Chapter 7

Eddie stomped into the office. Charlotte, the bubbly receptionist, took one look at his face and frowned.

"Oh dear," she said. "Someone is in a bad mood. And on such a glorious day."

"Sorry," Eddie replied.

He stopped and ran his hands through his dreadlocks. Fuck, it was hot outside.

"What's the matter?"

"I thought I had a sure-fire winner. A shop down the seafront," he said. "They wanted to stock some of our stuff."

Charlotte whistled. "Nice spot."

"I know."

"What happened?"

"I got greedy."

Charlotte frowned. "That's not like you. Oh, I get it. This competition with Brad?"

"How do you know about that?"

It amazed Eddie how Charlotte always found out everything that went on. Scott liked to pride himself on finding out the gossip. He remained on the beginner slopes compared to Charlotte.

"Kat," she replied. "She's worried."

"Aren't we all?"

Charlotte shook her head. "Brad is such an arsehole. If he was an ice-cream, he'd lick himself."

She always brought some light relief, which was exactly what he needed. "Nice one."

"Don't worry. You've plenty of time to beat his sorry ass. I have a good feeling."

Eddie squeezed her hand. "What would we do without you?"

He left her and walked into the office itself. Calm had been restored, thanks to Charlotte's pep talk.

Is it the deal falling through…or the man?

Billy Webster was old-fashioned handsome. He had certainly grabbed Eddie's attention.

Kat sat at a large desk by herself. Apart from Tyler and Scott, Kat was his favourite person at Pleasure Seekers. She had fiery red hair, often cut into wild styles. A lot of their recent success had been down to her revolutionising the company's social media presence.

He took the desk opposite her. She peered over her laptop.

"Oh dear," she said. "Didn't go well?"

Eddie rummaged in his bag for his laptop. "I was sure I had them. The place is absolutely perfect. Even the bloody cafés are going for late licences."

Kat shook her head. "Another place to avoid at the weekend then?"

"Not our problem," Eddie replied. "Our stuff would have flown out of there."

"What went wrong?"

"They balked at twenty percent."

Kat widened her eyes. "Twenty?"

"I know. I would have gone down to fifteen, even ten. But one of the owners threw his toys out of the pram and it was a quick exit for Edward Channing."

"What a bummer," she said. "That would have set you up nicely."

He fired up his laptop and glared. "I realise that, thank you."

"What are you going to do?"

Eddie sat in his chair while his laptop came to life. It would be too much to hope for that an email would be waiting from one of the brothers, telling him they'd changed their mind.

"I might call him later in the week. Offer him a better deal."

"Someone's being a greedy-guts," Kat said, with a glint in her eye.

Eddie stuck his tongue. "Someone has been tasked from saving you from working for Brad. You panicked me."

"Hey, it's not my fault you're in this mess," Kat replied. "Don't take it out on me."

"I'm sorry," Eddie said. "You're right. It's… Oh, forget it."

"What?"

Eddie didn't really want to verbalise this feeling. Yet it burned up inside him and he knew he had no choice.

"One of the guys. The one who practically threw me out."

"Yes?"

"Damn, he's handsome."

Now he clearly had Kat's full attention as she snapped her laptop shut.

"Is that right? Tell me more."

Eddie already regretted confiding. As lovely as Kat might be, she had a tendency to get over-excited by things. He should have waited until he saw Tyler and Scott.

"Forget it. Fancying a potential customer is not on my agenda."

James came over. He had a smug Brad with him.

"Morning, Eddie," he said. "I hope things went well this morning."

"Not bad," Eddie replied, refusing to make eye contact with Kat.

"Got the contract then?" Brad added.

Eddie scowled. "They're thinking about it. I'll probably hear later this week."

"Sure," Brad replied. "I'll see you after lunch. You can tell me all about it."

Brad sauntered off to his desk by the window. He always sat there. His excuse being he needed to concentrate. Eddie suspected it had more to do with the fact people avoided him like the plague so he got in first and sat alone.

"I hope you're taking this seriously, Eddie," James said.

"Of course I am," Eddie replied.

"Good. If I were you, I'd put everything into this. It would be stupid not to."

The meaningful stare that accompanied those words were probably supposed to encourage. Instead, Eddie wanted to scream. The weight of expectation crushed him like a boulder.

How do people deal with this?

James drifted off to the kitchen area.

"He practically said his job is yours to lose," Kat said.

Did he say that? Or is Kat hysterical?

"I need some space," Eddie said, getting up.

"What's the matter?"

"Kat, can you take it down a notch? Please. I'm trying my best, all right?"

"Eddie…where are you going? I'm sorry."

"I know. It's just a lot. Plus, I've got to go and give out free johnnies to a load of spotty students this afternoon. With Brad."

