Heather
I groaned and pulled my pillow over my head as my alarm clock screeched loudly. There was no way I was ready to get up so soon, but the chores weren’t going to do themselves.
I sat up and slapped the off button on my alarm before looking out the window wistfully. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, but I couldn’t think of anything except dinner last night. Andrew’s words were a stab in the gut, but I wasn’t too surprised. It was about time he snapped and let it out in front of me.
My face twitched into a slight frown before I shook it off and got out of bed, slipping into my house slippers. I shuffled into the bathroom and reached for my toothbrush with a yawn. I was washing my mouth out when my eyes landed on the music player on top of my dresser.
A sudden thought ran through my head and a grin formed on my face. I quickly wiped my face and ran into the closet to change out of my pajamas. My workout outfit consisted of a white tank top and black leggings. Once my hair was tied into a high ponytail, I grabbed the music player and raced downstairs to the living room.
I heard William leave earlier this morning so it was quite quiet downstairs without him shuffling around and yelling into his phone.
I looked around the living room and shrugged. This seemed like a good spot to do a bit of dancing. Once the music player was plugged in, I started to warm up. A sigh escaped my mouth as the muscles in my arms and legs loosened up slowly.
When my body was all stretched, I started familiarizing myself with the old choreography I had learned for the song. The music flowed through my body and my motions were fluid as I leaped into the air and landed gracefully on the floor. The melody was becoming softer so I ended with a few fouettes. To my utter shock, I ended up spinning right into a pair of arms.
Gee, how cliché.
I gasped and bit my lip nervously when my eyes trailed up the arms to meet William’s amused face. My heart jumped in my chest at the intensity of his stare and my teeth dug deeper into my lip. I had no idea what to make of his sudden mood swing and I was feeling a bit uncomfortable. He didn’t look cold or malicious, which probably should have been a good thing, but it was so unlike him.
The music was cut off abruptly and my eyes darted behind him where three men were staring at us with small smirks on their faces.
I sucked in my breath and glanced back at William, who was now staring at me with amusement and…lust? I immediately averted my eyes and cleared my throat.
“I apologize for my display. I didn’t know we had guests,” I mumbled sheepishly to his friends. “I’m Heather,” I greeted, holding my hand out to the guy in front of the rest. He had dark blond hair and warm, friendly brown eyes. From what I could tell, he was well built and could probably break me like a toothpick.
He smiled, giving me a firm handshake. “Jackson Presley.”
The next man stepped forward and grinned mischievously. “I’m Nathan Presley, this idiot’s younger brother.”
I laughed and shook his hand firmly. Nathan looked like the younger version of Jackson, but just a little shorter in height. I turned to the last man and reached my hand out for a handshake as he did the same.
He smirked, his brown eyes glinting with mirth. “Freddy Reynolds.”
I gave him a polite smile and let go of his hand, stepping back slowly.
This was a little awkward since they probably knew how much William detested me.
My eyes widened when William wrapped his arms around my waist and tugged me into his body.
What the hell was he doing?
Goosebumps started forming on my skin as his fingers grazed my waist gently. My stomach flipped rapidly and I slowly loosened his arms so he wasn’t squeezing me to death. I coughed quietly, trying to get him to let go of me, but this man wasn’t budging.
I mentally groaned and slapped a small smile on my face.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you guys. I hope you weren’t waiting long for me to stop dancing.”
They shook their heads and glanced at William expectantly, who was playing with the ends of my hair. I shuffled my feet uncomfortably and tried to nudge him so he would move, but his arms tightened around me until I couldn’t breathe properly.
“William!” I wheezed out anxiously.
“Shit, sorry, babe,” he muttered, and thankfully loosened his arms.
I turned in his arms and slapped his chest in irritation.
Babe? Did he hit his head somewhere? Since when were you two ever dating? a voice in my head prodded as I turned back around.
His friends began to laugh at our exchange.
Nathan smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Jealous much, William?”
William put his chin on my shoulder and nuzzled my cheek with his nose. “If it involves my woman, then yes.”
His woman? What was even going on here?
