Page 73 of Girl Like Me

“All the girls around the world are going to be so jealous when they see that I’m with you.”

I laugh as he takes my hand and twirls me around and makes me dance with him, even though there’s no music playing.

“How about you come and help me get ready for the day?” I say with a wink.

He bends down and faces his back to me. “Get on, your chariot awaits.”

I wrap my arms around his neck and he starts to stand, my legs wrapping around his body. He takes off in a slow run towards the stairs and doesn’t slow down once, not even when he starts up the stairs. My body jostles around and we both laugh all the way to Rory’s room.

Rocky throws me down onto the bed and pounces on top of me; he looks at my lips, unsure if he should make a move. We all need to talk about this, so we each know how this is going to work. I don’t want to rush into bed with them all, but I need confirmation on how they will each feel about it.

I slide my hand behind his neck and pull him down to me, making the first move. A kiss won’t hurt. His speedos and my thin cotton shorts do nothing to hide his erection that slides against me, the friction causing me to moan into his mouth.

He pulls away from the kiss, his lust filled eyes look at me for direction. “I want you so badly.”

“I want you too.” I say in a whisper, not wanting to break the little bubble we have.

He lifts my top and trails kisses down my stomach, goosebumps cover my body and I feel him smile against my skin. His fingers slide over me and dip below my shorts into my underwear. I arch off the bed as his thumb slowly rubs over my clit, his pace quickening as the pleasure in my stomach heats until my entire body tingles and an orgasm washes over me. I groan, as my body shakes from the aftershocks as Rocky trails kisses over my face and along my neck.

A cough from the doorway startles us and turns our attention away from what just happened. Levi leans against the doorway in his ugly Christmas shirt that says Merry Swishmas and a picture of a basketball going into a hoop.

I hide my face as my cheeks heat at being busted with Rocky. “Dude you could have knocked.” Rocky says and Levi smiles.

“And missed watching that? I think not but Carson and Phillip are here so it might be time to get dressed.”

“Shit,” I mutter, sitting up and racing into the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind me. Looking at myself in the mirror, my hair is a mess, my lips are swollen and my face is flushed.

Rocky opens the door and walks in with my Christmas shirt, a bra, a fresh pair of underwear and a pair of denim shorts. He places them on the sink, then comes to stand behind me and kisses my shoulder. “I love you JD and as soon as everyone leaves tonight, we are all going to sit down and figure this out. Because all I want to do is touch you and I need to know how they feel about that.”

I nod at his words, unable to say anything because I feel the same about all of them. How do we navigate this? I didn’t ask permission to lose my virginity to Maximus, that we had already spoken about. But now that I know I’m ready to explore with all of them, I need to make sure they all know that if they have any kind of feelings about it that they can come and we can talk it through. Jealousy is real and we will all need to communicate and be open about what we are okay with.

Once we’re both dressed we head back downstairs. Phillip is talking to Mercer, Maximus is on his phone, Levi bloody winks at me as I walk past and Rory is laughing as he motions for me to come closer. I stand behind him and lean against his back. “What’s happening?”

“Carson is explaining in great detail how things should be set up and is very flustered with the staff.”

I giggle when I hear Carson explaining that the centrepieces are too big and people won't be able to talk to the person directly across from them, but if they remove the bottom section it will work. I’m surprised he hasn’t completely taken over and ripped them apart to fix them himself.

Over the next hour everyone started to arrive; Maximus’s parents and sister, Rory’s dad and Chelsea, his mum unfortunately decided not to come, which is possibly for the best. Rocky’s parents and Levi’s aunt and Deacon. Lissa hasn’t spoken to me yet and there’s a slight tension in the air but we’re going to have to get over it and move past it all.

The doorbell rings, the chime echoing throughout the house, so I make my way over and open the door. My father and brother smile at me and I invite them in, but before I can shut the door, my uncle pulls up and so does Echo and Mossy followed by Chloe and Mac. As each person walks through the door they take their personalised shirts. The loud rumble of a V8 catches my attention as Chev pulls into the driveway. I'm not sure if I will ever be okay with him, but Chloe is and she’s my friend so I’ll try for her. I smirk as he stalks across the driveway, he’s clearly trying to make an effort and once he’s close enough to greet me I hold out his shirt, waving it around as my lips turn up into a smile. He opens it to read the front, and snaps his gaze to me as I giggle.

All I want for Christmas is a new attitude.

“Haha, very funny.”

“I thought so too.”

“I can’t wait until I don't have to see you for a whole year,” he says, pulling off his plain black tee and slipping the Christmas shirt on.

“The feeling is mutual but clearly we both love Chloe and have to deal with each other, so come in, have a good time and be nice. That scowl you wear permanently on your face needs to go.”

He fake smiles at me, but it looks more like a grimace. “Better?” he asks with a lift of his brow.

I nod and we both walk inside to join everyone else. I head into the kitchen to ask the staff how long until the food is going to be ready to see how much time we have to exchange gifts. As I’m about to round the corner, I hear a hushed conversation that is obviously not meant for anyone else’s ears.

“The guy is a murderer.” Lissa whispers.

“He saved your damn job. You have no evidence that he’s even done anything, that's why he has never been arrested.”

---