My breaths came thicker as I got to the bottom of the stairs. A warm hand enclosed my arm and pulled me forward. Expecting to see Hunter, I was surprised when I found myself face to chest, Seb. He placed a finger to his lips as I heard the guy jog past into the beat of the music.
I pulled my arm back and then remembered that I was meant to be getting close to him. ‘Um, thanks,’ I said and he smiled.
It wasn’t friendly, more patronising. ‘How much have you had to drink?’ he asked and I frowned, trying to smell my breath with my hand.
‘Don’t know, a fair bit.’ I shrugged and then cocked my head to the side, taking in his features. ‘Why?’ He smirked, annoyingly alike his brother, and then glanced behind me.
‘You seemed a bit wobbly on the stairs there,’ he said, smiling.
It was then that I noticed we were in the dark, surrounded by the walls and the hollow beat of the music.
‘Come on, let’s get you some water.’
I shrugged, following behind him as he walked us to the kitchen. He was a bit shorter than Hunter and his shoulders were wider, so much wider that I couldn’t see past him.
‘Juice?’ he asked when I got there.
‘Just water, please.’ He nodded, passing me a glass with clear liquid.
‘How do I know that you haven’t drugged this?’ I asked with a raised eyebrow and he smirked.
‘Unless Kyle’s tap pours out date rape, then I think you’re safe.’
I chuckled, taking a sip and sighing, leaning against the counter.
‘So, Hunter, eh?’ he asked and I nodded, putting the glass down on the counter.
‘Yep.’
‘What’s it like living with the tosser?’ he asked, trying to conceal the fact that his eyes were trained on my lips.
‘So much fun,’ I replied in a sarcastic tone. One side of his mouth quirked and he started walking in my direction. Not missing a beat, he placed his hands on either side of me on the counter.
I glanced at him, trying to think clearly rather than in my alcohol-induced haze. I would say beer goggles, but this guy was good looking without those.
He leaned down and pressed a single kiss to my lips, not sloppy but gentle. I looked up at his dark eyes and he smirked, not moving away from me. There was a strong scent of alcohol on his breath when he breathed out and met my gaze.
‘You know, you guys do actually have something in common,’ I admitted. He leaned back and looked at me with interest, crossing his arms.
‘And what’s that?’
‘Neither of you keep your hands, or your lips, to yourselves,’ I stated and he chuckled.
‘Must run in the family.’
‘No,’ I countered for the umpteenth time.
‘Are you sure?’ Hunter asked and I groaned, running my hands down my face.
‘No, you know, I’m not. Maybe he slipped it in when I wasn’t looking!’ I exclaimed, causing Hunter to smirk and stop making the omelette.
‘No need to be snarky about it,’ he teased, gently prodding our food with the spatula. One thing that I hadn’t guessed about him was that he could cook.
‘Well stop telling me that I slept with your brother then,’ I said. Hunter only chuckled, shaking his head. What he didn’t know was that I’d spent the night before in the same room with Kenzi, Kyle and Seb. No funny business would’ve been able to happen unless I was happy to get at it like rabbits in front of my two friends. Which, just to clarify, I wasn’t. Plus, after the police had taken our statements and dispersed the party, nobody was in a chatty mood.
‘I wasn’t telling, I was asking.’ Hunter turned and tipped the omelette out of the pan and onto a plate, letting the juice run onto the white china, turning it slowly yellow. Picking up the fork, I cut a bit off the end and took a bite. The flavour erupted onto my tongue, tingling my every taste bud.
Hunter was giving me such a smug smile that I couldn’t bear to tell him how good the omelette actually was. I shrugged nonchalantly. ‘It’s all right.’
He laughed, taking his own bite. ‘It’s amazing, you know it,’ he taunted, leaning against the counter and waving his fork in front of my face.
I grunted, rolling my eyes and taking another big bite, popping it in my mouth. ‘It’s okay,’ I corrected, jumping down from the counter. I brushed my hands on my jeans and was about to turn to go out when Hunter grabbed my arm, pulling me back against his chest. I felt the warmth radiate from his body and onto mine.
I shook my head. ‘Ah, ah, ah. I don’t think so,’ I said, yanking my arm back and stepping away towards the door.
He frowned but continued to watch me with an amused expression. ‘Don’t like my kisses anymore?’ he asked, taking another step towards me.
I shook my head again. ‘Nope. You want me to get closer to your brother, so that is exactly what I am going do.’ Hunter just raised a quizzical eyebrow as I backed out of the flat with my coat, walking downstairs to meet my friends outside.
Little did I know, Hunter had followed me to the lift. He grabbed my wrist, pulling me back to him with a small scowl on his face. I almost laughed but his serious expression stopped any sound coming out apart from a squeak.
‘Andy, promise me that you’ll be careful around him.’ His words had such a sharp edge to them that I nearly flinched.
‘If I’m in so much danger, I’m not sure I should be doing this. Why do you want me to do this?’ I asked and he immediately closed off.
‘It’s not dangerous for you, I just want you to watch your back. You’re not ready to know that yet.’ He started to stroll back to the flat.
‘I’ll see you later,’ I shouted at his back, running my hands down my face. I was just hoping that an afternoon of dance practice would be able to calm me down. I was a little wary and quite scared, so wasn’t sure how well I’d actually do. I could always pretend that I didn’t manage to get close to him and that he was too interested in Kenzi. That seemed like the safer option.
Seb was over by the car having a cigarette (total turn off) and Kenzi was sitting on the bonnet, staring at him adorably (another turn off). Seb acknowledged me with a nod. Kenzi grinned and slipped into the back, barrelling into me when she clipped her seatbelt in.
‘Apparently, Zoe and Kyle did the dirty deed,’ Kenzi whispered when Seb had lowered himself into the car. I was about to ask why Seb was tagging along when he wasn’t a dancer, but that wasn’t exactly the best way to start our ‘budding friendship’.
‘You don’t need to whisper, it isn’t exactly a secret,’ Seb replied, looking at us both through the wing mirror. ‘Who do you think walked in on them in the morning?’ he asked. I shuddered, reaching down and doing my seatbelt up.
‘That’s disgusting.’ Kenzi scrunched her nose up and thwacked the back of Seb’s seat.
All the way to the warehouse, I had to listen to Kenzi and Seb’s god awful singing.
‘I think my ears are bleeding,’ I murmured as I got out.
The music was already pumping in the warehouse by the time that I had dumped my bags by the door. There wasn’t any sign of Kyle or Zoe but I brushed that thought away as Seb dropped his bags next to mine.
***
Finally,