I wipe the tears away from my face and decide I can’t stay up in my room forever, someone will come looking for me. So I walk over to my mirror and apply some powder foundation to cover my blotchy red face and then head downstairs. I’m nervous. I nearly kissed Chad while talking about Danger, who hadn’t spoken to me in a week, who then calls out of the blue right when I almost kiss the man my boyfriend was angry about me being with, and the reason he stopped calling me in the first place.

This is so messed up!

I walk into the kitchen rather than into the music room. I can’t face Chad just yet. I make my way to the pantry and pull out a big bag of chocolate cookies and take a seat at the breakfast bar. Opening the bag of cookies ready to devour them, my nervous eating habit has kicked in full swing. I take a cookie and shove it into my mouth chewing on the crispness and moaning slightly enjoying the chocolate hit invading my mouth.

One thing I need right now is a satisfying hit to quell these nerves. I have no idea what I’m going to do when I see Chad. So for now, I’m going to sit here and drown myself in yummy chocolate cookies until they come looking for me for rehearsals.

I exhale as I think of Chad and what nearly happened in my bedroom. I definitely felt something for Chad, but I miss Danger so there’s obviously still something there. I have no idea what to do. I don’t hear any music coming from the music room which is odd. I thought they’d be playing even without me there, so I figure I’ll go and do some investigating. I make my way to the front door of the manor and look out to the car park and notice that Chad’s left. I open my eyes wide as my heart thuds in my chest hard. I feel a mixture of emotions right now. I’m sad that he took off without talking to me, but at the same time I’m glad that he’s gone so I can think about what the hell happened in my room without him here.

 

***

 

A couple of weeks have passed and nothing is happening with Staked so Chad hasn’t needed to come over. I’ve been spending all my time chatting with Danger when he calls, which has been often. He’s made such an effort over the last two weeks, and I feel like we’re right back on track where we should be.

It’s just hitting five in the afternoon and I know Mum and Dad are heading out for a gala event tonight, leaving Annie and me home on our own. Which is fine by me. Annie will spend the night in her room listening to depressing music like she tends to do these days, and I’ll be in my room talking to Danger more than likely.

I’m just walking into the kitchen getting ready to say goodbye to Mum and Dad before they head off for the night. I know how much Dad hates these events, but Mum loves them. She adores getting dressed up and being the socialite she was born to be.

I walk in and sit down at the kitchen table, as Mum pulls out pizza and places it on the table in front of me.

“Here you go. Don’t eat it all, and save some for your sister.”

“You look beautiful, Mum,” I say with my mouth stuffed full of mouth-wateringly delicious pizza.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Ella.”

Geez, I knew that was coming! I chuckle to myself as Annie walks in.

“I smell food, I’m starving,” she says and takes a seat next to me while picking up a slice of pizza and digging in.

“So your father will be down in a minute, do you think I look okay?” Mum asks and I look her up and down as she stands in front of me in a stunning floor-length purple gown with a diamante encrusted bodice.

“Mum, you look stunning as always,” Annie says and Mum smiles brightly.

“It’s not too much?” she asks running her hands down the gown.

I shake my head and smile. “Just enough.”

“Where’s my beautiful wife?” Dad calls out as he walks into the kitchen wearing his black tux, all dressed up looking all smooth and dapper. “Ahh, there she is, as gorgeous as ever.” He walks up to Mum and grabs her waist pulling her to him. He dips her down and kisses her forcefully making me and Annie both groan.

Mum swats at Dad as she giggles. “Colt, you’ll mess my makeup.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Okay, well, I need a bourbon and some food. The smell of that pizza is driving me crazy.”

“I could go a champagne. Might have a couple tonight. Watch out kids, your parents are going to be drunken fools when they get home this evening,” Mum jokes and Annie and I both laugh.

“I could go a nice cocktail. I wouldn’t mind being drunk right now too,” I say.

Dad furrows his brows and shakes his head. “No way, young lady, not until you’re legally eighteen are you getting drunk.”

“Um…I’m allowed to now,” I murmur and Dad huffs and shakes his head.

