Chapter 13

Noah

Go in there , that need beat furiously in my heart. Kiss her. It was the same desperate impulse that rose when we arrived at a fire. No, more intense now, because seconds ago, I felt a brief flare of hope.

Millie’s eyes dropped down. They studied my lips like they were a page in the science textbook we were always forced to share. Her pupils dilated, her breath coming in faster, which was great, because it felt like mine was a noisy rasp in my chest. I was right there, back under the tree, at the party, about to kiss the one girl I wanted, but instead of Millie’s brothers turning up to make clear what a mistake it would be to make a move on their sister, Charlie interrupted.

I stared at him now, wondering how the prick didn’t spontaneously combust with the heat I was throwing. He just smirked, that shit-eating grin telling me he knew exactly what he was doing.

But why?

When he put Millie in my gear, when he talked me up, I thought he was trying to do me a favour. If he was, he wouldn’t have interrupted like that.

“So, ready to eat too much food and drink too much alcohol, all in the name of Christmas cheer?” he asked. “Or are you hanging around here, looking for a totally different kind of festive experience?”

My jaw flexed because my lips were moving, ready to tell him exactly what I wanted. That cute little dress had given me glimpses of what lay beneath it, but wet? It revealed every damn curve. I’d conjured the shape of her body in my head a million times, stroking my cock to the dreams of it, erupting all over my stomach. That rush of shame and desire, the two feelings too tangled up in each other to separate, they were just a trickle of water compared to the fierce blast of now. Breasts that begged to be cupped by my hands, I had to clench them to keep them by my side. Nipples beading against the fabric, my mouth watering for a taste. It was only Millie’s shiver that broke the spell I was under.

“Someone’s gotta finish the tour, bring her back to the conference room,” I said.

His eyebrow jerked upwards at the raspy sound of my voice, but Charlie just nodded.

“Conference room is that way.” He pointed down the corridor, as if somehow I’d forgotten. “But bunks are up there.” I followed his finger as it pointed to the ceiling, the bunks on the first floor. “Send me a text if you need me to stop any of the other fellas walking in on you.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, and I couldn’t give him one, able to see it, feel it. Millie, her scent in my nose, her lips on mine as I pushed her down onto the bed. We were dark shadowy shapes, my mind unable to cope with much more, silhouettes that came together and fell apart, only to reach for the other again. I watched the savage dance of our bodies in my mind’s eye, right up until the woman herself appeared again.

“Oh, you’re still here?”

Yeah, I was, for as long as she wanted me to be. Whatever altruistic thoughts I had about being her wingman deserted me the minute Millie appeared. The office uniform was the exact same as the one I wore most days, but that just illustrated all the ways our bodies differed. I was pretty sure the fellas’ eyes weren’t drawn to my cleavage peeking out from between the collar of the shirt, nor the way the fabric moulded over my chest.

“Wasn’t sure if you’d know how to get back to the party.”

At her small smile, I offered her my arm, watching her just stare at it for a second. Millie knew what to do. She had to, a girl that looked like her, and for just a second, I thought she’d laugh at me. Instead, the dimple popped as she put her arm in mine. My feet felt ten tonnes lighter as we walked back, barely touching the floor as we went through the door.

Of course, that’s when it all went to shit.

“Here she is! Splash.” One of the firefighters grinned as we went to take our seats.

“No, no, no…” Judy started to say.

“Hey, it's better than Bun Bun,” another guy said, the lot of them cackling, and that’s when I realised what was happening. Australians never called anything by its real name. We made words shorter, used rhyming slang, but the most common thing was coming up with some stupid nickname that had a convoluted story behind it.

“That was a movie, wasn’t it? The one with the mermaid,” another bloke said.

“Darryl Hannah,” Brent informed them from the head of the table. “Bloody gorgeous, that woman.”

“Darryl!” Jason’s grin widened as my head started to shake.

“Dazza!” another guy said.

“Awesome,” Millie said with a tight smile. “So why Bun Bun?”

“Officer Hops,” Judy explained with a sigh, “from Zootopia?”

“Ohh…” Millie chuckled. “Oh god.”

“I got Hops, Hoppy, VB for a while.” This was an acronym for a very popular beer. “Bunny, Bunny Girl and then finally Bun Bun.”

“Because she’s got a bun in the oven.” Charlie appeared by Judy’s shoulder with a grin. “C’mon Dazza,” He ruffled Millie’s wet hair, right before I shot him a dark look. “Let's get you some food.”

I’d get her food. I’d get her any damn thing she wanted, but when I rose to my feet, so did she, letting Charlie escort her towards the buffet table.

“No one is ever going to call me Millie again, are they?’ she groaned. The food was amazing as per usual, but I barely smelled the savoury scents, grabbing a plate to hand to her, only to find someone had gotten there first.

“Here’s a plate… Millie.”

She looked up to find Knox standing there, two plates in hand, and that long look had me bristling. He handed her a plate with a small smirk, then turned back to the food. I watched him pile meat and vegetables on his plate dumbly, shaking my head before I realised I needed to do the same. For some reason, I didn’t even pay attention to what I was grabbing, instead just plonking whatever on my plate, before drawing closer. Knox and I shared a long look before he nodded slightly and pulled away.

