The Heart Series: Complete Boxed Set (77 page)

“What can we say, we’re vocal people,” Joel added, finishing off his last slice of toast before devouring the remains of what was on my plate. My appetite had now well and truly went out the window with all their goading.

“So Joel, are you staying over tonight? I might have to find accommodation somewhere else, a girl needs her beauty sleep.” Corinne pretend yawned as I sent a scowl her way.

“No, I’m going home in a few hours,” he said sadly and I pouted my disapproval. He pulled me in close, pressing his lips against my hair and I sighed. I did not want him to leave.

“Aww, don’t worry, I’ll keep Izzy company.” Josh grinned and I rolled my eyes knowing fine well his silly little joke would not go down well.

“I think you need to keep your hands to yourself, if Izzy needs consoling she can FaceTime me, I will soon cheer her up in the best way I know how.”

“Now, now boys, it’s not a pissing contest,” Corinne added.

“It’s not a contest at all.” Joel smiled smugly.  Josh looked like he was defeated and soon made a swift exit. It may have had to do with Joel flexing his guns in a warning. I hated how he got all territorial. He had nothing to be scared of.

“What time is your train again?” I asked, trying to change the conversation.

“In two hours, do you fancy going for a little stroll. I saw a park on my way up here, and well it’s not our place, but today it could be.”

I smiled. “I like the sound of that. Let me get a jacket and we can head out.”

We quickly said our goodbyes. I thought we were past the worst when it came to being ridiculed, but we left to a barrage of whistles and jeers that were telling us to not do what they wouldn’t do. I almost had eye lock from over rolling them.

“Don’t listen to them, trust me, they are jealous,” Joel whispered.

“I’m the one who has to work with them goading me over my sex screams.”

Joel chuckled loudly obviously finding the whole thing completely and utterly hilarious.

“It’s not funny, Joel,” I fumed, completely embarrassed by the fact they knew what I sounded like in the moment.

“Oh it is, Iz, come on, crack a smile,” he teased.

I stormed off, grabbing the key card from my pocket and threw the door open. Joel quickly made up the ground behind me and scooped me up into his arms. I made to pull away, but he held on tight and kissed every inch of my face.

“Don’t be mad with me, Iz. We only have a short time left, let’s not part on bad terms. It’s going to be hard leaving you as it is but even harder if you’re mad at me. I know I pushed you out of your comfort zone and you hate to be ribbed about your sex life, but I wouldn’t take a minute of it back. It was the best sex I’ve had. I think this distance thing might make me hornier.”

A smile tugged on my lips. “It was amazing,” I finally admitted.

“So amazing, do you think we have—”

“Err, I do have to perform tonight, you know. A girl needs a little down time to recuperate.” He was going to break me at this rate

“Shame, we could have christened the walls.” Joel sighed.

“I think we need to get to the park before you get any more ideas into that head of yours.” Being enclosed within four walls with Joel was not a good idea right now.

“A guy can’t help but try and what can I say, when I’m with you it’s all I can think about.”

“I can tell. Come on, it’s a lovely day to sit and enjoy the sun for a few more hours.”

“Well then, lead the way.”

I grabbed his hand and his fingers locked with mine, making the most of the short precious time we had left.

So give us all the goss, Iz. Well, we heard it but we want to know everything about Joel’s visit. Don’t hold out on us,” Micha urged looking excited.

“Seriously?” They were worse than Elijah and that was saying something. Speaking of which, I looked at my watch and knew he would want his own little recount of the Joel visit when we FaceTimed in an hour. Today was going to be thoroughly exhausting before I had even gotten on stage.

“There’s nothing to tell,” I mumbled, hoping they would drop it.

Corinne snorted. “Oh come on we need details, you can’t keep us girls in the dark. I’m single and she’s left her boyfriend behind, we need this to vicariously live through you and your amazing sex life.”

“Jeez, don’t hold back, will ya.” She could rival Elijah with how forward she was being. I would maybe have to keep that thought to myself. I didn’t see that going down well. He already was feeling a little down as there was nothing happening work wise for him. He had been to audition after audition but heard nothing back. His confidence had taken a little bit of a battering. I didn’t want to add this to it.

