Chapter Eleven
A BLINDING FLASH.
A snicker.
Eyes fluttering open, I saw Stash dressed in…
nothing?...and standing on the side of the bed.
He turned the camera around in his hand and showed me the shot he had evidently just taken.
He pointed at it and smiled big, showing all of his pearly whites, before turning and strolling out the door naked as a jaybird.
Oh, yes. He was most definitely strange.
And even better looking without the towel from last night.
Also, Brent and Cole were really going to hate that shot.
I leaned up on one arm from the pillow I had been using – Cole’s stomach – and looked down at Brent and Cole. I giggled. Oh. They were positively not going to approve of that picture.
Somewhere during the middle of the night, I had slithered down the bed and Brent and Cole hadn’t moved a whole lot.
Cole’s arm was still half under my pillow, his face toward Brent’s.
Brent was lying on said arm and still facing Cole.
They looked like they were cuddling in slumber.
I cocked my head. I guess they kind of were.
I glanced at the clock. And gawked. They were going to be late.
“Y’all, wake up!” I ordered urgently, shaking them. “It’s 7:28! You’ve got a half hour to get to work!”
“What?” Cole woke up immediately. His eyes widened when he focused on Brent, where he was facing, and shouted, “Jesus Christ!”
He punched Brent’s shoulder, yelling, “Get off me, dammit!”
“Huh?” Brent asked, actually halfway waking.
“Wait, wait!” I cried when Cole went to slung him again. Didn’t help.
Brent’s eyes popped open, and he stared into Cole’s eyes…that weren’t so far away. He screamed. I don’t think I had ever heard him scream before. Huh.
Well, not the time.
“Would you two quit yellin’ and hittin’? You’re giving me a headache!” I hollered.
Both gazes found mine. Boy, did they look freaked. I sighed. “I told you if you couldn’t take being in the same bed to leave last night.”
Cole blinked, still in shock, and Brent rolled away from Cole, rubbing his eyes like they burned.
“What the hell’s going on?” Zane rushed into the room. He, at least, had boxers on. I did a double take. Goodness. He was built. With…a tiny, teddy bear tattoo – a Snuggles lookalike – that sat along his underwear line on his hip. Odd, that.
Huh.
Cole cleared his throat deeply right before Brent nudged my leg none too gently – guess they were back from Freakville. And, cripes. How long had I been starin’?
I waved a hand, explaining to Zane, “I was just trying to wake them up.” Eyes glancing down at his lack of attire, again. Critically this time. Did they all forget to set their alarm clocks? I pointed at the neon lit numbers. “You guys are going to be late. It’s 7:32.”
“What’s going on?” Ally asked, rushing in and tying her robe, bedraggled and harried.
“Nothing, Ally. Go back to bed. I was just trying to wake them, and well, that didn’t go so well.”
“Why would they need to get up at this hour?” Ally asked perplexed, brushing wild curls back from her face.
“It’s still pitch black out,” Cole groaned, closing his eyes.
Brent glanced at the clock. “I’m going to kill him.”
“What?” I was very confused.
Zane cracked his back. “Stash. This is one of his pranks.” He yawned, scratching his head as he walked out. “You’ll get used to it.”
Laughter exploded down the hallway somewhere. Oh! I really hoped the man was getting frost bite on his important bits. I, also, didn’t think it was the perfect time to tell Brent and Cole about the photo. I’m pretty sure they were already in the killing mood.
Zane shouted at Stash to “Shut the fuck up!” before slamming his door. Ally just said something about “knives and seagulls” and left the three of us alone, shutting the door as she left. I glanced at them in the dark quiet of the room. I wondered what they were going to do.
“One of you leavin’?” I asked carefully. They were both fuming.
“No,” both answered stubbornly.
Okay.
I was laying back down when Cole threatened Brent. “Lay you’re fucking head on my arm again and I’ll break it.”
“And keep your face away from mine or it’ll be real colorful come morning,” Brent hissed.
“If you two can’t be civil, then get out.
Anybody with half a brain knows you’re gonna end up tossin’ and turnin’ in the middle of the night, resultin’ in limbs and such being thrown in different places.
So before one of you really freaks when a hand lands somewhere very interesting I suggest you think long and hard before sleepin’ in this bed,” I lectured and got comfy again, being almost instantly tugged half on Cole.