“No, you’re not, young lady,” he demands and then looks at Mum, who looks at me. All of a sudden her eyes shoot wide open, she gasps as her hand shoots to her mouth in shock.

“Oh my God, Ella,” Mum says.

I bite the side of my cheek knowing Mum has just realised.

Annie looks at me and then at Mum like she’s missing something. Mum’s eyes start to well with tears and she shakes her head as Dad looks at Mum furrowing his brows in confusion.

“What’s happening right now?” Dad asks and Mum starts to cry.

“Oh, Ella, I’m so sorry honey. I don’t know how you can forgive us,” Mum says and Dad looks at me. I stand up walking over to Mum, who’s now openly crying and ruining her makeup. So I lean in and hug her.

“What the hell! What’s going on, Lia? Why are you crying?”

“We forgot Ella’s birthday, it was her eighteenth birthday while we were on tour,” Mum says and Dad frowns and rubs the back of his neck while Annie gasps.

“Shit, really?” he asks and I nod. “Fuck! Ella, why didn’t you say anything?” Dad asks and I shrug.

“Everyone was so busy with the tour, I didn’t want to stress anyone out,” I say and Annie starts to cry too.

“Oh, please, stop crying you guys. It’s not that big of a deal, it was only my eighteenth. Nothing major, and honestly you remembered now that’s all that matters.”

Dad rushes forward and pulls me from Mum and hugs me tight. “I’m so sorry, Ella. Being on tour is no excuse for forgetting your eighteenth. You may not think it’s an important birthday, but I do. And so I’m going to throw you a belated birthday party.”

I shake my head. “No, you don’t have to do that, Dad. My birthday was ages ago now, it doesn’t matter—”

“Of course, it matters Ella. You’re going to have the best, most extravagant, birthday party Oxfordshire has ever seen. No arguments,” Dad says as Annie pulls me in for a hug.

“I’m sorry. I was so caught up in my own world that I forgot. We even went out to a club and went drinking. I should’ve clicked then, because how could you have been drinking legally if you weren’t old enough? I’m so stupid and I’m so very sorry, Ella. Literally the worst sister, ever! So you spent your birthday with absolutely everyone forgetting about it. That must’ve been horrible!” Annie says.

“No, Chad remembered and he made me brunch and gave me a present. So, honestly, it wasn’t all bad. I told him not to tell anyone because I didn’t want to stress you guys out for forgetting.”

“Well, trust me, I’m going to make it up to you Ella,” Dad says.

“We all are,” Mum says wiping at her smudged makeup.

“It really isn’t that big of a deal guys,” I reiterate.

“It is Ella. We’re all terrible people for forgetting. I know I, for one, feel horrendous Ella. A mother should never forget her baby’s birthday. I’ll never forgive myself, and you shouldn’t forgive me either. I just hope I can make up for it,” Mum says starting to cry again.

“Oh Mum, please don’t cry. It’s okay, really. Plus, you’re ruining your makeup.” She sniffs and wipes her face. “And you’re now running late. So can we talk more about this later? Please, pull yourself together, I’m fine, honestly. You better go and reapply your face, and then have a great night. Please don’t fuss about over this.”

“Ella, I don’t care what you say I know you’re trying to make us feel better, but we feel terrible. So, regardless of what you say, we’re throwing you a party. You can have anything you want, anything at all, so think about what you’d like and tomorrow we can start organising. Okay?” Dad says as Mum wipes her tears away.

I decide I need to help make them feel better, so I agree to this party. “Okay, let’s have a party that would be nice, thank you.”

“Excellent, no expense will be spared. We’ll get the best caterers in the world, and I’ll get horses for rides and things—”

I laugh, interrupting him. “Dad, I’m eighteen not six. I don’t think pony rides are something you have at an eighteenth birthday party.”

“Oh, right, yeah, of course. Well, we’ll have a cocktail bar and a photo booth, is that better?”

“Yeah, now you’re on the right track,” I say and he looks at his watch.

“Shit! Okay Lia, you better go and fix your makeup,” he says. Mum nods and leans in hugging me again.

