CHAPTER 14

The next morning came so quickly and before I knew it I was woken up to the blaring sound of a blow horn; the dreaded wake up call in the Bunker. I attempted to ignore it and threw my pillow over my head, holding it against my ears to drown out the incessant noise. Kit peeked over my wardrobe and laughed at me before a second pillow was thrown at me, landing on my chest. I moaned and proceeded to place this one over my head too, hoping the extra barrier would work to my advantage. It didn't.

"Wake up, Vee!" she sang in a lilted voice. "It's your first day and I have to run you through how it all works. Plus we need all the time we can get to look as good as we do." My response was an annoyed rumble. Yes, I was excited for my first day but I loved sleep more and I was so not a morning person.

I heard Billie walk over. "How's our girl?" She asked.

Kit responded with a huff. "She won't budge."

"We could always get the bucket?" Billie suggested.

I flung up. "No, no, I'm up. I'm up." I exclaimed with my hands up in surrender. They laughed and before I knew it I was squished by a warm body as Kit flung herself at me giggling.

"Trust me, it gets easier." She gave me a quick squeeze.

"You get used to it," Billie added with a smile and a shrug.

I propelled myself out of bed, knowing if I stayed any longer I'd fall right back asleep. I was weirdly excited to start my journey here and now that I was up, it was kicking in. Hopefully it would be a good distraction to the tempest raging in my head. After exhausting my tears last night, I was feeling better this morning.

The girls took in my sleeping attire—the oversized black tee and grey track pants that were clearly too big for me but super comfy. "Girl, we need to get you some sexier PJs," Kitana commented, her eyebrows raised in confusion.

"They're Griffins." I admitted, looking down at them. My fingers fiddled with the edge of the t-shirt.

"Oh," the girls both said in unison. I didn't miss their surprised expressions. Nor did I miss the underlying excitement and the way they silently communicated when they locked eyes.

"That was awfully nice of him." Billie's tone had a hint of humour in it.

I didn't know what they were getting at but obviously these guys had their own dynamics that I'd understand soon enough. It's not like I wanted his clothes, but I did appreciate them and I was very grateful for the track pants with the chilly air in the Bunker during the night. I was used to cosy blankets and the body heat of a wolf shifter. So a massive warehouse room would take some getting use to. Clearly these two had adapted to the temperature in here if their lacey sets and tiny shorts were any indication.

"Yeah, he left a few things for me after he showed me around. I packed pretty light and completely forgot pyjamas. It was pretty cold last night so I'll have to thank him later I guess."

"Ohh any excuse to shop. Don't forget you promised!" Kitana literally jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

I laughed at her, "Don't worry, I didn't forget. I'm actually excited. Now, what's first?"

"Showers." They spoke in unison again. The dread kicked in at what they said. But I threw my hair into a messy bun, grabbed some clothes and followed them to the bathroom. Let's get this shit over with.

The showers were packed. Bodies were everywhere but most people kept to themselves which I was very grateful for. I guess everyone was used to this. What they weren't used to though was a new girl amongst them. Sadly that meant there were a few eyes on me but I was so appreciative of Kitana and Billie who covered me as much as they could without drawing too much extra attention to us.

The girls stripped confidently in front of me. I would have been nervous but they were so calm about it all that it somewhat rubbed off on me. We were in the little changing area at the end of the bathroom, nice and close to the shower I used yesterday. The girls knew I wanted the last shower as a form of cover and were super supportive.

"Okay, so we're all gonna see each other eventually anyway, so let's just get it done. Things are less awkward if we just take a moment to look at and appreciate each other. Once it's no longer a taboo thing, it loses its scariness. Promise." Kitana being the little ball of confidence that she was made an excellent point as she pulled off her clothes. "Ta-da, this is me." She did a little twirl. God she was sexy and her boldness just added to it. Her whole body was toned from her arms to her legs. She was one of those blessed girls perfectly balanced on top and bottom.

"You just ooze sexiness," I responded in awe.

"Why thank you." She flicked her hair back for extra drama. "Billie's turn!"

Billie went next. She wasn't as over the top as Kit but she also wasn't shy. She had the perfect model's body. Her limbs were long and she was much more defined than Kit—her abs especially. You could tell she spent hours crafting her athletic body. She was a little flatter on top but it suited her frame perfectly. I could picture her walking down runways and posing for Vogue. "Damn girl." I would have whistled but thought it might be inappropriate in here. "Surely you've modelled before."

