Diamonds Are Forever (17 page)

“We miss you Hunters,” Helen said.  She kept her gaze on Gemma.  “You two are easily the most important things in Damian’s lives, you hear me? So we’re expecting to see more of you now that he’s home.”  Gavin and Gemma nodded.

“Alright, Helen,” Louis laughed.  “These two have lives as busy as Damian’s, in case you forgot.”  He put an arm around his wife’s waist, pulling her into his side.  “But of course, we would love to see more of you whenever you get a chance.  What are your plans tonight? We should probably be heading out soon too, to avoid the rush hour traffic.”

“My girlfriend and I have a small party planned for Damian tonight,” Gavin replied.  “I’ll keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble.”

“How about,” Helen said, turning to Gemma.  “
You
keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble.  As much as I love your brother, I’m not sure he’s the best person for that job.”

“She knows me,” Gavin shrugged, unapologetic.

“Not a problem,” Gemma laughed, trying not to look as flattered as she was by Helen’s request as she hugged her and Louis goodbye.  She watched as they walked out, arm in arm.

“Okay, so I confirmed our reservation for Bay,” Zoe said, walking back towards Gavin and Gemma.  “They’re giving us all the cabana space east of the pool and it’s supposed to be a nice, warm night tonight so I’m basically, I’m awesome and we gotta head home and get ourselves some bikinis and swim trunks ready, m’kay?”

“Pretty sure I heard Bay is a
European
pool,” Gavin said, wiggling his eyebrows at Zoe.  She hit him on the shoulder.

“Dude.  Let me remind you that your sister is going to be there,” she said.  “And I’m sure you don’t want her going ‘European,’ am I right?” She eyed Gavin until he frowned.  “Have you guys told Damian where we’re going yet?”

“No,” Gavin said.  “We were talking to his parents just now.  I actually haven’t even gotten a chance to say hi to him yet.”  Gemma looked over at the dwindling crowd.  A handful of straggling photographers had stayed behind, still snapping.  They parted just enough to show Damian, talking to a group of girls – Clara Zavala among them.

With Zoe eyeing her, Gemma walked over, approaching slowly as she watched Clara take Damian’s jersey from his hands, posing flirtatiously as she slipped it over her own body.  The photographers laughed, humoring her as she twirled around, wearing the jersey like a dress.

“How long have you two been together?” an interviewer asked.

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell,” Clara answered, quickly.  Gemma walked up right behind the interviewer, making sure to stand in Damian and Clara’s eye line.  Whatever jealousy Gemma was beginning to feel quickly dissipated as Damian spotted her.  His warm brown eyes lit up immediately, sparked by her presence.

“Hey,” Damian said, leaning in and kissing Gemma on the cheek.  “Were you here the whole time?”

“I stepped in a little late,” Gemma replied, feeling his lips linger on her skin as he spoke.  She smiled, placing her hand on his chest.  “I got to talk with your parents for a little.”

“Gemma!” Clara said, holding her arms out with a familiarity that never existed between them.  Gemma hugged her, regardless of the somewhat inauthentic greeting.  Though she had designed for Clara and met up with her a couple times, it was never for more than business.

“Hi, how are you?” Gemma asked, politely.

“I’m good, I’m good,” Clara replied, swinging the fabric of the jersey around her body.  “What do you think, Miss Fashionista? This looks pretty good on me, huh?” She winked at Gemma, before blowing a kiss into the cameras.  Gemma flattened her lips into a smile.

“Alright, I’m going to need that back,” Damian said, taking the jersey by the shoulders and lifting it cleanly off of Clara’s body.  Clara pouted, staring up at Damian.  “I haven’t even had a real chance with it.”

“Boo.  I want one too,” Clara frowned, both her voice and her posture deliberately childish as she crossed her arms, pretending to stomp her ankle boots.

“Try growing fourteen inches and some muscle tone first,” Zoe blurted out from a few yards away.  Several heads turned to flash her surprised looks.  “Kidding,” she said flatly, shrugging a bored shoulder before returning her attention to her phone.  Gemma’s head turned from a wide-eyed Damian to Gavin, who bit back both lips, trying not to encourage his girlfriend by showing any amusement.

“Seriously.  The worst,” Gavin mouthed to Gemma, who could only nod in agreement while holding back her own, mostly unapologetic delight.

