by Sian Ceinwen
“Can’t you give me some warning next time?”
“What? So you have an opportunity to make some excuse and avoid us? I doubt it.” He laughed. “Plus, if I have to make small talk with Ariana Chamberlain just to get to spend time with Gabriel, then so do you, friend.”
“You suck.”
“Yeah, I do, but I’ll still see you tonight.”
He hung up their call, and Heather laughed at his audacity. She had missed hanging out with them over the last month. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be too bad, after all. She pulled into the garage under the apartment building that she and Harrison lived in, leaving her car next to Harrison’s own black Tesla. She headed upstairs to their apartment and called out to Harrison.
“Honey, I’m home!”
“Hey, there, angel.” A look of concern crossed his face. “You look wrecked.”
She felt wrecked. She realized that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast; she’d been so focused on her designs. Harrison walked over to her and enveloped her in a hug.
“I think I just need something to eat.”
“Did you have lunch?” His voice had a worried note to it.
“No, I forgot. When do we have to leave?”
“Probably another hour or so”—Harrison checked his watch—“do you want to go shower? I’ll get you something to tide you over until we have dinner if you want.”
“That would be great, honey, thank you.”
She lifted her arms to pull his head down to hers so she could kiss him. Their tongues intertwined as they kissed deeply, and he cupped her ass with his hands. She could feel her body’s reaction to him and felt herself becoming overcome with desire, despite her tiredness. Heather broke the kiss, grabbed his hand, and began to pull him toward their bedroom.
“I thought you were tired, angel.” He smiled at her.
“I am, damn you. You’ll have to do most of the work, I guess.” She gave him a cheeky grin as they reached the bed.
She unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them down as she dropped to her knees in front of him. He groaned as she took him in her mouth. One of her favorite things in the world was feeling him get bigger in her mouth as she sucked him to a full-blown erection. He put his hand on the back of her head as she moved it back and forth on him, looking into his eyes.
After a few minutes, she stood up, and they both quickly removed their clothes. Heather lay back with her head on the pillows, and Harrison took a moment to let his gaze roam over her from head to toe.
“You’re so goddamn sexy. How did I get so lucky?”
She looked at him, all tanned, smooth skin and bulging muscles, with his impressive erection jutting out in front of him.
“I’m wondering the same thing,” she told him. “Now, come here and make me forget how tired I am.”
He climbed onto the bed and parted her legs in front of him. She bit her lip as he looked into her eyes before he dropped his head, kissing her inner thighs first on the right side and then the left.
“Is this what you want, angel?” He placed his head in the center of her legs as he said it, and she felt his breath on her, so incredibly erotic and arousing.
“Yes, please, Harrison. Please,” she begged, needing him to satisfy her.
“Well, since you asked so nicely.” He smiled.
He gave her what she wanted, then, and she moaned in ecstasy. He used his tongue expertly while his fingers were inside her, not taking long at all to bring her to the brink of orgasm, and she moaned his name as she came.
He positioned himself over her and pushed himself inside agonizingly slowly. She bucked her hips toward him, trying to get him to move faster, and he laughed.
“What’s wrong, angel?”
“I need you, Harrison. Now.”
He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her as he pushed himself the rest of the way inside. She would never tire of this feeling, he fit her so perfectly, and they moved in a synchronized rhythm together. He braced himself with one hand and used the other to play with her breasts before reaching between them to rub her clit as they continued fucking.
She moaned loudly as her ecstasy grew to the point that she could feel herself coming around his cock. He leaned back down to kiss her again, and it wasn’t long before he was coming inside her, and it felt so good that it led Heather to come again.
They lay there, panting together before Harrison kissed her lips gently, climbed off her, and went into the bathroom to clean himself up and shower. Heather felt the tiredness begin to creep back as soon as her post-orgasm adrenalin started seeping away. She was still lying where he’d left her when Harrison came back into the bedroom, his hair wet, and picked up their clothes from where they’d left them to take them with him into the wardrobe.
“Have a shower, angel. I’ll get you food,” he said as he came back into the room, fully dressed now.
She nodded, and he left the room. Heading into the bathroom, it was still warm and steamy from Harrison’s shower. The water didn’t take long to heat up, and she pulled her hair into a bun before stepping into the spray. The hot water soothed her aching muscles, and she spent longer in the shower than she usually would.
She stepped out onto the marble tiles and grabbed a towel off the rack to dry herself. She hung it back up and made her way to the walk-in closet, where she got out a matching set of underwear and put them on.
Pulling out a pair of tight, black jeans, she pulled them on before getting a loose, blue, collared shirt that hung to her mid-thigh to go with it. She found some low-heeled light blue boots and put them and a pair of socks on. She got a brush, pulled her hair out of its bun, and stood in front of the mirror as she brushed it out.
She decided not to do any more with her hair but put on some mascara and red lipstick. Happy with her look, she headed to the kitchen to find Harrison. He was sitting on a stool at their kitchen bench, looking through his phone. Heather slid onto the seat beside Harrison, in front of a plate with some crackers, different cheeses, and a small selection of deli meats. There was a glass of ice water sitting next to it.
