A Broken Us (London Lover Series Book 1) (12 page)

I laugh so hard and so loud, the noise radiates
off the tiny bathroom walls and is nearly deafening. Leslie’s sad face turns to
a glare as I wipe tears from my eyes.

“Holy crap, Leslie! I can’t believe you didn’t
tell me.”

“Really?” she retorts, not impressed. “Really.
You’re surprised I didn’t tell you about the most mortifying thing that’s ever
happened to me? Shocking. Truly and utterly shocking.” She states in a flat
monotone. She is getting pissed, so I attempt to pull myself together.

“So, what’s his problem? Why is he all mad and
caveman-like right now?” I question.

“He’s apparently pissed I ran off and never
said anything to him. I asked him what the hell he wanted me to say…
Thank you
?”

Another burst of laughter erupts from me and
Leslie shakes her head, trying to conceal her own smile.

“He seems interested in me but I don’t know if
I can get past the horror of what I did. I can’t believe he thinks I’m anything
but a
perv
! I can’t believe he’s even here.
Afterward, I told him I had to go to the bathroom and he made me promise I
would come back. I literally crawled on my hands and knees at the club to
ensure he wouldn’t see me heading back to our table. I was freaking mortified!
Now he’s here, making me relive the whole sorry event.”

“Well, give him a chance. If he doesn’t think
you’re a freak, maybe he’s a really nice guy?” I offer.

“Or maybe he’s a freak like me. Two peas in a
damn pod. Good Lord.” Leslie
smoothes
her auburn hair
down and gently touches her gelled curls.

“Lets get back out there. We can’t avoid him
all night,” I say, ushering her out the door.

“Just keep your legs where I can see them. I
can’t be trusted!” she says, and I burst out laughing again.
God I loved this girl, even if she is a
freak.

An idea comes to mind as we join everyone back
in the kitchen. Leslie is in dire need of some cheering up. Just looking at her
in her ridiculous tart getup and sulky face is enough to make me laugh. She is
definitely in need of a distraction from her embarrassing dance-
gasm
with Theo. Not to mention, Theo is continually
throwing daggers at Leslie.

My eyes search the room for Liam, who is
visiting in a small circle with his friend James, Mitch, Julie, and a few other
new faces that must have arrived while Leslie and I were having our bathroom
heart to heart.
Must not laugh at Leslie.
Must not laugh at Leslie.

“Alright, everybody!” I announce from the
dining room doorway. No one stops talking to listen to me, so to get their
attention I pound my foot on the floor.
Nothing.
I chug the rest of my red sweet punch, set the cup on the dining room table,
and drag a chair into the kitchen entry. I motion for Ethan because he’s the
nearest guy. He saunters over, a bit too smugly. I ignore it and press my hand
on top of his shoulder to hoist myself on top of the dining room chair.

“HEY!” I shout loudly this time with a giggle
afterward.

Leslie dashes over from her conversation with
Frank and stands below me with a big smile on her face, eagerly awaiting my
announcement.

“I have a little surprise for Leslie!” I
reveal, while catching Liam’s eyes traveling up my legs and to my face. He
doesn’t look very happy.

Ignoring him, I continue, “We’re going to play
a game. A game Leslie and I used to rule in our formidable years.” I pause for
dramatic effect, “It’s Tippy-Cup
Tiiiiime
!” I
announce proudly, smiling down at Leslie.

She jumps up and down, eagerly clapping her
hands as the straps of her white tank top fall off and reveal more of her lacy
red bra. Theo rushes over from the kitchen to pull her straps up protectively,
then attempts to pull the front of the tank up to cover the bra entirely.
Unfortunately for him, her tank top isn’t long enough for that, so he gives up
and scowls at her broodingly.
Leslie is
going to have her hands full with that one.

Leslie brushes him away and shouts up at me, “I
can nearly see your
kooo-ca
, you saucy minx!”

My eyes turn wide and my hand immediately goes
down to pull the hem of my lace dress down. It’s incredibly tight and doesn’t
budge an inch. I feel warmth traveling up the back of my calf and turn to see
Ethan’s hand caressing it.

I reach out to swat his hand away and see Liam
in front of me. He places his hands on my waist and lifts me down off the chair
in one swift motion.

“I’m telling you, Ethan,” Liam glares at him,
accusingly.

“Relax, mate! We’re all here to have a good
time, get a little wild. Right love?” Ethan winks over at me.

Before Liam can reply, I say, “Hands-free fun
is fun too!”

“No such thing,” Ethan drawls out.