~

“Is it a thing?” Zoe asked, sitting in the passenger seat as they waited in Gavin’s car parked in front of Damian’s house.  “Like, the man’s been playing for awhile now but all of a sudden, he’s that much hotter a commodity because he’s a
Knick?
”

“Everyone wants to play for New York,” Gavin shrugged.  “Guess that’s part of the reason.  Big city players are always going to get just a little more attention.”

“That girl was shameless,” Zoe said, turning to look at Gemma in the backseat.  “I mean, I was embarrassed for her.  I was cringing so hard that I think I burned at least a few hundred calories.  I think Damian was cringing, too.”

“Well, Damian’s gonna have to get used to it,” Gavin said.  “He’s not in Oakland anymore.  If he thought it was bad then, it’s about to get a thousand times worse.  There are a lot of Clara Zavalas in the city and most of them have about half her shame.”

“Lovely,” Gemma mumbled.  Zoe’s anger dissipated for a moment as she gave Gemma a sympathetic frown.

“What, are you jealous?” Gavin laughed, looking at Gemma through the rearview mirror.

“Why would I be?”

“Because you have to share Damian’s attentions with everyone else in town?”

“She doesn’t have to
share
his attentions,” Zoe said, defending Gemma with a surprisingly fierce tone.  “Damian’s not that kind of guy.  Besides, shouldn’t you of all people be on our side?”

“I am! I wasn’t even talking about the women, I was talking about the city in general,” Gavin exclaimed.  He took off his seatbelt, turning fully around to face Gemma.  “You know I want nothing more than Mr. Damian Evans to be my brother-in-law.”

“Gavin,” Gemma shook her head.  “A little premature, don’t you think?”

“Anyway, back to what I
was
saying.  If I’ve learned anything since working for the agency, it’s that an athlete’s life is a thousand times crazier than we can imagine, even after seeing TV shows and movies about it,” Gavin explained.  “And in New York, it’s a whole different thing.  It’s not just the women.  It’s a different spotlight here.  Not everyone can adjust to this kind of attention.  The expectations here are ten thousand times higher than they are anywhere else.  The stage is a million times bigger.  Other teams – they wait all season for the night they get to play
here
.  And the fans – we’ve been waiting forever for our season, for our savior, and if you sign that fat contract that makes it look like you’re supposed to be our savior, we’re going to be
on your ass
.  We’ll love you hard but we’ll hate you hard, too, if you disappoint us.  Even once.  On or off the court.  You can’t make one wrong move because everyone will see and they’ll talk.  And talk in this town is different than it is in any other, so – ” Gavin cut his sentence short, looking up to see Damian coming out of his townhouse.  He lowered his voice just slightly, speaking hurriedly.  “You might be dating him but you
are
sharing him with the whole city – that part wasn’t a joke.  And people have expectations.  It’s gonna be pressure that the man hasn’t seen yet and he needs
our
full support as his friends.”

“He’s going to be fine.  I don’t know any person in the world who’s as put together as Damian is,” Gemma said in a hushed voice, flashing Gavin a frown.  “You should know that too.  I don’t get why you’re making it seem like he’s about to get himself into trouble or something.”

“I didn’t say that.  But being in the position he is – he’s straddling a fine line between his old, normal self and the one that comes out with the contract he just signed.  I’ve seen this go down a thousand times.  You don’t walk that line for very long – you always end up falling onto one side or the other.”

Gavin turned quickly back towards the wheel, putting his seatbelt back on as Damian got into the car.

“Sorry I took so long,” Damian said.  “I managed to find swim trunks in the last suitcase I checked.  Didn’t really think we’d end up at a pool party in Manhattan.  I had a whole other outfit laid out already.”

“I was just telling Zoe before,” Gavin said, quick to change the topic from their previous one.  “Bay’s a ‘European’ pool.”

“What does that mean?” Damian asked, furrowing his brows.  Gemma shrugged, looking towards the front seats for an explanation.

“
Gavin
seems to think it means everyone’s going to be naked,” Zoe sighed.  “But I’ve been trying to explain to him that it just means that it’s top-optional, as in ladies can show some boob
if
they want.  But I mean it’s not like they’re expected to.”  She turned and bopped Gavin on the side of the head.  “This freakshow’s acting like the whole place is just going to be buck ass naked.”

~

To Zoe’s chagrin, Gavin turned out to be absolutely right.