“Thanks, honey.” She leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“Any time, angel. I worry about you. You’re working too hard.”
“I know,” she admitted. “It’s just until Fashion Week is done; I need everything to be perfect.”
“I’m worried you’re going to collapse from exhaustion before then.”
She finished her mouthful of food and took a sip of water.
“I’ll take care of myself, Harrison, I promise.”
They chatted about general topics after that while Heather finished her plate of food. Harrison took it and rinsed it and the glass in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher, and they headed out. They took an Uber to Sebastian’s high-rise apartment building, which was only about ten minutes from theirs. They entered the lobby of the building and waited for the elevator. When they got in it, Harrison swiped a key tag Sebastian had given them so they could take it up to his penthouse.
When the doors opened, they were in his entry hall. They could hear music playing from a sound system near a massive entertainment set-up as they walked into his living area. Sebastian was sitting on the sofa with his head leaning against the back of it. His eyes were closed, and he had a drink of amber liquid in his hand. He looked up as they entered and smiled at them.
“Hey, guys.”
“Hey, Seb,” Harrison said as he dropped onto the sofa.
“Hi, darling,” Heather said, leaning over to give him a hug before she sat down between Harrison and Sebastian.
“You guys want anything to drink?”
“I’ll have whatever you’re drinking.”
“Sure, Heather?”
“Same, I’m not picky.”
Sebastian put his glass down on the coffee table, stood up, walked over to his bar, and poured their drinks. He handed them each a drink and sat down again.
> “Oh, this is good,” Harrison said. “What is it?”
“Forty-year-old Glenfiddich.”
“Ah, makes sense. Tasty.”
The whisky was smooth, and Heather felt it warm her stomach as she drank it. She was feeling unreasonably nervous now that they were here.
“You all right, Heather? You look like someone just told you that you have to walk over hot coals.”
“Oh, that’s not what I have to do? What a relief!” She cringed at Sebastian. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”
“You’ll be fine, angel; it’s only a big deal because you’ve been putting it off.”
Harrison put his arm around her shoulders and drew her closer to him.
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“Harrison’s right, I’ll keep you safe from the big, bad Ariana, even though you’ve left me to fend for myself for the last month!” Sebastian grinned at her.
“As if you need my help dealing with her.”
“I could say the same to you. Come on, where’s the Heather I know and love that gives zero fucks what anyone thinks of her?” Sebastian nudged her, and she smiled back at him before relaxing into Harrison’s embrace again.
“You’re right. I’m being stupid. So, no girl tonight, Seb?”
“Are you ready to leave Harrison for me yet?”
“Nope, not today, darling. Try again tomorrow.” She winked at him.
“Well, then, no. I can get laid anytime. Apparently, us all hanging out is a rare occurrence these days.” He shrugged.
This was part of what she and Harrison had argued about. He felt as though Gabriel was happy and they should accept Ariana back, but she couldn’t forgive her for leaving the way she did. Heather felt guilty about that, though. She didn’t want this rift between her and Ariana to cause problems with the guys. She knew that she could talk Sebastian around if she was so inclined…but she wasn’t.
Just then, the elevator made a sound as it opened, and Hayden, Gabriel, and Ariana all stepped out together.
“Look who we found in the lobby!” Gabriel announced, jerking his head in Hayden’s direction.
Heather could see that Ariana was gripping his hand tightly. She caught Heather’s eye, and Heather looked away quickly. The new arrivals sat down on the sofa—Hayden next to Sebastian, while Gabriel and Ariana sat next to Hayden.
“Would you guys like anything to drink? We’re drinking Glenfiddich whisky.”
Heather noted that Sebastian had waited until they were seated to ask this, meaning that Ariana wouldn’t have a chance to sit next to Heather on the sofa, and she appreciated the effort.
“Sounds fine to me, Ari?”
“Yeah, that sounds nice, thanks.”
Gabriel frowned slightly when she said this but didn’t say anything. Heather knew that Ariana usually drank vodka, so she was obviously trying not to make a fuss.
“Sounds good to me, too,” Hayden added.
Sebastian got their drinks before sitting down again. There was a strange silence as everyone sipped their drinks. It had never been like this between them, ever.
“Food should be here in about thirty minutes,” Sebastian informed them. “I got Chinese; I hope that’s okay.”
“Sounds good, Seb,” Gabriel replied.
The odd silence fell again, and Heather looked up into Harrison’s face. He looked strained, and she could tell he disliked the apparent tension in the room. Heather sighed mentally; she hated being a part of something that was causing him any distress. She still wasn’t interested in friendship with Ariana, but she had promised to be civil, so she mentally buckled in and put a smile on her face.
“So. Who’s going to play me at pool?” she asked the group in general.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her in surprise, but it was Hayden who replied.
“I will. Do you think you’ve got what it takes to beat me?”
“You? Yes. Sebastian? No.” Heather laughed at him.
