Authors: Coco Cadence
This late dinner is horrible, horrible I tell you.
Why? Well, it took me exactly five minutes to slam-dunk a tiny piece of potato into Tricia’s wineglass. Add that to the fact that I mumbled while introducing myself to his brothers because they were so goddamn sexy, and I’ve just made a complete fool out of myself. I keep stumbling into everything, tripping over the rugs, bumping into people; I even accidentally poked Emily with my elbow. That didn’t go well with her. She seemed livid, throwing her napkin on the table and groaning as if she went totally mad. She refuses to look at me now. I get why Leo hates her.
“So, where did two meet?” Frank asks us.
“Oh, Vegas.”
“Vegas …” he repeats.
Leo kicks my shin and flashes a look at me.
“Oh, no, I mean, we got married there.” I laugh it off, getting red as a beet again. “We met at his office.”
“Oh, interesting.”
“Yep, she was one of my models.”
“Oh, really? You model?”
“Uh …” I look back and forth to Leo, getting lost in this maze of lies. He shrugs and nods. I guess I should go with it.
“Plus-size,” I say.
“Yeah, the magazine is looking to expand its base.”
Tricia smiles. “That is wonderful. Well, I’m sure you two had a great time in Vegas. Do you have some pictures? I’d love to see them.”
“Oh, no, not yet,” Leo says, coughing. “They’re still at the photographer getting processed.”
“Oh … well, I must say, I was rather stunned when I heard the news. I would’ve loved to have been there during the exchange of the vows,” Tricia says, taking another sip of her wine.
“Yeah, I would’ve loved to have you there, too, but this was a spontaneous act … of pure love.” Leo looks at me, sighs, and puts on an unprecedented performance. It almost makes me laugh out loud.
“I can see you two are very fond of each other,” Frank muses.
“Very much …” Leo repeats, gazing at me.
“Well, let’s leave those lovebirds to eat,” Tricia says, chuckling to herself. “After all, they must be hungry after that long trip.” She looks at me. “Is it to your liking?”
“Oh, very much, Mrs. King.”
“Nonsense, call me Tricia.” She laughs. “I’m not that old.”
“Of course,” I say with a blush on my face.
I continue eating in the hopes that they won’t ask any more questions that’ll embarrass the hell out of me.
Adrian keeps throwing me weird glances from across the table, and it makes me feel so awkward. I’m already red as a tomato, but I know it can get worse. It can definitely get worse.
I lean to the side and whisper to Leo, “Hey, is there something stuck on my face or something?”
“No, why?” he says.
“Is it my teeth then?” I say, flashing him a smile.
He laughs. “Well, you do look ridiculous. Maybe that’s it.”
I shove him quietly under the table. “Shut up. I’m trying to do my best here.”
“I can tell,” he muses, drinking his wine. Something tells me that he’s being sarcastic in a not so funny way.
“Do you want me to get up and tell everyone the truth?” I whisper-yell.
“Do you want me to fire you on the spot?” he retorts.
I growl.
“You two seem like you’re having fun.” Suddenly Adrian draws my attention back to him. He raises his eyebrow in a cheeky way and smiles at me. God, so smug, he reminds me of his brother. With his tan skin and brown hair, they almost look like twins.
“Jealous, much?” Leo asks.
“On the contrary, I’m quite glad I don’t have any of that.” He leans back.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He’s allergic to women,” Leo jokes.
“Hey!” Adrian laughs. “I’m just waiting for the right one.”
“Yeah, right. You just wanna jump in and straight out of the sack with them.”
“Leopold! Watch your language,” Tricia says, frowning.
“Sorry, Mother,” he says, clearing his throat.
Adrian leans forward across the table. “He’s right, though. No way I’d let myself get tied down this quickly. No offence.”
“None taken,” I say. “You wouldn’t get a piece of this regardless of your preference.”
“Oh, ouch,” he says.
Leo laughs, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Good one, Sam.”
“I would be hurt by that comment if it wasn’t for the fact that I honestly do not care. And not because you aren’t a nice piece of ass.”
“Adrian!” Now it’s his father yelling. “What is up with you two?”
“Sorry, Dad …” Adrian totally ignores him, keeping his focus on me. “You’re quite the catch. I mean, you’re pretty, you seem nice, and you’re smart, as far as I can tell.”
“Thank you,” I say, blushing.