“So, come on,” they both urged, as I rolled my eyes. They were freaking perverts.

“Joel is . . . well, he’s really good in the bedroom department.”

“Fuck me, we knew that already. We want details. How big is it?” Corinne asked, her eyes widened in anticipation.

“You did not just ask me that?” I shrieked.

“I told you we want details”

I snorted. “I’m not telling you that.”

“Err spoilsport, I’m going to go out on a limb, also I noticed the bulge earlier and say he is around the nine-inch mark.” Micha grinned.

I blushed deeply.

Fuck.

“Oh my god, Izzy, your face is giving you away, you lucky, lucky bitch.”

I didn’t need to say any more. So I didn’t.

“Oh come on, Iz,” they pleaded, giving me the eyes. Did they really think something like that would make me loose lipped with all the details?

No way.

“But he’s my fiancé, please don’t ask. It’s bad enough that you know what my sex sounds are like. I am completely mortified. I’m pretty sure Josh isn’t going to let me forget.” I was almost sure he’d take great pleasure bringing it up over and over.

“Oh he’ll remind you at every opportunity. He once walked in on me and a guy in the toilets. We were banging away and little did I know pervert there was enjoying the floor show,” Corinne admitted as Micha and I cringed.

“Eww, he is such a dick. He really lives to just embarrass us.” Micha scowled.

“Well, he has enough material on me now to get him through the next three months.” I sighed, just dreading all the piss takes that were about to follow. It didn’t take much to embarrass me, and now he had enough ammunition to last him a lifetime.

“Well, apart from the explosive sex, did you have a good time?” Corinne asked.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to let him go. I miss him so much, this whole distance apart is an absolute killer and we’ve only just started.” I thought back to me crying on the platform as I watched Joel head towards his train. He had held me and soothed me, but in the end, he had to let go and leave me there in a flood of tears. I calmed down after twenty minutes of slowly sipping on a coffee. I guess it would never get easier. It was just something that I’d have to get used to.

“It’s hard at first, but then you’ll adapt and learn to get by through FaceTiming and texting, as long as you don’t lose that connection, it will be enough to get you through the days and it’s not forever, right? Think of all the amazing sex you’ll have once you’re reunited.” Micha winked in an effort to cheer me up.

She did have a point.

“Oh did I see a hint of a smile there?” Corinne teased.

I had to admit the thought of being alone with Joel and nothing between us was enough to bring more than a smile to my face despite my present mood.

“You’ve got me there.”

“Ahh girl I would be smiling too if I had my own Joel.” Corinne sighed and I couldn’t help but feel lucky that I had him too. He would soon be home now and that thought made my heart heavy.

“I think we need to arrange a girly night to cheer Izzy up. I’m talking popcorn, ice cream and Ryan Gosling. What do you say after the performance we veg and just unwind.”

It was a perfect idea. I’d be too wired to sleep anyway, so hanging out with the girls sounded good.

“I’m in. What do you want me to bring?”

Micha bit her lip in contemplation. “Some ice cream, chocolate and whatever snacks you can lay your hands on. We can go all out and then pound it off during rehearsals. We can allow for a binge session every now and then.”

“I think it’s a given that we have a huge blow out,” Corinne added with a smile.

“Say my room at eleven?” I’m furthest away from Josh so we don’t have to listen to his sex antics while we drool over Ryan.” Micha grinned.

“Eww, I do not have to hear that guy banging any more, like really can he not settle down instead of dipping his dick in every vagina going.” Corinne scowled.

Micha’s eyes slowly perused Corinne’s face. “Are you maybe a little jealous perhaps? You always seem to have an issue with him in particular despite the other guys banging away just the same.”

“No,” Corinne snapped, blushing.

Ahhh she did.

“I think you were too quick to protest there,” Micha added, stirring the pot.

Corinne pulled a face. “Do you honestly think I could even like someone that acts that way?”

“Honey, your face is telling me different. How long have you liked him and how come I’ve never noticed before? Normally I’m quite intuitive like that.” Micha sighed looking annoyed at herself.

“I don’t know what you mean, I don’t—”

“Please, just admit it,” Micha urged as Corinne frowned.

“Fine, I like him. Are you happy?” Corinne barked.