They got up and walked over to the pool table. It was custom made from heavy, white stone with black cloth and the Cruise Control symbol in the middle of it. It sat near the floor-to-ceiling windows that provided a fantastic view of Chicago at night, lights glittering in the distance. Heather picked a cue from the rack on the wall, and Hayden did the same.
“Who’s going to break?” he asked her.
“Paper, scissors, rock?” she suggested with a laugh.
“Sure, why not.”
They played the game, and Heather beat Hayden’s paper with her scissors.
“I’ll break,” she told him.
Sebastian had gotten up from the sofa and set up the table for them while they’d been picking their cues and deciding who would start. Heather took her shot, breaking the triangle of balls at the other end of the table, and the purple number-four ball dropped into the corner pocket.
“Solids. Interesting.”
She assessed the status of the balls on the table and aimed for the yellow number-one ball near the middle pocket and was pleased when she sunk the ball.
“Way to go, Heather!” Harrison called from his spot on the sofa where he and the other couple were sitting and chatting.
“Thanks, honey,” she replied.
She took her next turn but failed to sink the ball this time. Hayden got three balls down before Heather managed to drop her next one in the pocket. The game stayed relatively close, with them trading balls back and forth until Heather managed to sink the black eight ball in the corner pocket to win the game.
She stood up from taking her shot and backed into Harrison, who was standing right behind her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and dropped his head to kiss her neck.
“Well done, angel.”
“Thanks. Who’s next?”
“I’ll play you,” Gabriel announced from the sofa.
He and Ariana stood up together and came over to where everyone else was now standing. Gabriel took the cue off Hayden as Heather started racking up the balls.
“You can break if you’d like,” Gabriel told her with a friendly smile.
“Sure.”
She hit the white ball hard, and it smacked into the triangle at the other end of the table, sending the balls scattering, and the red eleven ball fell into one pocket while its counterpart, the red three ball, fell into another.
“Stripes or solids?” Gabriel asked her.
Heather looked at the status of the balls left on the table. She couldn’t see that there was much advantage to one over the other, and she’d just played solids.
“Stripes, I guess.”
She aimed for and missed getting the orange number-thirteen ball into the middle pocket, and Gabriel took his shot, successfully sinking the brown number-seven ball.
“Way to go, Gabe!”
Ariana smiled at Gabriel, and as he looked at her, Heather saw that he really was happy now. She hadn’t seen him this at ease, well, since the last time they were together, to be honest. He took his next shot and sank the blue number-two ball before missing the purple number four.
“Your turn,” Gabriel informed Heather, stepping away from the table, putting his arms around Ariana, then dropping his head to kiss her.
Heather was frustrated by this; it did remind her of ‘old times.’ They’d spent so many hours playing pool while they were on tour together. It felt like Gabriel was trying to force them to get used to Ariana’s presence in their lives again, and she didn’t want to. She didn’t want this; Ariana hadn’t even apologized since she came back, either.
Heather was off her game and failed to sink the orange thirteen ball, but she did knock down Gabriel’s green six ball instead.
“Two shots to me, sorry, Heather!”
She frowned at him. So, he could apologize for her own shitty pool playing, but Ariana couldn’t apologize for ditching her for two years. Heather looked over at Ariana as Gabriel took his shots and found Ariana looking back at
her. Ariana smiled and gave a small wave, but Heather just looked back at the pool table.
She’d lost interest in the game and was glad when their food arrived near the end. She only sunk one more ball before Gabriel won the game, and Heather was relieved that she wouldn’t need to play again.
They all sat at the dining table to eat, Heather tried to keep her tone light and airy, but she felt strained. That bone tiredness was sinking in on her again, and she just wanted to go home. After they’d finished eating and had a second round of drinks, Gabriel pushed his chair back from the table.
“Who’s going to play me, then?”
“I will,” Harrison volunteered.
They headed over to the pool table to start their game, and the rest of them remained seated.
“Are you looking forward to Fashion Week?” Ariana asked her.
“Do you care, Ariana?” Heather raised an eyebrow at her and Ariana looked hurt.
“Of course, I care. Look, we haven’t really talked since—”
“Sebastian, do you need some help cleaning this up?” She turned to look at him.
“Brutal.” Sebastian raised his eyebrows at Heather. “Yeah, sure.”
He pushed his chair back and stood up to start cleaning the table. Ariana stood as well and walked away from them without saying anything more; Heather thought that she might be crying. Hayden followed her slowly but not before frowning and sending some parting words in her direction.
“You’re being pretty unfair, Heather.”
She followed Sebastian into the kitchen, their hands full of plates, cups, and half-empty food containers. They put their loads on the marble benchtop, and Heather started rinsing the dishware before handing it to Sebastian to put in the dishwasher.
“You’re stone cold,” he told her with a laugh. “I didn’t know you could be like that; I’m impressed!”
“Come on, darling. You don’t feel any more kindly toward her than I do.”
“Yeah, but if we’re not careful, we won’t get to see Gabriel anymore.”