Just as quickly, Brent resumed spooning me from behind, Cole making room for his arm with only a small grunt this time.
Guess they weren’t in the thinking frame of mind.
Time passed.
I was a few ticks from dreamland when Brent whispered, “I’d better not wake up with your hand anywhere near the family jewels, or you’ll lose it.”
“Back at you,” Cole whispered. “And you scream like a little bitch.”
Brent wasn’t to be outdone. “You would too if you woke up staring at your ugly mug.”
Men.
***
Morning came too fast after being woken in the middle of the night.
I only managed to mumble something about Stash and another photo to Brent and Cole as they rolled out of bed for their early morning workout – without freaking this time.
I fell back asleep, and dreamed of shouting and a high pitched squeal and banging doors.
I keep telling myself it was a dream, anyway.
I hated to think that screech had been Stash.
When I finally woke for good – other than to realize both men had moved in all their bags before leaving for work, it was 11:00 and Ally had made breakfast. I was starving and scarfed it down, only spilling a fourth of it on myself.
I didn’t mind eating around Ally. She already knew I was a mess.
She shook her head and handed me a napkin.
I’m pretty sure she really wanted to tie a bib around my neck by the way she stared at it like she was measuring for the correct fit.
We went down to the lobby where I found a wrap and bathing suit that had a full back, to cover my “brand”, but the darn thing didn’t have much of a front to it.
My breast practically spilled from it – which is saying something since they were barely a handful – and I complained about it endlessly until Ally threatened me life and limb.
I paid cash.
We swam for the better part of the afternoon, drinking a few fruity drinks with cute, miniature umbrellas until we decided we had better get back upstairs since some of Lion Security’s staff was supposed to be showing at any time.
Ally hadn’t pressed any further with her questions during our relaxation time together.
It had been really enjoyable, even if I hadn’t had a lot to contribute to her career talk.
She was still the same ‘ol Ally, just an adult version.
Ally was almost done cleaning up dishes from lunch and I was cleaning up the crew’s mess in the living room from the previous evening when the phone rang telling me the rest of our party had arrived.
I rode the elevator down to let them up after peaking in the kitchen and telling Ally where I was going.
She hadn’t thrown anything at me, so she was in pretty good spirits herself.
When I exited the elevator, I spotted them immediately. They were kind of hard to miss.
“Hello. I’m Ember. I understand you work for Lion Security?” I greeted the first gentleman warmly, hand out to shake.
The obvious alpha of their group, a tall black man with a bald shiny head, early thirties, almost seven feet tall, and built like a WWF star, glanced down at me.
He had on a grey suit that had to have cost a fortune to have specially made for his hulk size and shiny black shoes and a diamond earring in one ear.
His deep brown eyes moved up and down my person in a deliberate examination of distaste.
He didn’t shake my hand. I wasn’t surprised.
That’s why I had picked him to say hello to first. I can be ornery, too.
The retro punk man in his mid-twenties reacted a smidge different.
He wore a suit of sorts, too, but more along my style—black tight jacket, white striped button up with an extra thin, black tie, black dress pants, and shiny black dress shoes with red flames of the tips.
He had black hair that was streaked with red lying on one eye and a tiny black stud in his nose.
His eyes widened behind his black, horn-rimmed glasses at my arrival, his survey something else entirely.
He moved in front of the rude alpha and shook my hand with a firm grip. A lot more firm than I would have expected for his frame. But, up close he was taller than I had first assumed – or it might have been because he had been standing next to the giant moments ago.
His voice was deep, but had a soft tone to it that was pleasant to listen to when he stated, “Yes, we work for Lion Security. Zane said there would be someone here to meet us, but…” He trailed off giving me another looking over.
“I’m Bastian, or Bas. Whatever you prefer.
” He gestured at rude alpha. “This is Peter.” He glanced around the lobby. “Chloe’s around here somewhere.”
He didn’t seem to realize he was still holding my hand, so I gently extracted it as a blond ponytailed woman elbowed her way from behind Peter.
I had lost track of her, too, back there and got my first up close look.
She was sexilicious and tough rolled in an, apparently, maddened ball.
I vaguely wondered which of the crew had hired her.