Niall sprayed water all over the counter when we made eye contact as I walked into the kitchen. I gazed at him wide eyed, but not because he’d just gotten the whole counter wet, it was because he just looked so hot in his suit and tie. Ignoring Louis and El’s laughter as they watched him wipe his mouth, I kept up staring at him. His jacket was resting next to sink, so I could see right through his thin white button up shirt. I watched his biceps flex as he wiped the counter too, blushing as he did so. Maybe tonight won’t be too bad.
“I think that means you look good, HG.” Louis said, still laughing at Niall’s embarrassing reaction. I kept my eyes on Niall. When he finally looked back at me, he smiled and shook his head.
“Beyond good,” he mumbled. “Let’s get a picture.” I blanched. Pictures? I didn’t sign up for this! He laughed at my expression as he beckoned me over. With a little hesitation, I followed him to stand in front of the back sliding door. He handed his phone to El, who was looking all too eager, before slipping his arm around me and pulling me closer.
El snapped away, turning into a photographer as she directed which ways we should move or pose. Louis made faces behind her to make me laugh, and it thankfully worked.
“You’re amazing looking,” Niall whispered, lips brushing my ear. I blushed as I looked ahead at noting in particular.
“Thank you,” I whispered. He kissed my temple then dug his fingers into my side, making me jolt closer to him.
“Look! Affection! Are you getting these pictures?” Louis said.
“Yes, yes. I’m getting it.” El responded, but Niall didn’t pay them any attention. It was like the paparazzi were stealing pictures of us doing basically nothing. Niall continued whisper to me, through this whole picture taking thing, giving me compliments and trying to make me laugh. He was trying to make me less nervous for his hoity-toity dinner.
“I’m not used to you being this tall.” He murmured, brushing the tip of his nose against my temple. “It’s weird.”
“I can change my shoes.” I hushed.
He shook his head, “No, I don’t want that.” I was blushing so much; I probably looked like a tomato in every single one of those pictures.
“Ooh, you have a text message,” El said to Niall, holding his phone out. “I didn’t look at it, but it’s from a ‘B’.”
“Yeah, that’s Brice.” Niall mumbled looking at his phone, still holding me close. “They’re outside. She wants to know if she should come in or not.”
I shrugged, “We can just go out. I’m ready to leave.”
“So eager to run away from attention.” Louis laughed.
“Go put your ointment on.”
He rolled his eyes, “Already done.” I hugged him goodbye, minding his skin thing and trying not to touch it. “Should you take a jacket?” I sighed and shook my head.
“She can wear mine if she needs it.” Niall said distractedly as he typed into his phone. “I’m always hot anyway.” I held back a smile as I made eye contact with El. He definitely wasn’t lying. I gave El a hug then shouted goodbye to Chip, who was in the basement with Liv.
Lou and El followed Niall and I to the door, telling us to call and shit. They knew I was sleeping over at Niall’s, and just earlier today, Louis told me to keep him informed…like I was going to be in another country instead of across the fence. I liked that Louis was worried though, it was good to see the motherly/fatherly instinct wasn’t passed down to only me.
“Be good,” was the last thing Louis said before I closed the door between us.
——
Brice’s mom hired a SUV and driver for us for the night because she apparently, ‘didn’t trust Brice’s driving for such a great distance’. I didn’t mind though. Niall and I sat in the very back row, with Brice and Liam in front of us. They’d rolled up the window so the driver couldn’t see anything we were doing—not that much was happening. Niall was messing with different buttons on the side, his face lighting up whenever something he could see reacted. He’s such a little kid and it brought a smile to my face.
“What’s that one?” I pointed to the switch towards the bottom of the panel. He was about to press it, but I batted his hand away. “I want to do it.” I laughed. Reaching over him, I flicked the switch and waited for something to happen.
All of a sudden a black window rolled up behind Brice and Liam’s seats. Once it was all the way up, we couldn’t see or hear anything they were saying anymore. “Whoa.” I mumbled.
“That’s sick, we have our own window.” Niall and I smiled at each other, excited for no reason. It’s just a damn window. My phone buzzed in my purse and I fished it out.