When had things got so complicated?

"Come on, Ed," Kat replied. "You've got this. It would be awful if you had to sleep with this guy to get the sale."

"Not my style, as you well know. In fact, none of this is me. I might look for a new job. Fuck this place."

Eddie didn't wait for a response. Instead he made a beeline for the toilets. If he said anything more in the office, Brad would get wind that he had him on the ropes.

Fuck.

"What's the plan?" Tyler asked.

They were heading to one of the meeting rooms off reception for a briefing.

"No idea," Eddie replied. "James wouldn't tell us."

"Which means it's horrific," Scott said. "It's bad enough that we're going to a university open day."

Eddie was getting sick of these two already.

"I don't want to do this either," Eddie replied. "I need to show James I can rise to a challenge. Can't I count on you?"

Tyler squeezed his shoulder. "You can. You know that."

"But you have to earn it," Scott added.

"You're all heart," Tyler replied.

They were at the door now.

"Don't embarrass me, guys," Eddie said. "Not in front of Brad."

Scott patted him on the cheek. "Only I get to needle at you, Edward. And occasionally Tyler. No one else. We've got you."

Eddie smiled. "Thanks."

"Whatever it takes."

They went through the doors. Charlotte seemed very engrossed in her monitor. That wasn't a good sign.

Inside the meeting room, they found James and Kat. Eddie stared at her. She hadn't breathed a word that she had a part in this.

This is a fucking ambush.

"Hello, boss," Eddie said.

"Eddie. Scott. Tyler. Three very handsome men. Perfect."

Scott fanned himself. "Mr Bennett. I didn't know you cared."

"Want to know what's in store?" James asked, ignoring Scott.

"Shouldn't we wait for Brad and his two?" Eddie asked.

James shook his head. "They've already gone to the site. I know there's a bit of rivalry between the two of you so it seemed like the best idea."

He'd created the bloody competition. Eddie worried that he had found himself in James' version of The Hunger Games to entertain himself before retirement.

"And what about you, Judas?" Eddie said to Kat. "What's your involvement?"

Kat appeared to be thoroughly enjoying herself. "We came up with the vibe together. It'll look great on our socials."

"Are you going to put us out of our misery?" Tyler asked. "I had to cancel a meeting for this."

"Sorry, Tyler," James said. "You're right. Okay, the vibe is superheroes. You're out to save the day with contraception. We want to give out as many free samples as possible."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Scott said.

Kat held up a piece of material. "This is your leotard, Scott. We gave you purple. Eddie, you're pink and Tyler is blue."

Leotard?

"Wait a minute," Tyler said. "Why do we have to get changed here?"

Kat sighed. "The university won't let us take promotional pictures on their premises. So lycra yourselves up, bitches."

"Whatever it takes, remember," Eddie muttered.

"Your capes are at the venue already," Kat explained. "They have little pockets all over them for samples. There are six boxes. We don't want to bring any home."

"Best of luck, gents," James said.

"I'll wait outside," Kat said. "Tell me when you're decent."

James and Kat walked out of the room. Kat stopped and took a quick photo with the camera she had slung around her neck.

"I'll repay you for this," Eddie said.

Kat blew him a kiss and let the door shut behind her.

"Fucking hell, guys," Eddie said, holding his hands up. "I had no idea they were going to do us dirty like this."

Scott shrugged. "This is going to be a laugh. Come on, boys. Get 'em off."

They might share a flat but Eddie wasn't the type to parade around in his underwear. Still, he could hardly complain when they were doing this for him.

All three quickly slipped out of their clothes. Eddie and Tyler stopped at their boxers. To Eddie's horror, Scott whipped his off.

"Scott!" he exclaimed. "What the fuck?"

Scott had already made a start putting his leotard on. "It'll look bigger without them. I'm not parading around a university like a Ken doll."

Eddie turned to Tyler, who was convulsing with hysterics.

"You are a terrible person," Eddie said.

"I'm not after the students. The lecturers, though…that's another story."

"Because that worked so well last time," Tyler said.

Despite first appearances, Scott was a hopeless romantic.

Eddie had his leotard on now.

"Fuck, this is tight," he said.

"Gosh, Mr Channing," Scott said, leering obviously at Eddie's crotch. "And to think we've lived together all these years."

Eddie shoved him playfully. "Don't dream impossible dreams, Mr Fitzgerald. Stick to crusty old teachers."

Tyler had got his outfit on now.

"Shall I let her in?" Eddie asked.

"Fine, go on."

Eddie opened the door a fraction and peered into the main reception. Kat and Charlotte were gossiping.

"We're ready for our close-up."

A giggling Kat crossed the reception area and followed Eddie back into the room. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Scott and Tyler.

"Bloody hell, Scott."

