Blindsided (5 page)

And the dress.

It was a lot shorter than I was used to, and strapless too. To be honest, I felt naked, but I’d bought some tan coloured tights which helped me feel a little less exposed, not to mention, more protected from the biting cold outside. While Georgia dressed in her own sexy mini dress, I almost changed three times. I rose from the bed, started towards my wardrobe, then sat down again. I was pleased when Georgia announced that the cab had arrived, because once we left my room and went downstairs, there was no going back.

Chapter
Five – You’re Such An Asshole

Jesse

“How do I look?” Hunter asked, fiddling with the collar of his green shirt.

“Gorgeous,” I replied, grinning.

He swore at me, laughing. “I need to look good, don’t forget Isabelle’s got a friend who’s coming with us. She might be hot!”

“What about Mischa?”

He shrugged. “Is there some rule that I can only get with one girl on this trip?”

“I’d be very surprised if there was.”

The doorbell rang, and Andrew shook his head in amusement as he went to answer it. A deep voice echoed along the newly decorated hallway, and a dark-haired guy followed Andrew as he walked towards us.

“Hunter, Jesse,” Andrew said. “This is Georgia’s boyfriend, Elliott.”

We shook hands, but I couldn’t help thinking he looked a little straight-laced for Georgia. Georgia, although well brought-up and polite, had a definite wild streak. Elliott seemed more serious, but it must have been working for them. They’d been together for over a year.

“So where are we headed tonight?” Hunter asked.

“I’m not sure,” Elliott answered, with a small laugh. “Georgia just said she’d made dinner reservations, and that I needed to be … tidy.”

Hard to imagine he’d ever wear anything other than a perfectly ironed shirt and pants.

The thud of heels on the stairs caught our attention, and we all looked up as the girls came down to join us.

With one in a short red dress, and the other in a short purple dress, it was hard to figure out which was Isabelle. It wasn’t until they reached the bottom of the stairs that the difference became clear. While the twin in the red dress smiled broadly, the one in the purple looked like she wanted to run away.

Georgia stepped over to Elliott and planted a kiss on his cheek. I was vaguely aware of some chatter around me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Isabelle.

Her dress highlighted parts of her body that were usually covered by loose clothes and I fought to keep my eyes on her face. I was hit by a weird feeling that something was wrong, though. Her eyes refused to meet anyone else’s, and her right foot twitched as if she might bolt back up the stairs.

“Doesn’t she look amazing?” Georgia asked.

I nodded, and gave a small smile. “She sure does.”

For a second, Isabelle seemed to lose the tiny bit of confidence she’d been holding on to, but Hunter swept across the hallway to rescue her. “May I help you with your coat?” he offered, unhooking her black jacket from the coat rack by the door.

“Why thank you,” she replied, slipping her arms inside.

I noticed Georgia watching me, but she averted her gaze, and said, “Is everyone ready?”

I nodded, but Hunter said, “Aren’t we waiting for Izzy’s friend?”

“She’s meeting us at the restaurant,” Isabelle told him.

“Okay,” he said, “Then I guess we are ready!”

I wasn’t too surprised to find we were back at the restaurant we’d been to the weekend before. However, on a Saturday night, it was much busier than it had been last time. Isabelle’s friend, Willow, met us outside, and Georgia took charge and led us to find our table. She picked one at the front of the restaurant this time, right next to the window. Isabelle stuck to Willow like glue, and they clambered around the table to sit with their back to the street outside. Hunter sat beside Willow, though I didn’t think he was interested in her. She reminded me of Phoebe from
Friends
in her coloured hippy clothes. I figured he just wanted to be around a girl he wasn’t related to. That left me sitting by Elliott and Georgia.

Wonderful. I get to sit by the loved-up couple, while the girl I want is way across the table.

Sitting opposite Isabelle was both good and bad. It meant I could see her, but it also meant I had to be careful not to stare too much. Even though she seemed slightly calmer, her brown eyes still had doubt in them, and her shoulders were a little hunched.

