Reveal (A Wild Nights Novel)

by K. M. Golland

  “Wow!” I mumbled into his skin, releasing my latch on him and leaning back, smiling.

  He trailed his hand down the side of my face. “You can say that again.”

  I was about to laugh when another loud bang sounded on the door.

  “You done?” Matt yelled, his tone almost furious.

  “Shit! He sounds pissed.” Brad stepped back from the wall and stood on something else. This time whatever it was broke with a loud snap. “Fuck!”

  “Hurry up, you two. I need my fucking clothes,” Josh yelled.

  “Yeah. Hold the fuck on. We’re coming.” Brad picked up my G-string and handed it to me. “Here.”

  “No shit!” Josh responded, banging again.

  “Seriously, guys, leave them alone. They’ll be out in a minute,” Cori said.

  Giggling, I rushed to fix my straps and pull my dress down, but it felt weird, as if something was missing.

  “What the hell are these?”

  I looked over at Brad and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head. His face was contorted, his expression unsure—and a little scared—and in his hands were my two chicken fillets.

  “Um … they’re my dress inserts, so that I can go braless,” I replied quickly, grabbing them from him and inserting them in my dress. No wonder it felt strange.

  “They feel like boobs.”

  “You better be bloody ready, ’cause I’m not waiting any longer.” Josh opened the door and Cori pushed past, walking into the room with her hand over her face, fingers spread so that she could peek through them.

  “You decent?”

  “Yeah.” I scruffed my hair and bit back an enormous smile.

  She handed me my clutch, smiling devilishly. “You sure ’bout that? What I just heard sounded outright dirty and anything but decent.”

  I blushed and glanced at Brad who was picking up everything he’d swiped from the table. “It might have been just a tad filthy.”

  “I bet.”

  “Not fucking cool,” Josh barked, storming in with his towel around his waist.

  Brad didn’t pay him much attention. “Settle down, mate.”

  “Don’t fucking ‘settle down, mate’ me.”

  “Josh!” Cori exclaimed, appearing a little taken back by his harsh attitude. To be honest, so was I.

  “What? I want to get dressed. Instead, I had to wait outside while these two fucked each other’s brains out.”

  “Don’t you think you’re being a little hypocritical?” Cori asked, her hands finding her hips.

  He gave her a don’t-go-there look.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” she warned.

  “Like what, sweetheart?” His tone was anything but sweet.

  “Like that.” She pointed at him. “I don’t think you, of all people, have the right to stand there and have a go at someone for fucking in a public place.”

  “That right?”

  “Uh … yeah. You seem to forget what I stumbled across the very first time I came to see you all perform. At least Brad and Em had the decency to do it in private.”

  Josh dropped his towel and grabbed his shorts, all the while glaring at Cori. “You sayin’ I’m not decent?”

  “Not exactly. But back then you weren’t,” she snapped.

  “Back then I didn’t give a fuck.”

  “Yeah, don’t I know it.”

  “What’s your fucking problem?”

  “My problem? What’s my problem? I don’t have one. But clearly, you do. Clearly what’s good for you isn’t good for anyone else.”

  “Let it go, Cori. I’m not in the mood for your bullshit.”

  The room went quiet—as in drop-a-feather-and-you’ll-hear-the-impact quiet. I bit my lip and looked from Brad to Dimps to Matt and Noah, who had all entered the room somewhat stealth-like.

  Hang on a minute. My eyes shot back to Matt, who was holding up a pair of mangled sunglasses. He looked very unimpressed. Furious, in fact.

  Noah noticed it, too. “Casualty of sex, we have. Fucked, they are.”

  Dimps shoved him on the arm. “Shut up, dude.”

  “Ahh … shit, mate. I’m sorry. I’ll replace them first thing tomorrow. Promise,” Brad said apologetically.

  “Yeah, you better. As for now, we need to talk about the stunt you just pulled.”

  I couldn’t help myself and laughed. What Brad ‘just pulled’ was most certainly a stunt. It was a difficult physical feat requiring special skill, and he damn well had skill of the rather special kind.

  Everyone looked in my direction.