Brice: ;)
Niall laughed, obviously reading over my shoulder. “B has the right idea.” He purred. I felt his lips peck under my ear as he rested his arm on the back of the seat. “You look so hot.”
“So do you.” Now that the window was up, a streak of boldness started to rush over me. “You look really hot when you’re dressed up.”
“Really?” I locked eyes with him and nodded. “Maybe I should wear a suit every day.”
“No, it wouldn’t be as special then.”
He raised an eyebrow, “Am I special?”
“Yes.”
“Very, very special?”
“At the least.”
He smiled widely, “You’re special too; an especially hot piece of ass.” I erupted into laughter, glad his joking stopped this from getting too sentimental. “What do you want to do when we get back to mine?”
My boldness hit a whole new level. “Third base.” His eyes almost popped out of his head. Shit, I shouldn’t have said that. He didn’t want to. Rejection flooded me as he took forever to say anything. Shit, shit, shit! “I was kidding.” I said, trying to fill the silence.
“You can’t take it back now.” He kissed my cheek. “I can’t wait for this dinner to be over now.”
Can’t wait. He can’t wait! Oh my god.
——
It seemed like I’d forgotten why I was nervous for this date…but my reasons came back as we walked into the hotel where the restaurant was located. There were doctors and CEOs everywhere. People we dressed probably the most expensive things they could find, and drove ‘the favorite car’ here. My dad’s boss’s boss’s boss was probably here along with my mom’s most expensive client. I felt out of place and insignificant in the midst of it all—which isn’t the best thing for someone that had self-esteem issues.
“We must take the elevator.” Brice announce over the din of chatter. “This way.” We followed her through the throng of people, my heels blending in with the other noise, making me go as unnoticed as I felt. We arrived at the large elevators, where it looked like everyone was headed.
“Oh no, I do not want to get on with any other people.” Brice grumbled. “I do not want anyone asking me about my mother, like ask her yourself.” I nodded knowingly. She hated when people only recognized her as the daughter of Darci Roux, renowned doctor who has saved lives all over the world, instead of just Brice Roux, the freshly twenty year old girl on summer break from college. I sympathized with her about it.
In middle and high school I was constantly under C.L.’s shadow. People would ask me about them like they were celebrities that I got the lucky privilege of being related to. It was exhausting trying to get my own reputation, so I just quit, which led to me being basically a ghost that I was all through high school.
When the elevator finally came, the four of us rushed in and Brice hit the button to close the doors before anyone else could get in. I let out a breath once we were away from all the money and upper-class. We had to go up thirty floors and I was glad to realize the elevator was slow. That explains why so many people were waiting.
“You’re okay.” Niall whispered, his hand rubbing circles on my back. I leaned into him, and hugged his waist.
“Hug.” Without hesitation he wrapped me in a tight embrace and kissed the top of my head.
“I swear, if my mother put this reservation under her name instead of mine, I will have a complete cow.” Brice mumbled, with her hand laced in Liam’s, clearly frustrated. The elevator doors opened to yet another room full of people in suits and expensive dresses. We walked up to the concierge and Brice was more than pleased when she found out the reservation was indeed under her own name.
We were led to our table, all the way across the room, meaning we had to walk pasts everyone to get there. I told myself if I have to pee, just hold it I get to Niall’s house, just to avoid walking in the sight of so many people. Our table was in a well-lit curtained off area, and our waiter ushered us in.
Once we were seated, the waiter introduced himself as Marko and told us he’d start us off with drinks. We all ordered Cokes and Marko scuttled away. I looked around our red-velvet curtained room, feeling a bit like I was surrounded by red waterfalls. It was like a bleeding uterus—I know it’s gross but I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. The plates and silverware and shit were all very expensive looking and I almost didn’t want to touch them, afraid I’d break something. Above us was a large silver chandelier that illuminated everything, making it seem like broad daylight indoors. This is too much for me.
“Well…I will address the elephant and say this place isrupin.” Brice snorted. “I will take Our Place or La Cabana over this any day.” I nodded eagerly in agreement, still looking around. “But we are here so we might as well make the most of it, no?”
“Always the positive one, aren’t you?” Liam chuckled.
She smiled, “Certainly.” Her gazed turned to Niall. “So, word is getting around this allegedly beautiful song Harry has written.”
