Chapter 12
TWELVE
True to form, Avery over-packs and we’re forced to take two cars to the Bay for the trunk space alone.
We stay in the Presidential Suite of the same hotel they were at last year.
I don’t dare ask Avery how much they charge per night but when I see the price list on the mini bar, I almost drop dead on the spot.
Then Ash starts cracking open the bottles of liquor like he wasn’t just laughing his ass off at my very literal swooning, and I consider taking a swing at the rich dick.
He’s lucky he’s hot as fuck.
There’s a brief stand-off when Ash insists on chaperoning Avery’s dinner date with Atticus, but when she caves and lets him, I get the feeling she’s terrified it isn’t a real date.
She hugs me as she leaves and I hug her back just as tight, murmuring a ‘good luck’ before I give Ash a stern look, like maybe he’ll listen to me for once and not ruin his sister’s night.
Doubt it, but I try.
He gives me a droll look, waiting until Avery has her back to us, before he tugs me into his arms for a kiss with a little too much tongue and teeth to be labeled anything but possessive.
I can taste the bourbon he just knocked back and I hope it’s enough to dial his temper down, because the squeeze my ass gets from him speaks volumes for his libido’s ability to power through.
With still hours to go before we need to head out, Harley and Blaise turn the TV on to some sports thing I couldn’t care less about, but they each grab a beer and park their asses.
I take the opportunity to take a long shower because I have to shave, well, everything in preparation for the party.
I still haven’t told everyone about the Jackal’s interference and the extra condition being added, or that lingerie and briefs being mandatory is that condition.
When I duck into the guys’ rooms to leave the bags of their dress code compliant ‘outfits’later, Blaise calls out to offer to wash my hair for me and even let Harley help him soap me up.
At his teasing tone, I ignore him and dart back to the bathroom, trying not to think too hard about it.
I don’t want to admit how fucking tempted I am.
Wet, naked, and pressed in between them.
Sweet merciful lord.
I’m standing in front of the mirror wrapped in a towel and putting on my makeup when Avery knocks at the door and joins me. She doesn’t look particularly happy but she’s not raging mad either, so I’m at a loss.
When I raise an eyebrow at her, she blushes.
“It was fine. The food was good and he was very attentive but… I think he really did want it to be a date. He stared at Ash like he wanted to break his arm when he walked down with me. Ash was surprisingly well behaved, by his standards, but I’ve still just sat through their sniping for the last two hours. ”
“Why didn’t you just tell Ash to leave when you realized? He would’ve.” Maybe. Okay, who am I kidding? Very doubtful but worth a try.
Avery pulls off her stunning and elegant red silk dress that I’m sure took Atticus to his knees.
“He didn’t say it was a date and… well, it still feels like he got bored and beckoned for me and, like a lovesick girl, I ran right down here to him.
I’m sick of making myself available to him, putting in the effort and going along with what he wants.
Maybe I want to be chased. Maybe I think I deserve to have him work for me.
I’ve been on a platter for him for too long, even after he turned me down. ”
No maybes about it; the guy can grovel for her. But if I’ve learned anything about girl talk, it’s that you ask questions and offer to gut anyone who slights your bestie. “Did he turn you down, though? And did he say why? The age gap might have freaked him out. I mean, I can’t fault him for that.”
Avery hums and slips into the shower, scrubbing at her skin like she always does.
I wince at how rough she is. “I tried to speak to him about that last year. I told him I wasn’t interested in anyone else and if he saw any potential for the two of us in the future, I’d wait until I was in college and reach out to him then.
He told me he wouldn’t even discuss it, which I accepted, but then he stopped answering my messages or taking my calls. ”
She gives me a shy look I’m not used to seeing on her face, and she cuts the water off, speaking quietly but the strain is still easy to hear.
“We’d always kept in touch and I just acted like we never had the conversation in the first place, but he iced me out.
I was so pathetic and heartbroken about it that I apologized for overstepping and putting him in an awkward position, and he finally answered me by telling me to stop speaking to him altogether.
It was like a knife in my heart. That’s when I started seeing Rory. ”
My face screws up as I pretend to gag. “Don’t say his name! I was close to forgetting he exists. I wonder how he’s doing these days?”
