over our tickets to the attendant who nods, eyes widening in surprise and shock before moving to the side to let us onto an empty pod.
“Have a good time,” the attendant chokes out, his words stuttering, and his eyes looking everywhere but at Adam or Markus.
“Thank you,” I say cheerily with a smile. Hopefully, it calms him down just a little.
“There’s a camera for photos right as you hit three o’clock, so be aware and smile for the photo.” The poor attendant throws out awkwardly and does a little half-wave. His eyebrows knit together like he can’t believe he just did that as Markus pushes me into the pod.
“Poor guy,” I say gently.
“He’ll be fine. Just a little star-struck.”
“Are we getting a picture taken?” I ask, worriedly.
“They’re going to turn it off for our turn. Aleks is there making sure they do,” Markus says and I breathe a little easier. Aleks being one of the incognito security guys following us today.
“Damn, baby. I didn’t think it would be such a big deal if you’re seen with us,” Adam jokes, but I can hear it. The undercurrent in his tone that says he’s a little worried that I might actually not want to go public with them.
“It’s not me I’m worried about, Adam. It’s you guys. As fucking cruel as Louis was, he did have a point. Your guys' careers, hopes, dreams… it’s all on the line. Because of me. So I’m not going to fuck around with that.”
“Don’t worry about Louis. Don’t worry about any of that,” Markus grumbles, but then stands straighter as the doors close.
“Come on,” he says, pulling me towards the front of the pod as we start to rise through the air.
“It’s going to take a little while for us to get to the top. But, what do you think?”
“Is no one else getting on?” I ask, looking back at the doors nervously as they seal shut. My eyebrows knit together. The rest of the pods have more people on them, what’s happening?
I look back at them, and Adam’s devilish smirk tells me that they planned this.
“Nope, Songbird. Just us.” Markus smiles brightly, but in his eyes I can see the heated want.
“Oh,” I whisper, both relieved and instantly turned on because of how clearly I can see their want for me in their eyes.
“Yeah, Echo. Oh .”
“How…”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Markus winks and steps closer, holding his arm out. “Come look out.”
I shift closer, moving towards the spot overlooking the edge.
We’re only about twenty feet in the air, but it’s enough to see the water on the river and all the city as it passes by.
Cars zoom past, obvious tourists walk quickly along the sidewalk taking pictures and posing together, while Londoners are running, talking, hustling.
It’s vibrant. Breathtaking.
My hands press against the sun-warmed glass to get closer as the whole structure moves and we ascend again.
“Wow,” I breathe the word out with awe. But when I look beside me, the guys aren’t there. Instead, they’re sitting on the wooden bench in the middle. “Um, excuse me?”
“Just one or two more positions up, and then we’ll join you,” Adam explains, pointing out the window at the way people that are on the street could look up and see them if they were pressed against the glass like I am.
“Ah,” I drag the sound out in understanding. “What, you think you’re safe in the middle?”
“We are actually.” Markus looks around, pointing.
“If we sit here, the people on the opposite side can’t see us because the core is in the way.
” He points up and to the side, “The people above can’t see us because the floor is enclosed.
The people below can’t either for the same reason.
If we’re in the middle, no one below can see us either. ” He smirks knowingly.
“You’ve given this some thought,” I say softly, but with clear innuendo in my tone.
They know what they are doing; they’ve talked it through and planned it out.
“We have,” Adam matches my soft tone,, his eyes darkening as his eyes graze over me slowly.
“But first,” Markus says, standing up as the structure moves us up again.
We rise towards the sky again, and officially out of view of people walking or driving.
Unless we’re obnoxiously pressed up against the glass, they’re in the clear.
“We want you to see everything you’ve been so excited to see, while we stand right here and observe everything we’ve ever wanted. ”
Adam smiles, nodding at me, and twirling his fingers in the air as if to say, ‘Okay, baby, turn around’.
“You two are just going to sit there and watch me?” I ask. What kind of game is this?
“We sure are.” Markus nods, moving back toward the bench before sitting down and leaning back, his head rolling to the side with a lazy grin.
“That’s it? That’s all you planned?”
“Do you hear that, Markus? It sounds like our girl’s a little disappointed.” Adam straddles the bench on the opposite side of Markus so he can look at me, and crosses his arms.
“Hmm,” Markus hums, like he’s unaffected–borderline ignoring me–but I can tell they’re teasing.
Aren’t they?
“Go on, Songbird. Go look out the window. Enjoy.”
Enjoy?
Looking at them both skeptically, it’s clear they’ve got something up their sleeves. They’re too… hands-off. They’re too calm. Intentionally not looking at me, but both have shit-eating grins on their faces.
Turning slowly towards the window, I step into the sun to see the view of the London skyline. The one I’ve always looked at wistfully in movies and hoped I’d get to see one day.
Drinking in the picturesque view, I feel like I can’t blink otherwise I’ll miss something.
It’s silent in the pod… until it’s not.
“Do you remember that time in high school when you found Melody’s panties in your bathroom?” Markus' voice cuts through the room like a blade and steals all the air out of my lungs. I gasp softly, hoping it’s quiet enough to have gone under their radar. But Adam groans loudly.