"You're too sweet, Vee." Billie replied with a blush. "I have here and there but I've never really had much free time. Your turn," she gently coaxed me.

They made me feel so comfortable that I momentarily forgot there were other people in there as I stripped in front of my friends.

I was definitely not as defined as either of them but I worked out and kept mostly in shape. I stood somewhere between them when it came to boob size but my biggest asset was definitely my ass. My ancestry definitely blessed me with wider hips that I'd come to embrace. I loved that we were all so different.

"Yess girl," Billie called.

"Look at that butt!" Kitana hollered. We all burst out laughing and the awkwardness was gone in an instant, just as Kit promised.

We all proceeded to shower and it was so nice having these girls around me to ease the nerves. Billie and Kit sang with their shampoo bottles as mics and I joined along here and there. A few girls did their makeup in the mirrors and a couple of guys showered or fixed their hair but most people stayed in their groups or kept to themselves.

As we got out and wrapped ourselves in towels in the changing area, a shirtless Carter ran through with a couple of guys, whipping each other with towels. It felt very ‘high school locker room' but they seemed like they were having fun being absolute idiots. The girls had started to dress, Kitana in just a tiny pair of black shorts and a sports bra while Billie had just chucked on a cropped black tank and remained in her underwear. I was patiently waiting until the boys left before I changed—like the prude I was.

Carter made his way to us, laughing as he whipped Kit. "Good morning, ladies. Looking beautiful as always," Carter drawled. I noticed he had a few small tattoos down his forearms including a gun shooting out a rose and some script on his opposite wrist.

"Oh we know, Car," Kitana responded as she towel dried her hair.

My breath stopped as I took in Griffin walking up behind Carter.

His hair was dripping wet, as was his muscled body. A towel hung low on his hips leaving very little to the imagination as my eyes trailed down his deep v that disappeared under the towel. His sculpted form had an array of scattered tattoos across his arms and chest: a dagger, a feather, a snake, roses, some script and a detailed butterfly right in the middle. The dark lines stood out on his perfect olive skin. He ruffled his wet hair as he stopped beside his friend.Bad. This was so bad. I'd never looked at another guy like this before. Never paid attention to anybody else. But now with him standing in front of me, I couldn't help but ogle a bit. Okay maybe a lot. I'd been with the same guy basically since I was fifteen years old. Maybe that's why Griffin had so much of an effect on me. Like it or not, I was single now. For the first time in essentially my whole life. And here was this insanely gorgeous, dangerous and off-limits guy that was giving me attention. I had to chalk it up to that. I was just excited.

For some reason I thought he wouldn't be here, and I didn't really keep a lookout for him or notice if he was or not. Maybe because I was pleasantly distracted by the girls. But now that I knew he was, I was suddenly very self-conscious. Where was he showering? Was he close by? How did I miss him? Did he see me? Oh God.

"Griff?" Kitana said. "How nice of you to join us."

He gave her a quick look that seemed like a silent command of some sort before returning his gaze to me in my tiny towel. "Looks like I missed the show." His raspy voice combined with the sight of his heavenly body sent shivers down my spine and I gripped the towel tighter to my chest

"Likewise." I raised my brow at him, waiting for his comeback. I didn't know where this fire I seemed to have with him had come from.

"We'll just have to time it better tomorrow then, won"t we, Comet?" Oh God indeed. There went the little level of comfort I was beginning to build in the bathroom. I'd be extra nervous from now on at the thought of seeing him here and him catching a glimpse of me.

But even with that thought in my head, I couldn't stop my eyes from drifting to the water droplets caught in the crevices of his chest and abs. His grey eyes shone as they held my gaze. I momentarily lost the ability to speak and forgot what we were talking about. Hopefully he just thought I was ignoring him again.

He grinned, clearly happy with my reaction to his physique and the not-so-subtle checking him out. "I'll see you all out there." His eyes held mine a moment longer before running them over the rest of his friends as he nodded a goodbye. Then he and Carter casually strolled away.

The girls smiled at me knowingly before putting the rest of their clothes on. "Alright, we better get a move on," Billie suggested as she stepped into her black gym tights.

I managed to recompose myself and put on my bike shorts, black tank top and zip-up hoodie—sticking to the unwritten colour scheme of black. I tied my hair in a ponytail while Billie rocked a top knot bun and Kitana went for super cute low pigtails. We made quite the good-looking little girl squad if I did say so myself.

Now it was time to train. And boy was I nervous.