  I closed my mouth.

  But then I decided to open it again. “Boys and girl, come on, let’s not argue. Let’s not ruin the beautiful thing that just occurred within these walls. I, for one, think it should be respected.”

  “Well, I think you and Cori should get out and respect my right to get dressed,” Matt said pleasantly, but not quite pleasant enough.

  Cori’s jaw dropped and her hands found her hips again. “Wow! There’s a few arseholes on parade tonight, isn’t there? Come on, Em, let’s leave them to it. We’ve got some dancing to do.”

  I didn’t argue and allowed her to take my hand and lead me from the room, winking to Brad as I exited. He wasn’t a parading arsehole, and I was definitely up for dancing.

  Cori and I had caught a taxi back to the hotel so that she could quickly get changed into something a little more suitable for going out and dancing. I’d showered quickly and touched up my hair and makeup, and we’d been able to do all of those things by the time Baz arrived back at the hotel with the guys and crew.

  “They’re going to want to come with us. You know that, right?” I said to Cori, as we stepped toward the curb when the bus pulled into the hotel driveway. “Especially because you’re wearing that.”

  She looked down at her rather short, tight plum party-dress and adjusted her boobs. Cori had great boobs. Boobs that my boobs aspired to be. And the way they looked in the strapless number she wore saw my boob-envy grow tenfold.

  “Stop staring at my boobs.”

  “Why? Everyone else will be tonight. Get used to it.”

  She shot me a sly smile just as Baz stopped the bus in front of us and opened the door. Dimps bounded out first and almost paused in mid-air, catching sight of what Cori was revealing. “Ahh … shit!” He gave her a pained look. “This is not going to go down well. And I wanted an early night, too.”

  I pursed my lips and bit back a smile.

  Next to exit was Patsy, who of course appreciated what was on display. She shook her head and kept walking, mumbling, “And that is why I manage men.”

  Johnno stepped off the bus next, caught one sight of us, turned around, and got back on.

  Cori groaned. “Oh, please. It’s not that bad.”

  “I’m pretty sure no one would think what you’re …” Dimps pointed his finger at her chest and drew circles in the air, “… that that is bad, Elmer. It’s what Josh will do that’s bad.”

  Matt exited next and sighed. “Em, Cori, sorry ’bout before.”

  I smiled at him. All was forgiven. Plus, he looked exhausted, and I kinda felt for the poor guy. Cori, on the other hand, remained somewhat impassive, only managing a half-grin and minor chin-lift.

  He sighed again and continued to walk toward the entry of the hotel. “Just be careful tonight, yeah? We have another two shows here before we move on. I need both Josh and Brad to remain in one piece.”

  “I just want to go dancing,” she groaned, stomping onto the bus. I quickly followed because I had her back, and despite not agreeing with my best friend’s objective of make-Josh-jealous-and-sorry-for-treating-me-bad, I would always have her back.

  Cori pointed to Josh. “Why aren’t you getting off the bus?”

  “Because tits you—”

  “Shut up, Noah,” she snapped, cutting him off. “Get off the bus. All of you! Em and I are going dancing.”

  No one moved.

  She growled and turne
d around, nearly head-butting me. “Come on. Let’s just catch a taxi.”

  Josh shot out of his seat and made his way down the aisle toward us, his confident stride and towering frame a little intimidating. “Sweetheart,” he said, his tone pleasant but icy cold. His hands slid onto Cori’s hips, and he pressed his lips to her ear. “There’s no way I’m letting you go anywhere dressed like that. Not unless I’m with you.”

  Cori’s eyes rolled back for a split second, and I thought he had her before she refocussed and refuelled them with determination. “That’s not your call.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  Turning in his arms, she shoved his chest. “No! It’s not. It’s no one’s call but mine.”

  Josh didn’t even flinch. He was built like a brick shithouse—all muscle and bricks and stuff.

  “Cori, please just take a seat and tell me where you want to go,” Baz interrupted, his voice calm and neutral.