***
Once the furniture was back in its place, we finally sat down, and I shifted uncomfortably from the guys’ curious looks.
I was still confused about William’s behavior but decided to let it slide and ask him about it later. Until then, I wanted to talk to his friends more. They seemed to be nothing like William, so I was curious about them.
While Nathan was rambling about a scene from some movie, the doorbell rang. I stood up to go answer it, but William gestured for me to stay seated and went to answer the door himself.
A few seconds later, I heard a familiar male voice yelling frantically. “Heather!”
It sounded like the person was running. Promptly, a familiar black-haired man rushed into the room with a frowning William following behind him.
“Jason?”
“Heather!” He ran toward me and pulled me into a tight hug.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were in Michigan for business?” I asked him, confused, once he put me down.
“Alex called me last night and told me about Andrew. I came back to pound him to a pulp,” he spat angrily, and pounded his fist into his hand.
I punched his arm. “Jason Richard Wright! You will do no such thing!”
He glared at me and rubbed his arm. “Why not? He has been nothing but an asshole to you since forever! He deserves it. Alex even said he would help me beat him up.”
“Asshole or not, he is still my brother!” I glared back and crossed my arms.
He sighed and hugged me again. “Why are you so nice to everyone? I swear sometimes you make me want to pull my hair out until I’m bald!”
I laughed and pulled away, ruffling his hair. “Wouldn’t that be a sight! You wouldn’t look like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo anymore.”
He growled. “I do not look like Shaggy!”
I snorted. “Keep telling yourself that and you might believe it.”
William cleared his throat loudly, interrupting our banter. He raised an eyebrow and looked between Jason and me curiously, as if asking if he was an ex-boyfriend.
I mentally rolled my eyes and started introducing William’s friends to Jason.
After everyone was acquainted, we sat down and the conversation started up again.
Jason turned to William and nodded at him. “It’s nice to finally meet my best friend’s husband properly. You’d better not hurt her, or else you’ll have the same fate Andrew is going to have.”
I elbowed him hard at that.
“Ouch. Jesus, woman, you’re going to kill me with those elbows of yours!” He glared at me and rubbed his stomach.
Before I could give him a sarcastic reply, William wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me onto his lap.
This was really fishy and I didn’t like it. William was going to have one hell of a confrontation when everyone left.
Jason must have noticed my dilemma because he started to laugh loudly until tears were forming in his eyes.
“Man, Heather is practically my little sister! I don’t like her like that,” he heaved out between laughs. I pursed my lips to keep from laughing, but it was hard when Jason was pretty much rolling on the ground. After a few more seconds of laughing breathlessly, he stood up and excused himself to go to the restroom. I took this as my chance to escape as well.
“Excuse me,” I said, finally squeezing out of William’s grip and standing up.
My stomach was grumbling loudly, so I walked to the pantry and grabbed a box of oatmeal. As I pulled some strawberries out of the fridge, I felt a hand on the back of my arm and it turned me around.
Of course, it was William.
I placed the strawberries on the island and crossed my arms as he stepped closer. My head snapped back at the sudden short distance between us.
Well then, this was an interesting position.
I could see every speck of his dark green eyes, which were glaring at me.
“May I help you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He leaned closer and gritted his teeth. “You disgust me.”
And we are back to normal, sort of.
“I think I already know that, you’ve made it very clear these past few weeks.”
He stepped away and nodded once. “Good. Now, I want you to stay away from my friends. They don’t need you digging your claws into their lives.”
I glared at him. “My claws?”
“Please, don’t try to act all innocent. We both know what you’ve done.”
“What I’ve done?” I asked incredulously. “Are you being serious right now? What have I done to you? I didn’t even know who you were until we got engaged!”
He rolled his eyes. “Save your lies for someone who cares.”
I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. “Then why are you here?”
“To tell you that that little display of affection meant nothing. It was just to keep up an act for my friends.”
“Fascinating. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make myself some breakfast.” I turned around and started making my oatmeal. His footsteps echoed slightly as he walked back to the living room, and I frowned at the slight pain in my chest.
So much for having a good day.