Revue (22 page)

Pulling away, his lips parting from mine, our breaths once again becoming our own, I blinked and found his smiling face through my darkened glasses. But they weren’t rose coloured … not anymore. They protected me, and provided the security I needed to see clearly. They let me see Josh in a whole new light.

“I want it to stick. So you show me how it sticks.”

He clenched my fingers with his and continued to the bus, but I wasn’t finished, burying my heels into the ground. “But if it doesn’t, Josh. If it doesn’t stick, that’s it. It never will. Do you understand?”

He lifted my hand to his lips but didn’t kiss it. He just closed his eyes momentarily and breathed me in. “Yes, sweetheart, I do.”

“Okay then. Let’s go face the music. Oh, and Josh, do not touch a blond hair on Brad’s head. You hear me? I instigated what happened last night, not him. And if it weren’t him, it would’ve been some random arsehole.”

The pain in his eyes was palpable, because he knew it was retaliation on my part. But I was not about to let him wear that pain solely. I had to wear it, too. “What’s done is done. We move forward or we don’t move at all,” I said, rotating our wrists so that I could kiss his hand.

“Hurry the fuck up, you two. If I wanted to watch some sappy love scene, I’d watch
The NotePad
or something,” Noah shouted from the doorway of the bus.

“It’s
The Notebook
, you tool,” I muttered under my breath, laughing.

Josh flipped him the bird and walked to the bus, handing Baz our bags before climbing on board. When I made it to the top of the steps, I gave everyone an apologetic smile, finding Brad toward the back of the bus in a seat on his own. Deep down I hoped it was because Lucas was overly pungent, but I knew it was because I’d crushed a small piece of his heart, regardless of what he’d told me.

I was evil.

Like that hunter who shot Bambi’s mum.

Turning to Josh, who was standing behind me, hand on my hip, an obvious indicator to all that we’d sorted shit out, I told him I wanted to sit with Brad for the short distance it would take us until we stopped at the Big Banana for lunch. The clicking of Josh’s jaw told me he didn’t like the idea, but he was just going to have to deal with it. I needed to talk to Brad. Needed to know where his head and heart were at, and needed to know we were still friends.

Leaving Josh at our normal seat, I wandered up to where Brad was sitting. “You mind if I sit?” I asked.

He shook his head but didn’t give me any words. I wanted his words, and I was going to get them.

Sliding into the seat as if I would any other time, I decided I had to treat Brad just like I always had, so faced him and commanded his attention. “I’m not going to apologise, because I know your dick doesn’t like that.”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, so I continued, “I don’t want to upset your dick. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of upsetting your dick’s owner. The thing is, I’m very fond of your dick’s owner, and it kills me to think that what happened with your dick and my vagina would jeopardise that. I know I should’ve thought of that before your dick and my vagina met, but the thing is, at that very moment, I wanted them to meet,” I said, biting back a laugh as I plunged my pointer finger into the hole I made with my other pointer finger and thumb. “And I’m not sorry they did. Sometimes dicks and vaginas are better as friends tho—”

“Cori, shut up with the dick and vagina talk, will ya?”

I snapped my eyes from the blur of cars that I’d subconsciously focussed on to his face, which was both a mixture of sheer annoyance and amusement. “Oh, sorry. I was just trying—”

“I know what you were trying to do, but please stop saying the word vagina. I don’t like it.”

I bit my lip to refrain from laughing. God, he was adorable. “What? Why?”

“Never mind. You sort shit out with Josh?” His tone turned serious.

“In a way, yes. He showed up a few hours after you climbed out of my bed. I was too exhausted both physically and emotionally to fight him. Instead, I cried in his arms, and call me fucking ridiculous or insane, but it felt right.”

He nodded and looked out of the window.

“He also knows we had sex last night,” I whispered, leaning in.

Brad quickly turned in my direction again, then preened his neck like an ostrich to look over the top of the seat in front of him. “Don’t worry. He’s not going to touch y—”

“I don’t need you to protect me, Cori,” he interrupted, giving me a small scowl. “I’m not afraid of the fuckhead.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Hey! I’m not saying you are. But you’re not getting into fights over me anymore. I do have a say in that. You want to punch on for any other reason? Fine, do it. But not over me.”