“If you’re so in love with your hands, use them
on yourself,” I say. Leslie falls into a fit of giggles beside me.

Ethan doesn’t look amused and Liam looks like
he’s about to hulk out on Ethan any second.

“Aw, Fin! Look at these callouses!” Leslie
says, grabbing Ethan’s large hand. “His unit is probably bruised and bloodied
from overuse of his hands! Poor buddy, you haven’t had any in a long time have
you? No wonder he was touching your leg, Finny! He probably mistook it for that
whopper of a dick he’s packing!” She giggles again and makes a jerking motion
with her hand.

I explode into laughter and watch her nudge
Ethan with her hip in a playful manner. Ethan’s hard glare doesn’t last long
before he smiles back at her. She obviously stroked his ego just enough to not
anger him. Plus, Leslie has the best laugh. It’s infectious, so when she laughs
hard like that it’s impossible to stay mad at her.

She grabs Ethan’s arm and leads him into the
dining room to join James and the others.

“Was the chair-announcement really necessary?”
Liam murmurs into my ear.

“Just trying to get people to notice me,” I
reply.

He looks down at my mouth and says, “It’s
impossible to
not
notice you.”

I look back at him and squint my eyes. I don’t
know if it’s the strong punch or if I’m just feeling extra brazen as a tart,
but I decide to say exactly what’s on my mind.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re
behaving how a jealous boyfriend behaves. Last I checked, I was single.” I feel
a pang of guilt saying that out loud. I think it’s the first time I’ve said the
word
single
since college.

Liam gives me a hard look and I nearly regret
my words. But it’s true, he’s acting too domineering given that this is only
the third time we’ve hung out. Frank rushes past us into the dining room with
an arm full of beers and clean plastic cups, “Fucking straight! I’m going to
whip you Americans. You’ll regret ever teaching me how to play this insidious
game!”

Liam glances over to Frank and sighs, tilting
his head thoughtfully at me.

“Did I say or do something to upset you?” he
asks.

I consider his question. He really didn’t do
anything bad. But just the way he’s looking at me and shielding me from Ethan
feels way too familiar. It feels like…Brody. A twinge of pain hits me as I
remember how protective Brody was in the early days of our relationship. There
were several college parties that ended in me dragging Brody out by his arm
before he started a fight with someone who got too fresh with me. The whole
Jake fiasco turned Brody into a bit of a caveman. It took months of convincing
and placating to get him to relax and trust me more.

“I’m just not used to other people protecting
me I guess,” I offer him. It’s a cryptic reply and I can tell he knows it, but
he chooses not to press it further and moves away from me into the dining room.

I do my best to ignore Liam’s watchful stare as
I sidle up over to Leslie. We decide to separate ourselves and be team
captains. Frank appears to be the only one who knows how to play Tippy Cup, so
we explain the rules. There are two teams that stand across from each other on
either side of the table. You fill your cup with a small amount of beer,
usually no more than a swallow or two. When the game starts, the first two
people of each team chug their beer, set their cup down on the edge of the
table and tip it with their fingers until it lands on the topside of the cup.
As soon as you successfully tip and land your cup, the next person on your team
goes. First team to finish wins and you start the whole process over again.

Leslie picks Liam as her teammate first. I’m
thankful for that and decide to pick Mitch for my team. I feel like we have a
bond ever since the lemon-drink day, and he seems eager to play…well, as eager
as Mitch ever could be. I also get Ethan, Theo, and one of Leslie’s coworkers
from Nikon. There’s an even sixteen of us to play, which is good because no one
has to sit out a round. Thank goodness Frank’s dining room table is large,
though it’s so beautiful and I feel bad for a second about the amount of beer that’s
about to get dumped on it. Frank doesn’t seem to mind though, he’s just sulking
because he was picked last for my team.

“It’s like bloody primary school all over
again,” he looks down sadly.

“We just saved the best for last, Frank,” I coo
into his ear.

“I bloody well hated primary school. I never
quite fit in, you know?”

He looks at me with a surprised look on his
face and it’s all I can do to conceal my smirk. He’s asking me this question so
seriously while wearing a two-foot tall Pope hat.

“How about you be our team leader and go
first?” I suggest, which seems to perk him up some. We move all the chairs away
from the table. Leslie and Frank are at the heads of their sides of the table,
then it’s me across from Liam, Mitch across James, Ethan is facing off against
Julie, then Theo is up against one of Frank’s friends he knows from school.
Then Leslie’s two other work friends are facing off against each other.
Rounding out the last two pairs are Julie and Mitch’s three friends, whom I
haven’t been introduced to yet, against another one of Frank’s friends. I
haven’t been formally introduced to everyone but that doesn’t matter. Tippy Cup
always helps make fast friends.