“Yeah,” I piped up. On more than one occasion I’d walk past random people on the avenue talking about Harry and Niall in anticipation. “Can you at least tell us what it’s about?” I pleaded. He’d been so secretive about the reason behind this song. Niall smirked as he leaned his arm around the back of my chair.
“Harry wrote it about Marcel.”
I melted, slumping in my chair. “Harry loves Marcel so much.” I said dreamily.
“Yeah, he’s cool kid. It’s sad that he’s been through so much shit with like…intense bullying…which is why Harry and his siblings came here—to get away for a bit…maybe help him out of his shell or something.” I didn’t know that. “His parents couldn’t get away from work, but they paid for the summer trip. Harry just wrote the song so Marcel would know to hold on, even when things get rough and Harry’s not there every time, yaknow?”
I wanted to cry. I had never heard anything so sweet.
“All I do is play the guitar—it’s Harry’s performance in my eyes.”
“Oh mon Dieu!” Brice exclaimed with a hand over her heart. “That is just so thoughtful and beautiful. I must meet Marcel! I must hear this song and record it and listen to it forever. Oh my, I will cry when I meet him—and when Harry is singing it.” She fanned herself as if she was hot. “Oh my!”
Niall nodded, “Yeah, it’s cool.”
I laughed at his casual regard. Marko returned with our drinks and told us he would come back in a couple minutes since none of us were ready to order. In the next couple moments, the four of us were quiet while we looked through the menus. Once Marko returned we ordered and now were left to just wait for our food.
“Should we go talk to my mother now?” She questioned, clearly not wanting to do it anytime.
“Maybe after we eat…” I mumbled.
“Sounds good.”
——
I rolled my eyes and took a sip of water as Brice and Liam laughed at Niall. He was telling a story about his weird drunken antics with his friends back in Ireland. Apparently getting wasted and going to a convenience story was a lot more exciting than it sounded. I tried to hold back my laughs when he explained the look on the cashier’s face as he and his friends walked into the store in only their underwear. That definitely sounds like some shit Niall would do. His friends must’ve been just like him, cocky yet charming, and I suddenly realized I wanted to talk to one of them—just for the fun of it.
“Me and my mates went cow tipping once when we were wasted,” Liam laughed. “And we were all too drunk to actually push the cow, so we ended up trying to feed it bread that we had with us.”
“Who carries bread around?!” Brice giggled.
Liam shrugged, “Drunken decision I guess. Wow, that night was fun. I can’t wait to tell all of them about this trip when I get home.” I felt a pang of something deep inside of me, making my chest hurt.
When I get home—in basically a month. In one short month I’ll be packing up to go back to New York and C.L. will be going back to college in Indiana. It’ll just be me and my parents then…no Niall. What am I going to do? My anxiousness was unregistered by the rest of the table though, which is a good thing.
I flinched when I felt a hand on my thigh. Niall snickered a little before dipping in to kiss my cheek. He smelled like the lasagna he’d just eaten and I regretted not asking him for a forkful while it was still on his plate.
“Come to the elevator with me?” I gave him a bemused frown.
“What’s in the elevator?”
“Nothing yet.” He whispered before he stood. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to read his mind. It was when he pulled at his boxers—trying to be discrete— through his suit pants that I realized what he meant.Oh my god. “C’mon.” He nodded towards the exit of our room and started walking without me.
My eyes were wide as I looked at Brice and Liam, “Um…we’ll be right back.” I stuttered before hurrying after Niall and away from Brice and Liam’s laughter.
“Take your time; I am in no rush to meet more of my mother’s friends.” Brice called after me.
I had to fight the urge to run through the large dining room, both to avoid attention and so I don’t break my ankle trying to run in heels. Scanning the room, I desperately looked for Niall’s blonde head, but he was nowhere to be seen. I assumed he was already at the elevator so I started to make my way there too. The chatter in the room didn’t change as I walked quickly towards the exit, but it felt like all eyes were on me, watching my every move. They were probably like ‘look at the horny girl. Where is she off to?’ as they ate their caviar. Oh god, oh god. I kept my eyes down until I made it out.