“You’re a stubborn little bitch when you wanna be, aren’t you?” he asked with an impressed smile.

I smirked. “You better believe it. But you think I’m stubborn? Wait till you meet Em.”

“Em?” he asked, furrowing his brow.

“Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you all. My best friend, Em, is visiting me while we’re on the Gold Coast. She’s taking a week off work.”

He pursed his lips. “How’d you wrangle that with Patsy?”

“I showed her Em’s picture,” I said, waggling my eyebrows. “Patsy said she was cute.”

Sitting there, talking about Em to Brad, couldn’t have been more perfect had I consciously set it up to begin with. The two of them would get along like a house on fire. It was just simply ideal.
Yes! Em loves blonds. Em loves the beach. Surfers surf at the beach. Perfect!

“I’m picking her up at the airport tonight. Wanna come?” I asked nonchalantly, hoping he’d take the bait.

“Hang on … hold ya titties. So let me get this straight. We fuck and the very next day you try to palm me off to your best friend?”

I shrugged. “Yes. I guess so.”

“That’s fucked, Cor.”

“No. Not really.”

“How the hell not?”

“Because I know, after fucking you, that you will be perfect for her. Had I not fucked you, I wouldn’t know this.”

“That’s a lame explanation.”

“I know, but it works.”

He laughed. “It does. So you gonna show me her picture?”

The bus pulled to a stop at the Big Banana. I leaned over Brad’s lap and looked out the window at the giant yellow phallus-shaped monstrosity and smiled.
Excellent!
“Nope. I think it’s best you get the Em effect in person.” I pecked his cheek and whispered in his ear, “You are amazing. Thank you. And I promise, Em is amazing too. You’ll like her more than me.”

I stood up, ready to head off the bus and get snappin’ with my camera. Brad followed and whispered in my ear as we walked down the aisle, “She’s got a lot to live up to then.”

I smiled to myself.
Oh don’t you worry. She will!

We spent a couple of hours at the Big Banana, and I wasn’t going to lie, it was stranger than that time when Happy Pants were in fashion … you knew it wasn’t right, and you knew why, but you just let it go and embraced it because everyone else appeared to be doing the same thing. That was kind of what happened during the day, as the cast and crew knew something was up between Josh, Brad and I. But whether they knew the details, I wasn’t sure. Maybe they were thinking it was the aftermath of Brad getting me up on stage. Regardless, they just smiled at the events that unfolded while we were at the theme park.

And boy, were they insightful events. Brad and Josh had battled it out on the mini golf course, a golf ball being (not)accidentally hit into Josh’s back. They’d ice skated and (not)accidentally tripped each other over and taken each other down, and they’d gone to war during a laser tag session where Josh found himself in a headlock and Brad ended up being pinned to the wall … by the neck … while I stood there and laser tagged both of the stupid fuckers. Needless to say, I won. They lost.

Laser tag queen.

If anything, I’d learned from our trip to the Big Banana that men were weird creatures—wonderful creatures, but weird. If Em had slept with my boyfriend, we’d probably never speak again. Why? Because most women hold grudges like they’d hold onto a pair of Louboutins at a seventy-five per cent off sale. They’d never let go no matter how hard they tried. Whereas men fought it out, fists to face. And once that had happened, they’d down a beer and talk shop again.

Weird.

But their way was probably a better course of action to take, because after all the childish drama Brad and Josh had participated in, together with some stern words from Josh to Brad about never touching me again, they were mates … or as matey as they’d ever been. Josh and I, on the other hand, still needed to talk, more so than we had this morning, and I was hoping we’d be able to do it later that night.

“What time does her flight land again?” Brad asked from his position in the back seat of the Holden Commodore we’d hired for the week.

I looked at my watch and cringed. We didn’t have much time to get to the airport. “In less than twenty minutes.”

“Stop driving Miss Daisy, dickhead,” Brad said to Josh, lightly hitting him on the arm, “and step on it. Cori doesn’t want to keep Em waiting, do ya, Cor?”

I smirked.

So did Josh.

But I could tell he didn’t like Brad’s stab at his driving by his clenched fingers on the steering wheel and the biting of the inside of his bottom lip. I liked it when he bit the inside of his lip—it cast frustration over his features. It was sexy and endearing, and it had me wanting to take that lip of his into my mouth and bite it for him.
Mmm …

“So, Cori, what colour hair has she got? I can help you look out for her when we get there. Airports are crazy busy, you know?”