“I’m so, so, sorry sweetheart,” she whispers in my ear.

I nod and kiss her cheek. “It’s okay Mum, have a fun night, all right?”

“I love you,” she says and exhales as she walks out of the kitchen.

Annie wraps her arm around my shoulders. “I’m sorry, Ella. You should’ve told me. But I get that I was so miserable on tour you thought reminding me I’d forgotten might have made me worse. I’m sorry I made you feel that way.”

“I just want you to feel better, Annie. I know you being without Aston is hurting you, but hopefully the therapy is helping?”

“I guess, I miss him so much. I just can’t get past the fact that if my birth parents don’t love me, how can anyone else, you know? I know it’s the wrong way of thinking. I know it has to be because everyone keeps telling me it is. But it’s so ingrained in my brain that every time I think I need to call Aston, I just keep thinking that he lied to me about loving me. I just need more time. And I’m sorry that my messed up head took away from your special birthday. I’m a bitch for letting that happen.”

“You are a bitch, but I love you anyway.”

She smirks and slaps my arm.

“Lia, baby, we have to go, now,” Dad calls out from the hall. Annie takes my arm and we walk out to the foyer to watch Dad checking himself out in the mirror. Mum walks down the stairs looking refreshed and glowing once more.

“Okay, I’m ready.” Mum looks at me and I can tell she’s going to cry all over again.

“Have a good night, guys,” I say.

Dad smiles looking like he’s completely broken too. I feel sorry that I’ve spoiled their night. I just hope they don’t dwell on it too much, it was never my intention for them to even know.

“We will, c’mon baby, let’s go. Now don’t get up to anything while we’re gone. We’ll be back by about three, and I expect the party to be over and the house completely clean by then,” Dad says. I laugh as Mum opens her eyes wide and looks at us.

“He’s joking, Mum,” Annie says.

Mum huffs and grabs her clutch from the buffet. “He better be bloody joking. If you ladies have a party tonight and I find out about it, I’ll be very mad.”

“Have fun, drink too much and fall over too many times,” I call out and Mum laughs as Dad smiles at me his mood seeming lighter now.

“Don’t have a party,” Dad mouths as he walks through the front door and I giggle as Mum fusses about her dress, and Annie shakes her head. Dad closes the front door and I look at Annie and smile.

“Party?” Annie says and I laugh.

“I don’t know about you, but I want to eat my pizza, have a soak in the tub, read a book and go to bed.”

Annie frowns. “Party pooper.” She smirks as we walk back to the kitchen to finish off our pizza dinner.

 

***

 

After a long hot soak in the tub and getting into my pyjamas and then into bed, I lay under the covers reading Arkadia by Dzintra Sullivan waiting for Danger to Skype me. My iPad is laying on the bed next to me, and I’m reading about sexy dragon shifters when the dial tone rings, and I smile brightly putting down my paperback and picking up my iPad. I swipe to answer the call. Danger appears on the screen in front of me and he’s shirtless and sitting on his lounge. I smile wide and wave at the screen.

“Hey you,” I say looking at his gorgeous features. God, I wish I could touch him, I miss being able to feel him.

“Hey beautiful, you look cosy in bed. What time is it there?”

“Just gone ten,” I reply. He smiles and nods leaning back into his lounge and his muscles flex. I can’t help but swallow hard while watching his taut skin makes my body ache for him.

“How was your day?”

“Interesting. Mum finally figured out that they forgot my birthday, so they’re going to throw me a party.”

“Oh, wow! How’d they take it?”

“Not great! Mum and Annie cried, Dad said he’s going to buy me everything, and then said he was going to have pony rides at my party because apparently I’m six and not eighteen.”

He laughs and I bite my bottom lip watching his chest rise and fall with the movement of his laughter.

“How’s your day been?” I ask and he stops laughing and rolls his eyes. Resting back into the lounge suite his muscles tensing.

