“The gig?” I asked.
“Being rich. Being powerful. Being part of a family that controls a lot. It’s not just sit back and buy an island and call it a life. You get the money and then you have to protect the money. Then you have to grow the money. And then you have to protect the money you’re growing. It’s all bullshit.”
“Sounds like you don’t like being rich, Xavier.”
He smiled. “I never said that. But it comes at a price. Which is kind of ironic.” He turned and leaned against the railing. His right hand touched my hand. “You have to be there. We won’t be able to function without you.”
“Why do you guys care so much about me?” I asked.
“I can’t speak for the other guys,” Xavier said. He moved his hand from my hand to my face. Touching my cheek, keeping my gaze upon his. “But for me… when I look at you, I see a tough kind of beauty that just sticks in my head.”
“Beauty…”
“Yeah. You’re fucking sexy, Winter,” Xavier said. He inched closer to me. “No matter the past or present. It’s all the same. I’ve always thought that way about you. But let’s keep that a secret. Okay? Between you… and me…”
Xavier moved even closer.
My lips started to quiver, aching for his kiss.
Before he could kiss me, the door opened.
“And I never touched anyone from HCH,” Easton announced. “That was all a lie. That was Jess getting back at me for fooling around with her friend.”
Xavier pushed from the railing and winked at me.
“You two still fighting over this?” Xavier asked.
“You know, why don’t you take a turn to argue with him?” Noah asked.
“I don’t need to,” Xavier said.
“Yeah, because you keep your sex life hidden,” Easton said. “Fuck, man, have you ever had sex?”
Easton and Noah laughed.
Xavier didn’t.
There was no way Xavier was a virgin.
But he was quiet about his private life.
That… well, that was intriguing.
And kind of sexy.
I went back into the house at Noah’s request.
Easton caught me looking around.
“Want a private tour?” Easton whispered as he closed in on me.
“Of what?”
“The house. My pants.”
“Thought I was already there,” I said.
“Oh, you were,” Easton said. “You screamed my name so loud, Winter… I thought you were going to break the windows in my car.”
I shook my head. “You are so full of shit, Easton.”
“Prove it. Do you remember or not?”
“No. I don’t remember.”
“Then you don’t know,” he said. He moved his eyes down my body and back up. “Ah… memories…”
I grabbed his right wrist and lifted his hand. “This is where the memories are, Easton.”
“And I bet you’d like to watch me do that too,” he said.
I let his hand go.
I curled my lip.
“You’re coming to the ball with us, right?” he asked.
As he asked the question, I felt Noah and Xavier staring at me again.
“So what do I have to do?” I asked.
“I’ll get you a dress,” Noah said.
“I will,” Easton said.
“Who said you get to pick out a dress for her?” Xavier asked.
They started to argue.
Over a dress.
Over me.
They got louder.
They got closer to each other.
They looked ready to fight each other.
Over a dress.
Over me.
I took a deep breath to calm myself but it was too late.
My heart was racing in a bad way.
A really bad way.
The signals from my heart, head and body were way too crossed now.
I hated myself…
I liked it.
All of it.
I liked the way they looked at me. Talked to me. The way they wanted to be near me.
I fought the feelings off the best I could but it was impossible to do.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to destroy them.
No… that was very much on the table.
But in the meantime, the attention…
I clapped my hands together to shut them up.
They all looked at me at the same time.
Noah had a finger an inch from Easton’s nose. Easton had his mouth open like he was going to bite Noah’s finger. Xavier’s jaw was steel like and tight with anger.
“Forget about the dress,” I said.
“You’re going to show up naked?” Easton asked.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Xavier asked.
He elbowed Easton.
“I’m asking about what this is,” I said. “What do I do? Who do I dance with? Who do I eat with? Where do I sleep? What… what is it?”
They all looked at one another.
Then Noah took the lead again.
“Winter. You’re going to be with us. Like we said, no titles. Not a girlfriend. Not friends with benefits.”
“Not to mention half the people there are having affairs,” Easton said.
“True,” Xavier said.
I looked at Xavier and felt my cheeks turn red.
Xavier’s father slept with Gia’s mother. Xavier came from Gia’s mother.
“Okay,” I said. “So…”
“You’re thinking way too much into it,” Noah said. “We’re going to drive up there and just be normal. You’re with us. That’s all anyone needs to know. You can mingle with the rich and powerful. Brag about yourself. Lie about yourself. Who gives a shit? The most important part is that you’ll be with one of us at all times.”
“Alone,” Easton said with a grin.
“Not going to happen,” I said.
“We all have our part up there,” Xavier said. “Okay? It’s just part of the family bullshit.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“You’ll see,” Noah said. “Just trust us.”
“Trust you…”
“We want to keep you safe, Winter,” Easton said in a serious voice. “So we need you there. You’ll also help us. Keep us distracted from the craziness of it all. Plus, you’ll get to see another side of us.”
“And you want me to see that side?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Noah said.
“Why?”
Xavier winked at me again.
Because they all like me. They all want me. Which is insane. They tried to hurt me. They tried to kill me. But, what, because I survived, they want me now?
“Think of it this way,” Noah said. “You get to wear expensive clothes, eat expensive food, drink expensive drinks… you get to be someone else.”
“I feel like that already,” I said.
That wasn’t a lie either.
“Maybe you get to write the rest of your story, Winter,” Easton said.
“The rest? Am I going to go up there and die?”
I laughed but quickly stopped.
Wait…
“Nobody is going to die,” Noah said.
“I meant you can figure out what you want to do next,” Easton said. “Seriously, what’s your plan? Are you going to hang around and wait for your memory to come back? Or live life?”