Snapping out of my lip-biting daze, I playfully glared at Brad. “Nice try, but I’m not telling. You’ll have to wait and see,” I said, turning up the radio. “I love this song.”

Josh glanced in my direction, one eyebrow raised. “You like songs about payback, don’t you?”

“What, me?” I smiled devilishly. “Nobody does retribution like Adele. And anyway, singing songs of revenge is far better than actually carrying out the act, don’t you agree?” I said, returning to the song and singing—rather boldly—about making someone’s head burn.

Josh released one hand from the steering wheel and grabbed the back of his neck, as if to ease some discomfort … or a sudden onset of a burning feeling.

I smiled.

Brad’s head appeared between Josh’s and my seat. “How tall is she? Short? Giraffe? Your height?”

I turned to him and sang louder. “Rolling in the deeeeeep.”

“You’re not playing fair,” he grouched, sitting back in his seat.

“All is fair in love and war.” I sang to the tune of the song.

“Hey! Who said anything about love and war?”

Oh, Brad you’re gonna love Em! No doubt.
I also suspected they’d be going to war at some point.

Giggling, I bit my thumbnail and looked out the window, soon feeling the warmth of Josh’s hand slide onto my thigh. I looked down and smiled, placing my hand over it. God, it felt nice. Soothing. Perfect. But I also didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself. We still had a lot of things to sort out.

Gently squeezing his hand, I glanced back up at him, his pearly-white smile magnetising. My singing stopped … and I fucking blushed. With one simple look,
that
was what he did to me.

Maybe, just maybe, we would stick.

***

Em’s flight had been delayed by fifteen minutes, so we’d grabbed some drinks and were waiting at a café not far from the baggage carousel. I was so excited to see her. I’d missed her so much.

Em just had the ability to leave the most adorable impression on your heart. You couldn’t
not
love her. She was probably one of the most giving people I knew … but also knew how to get exactly what she wanted. She was simply a breath of fresh air and, after the past few days, I needed to breathe again.

Josh’s hand kept subtly finding my upper thigh under the table despite my attempts to swipe it away while Brad bounced nervously in his seat.

“How bad’s the bruise?” he asked, glaring at Josh and lightly dabbing at his eye.

I assessed his face from a distance. “It’s actually not that bad.”

“Yeah, that’s cause fuckhead’s got a weak swing.”

“You want to test that theory?” Josh asked, his hand sliding up my thigh again, only this time continuing to rest upon my pussy.

I nearly spat out the mouthful of latte I’d just sipped and quickly placed my hand under the table, digging my nails into his skin. His smirk morphed into a wince before retracting his hand from my lap.

Smiling satisfactorily, I sipped my latte again and spotted Em walking toward us, pulling her cabin suitcase. Beside her were two other women: a really tall brunette with long hair, wearing a skirt suit and heels; and the other, a blonde in a cute little blue summer dress with boobs the size of rockmelons. Em was in a pair of cut-off denim shorts, a white singlet top with a crochet overlay and a pair of flip-flops. Her short brown hair was stylishly messed and held back from her face with a pair of large black-rimmed sunglasses. As always, she looked stunning.

“Hey, Brad, see those three women walking toward us.?” I inconspicuously pointed them out. “If one of those could be Em, which one would you choose?”

His head shot up. “Is one of them her?”

“No,” I said quickly, sipping my latte again. “I’m just curious.”
God, I’m such a bitch.

Brad sat back and threaded his fingers together, resting them on his head. “Hmm … all three are gorgeous. Blondie’s boob’s are fake, so she’s out.”

I squinted and tried to get a better look. “Are they?”

“Yep. Can pick ’em a mile away. But they’re not my thing.” He kept eyeing Em and the other woman. “The tall brunette in heels is nice, but she looks a shitload smarter than me.”

“Everyone is smarter than you,” Josh added dryly.

Brad’s eyebrows rose. “You want to go again? Round fucking five in the airport? ’Cause I will, you know.”

Oh no they won’t
. Enough was enough. “Stop it, you two. Em will be here any second, so behave.”

Brad glared at Josh before tipping his chin at me. “The hot little pixie.”