Now was my chance.

“Come sit with us,” Judy said, linking her arm in Millie’s and drawing her over to the table. “This is my partner, Blue.” I was left to take a seat at the periphery of their little group, something Blue noted with a snort before turning his attention to Millie. “So, tell us a little about yourself. How did you meet the guys?”

“Saved her from a burning building, didn’t we?” Charlie said, sitting down on the other side of Blue. The trucker shot him a measured look before turning back to his plate. “Millie’s old boss wasn’t going to throw them a Christmas party, so I figured we could share some of this love.”

“And set her up to get drenched.” Judy shot him a dark look. “That was all you, right? I remember how you sucked me in.”

“With my winning smile.” He fluttered his eyelids, but Blue leaned over the table.

“Better keep that smile to yourself, Head Job.”

Millie snorted right as she took a bite of coleslaw, almost choking. My hand was up, ready to pat her back, but she rallied quickly.

“Any particular reason why your nickname is a slang term for oral sex?” she asked wide eyed.

“Well, there was this girl—” he started to say.

“Face from A Team.” Knox always used the least amount of words possible as he raised one finger. “Facey, Fuckface?—”

“I particularly liked that one,” Charlie said with a roll of his eyes.

“Then Head Job.” Knox winked at me. “Head for short.”

“And you’re gonna call me Uncle Head, aren’t you, baby?” People talking to women’s pregnant stomachs in an infantile tone was weird, but that never stopped Charlie. “If you’re a boy, I’ll show you the ropes when you get older, and if you’re a girl?—”

“You’ll do the same for any daughter I have,” Blue growled. “Not that you’d get within ten feet of her.”

“Not sure if babies are your thing, are they, Charlie?” Judy’s tone was light, but I caught the moment Charlie’s smile faded. “You’d rather be chasing grown up girls, not little ones.”

“Yeah, of course.”

His reply was perfunctory, but before he could say more, Brent got to his feet.

“Alright, alright.” Everyone knew a speech was coming. “I just want to say a few words.”

“Few words?” someone muttered. “Be here until New Year’s.”

“That’s enough out of you.” I watched Brent’s bushy brows draw down, but not for long. “Now, we’re here to celebrate that we’re all here another year later. We’ve had our issues and challenges, and some of us have had some pretty amazing transformations.” He smiled fondly at Judy, something that had her blushing. “We don’t know what next year has to offer, but we do know we’ve got a great team?—”

“To a great team.” Charlie raised his beer can, then and so did everyone else, leaving me scrambling to locate my own. “Even if you’re all a bunch of miserable pricks who smell bad and need to wash your damn socks more often.”

“We can’t all be pretty boys, Head Job!” one of the guys shouted back.

“Thank goodness we left the kids at home,” Sally said to her husband, “or there’d be some awkward conversations on the way home.”

“The kids are getting looked after?” Charlie said. “Then you can stick around and have a drink with us for once.”

“One.” Sally looked meaningfully at Jason. “One.”

“Don’t need more than one.” He pulled her into his lap, kissing her neck with gusto, which resulted in paper hats and broken Christmas crackers being thrown at the two of them. “Not when I’ve got the prettiest girl in the place in my arms.”

“Will I get that sappy if I get married?” Charlie asked.

“If you’re lucky.” Knox was quiet through most of the noise, but right now I caught him watching the happy couple closely. I remembered when Jase met Sally and couldn’t recall if Knox had a thing for her, or…? Nope, that was a different kind of longing and I knew that because it was one I’d felt plenty of times before.

If I tried hard enough, I could see how this would’ve gone if I’d come with Millie on my arm rather than meeting her at the door. If she was my long-term girlfriend, or shit, my wife. My arm slung over the back of her chair like Blue did Judy’s, my fingers teasing the ends of her hair.

“Another beer, mate?”

I looked up to see Charlie standing there, a knowing smile on his face as he held his empty up.

I wasn’t driving home, Knox having signed up for that duty, so I nodded. Beer hadn’t helped me the night I nearly kissed Millie, but it hadn’t hurt either.

“I’ll get them,” I said, getting to my feet and taking our empties and Millie’s almost drained wine glass.

“Another?” I asked her when she turned my way.

“Sure.”

Her smile, the same one she gave everyone here, I carried its warmth with me as I grabbed another drink and set it down beside her. One drink turned to another and another, the bullshit around the table getting louder and louder until Judy hauled herself to her feet.

“Time to go.”

“C’mon, Hops,” the guys grumbled

“I turn into a pumpkin if I’m not in bed by ten,” Judy replied, patting her stomach.

“It was lovely to meet you.”

Millie got to her feet, which forced me to mine when she wavered a little. Some of the guys cackled in response.

“Don’t tell me you’re a lightweight, Dazza!” Dave shouted.

“Not everyone’s an inveterate pisshead like you, Davo,” Brent replied bluntly, then smiled as he took another sip of beer.

“Excuse me.” Oh shit, I remembered this Millie. Her hands went to her hips as she stared the table down. “I’ll have you know I can drink you pricks under the table.”

Charlie rose to his feet, filling her glass with a flourish before cracking a fresh can of beer.

“Sounds it’s time for a game of Shenanigans then.”

“What the hell is Shenanigans?” she asked.