An awkward silence hung over the table at first. Probably because Hunter and I were pretty much strangers to everyone at the tables. Even Hunter, Georgia and Isabelle who were family, had some distance between them because they’d spent so little time together. Eventually, and predictably, it was Hunter who broke the tension.

“Okay,” he said, “I think we need an ice breaker.”

Nervousness flashed across Isabelle’s face, as Hunter went on. “We should each think of one question to ask someone else on the table. When everyone’s answered, we should have six different topics of conversation to discuss. What do you say? All this silence is killing me!”

Hunter was well known for his hyperactivity, and I knew if someone didn’t speak up soon, he’d be bouncing around the room in search of someone else to talk to.

“Sounds good to me,” Willow said, a grin spreading across her face. Everyone nodded their agreement, and Willow said, “Can I start?”

“Sure.”

Willow glanced around the table, but her eyes landed on me, twinkling with barely concealed excitement. “What’s Radleigh McCoy like?”

Hunter cracked up, Georgia and Isabelle exchanged confused looks, and Elliott smiled.

“You don’t look like a soccer fan,” I answered, chuckling at the expression on her face.

“Oh, I’m not,” she said. “But, the Westberg Warriors were in England last month, and Radleigh McCoy did a photo shoot in one of my favourite magazines, and … wow.”

It took all my willpower not to roll my eyes. McCoy was my hero growing up, so playing with him at Westberg was doubly awesome for me. Playing for a top team, and alongside my idol? Who wouldn’t want that? The thing about him was, he attracted women just by … I don’t know, looking at them, I guess. Girls flocked to him, and he took advantage of it. It was difficult to sum up McCoy’s personality without going into all the messed-up details of his life, but when it came down to it he’d done more good things for me than bad.

“Radleigh McCoy,” I began, with a smile, “is a cool guy. He’s a great team mate.”

Willow tilted her head, sceptically. “Is that the truth, or the ‘proper’ answer you have to give so you don’t sound like a horrible person?”

“The truth,” I laughed. “We don’t hang out or anything, but he’s taught me a lot about the game.”

“Is he married?”

“Dating, and I think he’s pretty serious about her.”

Or, I hope he is
.

“Damn.”

“That was three questions,” Georgia said, laughing, “Can I go next? I have something I want to ask Hunter.”

“Shoot,” Hunter said.

“Are you going to try to get into Mischa’s knickers?”

An explosion of laughter erupted around the table, and Hunter said, “Do you think she’d let me?”

“I really do. There was someone at college she had her eye on, but I think she’d rather go for an American boy while she has the chance.”

“Then yes. Yes I am trying to get into her … knickers.”

The word ‘knickers’ in an American accent sounded weird, making everyone laugh again, and Hunter said, “Okay, now Georgia’s lowered the tone, I’m gonna bring it back up a notch. Elliott, what do you do for a living?”

Elliott, who to his credit, was not as square as I first thought, took a sip of his beer, and said, “I’m studying law at university.”

“Awesome! So, you’re gonna be a lawyer like my uncle?”

“I hope so, eventually. If he knew how much partying I did, he might not be as keen to let me date Georgia, but if I keep passing my exams, it should all work out.”

Georgia smiled up at him. “I don’t think Dad could keep me away from you, even if he found out you woke up last weekend with a traffic cone under your bed, and your face in a half-eaten kebab.”

“Stealing traffic cones is a university tradition!”

Hunter grinned at me. “Do you think I could study over here next year?”

“Sure, then you could have as much of Mischa as you wanted.”

“Well, well, well, what’s going on here?”

A tall guy with dark, spiked hair approached us with a seedy grin on his face.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Elliott asked, rising from his chair.

“Don’t,” Georgia said, pulling him back down, “Ignore him. We’re not fighting with Leon tonight.”

“How lovely to see you,” Leon said, with the kind of sleaziness that made me want to punch him in the face. He rested his hand on Georgia’s shoulder, and she visibly flinched at his touch. Elliott put his hand over Leon’s, prising his fingers off and squeezing them hard to make his point.