"Oh, shut up. Where do you want us?"

They managed to strike a pose where Eddie's body covered Scott's groin.

"You've put your socks down there," Eddie said. "Be honest."

Scott pushed himself against Eddie's thigh. "It's all me."

Eddie sprang away. "You are disgusting."

"You asked for that."

"Photoshoot is over," Tyler said. "Let's get the hell out of here."

With perfect timing, there was a knock. They all leapt away from one another.

"Who is it?" Eddie called.

"It's me," Charlotte replied. "Who do you think?"

"Come in," Scott shouted.

"Scott!" Tyler said.

"What is your problem? We're going to be parading for a ton of people soon."

Tyler sighed. "Fine."

Kat opened up. Charlotte stood with her hands on her hips. "Taxi's here," she said. "My, my, Brighton is going to be a safer place with these three studs in town."

"Fuck off," Scott replied with a sweet smile.

She stuck her tongue out and dashed back to her desk.

"I'll leave you to it," Kat said, following Charlotte. "Have fun, boys."

She let the door close.

"We need to move quick," Tyler said. "I have no desire to bump into any of my team in this, thank you. It's bad enough it'll be all over social media."

Scott stood over by the window.

"It's outside. Let's go, gang."

They scuttled over to the door, ready to make a break for it.

"Wait," Scott said. "Let me check."

He pulled the door ajar and peeped out.

"Coast's clear."

They stole out of the meeting room.

Charlotte immediately gave them a wolf whistle.

"I used to like you," Tyler said.

Suddenly, the door to the office opened and they all froze. Prin from the IT department stopped and stared at the sight of them.

"It's okay," Scott said. "It's only that guy from IT. Now let's move."

They ran out of the building.

To Eddie's despair, it appeared the entire world had decided to visit the university open day. They had to contend with a mix of teenagers and parents who were exceedingly suspicious of Eddie, Scott and Tyler.

"Where are the capes?" Scott asked Hassan.

Hassan had been drafted in from the call centre to hold the fort at the main stall. He made no attempt to hide his amusement.

"I thought the others were bad."

"What colours did they get?" Tyler asked.

"Black, yellow and white," Hassan replied.

Scott shuddered. "Thank God, I didn't get yellow."

Hassan reached under the table and revealed a pink cape.

"Eddie, this is yours. Be careful so nothing falls out."

Eddie took the garment. It was festooned with pockets that contained condoms. It wasn't as bad as he'd expected and would cover a lot of the hideous leotard.

"When you're empty, come here to reload," Hassan said. "Tyler."

He handed over the blue cape.

"Lube," Tyler said, inspecting it.

"I wonder what I'm getting then," Scott said. His eyes were wide. Eddie wasn't sure if that was excitement or fear.

Hassan cleared his throat. He lifted out a purple cape and handed it to Scott. Noticeably, he didn't meet his gaze.

"Fucking cock rings?" Scott exclaimed. "You are shitting me."

Eddie didn't dare catch Tyler's eye as they put the capes on. If he did, he would have lost it.

"You two are heroes of rampant sex lives. I'm the one to go to for erectile disfunction," Scott grumbled. "That says it all."

"If we all come and reload together, I'll take them," Eddie said.

"Then me," Tyler added. "We must all take turns with the cock rings."

Scott laughed. "You guys."

"Main room is through there," Hassan said, pointing to some large doors.

Suddenly, Eddie's phone began to vibrate.

"Shit," he said. "My phone."

"Where is it?"

"In my pants."

Instantly, Tyler and Scott shielded him with their capes. Eddie squirmed around in his lycra prison until he reached his phone that he'd tucked in the side of his boxers.

By the time he got himself together again, they'd rung off. He fiddled with his phone until he saw the missed call.

Billy Webster

His heart skipped a beat.

"I've got to take this," Eddie said. "I'll catch you up."

"If all that's left of us are shreds of hideous lycra, run," Scott said, "save yourself."

Eddie walked over to the window. He dialled.

"Hello."

"Billy? It's Eddie. Sorry I missed you. Couldn't get to my phone in time."

"Oh, no worries." Billy cleared his throat. "I hope you weren't in the middle of something."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Eddie replied. "What can I do for you?"

"About the offer. Would it still be open?"

You bet your sweet ass it is.

"Of course."

"Then we'd like to take it."

Eddie had prepared himself to play hardball. Were they really going to take it?

"That's wonderful news. Listen, I can't really talk now. How about I call you tomorrow to go through the details?"

"Yes, that's fine. Thank you, Eddie."

"No, thank you, Billy."

Eddie terminated the call.

Thank you very much.

With a spring in his step, he sauntered into the main hall. Not only would he get the twenty percent, he also had an excuse to see Billy again. Something he found he was pretty damned excited about.