Lucky Number Four (18 page)

“I know. It sucks, huh?”

“Well, at least your life has some spice in
it now.”

“I guess you could call it that. But really,
Jeff, I wish I wasn’t here. I’m so out of my league. It would be
okay if I didn’t have feelings for one of them. But damn my
hormones! I just need to focus, exercise more, and think less about
sex, penises, and dildos.”

Jeff starts laughing, and then I start
laughing and can’t catch my breath. Suddenly, I’m trying not to pee
my pants.

“Come in,” I manage to say as I hear knocking
at my door.

“Just had to come in and see what fun I might
be missing.” Drew pokes his head around the door, flashing a big
smile when he sees us sitting on opposite sides of the room with
piles of books around us. “Studying. That’s a good way to spend an
evening, and Chinese food for dinner, good choice.”

“Come in, Drew, and join us. We’ve finished
studying for the night,” Jeff tells him.

“So, I won’t be interrupting anything
important?”

“Nope, like Jeff said, we’re done. Where are
Liam and Colin?” I ask, hoping he doesn’t notice I stumbled over
Colin’s name. Damn me, talking about sex, dildos, and penises.

“They’re watching a movie.”

“Gosh, my idea of a model’s life is way off.
I thought it was work in the day and party all night,” I say with a
smirk.

“Yep, you’re way off. There are some who do
that, but they don’t last long. Takes a toll on the body and
looks,” Drew says, stretching, which makes his shirt rise up.

I catch a glimpse of his washboard abs. Nope,
they haven’t changed since the day I came to answer the ad. Still
nice and firm. Like an erect penis.

OMG, you are not even attracted to him.
What’s up with you?

As if Jeff can read my mind, he laughs, his
eyes aimed at mine. I stick out my tongue and get up to get a
bottle of water. The little devil just laughs harder and I pick up
the nearest pillow and throw it at him. He easily bats it away.
Drew sits in a chair close to the door, looking puzzled.

“Hello … can we come and join the party?”

I silently groan internally as I hear the one
voice I’ve tried to avoid. My head is blocked by the open fridge,
so I grab a bottle and put it to my forehead, trying to cool myself
off. I swear the temp just went up a hundred degrees.

“Sure. The more, the merrier,” Big Mouth Jeff
replies.

Oooh, I could smack the shit out of him. See,
he’s making me swear. Pulling my head out of the freezer, I see
Liam and Colin taking their seats, and the spacious room suddenly
feels overcrowded.

“Would anyone like a drink?” I ask. My mom
would be proud that she has brought me up right. All I really want
to do is take a cold shower.

“Dora, are you okay?” Jeff’s question has
gotten what he wants: everyone’s attention on me. Butthead.

“Just peachy,” I repeat a phrase my mom says
when she’s mad at my dad. If Jeff grins, I will smack him right in
front of everyone. But to my relief, he just looks concerned with a
gleam in his eye.

I sit on an overstuffed ottoman, drinking my
water, listening to the guys talking. I keep my eyes averted from
the group, but I feel someone staring at me. I’m afraid to look up.
Julie’s ringtone saves me, and I stand, grabbing my cell and moving
out of their earshot.

Hanging up, I say, “Hey, guys, that was
Julie. She needs to see me. I’ll be back in a few.”

I don’t give them time to answer, just grab
my keys and quickly exit my door. In the elevator, I take a deep
breath and try to calm my pounding heart.

Well, there goes my reason for being in here. Have I
done something wrong? She seems so natural with this Jeff guy. Who
is he to her? The others said he’s her friend and study buddy. I
wish he was ugly. Maybe she doesn’t want a “shallow” model. That’s
how she sees me, I’m sure. Do I have a chance? Maybe I have to work
harder to make her see the real me. She is so worth it.

Four hours later, I sneak back into my room.
Julie and Kevin had their first fight since being hitched. It
lasted all of one hour, and then they made up. Unfortunately for
them, I refused to leave until I felt it was safe to return to my
room. Make-up sex probably started right after I left. I know it
was mean of me to make them wait, but hey, how many sleepless
nights did I endure because of them?

“So, the prodigal daughter returns.” Jeff’s
voice startles me. “I’m irked at you for leaving me to entertain
your guests.”

I squint, trying to see where he’s located,
when a light suddenly comes on. He’s lying on my bed in his pajama
bottoms. How many times am I going to mention how terribly sad it
is for the female population that he’s gay?

“Oh, I’m sure it was such a chore hanging out
with three models. Wait a minute while I play the world’s smallest
violin for you,” I say in my snarkiest voice.

“You’re right, it was fun. They aren’t at all
what I expected. Shallow, self-centered, or big on themselves is
how I imagined them being, but instead they’re just average
guys.”

“You do know that shallow, self-centered, or
big on themselves is basically saying the same thing three times,
right?” Again snarky. Love it when I’m right.

“I’ll give you that one. So, what was the big
emergency with Jules?”

“First post-marriage fight, lasted about an
hour,” I answer.

“You made them wait for make-up sex? That’s
an all-time low for you, Red.”

“Yep. Payback for all those sleepless nights.
So, spill.”

“Spill what?”

“What did you guys talk about? Anything
interesting?”

“Nope. They tried to pump me for info
regarding a hot little redhead, but I’m not a telling kind of guy.
All your secrets are safe with me. Two of them kept looking at
their mega-expensive watches, like they were wondering where you
had run off to.”

“Was one of them Colin?”

“No. Liam and Drew,” he says, his grin pure
evil. I march over and smack him on his shoulder. “Ow, that hurt.
I’ll probably have a bruise in the morning.”

“Quit being a wuss. So, Colin wasn’t upset
that I’d left?”

“I didn’t say that. I only said that Liam and
Drew checked their watches. They all stayed for about two hours and
then bounced.”

“Quit trying to be cool. You sound super
lame,” I say, plopping down on the bed next to him. “Jeff, I need a
man.”

“Sorry, my dear, not this man.” Jeff’s look
of mock horror makes me giggle.

“Not you, moron. A nice, straight guy. He
doesn’t have to be uber attractive or anything, just nice,” I say,
biting my lip.

“What about Drew or Colin? They seem smitten
with you.”

“Smitten. How archaic. No, not them. I’m so
out of their zip code. So who else?”

“Honey, you literally live in their zip
code.”

“You know what I mean,” I say dryly.

“No, I don’t. I’ve never seen you like this
before. You’re always so confident. You’re so beautiful, and you
have two men that know that.”

“You don’t understand. I don’t want to be
attracted to a pretty boy. I want regular. Relationships with stars
never work out. I’m just a novelty, which will wear off quickly.
They want a taste of something average, and they’ve picked me.”

“So, have sex with Colin and scratch your
itch.” He pats me on the head like I’m a puppy.

“I don’t want just casual sex, I want … oh, I
don’t know what I want. Just help me find me an average, nice guy
so I can stop thinking about penises. Okay, one particular penis.
Not that I’ve seen it or anything though.”

Jeff pulls me into his arms and I begin to
sob jokingly at my situation. Oh, hell. My mom will definitely call
in the morning.