  She twisted and glanced over my shoulder at him then sighed in defeat. “Fine. P.U.R.E. It’s on Orchid Ave.” Cori placed her hands over Josh’s and removed them from her hips before sliding into the nearest seat. “Thanks, Baz,” she called, yanking on my arm to occupy the seat next to her.

  I fell against her with a light thud. “Easy. My dress is just as short as yours.”

  She waited until Josh—unhappily, mind you—turned around and went back to his seat before she replied. “Sorry. I just didn’t want him sitting next to me. He had a bad habit of caging me in on the bus when we first met. He’s relentless when he’s like this.”

  “So why are you attempting to make it worse?”

  “I’m not. Well … I know it will piss him off further, but that’s just bad luck. He needs to learn.”

  “Cor, don’t you think you’re taking this just a bit too far?”

  “No. I’m not. You haven’t seen how manwhore-ish and pig-headed he can be.”

  “You know I love you and will always back you up, right?”

  She nodded then looked out the window, which was pointless considering all she could see was our reflection.

  “It’s just … I don’t agree with what you’re doing. If Josh is as pig-headed as you say he is, I think you’ll end up feeling even more hurt if you provoke him.”

  “Then what am I supposed to do? Let him be a jerk? Don’t stand up for myself?”

  “No. Just don’t bait him. Baiting someone and deliberately making them jealous is uncalled for. It’s selfish, Cor. All it does is create unnecessary pain. Is that what you want?”

  “No. Yes. Fuck, I don’t know.”

  “Come on, sweetie, you don’t want to hurt him. You know that. I know that.”

  “Maybe I do. Maybe I want him to feel what I feel when he’s a jerk.”

  “Did you not learn anything from sleeping with Brad?” I asked, my tone a little bitter.

  She snapped her head to look at me. “That’s not fair.”

  “Why not? Josh screwed around on you, so you screwed around on him. He hurt you, so you hurt him back. But let me guess—after you hurt him, I bet you hurt even more.”

  She didn’t answer me, instead turning to face the window again. But I could tell by her reflection that she agreed. She looked down while her lip trembled.

  “Trust me, hon, if you use jealousy to deliberately hurt someone, you’ll hurt, too.” My thoughts drifted to H, and they stung badly, so I willed them away.

  “I don’t want to hurt him,” she said flatly. “I just want him to stop hurting me.”

  “You love him, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then he’s always going to hurt you … unintentionally. And that’s different to it being deliberate.”

  She sighed and subtly wiped her eye. “I know that. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be all lovey-dovey and sweet after he’s spoken to me like shit. Unintentional or not.”

  “Of course,” I said, giving her a little love-shove with my shoulder. “He needs to apologise first. Soooo … let’s get our dancing shoes on and have some fun without the intent to cause a freaking riot, okay?”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  ***

  Okay my arse. Cori never listened.

  “Brad, quick! Tip some of this in that glass and put some of my water in it. She’s had way too much to drink.” I slid him Cori’s glass while distracting her.

  “Where’s my drink?” she asked, staring at the table as if it had drunk it.

  “I don’t know. Did you drink it? Maybe Johnno is minding it for you.”

  The burly security guard shot me an oh-no-you-didn’t look, his nose scrunched, his eyes piercing.

  “Johnno! John-ohhhhhh.” Cori giggled. “Give me my drink. You’re driving.” She pointed her finger at him.

  “No, I’m not,” he deadpanned.

  “Then who’s driving? Not me. Oh, is it me?”

  I quickly took the now half-full glass from Brad. “Oh, look! Here it is.”

  “Naughty hidey vodka.” She smiled brightly and took it from me, sipping on her straw.

  Confusion registered on her face. I cringed.

  “It’s dead,” she declared, pulling it away from her.

  “What’s dead?”

  “The naughty hidey vodka.”

  “It’s not dead.”

  “It is.”

  “Awesome, this is,” Noah added, chuckling as he swigged his beer.

  Josh slammed his empty glass down on the table, making both Cori and I jump. “I’m not staying here any longer and watching her drink herself stupid. She did it when we were in Tamworth, and I carried her sorry arse back to her bed then.”

  “My arse is not sorry,” she grouched, sipping her dead vodka. “Yours is. You have a sorry arse.”

