by Katie Ford
“Hey, Katy!” Vaguely, I heard the voice from behind but didn't pay it any attention. Instead, I walked faster toward the hotel where my lovers waited.
“Katy! Wait up. I want to talk to you!”
Who? What?
Sighing, I turned around, eyes narrowed, trying to see who was calling my name so loudly in the street. A guy stumbled toward me through the crowd. Something about him was familiar. His walk maybe.
“Damn, girl. I've been calling you for the last couple of blocks,” the man called again.
I crossed my arms and backed away from the stranger.
Who was this guy?
No way was I going to talk to some random stranger just because he wanted attention. But he came closer, gesturing wildly at me and my mouth dropped open.
Darren?
I was just talking about him to my parents and suddenly, he just showed up out of blue? Life was fill of crazy coincidences.
“Hey,” I called back to him. “I’m in kind of a rush, so if we could make this quick,” my voice hesitated.
He huffed over, waddling like a duck.
“Thanks for giving me some of your time,” was his smarmy comment, openly sarcastic. The guy was seriously out of shape.
What the hell?
The years since high school hadn't done Darren any favors. His face was still pimply and pale, and he walked awkwardly as hell, uncoordinated and jerky like he was about to fall over any second. The posture was nothing like that of my three alphas who stalked the earth like they owned it. Their slim hips rolled with the promise of sex, penetrating blue gazes irresistible to women.
Compared to them, Darren looked worn down by life. His greasy hair hung down in his face, long and in need of a trim. That flabby body looked even more doughy than before—nothing like my rock hard men.
“What's up?” I didn't want to deal with him but didn't want to be rude either.
“I figured we could get a drink. Your dad told my mom that you were in town. I can’t believe I just happened to run into you. Must be fate or something,” the oily man sneered.
Dammit, Dad. Why the hell would you do this to be?
My jaw clenched in frustration and I just stopped myself from rolling my eyes. Bernard was a good guy and really sweet. Still, he sometimes forgot that I was a grown-up and could guide my own life.
“I'm not really thirsty,” I murmured with a fake smile, backing away slowly. Darren smelled a tiny bit. “I just came from my folks' place after traveling pretty much all day, and you know how that is. I'm so tired I could just fall into bed and not leave it for a week.”
Darren looked me up and down like he was trying to see into my brain, peering left and right as his head cocked.
“Yeah, I know you were home,” Darren said. “Your dad told my mom, like I said. But it’s more than that. Bernard gave me a call and asked if I could meet up with you if I was in the neighborhood.”
If he was in the neighborhood? This smelled like a set-up. A really bad one because Dad should’ve asked Mom before he decided to butt into my business. The last thing I wanted was a blast from the past of the bad kind.
Being near at Darren with his bad skin and greasy hair just reminded me how things used to be. But that was behind me now. My present and future were all about Alpha Prime. I had no intention going backwards towards Darren. Even if it was only for a drink.
“Come on, Katy,” the greaseball wheedled. “What would it hurt? It’s just one drink.”
He looked at me with a pleading smile. The same begging smile that had gotten him close—though not close enough—to plucking my virginity in high school.
“We’re both underage,” I noted suspiciously. “How would we get into a bar?” Of course, I drank with Alpha Prime sometimes, but nothing more than a light wine spritzer. And it was different if you were being supervised by three men in their thirties, gorgeous and strong.
But Darren was nothing like Trent, Nick and Mason, and I didn’t trust him to look out for me at all. The guy had basically been trying to snare me since the Ice Ages as the only girl who gave him more than a single glance. And back then, my self-esteem had been poor, which was the only reason why we were sort-of a couple. As shitty as he and his octopus hands made me feel sometimes, I’d been dumb enough back then to want approval. Even if it was approval from Darren, it was good enough.
Now, Darren was history because no smile, no matter how pathetic, was gonna get me to hang out with him when the band was only a few steps and an elevator ride away.
“My brother bartends at this place not too far from here. No ID required if you’re with me,” he said with a wink. “I’m your free pass to Whiskeytown.”
“No thanks,” I smiled politely. “I'm good. Sorry you came all this way for nothing.”
Darren’s face drooped and he looked even more like a sad puppy. “Come on, Katy,” he wheedled. “I'm a new editor at a publishing house now. We can talk about the book you've been writing if you want. Doesn’t that sound awesome? It’s hard to find that kind of hook-up you know,” he said self-importantly.
Not in the mood for this, I smiled politely and started to tell him “no” again.
But Darren kept going. “Anyway, what about one for old time's sake? You’re just going to blow off your old boyfriend you were with for so long?”
Crap. For so long. Yeah, way too long.
Guilt stabbed me right in the belly. I should've broken it off with him long before senior year. Darren probably would've gotten with some other girl in high school then, instead of getting nothing from me. The guilt twisted in my soul again and I looked over my shoulder towards the hotel.
Dammit.
I sighed. “Okay. Sure. Just one drink though.”