“I’ve been working hard with our team trying to achieve a headline tour, but I don’t seem to be getting anywhere with it. The record label appears to be messing around with us, and I can’t get a straight answer from the marketing guys on our promo gear. So I have no idea where we’re even at right now. Things are not that great. I’m pretty grumpy about music lately, but I’m always happy to talk to you. You make everything brighter.”

“I miss you,” I say and his dark blue eyes sparkle.

“I miss you too sugar, and I really need to have sex. My hand just isn’t doing it justice, so I want to make a trip out to the UK in a month or so to see you?”

I let out a small scream. “Oh my God,” I yell sitting up taller in bed while Danger laughs at me. “Are you serious?” I ask tears welling in my eyes.

“Yep, I need to see you. I really need to see you, holding out this long for sex is driving me insane. I need to feel your body against mine.”

I bring my hand up to my face as I can’t hold back my tears, my heart is racing so fast I feel sick. He’s actually coming to see me and I couldn’t be happier if I tried.

“You’re actually coming to see me?”

“Yeah baby,” he says and I half laugh and sob at the same time.

“I’m so happy right now,” I exclaim.

He chuckles. “I’m glad you’re happy, sugar. I can’t wait to see you,” he says and I pull my hand from my face and lean into the screen and kiss it repeatedly.

He laughs out loud as I kiss the screen. “Fuck you’re funny when you’re in a good mood,” he says.

I pull back and wipe my cheeks. “Thank you, this means so much to me.”

He smiles and blows me a kiss. “Hey, this is as much for me as it is for you. It means so much to me too, Ella.” He winks at me as I wipe the tears from my cheeks.

“So ah…how’s Chad?”

I bite my bottom lip as my chest tightens slightly at the mention of his name. “I’m not sure. Staked hasn’t been doing much the last couple of weeks, so I haven’t seen him,” I say honestly and he smiles wide and the sight of Danger happy makes me happy.

“So when I come over, I’ll be staying in a hotel so do you think you’ll be able to come and stay in a hotel with me? I’ll be in London as I have a little bit of work to do while I’m there, I thought you could make a trip of it?”

“Sure, I’m eighteen and legally an adult. A weekend in London in a hotel should be fine. I’ll tell my parents I’m just staying in London for the weekend and give them some reason or other. I’m sure I can work something out.”

“Great, because I don’t plan on getting out of that bed with you for anything or anyone for the entire weekend,” he says with a salacious grin.

I smile and clench my thighs together feeling the dull ache in my clit. “I can’t wait.”

“Hey fucker, we doing shots and shit tonight?” Ryan calls out and I see him walking through the front door and into the lounge room behind Danger.

“Dude, shut it! I’m skyping, Ella.”

“Oh shit, sorry! Hey Ella,” Ryan calls out popping his head over Danger’s shoulder and into the view of the screen.

“Hey Ryan, how you been?” I ask and he laughs.

“Drunk pretty much most of the time,” he replies and then walks off as Danger nods.

“Okay, nice chat,” I call out and Ryan waves over his shoulder walking out of sight.

“I guess I better go seeing as the king of dicks is home. Now I’ll have no peace.”

“I am the king of all dicks across the lands, far and wide,” Ryan calls out making us both laugh.

“Thank you for coming to see me,” I say and he smiles and nods.

“I can’t wait. Four weeks baby, and you’ll be in my arms.”

“Sappy shit! Excuse me while I chunder all over my dickish kingdom,” Ryan calls out.

“Shut up, dude,” Danger calls out as I chuckle.

“I gotta go, he’s being a douche.”

“Okay, talk tomorrow?” I ask and he nods and grins.

“You know it.”

Ryan comes running into view wearing only white briefs and nothing else. And unlike Danger, Ryan is not toned and fit with abs of steel. Ryan is a little heavier, and I laugh hard as he runs past the screen screaming about drinking. I think Ryan is still drunk.

“Okay, I really gotta go. Talk to you tomorrow. Bye sugar,” Danger says shaking his head while I laugh hard. Then he rolls his eyes and ends the call. I laugh as slide down into bed feeling content and energised. Danger is coming to see me, and right now I couldn’t feel happier.