When I turned the corner I found Niall was indeed standing in front of one of the elevators. He was talking to some men in suits with his hands in his pockets. I looked over him, like I did in my house, and suddenly I was hot and sweating. I gathered my hair to move it to one shoulder. As I did so, Niall made eye contact with me while he smiled at something one of the men said. His smile faded and he ran his tongue along the bottom of his teeth, his jaw slacking to the side. The temporary pleasant look in his eye from the joke—or whatever—that was made was replaced with lust.
My stomach tied in knots. Our eyes stayed locked for a little bit longer before ripping his gaze away to say goodbye to the men that were now boarding the elevator. I walked towards him.
“I’ll wait for the next one.” He mumbled. I was in front of him as the elevator doors closed and it was just the two of us in the elevator area. “Jesus Christ, Hunter…” He said under his breath, his eyes concentrated at the elevator doors waiting for them to open.
“Same.” I mumbled. We both were silent and still—not touching or even looking at each other as we waited for the elevator. The silence, however, was making me uncomfortable in a whole different way than it used to. Despite my stillness, my heart thumbed in my ears. I breathed deeply to keep myself from hyperventilating in anticipation. That tingle? It was all over me, in my scalp, over my arms, in my chest, thighs and feet. But it was most intense in my center, where I wanted him so badly.
As seconds passed, I kept thinking about all the impure things I want him to do and all the things I wanted to do to him. We’ve been doing whatever it is we’re doing for a month now—more than that if you count when we were sneaking behind Eileen—and it feels like all the built up sexual tension was ready to explode out of me. It was taking everything I had not to pounce on him right here on the floor.
“What are you thinkin’ ‘bout?” The sound of his voice made my breath hitch in my throat. I rolled my head back and looked up at the ceiling as I squeezed my legs together. “Tell me.” His accent was thick as ever, dripping with lust and growing impatient for the elevator.
“I’m thinking about how badly I want you right now.” I whispered quiet enough for him not to hear over the noise of the large dining room around the corner if he wasn’t paying attention. But he was.
He let out a breath. “Me too.” My heart stuttered. Gah! “Where’s this fuckin’ lift?” He grumbled.
“Niall…” I looked forward and stared at the elevator doors. I felt him looking at me, but I didn’t look back, afraid I would chicken out. “I don’t want you to be gentle.” Although he didn’t say anything, I could practically hear his brain sputtering. “This has been building up all summer.”
“All summer?” He breathed.
“All summer.”
There was a ding and Niall whipped around as the elevator behind us opened. He grabbed my wrist and towed me into the empty elevator. I swear he almost broke his finger pushing the ‘close doors’ button. I barely got a chance to blink before he pushed me against the wall, and locked his lips with mine. He kissed me with the ferocity like her did before our trip to second base on our first date, only times ten. We were both all over the place, kissing sloppily and gripping at whatever skin we could find.
I was at a disadvantage since he was fully covered, while I was just in a short dress. I let out a growl in frustration and yanked at his shirt to un-tuck it from his pants. It didn’t help though, because I still had to try and unbutton it—but I didn’t have time for that. Instead I just slipped my hands under his shirt, running my hands over his skin without breaking the kiss.
I’d hitched my leg up on his waist, feeling him growing against my thigh. Fuck, Niall! I accidently moaned a little louder than I meant to when he pressed his hips into mine. He quickly gathered my thighs and wrapped them around him so he could push me deeper into the corner of the elevator. His mouth moved its attack to my neck, sucking and nibbling.
“Louder,” He grunted removing one hand from my thigh to put two fingers in his mouth. “Scream.” The dominance in his voice was turning me on so much and I couldn’t help but obey. I let out a high pitched moan when he leaned in and licked from the base of my neck, up to my ear. All the while, he took no hesitation in slamming his fingers into me. That’s when I really did scream. “Yes, Hunter.” He breathed as he began to work his fingers.
“Ni—Niall please.”
“What do you want?” He purred in my ear.
“I want you in—” The elevator dinged and both of us froze for a millisecond before frantically trying to fix ourselves. He let me on my feet and pulled my dress down so it was covering me again. As he did so, I worked quickly trying to tuck his shirt back in his pants. His fingers combed through my hair, which I guessed was all over the place.
“Do you have a hair tie thing?” He rushed. I shook my head and within the same second the doors opened.