He looked like he’d just won the lottery. “Great. It’s just in that hotel right there. That's where you're staying, right?”
How did he know that?
I frowned and hid a shiver of nervousness.
What did my dad just set me up for?
Tugging at the sleeve of my coat, I cursed internally and wished I hadn't opened up my big mouth.
“Well, the band is staying there. You know, the one I work for.”
“Cool, come on,” Darren prattled like he hadn’t heard. “I hear they have some pretty rad cocktails. My bro has always been good at making drinks.” He giggled and waggled greasy brows at me. “Get it?”
Uck, this was going to be bad, but there was no choice but to follow behind his roly-poly form now. At the nearly empty hotel bar, Darren nudged me away from the bar itself and toward one of the high tables by the window. It had two backless stools and overlooked the quiet urban gardens of the hotel.
A waiter in a tuxedo came around to take our order.
“Darren,” he noted, giving him a nod. The man’s French accent rolled across his tongue. “I see you’re back again.”
My ex nodded and laughed. “Not like I can drink anywhere else.”
The waiter looked annoyed. “And you brought a lady friend this time. I imagine she isn’t twenty-one, either?”
Darren winked. “Let’s just say she is.”
The waiter sighed. “This isn’t good for business. Aaron is going to get fired if you keep showing up here like this.”
Darren ignored him. “Just take the girl’s order,” he snarled nastily.
But I felt guilty, so I smiled. “A Coke with a splash of rum for me, please.”
“That's it? Damn, you haven't changed that much from high school, huh? Still such a lightweight.” Darren eyed me like some specimen he found hiding under a rock, then turned to the waiter. “Gimme a triple bourbon. Pronto.”
Then he sniffled and shoved greasy hair away from his face with both hands. Frankly, my ex looked puffy and extra sweaty, like he'd run all the way down the block or something. The sweat on his round face only made it more obvious how dirty and limp his hair was.
I frowned, but didn't say anything about it.
After th
e waiter walked off to put in our order, I turned towards him, eyes determined to get this over and done with. Unfortunately, my hair fell out of the messy up-do I’d put it in while on the train with a big flop.
“Crap.”
With a sigh of annoyance, I shoved the broken hairclip in my purse and combed my fingers through the long, loose curls. The table shook a little while Darren leaned heavily on it and stared at me.
I ignored the man. He was just being weird for no reason.
A flick of my fingers settled my hair down my back in a long, silken fall. It had grown a lot in the time I’d been with Mason, Trent, and Nick, hanging almost down to the middle of my back. High school Katy never would wear it loose like this. Alpha Prime loved the long ringlets though. In the middle of making love, one or all of them would pull on it, tugging gently or playing with the locks all the while giving me a scalp massage.
I squirmed again on top of the chair, but for a whole different reason this time. Oh god, the men had me entranced even just thinking of being with them.
But right, I was here for business.
“So Darren.” I tucked a curl behind my ear. “What do you want to talk about?”
The waiter came back with our drinks just then. Once he left, I took a sip of my rum and Coke and waited to see what Darren had to say.
“You look real nice, Katy. Even better than in high school.” He tried the smile on me again.
What the hell?
“Um...thanks? It hasn’t been that long.”
Didn't he want to talk about publishing or something?
“There's something new about you, though,” he mused, leaning closer and looking about ready to tumble off the stool and over into my lap. “Your hair looks all shiny and stuff, like a wild animal in the sun.”
A wild animal in the sun? What was going on? The old Darren was never this lyrical or flattering. He was more of the grunt and nod type.
“I'm not even sure what to say to that,” were my puzzled words. “Is that supposed to be a good thing?”
“Hell, yeah.” He reached across to table and grabbed a thick curl. I jerked my head back and my hair slithered from his hand. He kept on talking. “Back in the day you just seemed like some frumpy girl ready to get in the kitchen and cook her man some food. Real domestic, you know. Like your old lady. But now, though, you're like pretty cat. So attractive.” He grinned at me with his crooked yellow teeth and I flinched, repulsed by the wolfish grin.
His smile was definitely aimed at the wrong Katy. She was dead and gone.
RIP. Definitely don’t miss ya.
That smile of Darren’s made him seem so desperate, and more than a little creepy. I needed to get outta here stat.
Darren wobbled on this stool toward me again. “Take me up to your room and show me how wild you got since high school.” He grabbed my arm and then squeezed my breast.
What was he smoking? No way.
I almost fell off the chair. Disgust ran down my spine, but my parents' lessons about manners kept me from showing it.
“No, thanks, Darren.” I jerked out of his grip and my seat wobbled alarmingly. “I'm not interested.”
“Are you serious?” He looked like I just insulted his mother. “What do you mean you're not interested?”
I pushed my drink out of the way of Darren's flailing hand. He was just about to knock the thing over. “I don't want to invite you up to my hotel room. I don't want to have sex with you, or whatever you think is going to happen up there. Honestly, I think you should probably go home now,” were my gritted words.