  “Whatever. Come on, we’re going.” He clasped her arm and went to lead her from the club.

  “No!” She tried to wrench her arm away but failed. “Stop!”

  “For fuck’s sake, sweetheart. Quit fighting me. I just want to get you back safe and sound.”

  I was about to intervene, as was Brad judging by the way he moved around the table, when Cori slapped Josh across the face. Hard.

  I shrieked and covered my mouth. Oh no! Cori did the same, but then froze. Josh, however, just stared at her, pain swirling in his eyes. But it wasn’t that of physical pain caused by Cori’s hand. No. The pain I could see him fighting to control was pain that had stemmed from his heart. Because he loved her. Because he’d been too pig-headed to say sorry, and because of that, she’d drowned her sorrows in liquor.

  Thinking I should do or say something, I went to place myself between them when Josh leaned forward and kissed Cori’s forehead. “Get back safe. I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned and walked away.

  Noah put his drink down. “Shit! I’ll go after him.”

  Dimps took off, too.

  “Brad.” I sighed. “You should go with them.” I gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Johnno and I will get Cori back safe.”

  Brad nodded dejectedly, and returned my kiss before standing up. “I’ll buzz you later.”

  “Okay. I’ll keep my phone on.” I watched him move through the crowd of people toward the exit, then diverted my gaze to Johnno. “You ready?”

  “It’s my job to be ready.” Right you are, big guy.

  I smiled apologetically at him and gently touched Cori’s arm. “Hey, you. Come on, it’s time to head back.”

  The light graze snapped her from her shocked state, and her eyes met mine. She nodded, but I wasn’t convinced she’d registered everything I’d said, because the poor love was as disorientated as a man in a bra shop.

  The poor love was barely standing.

  ***

  Cori had cried, dozed, and asked where she was numerous times during the taxi ride back to the hotel. She’d also mumbled something about business-class floating when Johnno carried her back to our room. Since then, I’d managed to roll her on her side and unzip the back of her dress, whi
ch was where my luck had ended.

  “Shit-fuck stupid tight-arse dress,” I groaned, struggling as I tried to wiggle it over her hips.

  “It’s mine,” she mumbled. “Give me the blanke …” Oh, I’ll give you something alright, and it won’t be the freakin’ blanket.

  “Cori, you babbling dead lump, I’m so gonna punch you in the muff-pie tomorrow.”

  I grred loudly, let go of the hem of her dress, and climbed onto the bed, grabbing the hem again because I was higher and could elevate her arse as I pulled. “Right,” I pep-talked myself. “One. Two. Three!”

  I yanked on the dress and it slid from her hips like silken butter, hurtling me backwards off the bed where I landed on my butt and back.

  It wasn’t pretty.

  And it fucking hurt.

  Bad.

  “Oh, Cori, Cori, Cori,” I said, laughing to myself. My laugh was not of the pleasant kind; instead, it was more of the if-I-could-move-right-now-I’d-strangle-you kind.

  I was in a world of hurt and moaned my discomfort, rolling onto my side and slowly scrambling to my feet, turning back toward her and being met with something a best friend should never be met with. “Ew! Damn it, Cori!”

  While yanking her dress off, I’d also yanked her panties off, and I was now unwillingly having a stare-down with her pie. With her marked pie. Oh, yes … right before my eyes was evidence that Josh liked to nibble on Cori-pie, and that he liked to leave little Josh bite marks all over it.

  “Seriously? Give the man a fucking apple,” I yelled, throwing the blanket over her.

  Ugh! It was a sight now etched onto my brain, and I was guessing it wouldn’t be unetched anytime soon. Yay for me.

  Stepping into the bathroom, I removed my makeup and brushed my teeth, and as I spat the minty mouth-foam into the sink, that God-awful feeling of having forgotten something washed over me and made me feel ill.

  “Shit!” I said, spitting the remainder of what was in my mouth. “My phone!” I’d turned it on silent after seeing H’s message and I hadn’t switched it back on. Brad was supposed to buzz me and let me know what was happening with Josh, and I’d more than likely missed his messages. Crap!