“The hot little pixie?” I glanced at Em again and cracked up laughing.

“Yeah, she looks like a naughty little sex pixie. Cute, but hot as fuck as well.”

Standing up, my chair sliding along the ground behind me, I smiled and tossed my empty latte cup in the bin. “I’m so glad you said that.”

He scrunched his face at me, as if I were crazy, so I winked and turned around, walking toward Em and putting the poor bastard out of his misery. She spotted me and squealed, running while dragging her case behind her. And even above Em’s excited shriek, I could still hear Brad say “holy fuck” and Josh reply with “out of your league”. It made me laugh.

“Coriiiiii!” she sang in A cappella.

I ran.

She ran.

I hugged.

She hugged.

We both jumped up and down and held hands.

“Oh my God, Em, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” I murmured into her neck as we embraced. “It’s such a cock-forest on this tour. Too many men is not a good thing.”

She laughed and squeezed me tighter. “Glad I could come and plant my vagina in this forest you speak of.”

“Oh, you have no idea how welcome your vagina is.” Pulling away, I placed my hands on her shoulders and took her in. “Come on, I want you to meet some people.”

Her eyes lit up. “Camera-smasher Josh?”

My eyes lit up, too. “Yes, and Surfer-Brad.”

Linking arms, I directed her to the guys. Both of them stood up, Brad smoothing down his blond wisps.

“Brad, this is my best friend, Em. Em, this is Brad.”

Em smiled and released her arm from mine, holding her hand out for him to … wait for it … kiss not shake.
God, I love her.

“Pleasure to meet you, Brad.”

He kissed her hand. “Pleasure is all mine. Can I get your suitcase for you?”

“Oh shit! My other suitcase!” she took off, running toward the carousel.

Brad looked at me and smiled. “I think I’m in love. No offence, Cori. You’re great, but you belong to fuckhead. And even though the sex was off the charts …”

Josh tensed, stepped forward and balled his fists. I grabbed his hand and tried to calm him down with the soft stroke of my fingers while Brad stupidly continued. “… there was just no spark, right? You’re like a little sister to me.”

Oh my God! I think I’m gonna puke.

Brad rushed off after Em, leaving Josh and I both gobsmacked. His hand slipped from mine and he turned to pack up his coffee cup, avoiding my gaze.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just don’t like it being rubbed in my face. That’s all.” He walked to the bin, dumped the rubbish and, still avoiding my gaze, held out his hand for me to take. I stared at it, and when I didn’t accept he looked up. “Sweetheart, take my fucking hand.”

“No.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

He clicked his jaw, moved the table aside and cupped my face. “I don’t want to hear when another man has had his cock in you, especially Brad. Hearing … even just thinking about it.” He closed his eyes. “I don’t fucking like it—”

“Do you think I like to hear or think about all the women you’ve fucked, touched, kissed … whatevered? No, I don’t. I bury it because I have no choice.”

No more words were spoken when his lips sealed mine and his tongue tenderly dipped into my mouth. He had me instantly swimming in his warmth, his passion and his delicious taste. It was all well and good being in the land of Josh’s kiss, but it wasn’t the solution when hurdles were in our way.

One of Josh’s hands crept from my cheek and settled into my hair, cradling the back of my head while the other dropped and splayed on my lower back, pulling me flush with his chest. I could feel the beating of his heart against my breasts and the heat coursing through his fingertips. I. Could. Just. Feel. Him.
All
of him.

Em’s voice sounded, breaking our kiss. “You two done sucking face?” she asked. “Hi, I’m Em, Cori’s bestfriend.” She held out her hand to Josh.

He accepted and smiled. “Hi, I’m Josh, Cori’s …” Josh hesitated and gave me an unsure, nervous glance.

“Boyfriend,” I answered.

“Yeah, boyfriend,” he reaffirmed. “I’m Cori’s boyfriend.”

“You’re camera-smasher Josh. I’ve heard all about you!” She waggled her eyebrows.

“I think I’ll keep this one,” Brad said with a nod in her direction and the draping of his arm on her shoulder.

She looked down her nose at his hand, and her eyes widened in delight. “Why, Brad, that hand of yours is rather large.”

I face-palmed.

Josh scoffed.

And Brad nodded proudly. “Yep. Definitely keeping this one.”