Liam shoots me a wink as a peace offering, and
I smirk back at him. He smirks back and raises his eyebrows quickly at me. I
shake my head at him and give him an
all
business
look to indicate we need to focus on the game, not each other. He
licks his lips thoughtfully as he eyeballs mine.
Damn him.
  

“Alright! Everybody know the rules?” Leslie
yells loud enough to be heard all the way down the table.

Suddenly, Mitch and Ethan switch places and
Ethan’s arm brushes up against mine as he readies himself to face off against
James. I look over and see Julie mouthing off to Mitch that she’s going to beat
him. Liam eyes Ethan cautiously.

“Ready. Set. Tip!” I shout. Frank and Leslie
are off. Frank’s hat immediately drops off the back of his head as he tips his
drink back, revealing sweaty orange hair.
God,
Frank is funny even when he’s not saying anything.

“Stuff it!” he shouts, as he readies his now
empty cup to be tipped. He misses and looks over to Leslie who can’t seem to
get hers to land right either.
Shameful,
Leslie. Just shameful.
She must be out of practice.

Frank nails his landing and I snatch my drink
up and gulp the entire contents down in one swoop. I calmly place my cup on the
table and peg the landing on the first try. Ethan whoops loudly and takes his
turn. I look over to Liam and see that he’s struggling. A lot. I smile as his
expression turns serious while he tries to concentrate. Leslie is coaching him
from the side but he just can’t seem to figure it out. Finally, he lands his
cup and I look over to see that Ethan and Mitch have already successfully
tipped their cups and Theo is up. He fumbles a few times and then gets it, and
our final teammate, Leslie’s coworker, begins chugging her drink.

Julie seems to be struggling on the other side
of the table and I can’t help but laugh fondly at her. Her slanted eyes are squinting
so hard in concentration; Mitch seems to be enjoying Julie’s struggles as well.
I glance back to see Liam’s eyes locked on me. My smile drops; his look is
intense and it sends flutters down my belly.

Suddenly, cheering erupts from my side of the
table and Ethan swerves around and high fives me. Frank sings
We Are the Champions
while I laugh so
hard at Julie who’s still trying to land her cup.

“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!” she cries.
Mitch heads over to give her some pointers.

“Okay then! Now Liam and Finley will start it
off and Frank and I will finish,” Leslie announces.

Everyone goes back to their places and readies
their cups with beer.

I lock eyes with Liam.

“Ready. Set. Tip!” I shout, and Liam’s and my
death stare breaks when we both tip our cups back into our mouths.
God, he looks hot drinking his beer.

I land mine on the first tip again and Liam
gets his on the second. James struggles for a bit but then Julie is up. She
cheers loudly as she lands hers on the first tip. Theo struggles for much too
long, and Leslie’s team wins.

We all play nicely for another few rounds and
it becomes obvious everyone is feeling the effects of all the beer chugging. We
decide to do one more round and then call it quits for awhile.

It’s down to the end and Ethan and James are
the last ones to tip. They both fumble over and over, adding suspense to who
will win the final round. When Ethan finally lands his cup, our side bursts
into cheers and Ethan turns and scoops me up into a big hug. He lifts me from
the ground and I feel my dress sliding up dangerously close to my butt.

Liam appears next to us, grabs my arm and pulls
me out of Ethan’s embrace. His look is conflicted as he pulls me over off into
the living room.

“You need to be careful with Ethan,” he says,
his voice deep and authoritative.

“Careful of what?” my words slur slightly as
they come out and I smile back at Ethan, feeling good.
 

Liam pulls at the white collar around his neck,
“He’s my mate but he’s a complete wanker.”

I look at Liam thoughtfully, my eyes slightly
drooping, “I don’t need protecting, Liam. I’m not worth it.” I slur the last
bit.

He looks from my eyes to my mouth like he’s
torn with what to say next.

“Why would you ever say that?” he asks, looking
at me seriously.

Why does he look so serious? Doesn’t he know I
just want to have fun? How can he be so serious after drinking so much?

I pat his shoulder reassuringly, “It’s the
truth, Liam. Get out while you can.”

I turn to the dining room and shout, “Let’s
dance!”

Everyone cheers and breaks away from the table.
Some go into the kitchen for more drinks and others head into the living room
toward the music dock to pick out more suitable dancing music.