Page 70 of Demons and Debts
‘Yeah! You a good dancer, Human Girl?’
‘No.’ I say plainly.
He laughs. ‘We’ll see.’
I'm a little confused, but I don't say anything else, just nod like I know exactly what’s going on.
‘We leave in an hour. Eat your food. Take a shower. Be downstairs by eight.’
One-hundred and ten percent business all of a sudden, he's gone before I can ask him anything else. So, I eat the sandwich, turning my nose up at the overprocessed bread but gobbling it up anyway because I'm hungry and I have no idea when I’ll get to eat next. These guys don’t exactly keep to normal hours as far as I can tell.
I take a quick shower, using what is quickly becoming one of my new favorite shower soaps. I leave my hair down, but I bring an elastic with me in case it gets to be too much. It curls around my face a little and I brush it away as it dries. The dress is ridiculous. Bodycon and spandexy. There’s even a black bra and matching thong.
How do they know all my sizes?
The glittery shoes are a problem. They’re pretty. But strappy, four-inch stilettos? I try them on, and plod around the room like a toddler, almost turning my ankle in the process. I don't wear heels for a reason. Can't work ‘em. I kick them off and carry them as I make my way down the stairs to the foyer at exactly eight o'clock.
All five of them are waiting and none of them are dressed the way I thought they'd be; the way other guys dress when they go out around here. Long shorts and button down, short sleeved shirts are the height of sophistication for the guys who go to the college. These guys are in another league. Each is dressed in a black suit, black shirt, black tie, black shoes. The Iron I insignia is embroidered into the left lapel of their jackets subtly in black, so it only just shows up to shine a little in the light.
I realize I haven’t been in the presence of all five of them since that day at the bar when I first met them, and I’m surprised to find that I feel more comfortable with them than I did before. It usually takes me a lot longer to get that familiarity that so many people seem to justhavewith others.
I feel their eyes roving over me as I guess mine were over them, and I flinch away from their stares, belatedly wondering how I can ride on the back of a bike to wherever we’re going dressed like this.
‘Put on your shoes,’ Vic practically snaps. ‘It's time to go.’
I look down at them in my hand. ‘I can't,’ I mutter.
‘What?’
I think he sounds impatient, but I know it when I feel that pressure on me. I take a step back.
‘I can't walk in them,’ I say. ‘I don't wear shoes like these.’
‘Just put them on,’ Sie growls from where he’s leaning against the wall.
Suitably cowed by his tone, I do what he says, sitting down carefully on the stairs and trying not to let them see my fifi trixibelle in this fucking short as fuck dress.
When I stand up and start to walk, I get to the bottom of the stairs before my heel goes to the side and I fall into Sie. He grabs me, stops me from hurting myself, and I find myself staring up into his stony eyes. My cheeks burning, I murmur a thank you and get my balance. His hands fall to his sides, clenched into fists and I wonder if he wants to hit me. I try again, stepping away from him extra carefully.
I can feel them all watching me, and I look past them at the front door, putting as much effort as possible into not falling over.
This is so humiliating.Clumsy Jane can’t even walk in some dumb high heels.
I see Theo whisper something to Paris, who hisses a curse and leaves the foyer. He comes back a minute later while I'm still trying to get to the door and throws my black ballerina flats at my feet.
‘Just wear those,’ he says.
He murmurs something else just outside my hearing and I look up sharply because I’m pretty sure I know what word he just said and I don’t like it one bit, but he’s already walking out the door. I gratefully take off the strappy sandals and leave them by the wall as I slip on the other much more comfortable and easier to walk in shoes.
I can't help the smile that takes over my face, and I look up to see Sie staring, looking taken aback. But then he just walks past me. They all go outside, and I'm left to follow awkwardly. Guess that’s the evening’s theme. I worry again about riding a bike, but, when we get outside, there's a long, black limousine parked in the driveway. The relief I feel is palpable. No trying to stay on the back of one of their hogs while internally freaking out at the sounds. I had to leave my earbuds because I have nowhere to put them except in my ears for the whole night and I feel like that might be frowned upon.
I shiver a little in the cold night air as I walk quickly over to the limo and wait as the others get in first, leaving me out in the darkness for a stolen moment. I stare up at the stars, wishing I was somewhere else – maybe with Shar in Hawaii – and let out a sigh as I slide into the car … right onto someone's lap!
I yelp as one of them touches my ass, throwing myself away and hitting the carpeted interior hard.
I stare up and I'm surprised to find that it’s Vic.
‘Sit,’ he commands, and I look around to obey, but the only seat free seems to be in the middle of him and Theo.
