I quietly rolled out of bed. I needed a cold shower.
***
Anthea
Lucas and I ate brunch together at a yummy side-street café — soft poached eggs, smoked salmon and bagels. I wouldn’t see him again until Sunday. He had gigs all weekend, a two-day rock festival in Townsville, which he was flying out for this afternoon, and, when he returned on Saturday, a local gig at the Tivoli. He dropped me home around lunch time and we lingered in the foyer outside the lifts.
He kissed my frown and pressed his forehead to mine, his thumb stroking my cheeks as he held my face. ‘I’ll come see you Sunday morning?’
‘I’d like that.’
His lips touched mine again, lingered, warm and lush. He stepped back, sighing deeply. ‘Bye, Anthy.’
I nodded ‘Bye’ and watched him leave.
I strode into the elevator, rode it up to my apartment and changed into a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a jacket. I grabbed my bag, feeling for my book, and headed back down to the street. I was going to do what I planned to do on Monday before I ran into Lucas — drink coffee and read all day long. As I strolled through the city, warm sun on my face, I was zinging with anticipation.
My, God, I have three days of this agony
.
I’d be exhausted come Sunday.
Brendt
I splashed vodka over a glass of ice and topped it with coke. I handed it to Anthea — her third for the night. Anthea’s hips swayed to the heavy beat streaming through from the lounge room. She plunged her finger into the fizzing liquid, stirred all the way to the bottom, and sucked the frosty sweet liquid from her finger.
We were having an unplanned rowdy night in — me and the girls, and I was determined to get past whatever was going on between me and Anthea. Finger sucking action like that was not helping.
‘Thanks, Brendt,’ she said, brown eyes shining under the bright kitchen lights.
‘My pleasure.’
She swallowed a mouthful and coughed. ‘Woooh, how strong is this?’
I grinned. ‘Nothing you can’t handle.’
Rachel slinked into the kitchen, threw her arms around my waist and kissed my cheek. ‘Now, you’re not trying to get Anthy drunk, are you?’
I laughed. ‘Well, yeah. Isn’t getting drunk the goal for all of us?’
Rachel tsked and slapped me on the arse. With a cheeky grin, she held up her glass. ‘In that case. I think I’m up for another.’
***
We all sat together in the lounge. Anthea was seated next to Roslyn. She pulled her legs up under her, resting her drink on her thigh.
‘Hey, Ros, how much would a massive mansion with to-die-for views on the city-fringe cost?’
‘How many bedrooms, what type of condition is it in, land size?’ she fired back, bang, bang, bang.
‘At least six bedrooms, there would’ve been four bathrooms, immaculately renovated, a pool, spa, huge block of land.’
Roslyn tilted a brow and grinned. ‘Why, who are we talking about here?’
‘Lucas.’
My chest tightened, the burning sensation I’d become so familiar with returned.
Roslyn’s jaw hung open. ‘That’s Lucas’s house?’
Anthea nodded.
‘And he owns this house?’
Again she nodded.
Roslyn shook her head. ‘You wouldn’t get it for under two to three million, easy.’
‘That’s what I thought.’
‘Anthy, you’re really onto a winner with him,’ she said.
‘I’d be onto a winner even if he didn’t have money.’
Roslyn narrowed her eyes and twisted her lips as though Anthea spoke in Chinese just now and she understood not one word.
‘That car he drives is worth a pretty penny,’ I said. ‘Thought he must’ve had some cash. And he’s a singer in a mediocre band. Doesn’t make sense to me. He’s probably a crook.’
Anthea nearly spurted out her next mouthful of coke. ‘Hardly, Brendt. He’s an amazing singer and their band is incredibly talented. He’s also the least criminal man I’ve ever met.’
‘You barely know the guy.’
Anthea pursed her lips. ‘I know him well enough.’
This snagged Roslyn’s attention, her head snapping to face Anthea, her eyes wide and sparkling. ‘How well?’
A grin spread over Anthea’s lips. ‘Well enough.’
‘Don’t tell me Anthea-little-miss-do-right has fucked Lucas-the-saint already?’
I held my breath.
‘No,’ she said and rolled her eyes.
I sighed with relief.
‘God, Ros,’ continued Anthea. ‘Can you think about anything else?’
Roslyn shook her head and shrugged. ‘No. I can’t.’
‘I already told you how we’re going to take it slow.’
Now it was my turn to nearly spray my drink everywhere. I swallowed quickly, a cold sliver of ice making me choke. I coughed, but managed, ‘I feel sorry for any guy who has to put up with your waiting periods.’