“You have about two seconds to get away from us before I have you removed,” Elliott told him.

Leon raised his hands, “Hey, I just wanted to say hello. I-” he trailed off as his eyes rested on Isabelle. More specifically, Isabelle’s cleavage.

“Wow, Isabelle, we don’t see you looking like that very often. Maybe I’ve been chasing the wrong sister. You should call me sometime.”

Isabelle lowered her head, folding her arms across her chest to block his view.

If he doesn’t quit staring at her, I will smack him in the teeth.

“Back off,” Elliott said, and this time he stood up. Even though Leon was tall, Elliott towered over him, and he took a step back.

“Relax,” he said. “I’m going. See you at college, Georgie.”

He winked at her as he left, and his use of her nickname made her shudder.

“Who in the name of hell was that?” Hunter asked.

“Leon Baxter,” Willow told him. “The epitome of disgusting, vile and creepy.”

Isabelle still hadn’t relaxed, her eyes nervously darting through the crowds, as if she was expecting him to come back.

“He’s been borderline stalking me since we started college,” Georgia explained. “He’s in our English Lit class. He asks me out almost every time I see him, has no sense of personal space, and he has a promising future as a flasher or a peeping tom.”

“You’re not explaining this properly,” Elliott said. “He isn’t just creepy, he’s threatening. He’s backed Georgia into a corner several times, telling her what he’d like to do to her. She won’t let me go to the police, or kill him, but he’s running out of chances.”

After witnessing the way he stared at Isabelle, I completely understood Elliott’s instinct. Men who bully women are at the top of my ‘things-that-piss-me-off’ list, and I never wanted to see fear on Isabelle’s face again.

“Why haven’t you gone to the police?” I asked. “Sounds like he’s done a lot more than just hit on you.”

“Jesse’s right,” Hunter added. “If he’s scaring you-”

“He’s not,” Georgia interrupted. “It’s not a problem. I have less than a year of college left now, and as long as I stay out of his way, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Isabelle’s eyes told a different story. She and Georgia had never shown any sign of having problems at college, though. Maybe Georgia really believed Leon wouldn’t hurt her, or she’d gotten good at pretending she could handle it. Either way, it was good to know the girls had someone like Elliott around to watch out for them.

After the disruption from Leon, it took us a while to fully relax again but we went back to Hunter’s icebreaker game, which got us back on track. We were having such a good time in the restaurant, we stayed for the whole evening instead of braving the cold to find a bar. Hunter and I finally ordered our first legal beers. Somehow, it still felt slightly illegal, but that just made it more fun.

Willow was picked up by her dad at eleven, so the rest of us began the walk back to Isabelle and Georgia’s house. There was an odd number of us, and because Georgia and Elliott were a couple, they peeled off together, walking a little ahead of Hunter, Isabelle and me. Isabelle and I hadn’t been alone since the day in her bedroom, mainly because I didn’t want her to feel like she
had
to talk to me. But after spending the evening sitting across from her, seeing the discomfort on her face, I wanted some time with her. I felt protective of her, maybe because she looked so delicate. It sucked that I was so close to her, but too far away to offer any real comfort.

When we got back to the house, Hunter went straight to bed, Georgia and Elliott said a prolonged goodnight at the door, and I went into the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea before going up to my room. I’d always thought tea was bland, but having a cup every morning had really given me a taste for it. As I heaped three spoons full of sugar into the cup, I heard a giggle behind me.

“How can you put so much sugar in?” Isabelle asked. “You won’t be able to taste the tea!”

Finally. A moment alone
. Even though we’d been out for hours, her hair was still hanging in perfect curls around her bare shoulders, her make-up still in place.

“I like sugar,” I replied, with a shrug. “Would you like a cup?”

She shook her head. “No thank you. I just wanted to say goodnight. We didn’t get much chance to talk tonight.”

“No. It was a fun night, though. Willow’s a blast.”