“But my brother caught you first, which is what I’m trying to say. I don’t steal.” He smiles and leans back again. “I’m happy for my brother that he finally found someone to share his …
thing
with. Whatever that is.” He smirks, and then they both burst out into laughter as if it’s some sort of subliminal joke I’m totally not getting.
“What’s so funny?” Emily asks. “Last I recalled, our brother isn’t the one to like any type of spare time, let alone spend it with a girl. He’s too busy playing with his magazines.”
“Hey, don’t talk shit about me with my girl here, all right,” Leo says. “You don’t know what I like to do in my spare time because you don’t care.”
“Hey, let’s all calm down, okay?” Chris pitches in. Finally, he speaks up. He’s been silent the entire night. I wonder if it’s because of me or if he’s always this way. “We don’t want to give Samantha over here a bad impression of our family by acting like a bunch of little kids.”
“Says the guy who plays with bikes all day,” Emily says.
Chris throws her a look, and she stares right back at him as if they’re trying to engage in an epic staring contents. Wow, awkward. This entire dinner is just awkward. I wish it would be over soon.
“Guys, please …” Leo says, sighing.
“Oh, please, don’t pretend like you actually want to be here,” Emily says to Leo, squinting.
“Hey, I just want to talk with my brother, all right? Nothing wrong with that. It’s just dinner. Let’s just talk … act like a normal family. Please?” The way he pleads with her tugs at my heart.
“So you’re just gonna ignore that whole thing? You’re just gonna let it go?” Emily spits.
Leo nods. “People change.”
“Chris doesn’t.” She throws her fork down. “Chris never changes. Once an asshole, always an asshole. One dinner isn’t going to change that.”
“What is wrong with you?” Now his father even joins the conversation. “We are trying to have dinner here, and all I hear is squabbles. You are all adults. Behave like one.”
“Yeah, what is your problem, Emily?” Chris muses.
“Really? You’re gonna pull that crap on me now?”
“Can you all please just stop?” Tricia asks.
Everybody’s stopped eating now. For a dinner, there sure isn’t a lot of eating going on.
“No, just no,” Emily snaps. “You think just because some time has passed, I’m suddenly okay with sitting in the same room with that guy again?” She points at Chris. “Have you all forgotten what he’s done?”
Her face is growing redder by the second while I’m trying to make myself invisible. Too bad it doesn’t work.
“I’m done pretending we’re all good,” Emily says. “I’m done sitting here, having to be nice to the new girl when I have so many other, way better things to do.” Emily scoots back her chair. “God, why did I even come here? It was a mistake.”
In a fit, she walks away.
“Emily …” Tricia gets up and follows her out of the room.
The rest of us are quiet, sitting here like a bomb just exploded, and I feel like I’m about to burst into tears from the stress.
“Well, this was fun,” Frank says, throwing his napkin on the table. Then he sighs.
“I think I’ll just … excuse me,” Chris says, and he gets up and leaves, just like that. I don’t know where he’s going or if he’ll be back, but this is one disaster dinner, all right.
I frown, feeling very bad about the situation. I look at Leo, who seems to have pissed off his father because they’re engaging in an epic staring contest. I swallow away my nerves and tug Leo’s suit.
“Do you mind if I go …? You know,” I sigh to myself, holding my stomach. I feel sick. Like, really sick, and it’s getting harder to breathe.
“Are you okay?” he says.
“Yeah, yeah … I’m fine,” I lie, and I scoot my chair back.
“Take a break. The bathroom is to the left.”
I nod, and then glance at his parents. “Excuse me for a second.”
With a red face and a bloated feeling, I hurry to the hallway and find the bathroom after trying three doors. When I’m inside, I take a deep breath and then walk to the sink, opening the faucet to spritz some water on my face. As I look up to face the mirror, I want to slap myself for not keeping it together while being here.
A sudden knock on the door draws my attention. “Samantha?” Leo’s low, seductive voice sends a chill up my spine. The good kind. “Are you okay?”
I clear my throat. “Yeah …”
“Do you mind if I come in?”
Frowning, I pat my face dry with a towel before replying. “Sure.”
He opens the door softly, stepping inside with a gentle smile on his face, one that I haven’t seen before. I lean back against the sink, biting my lip. He comes closer and looks down at me with sultry eyes that somehow became a lot more difficult not to look at.
“Are you sure everything is all right? I know my family can be … difficult.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I say, sighing. “I’ll be fine.”
Suddenly, he cups my face, tilting it to look up at him. “I do worry about you. You’re forced to lie for me.” He frowns. “I’m sorry my sister is being such a bitch about this. I wish it could’ve gone better, but she had to go and ruin it again.”