Roslyn smiled at me. ‘Turns out this one wasn’t her idea.’
‘Bullshit!’
‘No, really! Tell him, Anthy.’
Anthea shifted in her seat, lowered her eyes to her lap. ‘Lucas simply suggested that we take it a little easier.’
I burst into laughter. ‘He’s lying. He must have some ulterior motive. No man
ever
wants to take it easy.’ Though, I’d wait a thousand years for Anthea and I knew it. She just needed to say the words and I was hers. Like a useless little puppy dog at her heels, forever loyal.
‘And what kind of ulterior freakin’ motive could there be behind not having sex with someone?’
I shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Maybe he’s trying to evoke a little of the old “you want what you can’t have” in you.’
She took a swallow of her drink and eyed me over the rim with those cheeky brown eyes. ‘If that’s the case, which I most definitely do not in the slightest believe it is, but if that
is
the case — it’s working.’
Roslyn clapped her hands above her head and cheered, ‘Hoorah! She is human after all.’
Anthea squinted, her forehead lined. ‘I’ve always been human, Ros. I’ve obviously just never met someone so
tempting
before.’
‘Oh, God, please shut up right now because I’m totally jealous. He really is the hottest guy I’ve ever seen,’ said Roslyn dreamily.
I stood, knuckles white around my glass. I had to get out of there before that burning in my guts and tightness in my chest morphed into a fist through the wall.
‘Who’s up for another round?’ I didn’t know if anyone answered; I didn’t wait.
Anthea came into the kitchen as I stared into my topped-up glass, thoughts filled with her face, her lips on mine, that body pressing warmth into me. I lifted my eyes to hers and strained a smile.
‘Hey,’ she said.
‘Hey.’
She stood beside me, bumped her shoulder playfully against mine. ‘Everything okay?’
No. I’m confused. Broken.
‘I’m just tired.’
‘Aah, yes, early morning starts. Well think of it this way, you’ve only got three weeks left of them.’
That was a nice thought. I smiled, closed my eyes as I drew a deep breath in through my nose. ‘Hell yes.’ I pointed to her glass. ‘You want another?’
She nodded. ‘Not so strong this time please.’
I clinked some ice into her glass. ‘You’re really sweet for Lucas, aren’t you?’
A bashful smile played across her lips, her cheeks shaded a deep pink. ‘Sweet’s not even the half of it.’
‘I’ve never seen you like this before.’ I shifted from one foot to the other as I slurped vodka over the ice. ‘Does he treat you well?’
Anthea frowned. ‘Of course. He treats me wonderfully.’
I nodded, twisted the cap off the coke, keeping my eyes downcast. ‘Good. That’s good. I don’t want anyone else to hurt you like Leith did.’
‘Lucas doesn’t have even remotely the same genetic makeup as Leith.’
‘That’s good. I’m glad you’re finally happy.’
‘Me too.’
I sighed, ruffled a hand through my hair. I looked at her. ‘About the other night, when Rachel had that migraine… Let’s not blow anything out of proportion. I love Rachel and I’m sorry if I gave you any other kind of impression.’
She shook her head.
‘I’ve been worried about it,’ I continued, barely any breath left in my lungs.
‘I know. I could tell. But don’t worry. It’s fine.’
I handed Anthea her drink and draped an arm around her shoulder. ‘Come on, then. Let’s go out there and have a good night.’
She sank her head against my chest and cuddled me. ‘Thank you.’
‘For what?’
She lifted her brown eyes to mine. ‘For being such a great friend.’
I peered down at her and smiled.
A friend.
‘Then thank you, too.’
***
Anthea
My mind was reeling around my words, the music whirling through my body. Hell, I was waiting with a microphone in my hand, Rachel beside me, ready to sing
It’s Raining Men
on our home karaoke system — evidence enough that I was well and truly smashed.
Rachel held her mic to her mouth and slurred, ‘This song goes out to all the wonderful men who have come in and out of our lives, but mostly to Brendt, my sexy darling, who always tells me how great a singer I am, even though I’m really, really not.’
Brendt laughed.
‘And to Lucas,’ continued Rachel, swaying, pronouncing his name as Luc-ash. ‘Where the fuck are you?’
The intro started and we looked at each other grinning.
I sang the first verse, badly.
‘Woot! Woot! Go, Anthy,’ screamed Roslyn from the lounge.