Avery smirks at my dramatics, drying herself off as she shoots me a conspiratorial look. “Ash keeps an eye on him to make sure he’s miserable and very far away from me. Apparently, the spinal injury has affected more than just his ability to walk.”
Ahh, perfect. Nothing the rapist deserves more.
I sigh happily, then again with less joy when I open the bags holding the lingerie I’ve bought for Avery and I to wear. She wraps herself in a towel and peers into the bag.
“You’re joking, right?” she asks, and when I shake my head, she cackles. “Ash is going to be pissed,” she gasps out as she laughs even harder.
I begin to wriggle my way into the stupid teddy-thing, but it’s a struggle to get it on my body. It’s pure white and made of lace, but with too many straps and a wide choker. It looks like something an angel would wear if it gave bondage a whirl.
“I got us both the most coverage possible while sticking to the rules,” I grumble, as I accidentally snap one of the many straps against my skin and curse viciously under my breath.
It doesn’t hurt, but I’m so fucking frustrated at this stupid thing.
Avery giggles at me and takes pity, deftly fixing the mess I’ve made of it.
She slips hers on with far more ease and I glare at her for being so graceful. And bendy.
“Do we have to wear the shoes? I’m not really a ‘combat boot’ sort of girl.”
I roll my eyes at her. “Like I haven’t noticed you’d rather break a fucking ankle than wear flats.
The party is at the docks, in a warehouse, with probably a couple of thousand people attending.
You’d die in heels and you’ll be wearing that so you can’t make Ash carry you. Imagine the therapy he’d need.”
She snorts and then frowns at me like the spoiled brat she really, really is. I grin at her with a little sarcastic edge. “You should be grateful, do you know how long it took me to find boots that were completely white? A long fucking time.”
Avery sighs again, like I’m mortally wounding her, and there’s a pissy thump on the bathroom door before Ash is growling, “This is a fucking joke, right? I’m not going to a party in fucking tightie-whities.”
Her eyes turn into saucers as we both scramble into the hotel bathrobes before I fling open the door.
Ash is scowling at us both and he’s dressed in the ‘clothes’ I left for him.
They’re definitely not tightie-whities, but they are underwear.
He’s standing there in a simple pair of white boxer briefs that I cannot help but look down at because holy shit, there’s his fabled giant dick.
Even without an erection, it’s huge. Fuck. Fuuuuuuuuuuck.
I gulp.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Mounty?” Avery hisses, and then I remember that I’m literally just standing here staring at my hot-ass boyfriend’s dick while his sister watches my brain melt out of my ears.
I clear my throat and try to ignore my blush. “I told you I could go by myself. You all insisted on coming. They’ve changed the rules this year and this is what it takes to get in.”
Ash snorts under his breath and tugs me until I’m tucked under one of his arms. I start to sweat because I’m too close to his giant dick.
He doesn’t notice. “Like we’d let you traipse around the slums of Mounts Bay in your fucking panties by yourself.
How much therapy am I going to need when I see what you’ve put my sister in? ”
Avery grabs her phone and then frowns when she realizes she doesn’t have anywhere under the bathrobe to stash it. “I’m not sure we can afford the extent you’ll require. We certainly can’t afford the amount I now need.”
I groan at them both when Blaise comes stumbling into the room in his own pair of white boxer briefs, laughing at Harley who is frowning and tugging at the waistband of his.
Avery mumbles under her breath and stomps over to one of her overnight bags, digging out a beautifully tailored coat. When she slips out of the bathrobe to pull it on, Harley’s frown turns into a snarl. “What. The. Fuck. Mounty?”
I sigh and hold a hand out, the other one keeping my own robe firmly closed.
“Look. That is the most modest lingerie I could find her and she’s covered more than when she’s in a bikini!
It has to be completely white. I did my fucking best and, once again, I said I’d go alone. At least it has a covered crotch.”
Harley’s eyes snap over to mine and away from the white, vinyl, halter-neck teddy that is showing a whole lot of Avery’s cleavage and molds to her body like a second skin.
There’s a little chain holding the two strips of vinyl in place over her tits and it’s looking a little strained.
Every single male Mounty at the party may die tonight if that chain breaks.
“And what the fuck are you wearing to this shit-show?” Harley snaps, and I glare at him as I wrap the robe around myself even tighter.
“I’m not showing you until we get there. I’d rather enjoy the drive in peace and quiet.”