“There seems to be a lot going on that I don’t know about,” I say.
“Yeah, she and my brother have a … problematic history.
“Obviously.” I laugh, trying to shake it off, but it’s not working. “Sorry.”
“Don’t say sorry.” He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “It’s not your fault.”
“I know. I just want to do this right, but I keep running into moments where I have no clue what to say. And then I stammer and trip. And your sister is angry with me, too.”
“Don’t say that,” he says, leaning in even closer. “She’s not angry with you, not at all. She’s just taking it out on everyone because she can’t stand to be around my brother. Don’t take it personal.”
I look up at him, my lips parting because I want to say something. I want to tell him how stupid this is, how I’m so not good at lying, how afraid I am that this is going to fail.
But then he does the weirdest thing. He grabs my face with both hands and leans in to press his lips on mine. This sudden sign of affection leaves me awestruck, and my brain stops thinking about all the problems and consequences. There’s only him and his soft, wet lips kissing mine with pure need. Oh god, I’m losing it, losing myself at the moment. His fingers grip my face tight as his lips eagerly explore my mouth. His tongue darts out to lick the top part of my lip, and it’s such a rush that I instinctively wrap my hands around his neck, pulling him closer.
Leo momentarily takes his lips from mine, and I’m left wanting desperately for him to continue. It’s as if I’ve finally been allowed to eat the most delicious desert that’s been dangling in front of me all this time.
“Wha–”
“Shhh …” he whispers, and then he leans in to kiss me again.
Oh, fuck me, I can’t say no to this. His lips are rougher with every passing second, sucking at my bottom lip, licking the rim of my mouth, probing me to open up. His hand lowers from my face to my shoulder, and then down my back to squeeze my ass firmly. It makes me gasp, and when I do, his tongue finds its way into my mouth to lick me. His hot kisses have me lost in delirious, heating up quickly, my blood pulsing with desire.
He growls into my mouth, which sets me off like a bomb, my pussy thumping to the sound. He shoves me up the sink, his tongue eagerly exploring my mouth. As I get more and more turned on, his hand moves up to my head to grip my hair tight as his lips trail a path down to the side of my neck. I moan as he plants kisses everywhere, alternating soft pecks with nibbles and licks, causing me to quiver.
And then the door opens.
I squeal as I stare straight at Adrian, a self-indulging smirk building on his face.
Leo immediately stops, his hands still all over me, as he gazes at his brother with his mouth open. Then he backs away and clears his throat, straightening his suit.
“Well, seems like you too are eager to get it on. Couldn’t wait until you got back to the hotel, huh?” He winks. “Hey, don’t let me stop you. I’ll find another bathroom.” He makes a move to close the door again, but Leo says, “Ah, no worries.”
I frown as he steps away completely, leaving me breathless.
“No, it’s fine,” Adrian says. “Sorry for interrupting.” He chuckles.
“Oh, stop laughing, asshole,” Leo says. Then he returns his attention to me. “Let’s get back to the dinner table, shall we?”
“Uh …” I stammer for a second. “Yeah … I guess.”
Leo grabs my hand and drags me out of the bathroom, stopping in front of Adrian.
“You gonna let us pass?”
“Of course, I just wanted to enjoy the moment for a little longer. It’s not often I catch my brother putting his hands all over a girl.”
“Ass,” Leo says. “You’d better not tell Mum about this. She'd be pissed if she knew.”
“Knew what? That you soiled her pretty bathroom?”
“Shut up.” Leo shoves Adrian, and now they’re both laughing while I’m so terribly confused.
I don’t get it. One minute he can’t stop touching and kissing me, then out of nowhere he wants to leave. What is up with him?
“What was that?” I ask.
When we’re a little further away from his brother, he says, “Just a little distraction.”
I wince. “For who?”
“You. Me. Him and my family.”
“I’m confused.”
“My brother saw it, no way in hell he’s going to keep quiet. Especially now that I said that he can’t tell her, which is exactly what I want. It’s a sure way to make them believe we’re a couple.”
“Oh …” I mumble. “Is that it?”
He glances at me shortly, a look of confusion flashing on his face, but then his parents call out his name and he’s lost in the game again.
We’ll have to talk about this sometime. I’m not going to let something like this slip through my fingers again. Once we get back to the hotel, he’s going to tell me exactly what in the hell that was and if it was anything more than just part of the play. I won’t take no for an answer.