Rachel took over with the second verse, her words sliding slower from her lips than the music. We were atrocious, but I didn’t care one little bit. Especially when the chorus arrived and we sang at the top of our lungs, threw our arms in the air and swung our hips. I swore I could get a part in
Step Up
with moves like this.
Roslyn was watching us, her head bent over and she convulsed with laughter.
The finale approached and our singing was a blend of shrieking and out-of-tune yelling. My heart tingled, my veins surged with euphoria. I ignored it, or embraced it, and jumped onto the coffee table and belted out each lyric. Roslyn sprang from the lounge and danced, throwing her hair around, pumping her arms in the air, singing along with us.
I was breathless when the song faded, my mouth sore from grinning so hard. ‘Thank you so much. I’m glad you could all make it,’ I said with a theatrical Southern accent and too many curtsies and bows.
And that’s when I heard clapping from the foyer. My eyes darted towards the sound.
Holy fuck.
It was Lucas, tall and imposing, with a grin spread from ear to ear. My heart sunk to my stomach, my stomach to my throat. My cheeks were glowing red and as hot as ember. I jumped off the table, swayed and stumbled as I found the floor, but Lucas was already at my side holding my hips to steady me.
I stroked the hair back off my face, breathing heavy. ‘Oh, my God, how long have you been there?’
He laughed and kissed my cheek. ‘Long enough.’
I scrubbed my hands over my face and groaned. ‘I’m so sorry you had to see that.’
He laughed even louder, deeper. ‘Interesting choice of song. One of your favourites?’
‘Kind of.’ I shook my head, blinked once, twice. ‘What…what are you doing here?’
‘The gig finished at twelve. I had an inkling you’d still be awake. Brendt kindly let me in.’
I glared at Brendt, who was doubled over with laughter. ‘You meant that. Where was the warning?’
He winked. ‘Soz.’
I groaned again.
‘You were very…entertaining,’ said Lucas cheekily.
‘Yeah, yeah. Now let’s never speak of this again.’ I took his hand and led him out onto the balcony. The night was chilly, but the glowing city encroaching on my balcony offered a sense of warmth. My gut-wrenching mortification was being replaced by a tingly light-headedness and a quickening heartbeat. I ran my eyes over Lucas. Fuck, he was so sexy — irresistibly rock ‘n’ roll in his ripped faded jeans, black T, and big black boots. His dark long hair was chaotic and the dark eyeliner around his eyes made them appear wicked green. Either because of the copious vodka I’d drunk, or the too-long-restrained sexual desire that had been screaming through my cells for three days, I couldn’t but lean into him and kiss his mouth — hard.
‘I’m glad you came over,’ I whispered, my face close to his.
He took my lips between his own and kissed me long and deep, stirring lust in my guts and passion in my bones. ‘I can’t stand being away from you.’ He edged me back against the wall, his lips finding mine again, deeper, harder.
‘I hate being apart from you, too.’ I was breathless, my voice a whisper.
He sucked at my throat and I rolled my head back, sighing. His lips burnt over my jaw, to my ear. ‘All night, all weekend, my thoughts were of you. You’re distracting.’ He
pressed his hard body closer, his heat embracing me. ‘You’re the most gorgeous, incredible distraction.’ His thumb traced the line of my bottom lip as he peered so deeply into my eyes I could feel him inside me. I hummed, throbbed, all over. ‘Are you going to be scared all alone in your bed tonight?’
I nodded, the corners of my mouth curling. ‘I’ll be very scared.’
His expression feigned concern but his eyes were taunting. ‘We can’t have that now, can we?’
I shook my head, grazed my teeth along my bottom lip. ‘No, we can’t.’
‘How shall we fix this little dilemma?’
I shrugged. ‘Maybe you could stay with me tonight.’
He grinned, two deep dimples carved in his cheeks. ‘That’d probably be the best idea, seeing as though I’m already here.’ His lips slanted over mine again, his warm silky tongue slipped into my mouth and I moaned. Lucas broke away, his chest rising and falling sharply. ‘You look tired. Perhaps you’d like me to take you to bed now?’
My stomach twisted pleasurably. Was he relenting on our take-it-easy agreement?
‘I promise I’ll be on my best behaviour. Scout’s honour,’ he said.
I laughed at his poor imitation of me from the other night, but when I looked into those eyes, the smile fell away. ‘I don’t want you to be good.’
He didn’t say anything, breathed deep in through his nose and took my hand. We snuck back inside and down the hallway to my room. My breasts grew heavy, my nipples crept against the fabric of my bra. I was a ripening flower anticipating his hands on me.