Just about everyone in attendance at Bay was either naked or halfway there.  The few that still had their bathing suits on were wearing ones so sheer and soaked, they might as well have taken them off completely.  Zoe and Gemma sat in their cabana, sipping at their drinks that tasted like amaretto sours, but were for some reason named “Thrust.”  Zoe had always been far from the conservative type, but even she had made a face when the cocktail waitress yelled their order to the bartender, “Four Thrusts in the back hole, please!”

Gemma realized she was referring to their cabana, which was set slightly deeper into the ground towards the end of the rooftop, essentially making a hole, but the waitress’s exclamation still made her do a double take.  Though she may not have had the same reaction if it weren’t for the hypersexual environment.

The rooftop pool was not just any pool but an infinity pool that glistened against the night sky and dropped off dramatically into the cityscape.  Lining its sides were saffron-draped cabanas.  One side was reserved for the party that Zoe and Gavin had organized for Damian while the other was still open to the guests of The Strathorne, the hotel that Bay sat atop.

“We’re the only ones not topless,” Zoe said, turning to Gemma.  Gemma laughed, shrugging as she continued to sip on her drink.  “If this were five years ago, I’d be totally naked by now.”

“I’ll stay clothed for solidarity,” Gemma replied.  “Also, to spare Gavin the trauma.”

“I don’t know if he’ll spare
you
the trauma though,” Zoe sighed, watching as Gavin threw back a shot with Damian and a group of the others at the bar.  Gavin had invited mostly male guests.  Thankfully, they were all still wearing their swim trunks and had yet to get into the pool.  “I’ve seen that boy streak more times than I’m willing to admit,” Zoe said, shaking her head, though her mild annoyance turned into amusement as she watched Gavin coax Damian into dancing with him.  “Good thing I love him so much ‘cause sometimes he puts even
my
crazy to shame.”

“Yeah.  I think that kid took all the crazy genes.  He didn’t leave much for me.”

Zoe narrowed her eyes at Gemma.  “I don’t know.  I’ve seen your share of crazy.”

“Well, it must all be gone considering I’m drinking on a rooftop full of beautiful, half-naked people and all I can think about is how alcohol and a pool is pretty much a recipe for disaster.”

“Okay, I’m not at
that
point,” Zoe snorted.  “I’m still enjoying my drink and enjoying the view.  I don’t have to be naked to appreciate the naked.”

“True,” Gemma shrugged, looking around.  It was indeed quite a sight to behold, like an urban version of a co-ed Roman bathhouse.  And other than the nudity and the questionable cocktail names, nothing had really gotten too wild yet.  But there was also no doubt that the air was sexually charged.  It was probably only a matter of time before someone broke the ice and the party would reach a whole other level of scandal.  Gemma wasn’t sure if she was scared or excited for that moment.

“So.  Did you enjoy your ‘Thrust?’” Gavin asked, crawling into the cabana next to Zoe.

“I’m done,” Zoe said, handing him the empty glass.

“I got you this,” Gavin presented her with a martini glass filled with a bright pink concoction.  “It’s called the ‘Frolick.’  Like the word ‘frolic’ but with a k at the end, like lick.”

“Thanks Gavin, I get it,” Zoe laughed, taking the drink from his hands.  “And I’m mad at you for not waiting for me to get drunk.  I don’t like getting left behind.”

“Hey, Gemma’s sober!” Gavin said, pointing jovially at her.  “Right, Gemma? You’re sober right? You’re going to stay sober tonight? And take good care of Damian like your promised his parents?”

“Perhaps not in the way they had intended,” Zoe said, raising an eyebrow.

“
Ew
, Zo, come on,” Gavin furrowed his brows, looking genuinely unhappy at Zoe’s suggestion.  But within moments, he’d forgotten about it, too distracted by Zoe’s bare legs.  Gemma immediately shuddered as she spotted Gavin’s hands inching up to her thighs, his mouth no longer whispering in her ear but trailing along her neck.

“Oh, no, no, no.”  Gemma promptly stood up, covering her eyes.  “Okay, I’m going to leave you two back here to grope each other.  And now I’m definitely
not
staying sober.”

Gemma stepped out onto the tiled floor, walking carefully in her flip-flops as she looked for an empty cabana on their side of the pool.  She pulled the curtains back of one that was a safe distance from Gavin and Zoe but not too close to the bar.  Gemma pulled up the black mesh fabric of her cover-up, stepping in and sitting herself down on the lush, daybed-shaped lounge.  She waved at the cocktail waitress before letting the curtain fall shut.