Darren bared at his yellow teeth at me. “You can't be for real.” He gripped the edge of the table and leaned over it. A huff of his bourbon breath rushed over my face. I cringed. He rushed on, voice rising higher and higher. “You should be getting on your knees to thank me!” he announced with a princely air. At that moment, the bartender stared over at us from his station, as if sensing trouble. The man frowned, yet did nothing as Darren continued. “I was the only guy who wanted to be with you in high school. Because of me, you didn't have to spend your entire four years as a blob of pus.”
“What?!”
This guy was crazy. I didn’t have to put up with this because this is no way to treat a woman.
“Darren, you're just being super rude,” I warned and grabbed my purse, getting ready to leave.
“Where the fuck do you think you're going?” He lurched toward me and shoved his hands under the table. Long, gangly fingers clamped down on my thighs, squeezing hard enough to leave bruises.
“Ouch!” I stared at Darren in shock as my legs throbbed from the pain.
But the man was on a roll. He jumped from his stool and groped me harder, in full view of everyone at the bar. Darren was always strange, but never did I think he would do something so heinous. On a mission of disrespect, his hands shoved up my dress and fumbled towards my crotch.
No! No!
Frozen in my chair, I trembled, fingers clenched around my purse. Panic burst into my chest and pushed me to the edge of hyperventilating.
This can't be happening. No way. Darren was a terrible person but he’d never done anything like this before.
Unfortunatley, the burst of his breath against my face made the assault even more real.
“You owe me, Katy!” he whined aggressively. “For saving you in high school!”
Still in shock, I tumbled off the stool as the man continued groping. A sharp cry left my throat as I fell.
Oh god!
But instead of hitting the floor, I tumbled back against a warm and firm chest. Strong arms wound around my stomach just as the familiar scent of clean, masculine sweat and citrus soothed me.
Alpha Prime was here, thank god.
“Are you okay, baby?” rumbled Nick. “Are you hurt?”
But Nick was calm compared to his bandmates.
“Get the fuck off her!” came a furious growl.
I opened her eyes just in time to see Mason slam his fist into Darren's stomach. The asshole doubled over with a gasping whoosh! leaving his wide open mouth.
“You touch her again and see what happens then,” Nick hissed, yanking Darren's head back by the hair at the same time Mason slammed his forearm against his windpipe. Darren turned purple, staring from one guy to the otherm, eyes going wide as he realized who they were.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” the bartender bellowed, heading towards the scene. “Pierre, call the cops!”
Darren choked. “I can't brea—” He wheezed unable to go on.
Mason pulled his muscled forearm off the guy. “What you can do is get the fuck out of here before we tear you apart.” He shoved Darren away like the touch of the man’s skin disgusted him.
When Mason was done, Trent yanked Darren by the collar of his wrinkled shirt and pushed him toward the door. “Fuck off, you piece of shit.”
Darren stumbled and fell, then clumsily picked himself off the floor as both men stalked toward him with looks that could kill. Pure terror twisted his face when he saw how close they were to trampling the doughy man. He yelped and pumped his doughy legs, scrambling furiously towards the exit.
“Yo, you can’t do that!” the bartender called again. “The cops are coming and you’re all gonna get arrested! I don’t care who you think you are—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Trent cut him off. “You didn’t stop an assault in this bar a few minutes ago. We did. Call the cops if you want but you know that you’ll be in as much trouble as we will.”
The waiter, Pierre, was standing by the phone, hand hovering over it like he wasn’t sure what to do.
I blinked when Nick touched my cheek and brushed his fingers through my long hair. His touches grounded me, bringing me back from the fear that had taken me over when Darren attacked. “Talk to me, Kitty-Kat. Are you okay?”
“I'm...I'm fine. I just...” But I couldn't say anything else. It was too traumatizing. I turned and threw myself into Nick's arms,
clinging to him like I would never let go. “Thank you,” was my hoarse mumble. “You came just in the nick of time. I don't know what I would've done if it hadn't been for you guys.”
“Don’t worry sweetheart.” Mason suddenly appeared and kissed my cheek. “You’re with us now.” His lips were warm and comforting and I sighed again.
Can I just stay here with them forever?
“Come on,” Trent said. “Let's get outta this fuckin' place.” He glared at the bartender and Pierre.
“Pricks,” Trent muttered. “Next time help a woman in distress, yeah?”
The bartender opened his mouth to speak, but said nothing. Pierre merely looked confused because he hadn’t quite seen what Darren had done, and I was too tired to explain.
But it didn’t matter. My three men crowded around me like a protective wall of muscle and guided me out of the bar and upstairs to their hotel room.
Nick closed the door behind us. “Come to bed.” It wasn't so much an invitation as a command.
My other men pulled the covers down on the bed and pushed me down into it. I couldn't stop shaking, trembling like a doe. “Mason.” Needy and weak, I stretched out my hand to him. “Trent.” I put out my other hand and the other rock star took my fingers. I opened my legs for Nick to slip in between. Three pairs of bright blue eyes burned into me, comforting yet powerful.