“Not really when it’s making you miserable. How long have you liked him?”

She bit her lip looking hesitant to answer. “For a while, we hung out a few times secretly, and he well, he showed me a side of him that was different. I guess it all changed from there.”

“Does he even know that you like him?” Micha asked.

Her eyes dropped down. “What do you think?”

“He might act differently if he did,” I added softly, hoping not to enrage her anger any more.

“I don’t know it’s as if something flipped a switch like he knew we were getting too close and he changed. He started shagging around and almost parading it in my face. I never thought he could do something like that. I thought we had something, sure, it was early days, but there was a spark there. Something that told me he had feelings too.”

Micha grabbed her hand. “He probably does like you but you know how some guys are they run scared from any form of commitment.”

“I know in the early days with me and Joel, he was scared to commit. He had so many issues and it was hard to love someone who you know has feelings for you, but they are scared to admit it. There were times I thought about just walking away but love doesn’t let you. Your heart won’t let you. Because you know they could be the one and you hold onto that hope, and if you’re lucky like me, it all works out in the end.”

“I hope so.” She sighed but the look in her eyes told me she was far from believing her own words.

“God, Izzy, you are nearly making me cry, girl. I think I need to ring my boyfriend.” Micha headed off leaving us alone. Corinne smiled, masking her despair. I knew there was good in Josh, that he had the capability to be a good boyfriend, but was he ready to commit?

“It will work its way out eventually. Sometimes guys just need that extra shove. If you really like him then tell him, put it out there. If he rejects you, then it’s his loss. You move on because you deserve better and you will find it.”

“Izzy, I don’t think I can. He does little things that I know are directed at me. It’s almost like he’s trying to hurt me, to tell me that he doesn’t want me that way. He flaunts all his skanks in front of me. I just try to harden myself to it. He’s never going to change, I know that, so I need to move on. It’s just hard when you have to see each other every day.”

“Then we’ll help you move on. We’ll have lots of girly time together, and we’ll help you find a guy who’s going to treat you like you should be treated,” I soothed. I would do anything I could to help her get through the pain I had gone through already.

“Thanks, Izzy, it’s nice to finally get it out into the open. I’ve been bottling it up and lately it just seemed like everything was about to come to ahead.”

“Tonight will be our night to forget about guys that suck and concentrate on Ryan.” He was always a good distraction.

“We all can depend on Ryan to make us smile,” she added.

“That’s for certain.” My phone sprung to life, Elijah’s name quickly flashed up. I was debating to answer in case it involved anything of the wedding kind, but then I felt guilty for ignoring him.

“Hey, you’d better get that. I’ll leave you to it.” Corinne stood up and smiled, before walking off.

“Hey Elijah.”

“Hey Iz, I just thought I’d give you a ring and—”

“Oh Izzy, remember to bring The Notebook, there’s no evening if we don’t have him to perv over.”

I covered the mouthpiece. “Will do.”

“Sorry, that was just Corinne—”

“Are you seriously planning to watch The Notebook without me?” Elijah shrieked. Almost causing me to lose all hearing in my right ear.

“Well . . . errr yeah,” I finally admitted, waiting for the onslaught.

“What happened to our pact?” he all but yelled.

“Well, it’s just the girls wanted to—”

“Oh so you blow our agreement away when it suits you.” He snorted, his voice filled with rage.

“But—”

“Don’t try to justify yourself, Izzy, it’s fine.” But I knew it was far from fine.

“Elijah, please, it’s hard enough being away from you all. I have to have something that makes me happy. The girls needed a girly night, and it is the perfect film to watch.”

He sighed. “It is and I’m sorry. It’s only because I miss you and our Ryan and Channing nights. Sam doesn’t like chick flicks, he just doesn’t get them.” There was a touch of annoyance to his voice. Poor Sam. They were totally different in that aspect.

“I miss you too. I wish you were here to meet my new friends. You would love them.”

“I’ll be coming to see you soon, but with work and everything, it’s finding the time to get off as we’re short staffed. I would kill to be there tonight with you all.”

I smiled as I knew he meant every word. “You could be, we could FaceTime and watch the DVD together. The only problem is we’ll be watching after the show so it won’t be till eleven thirty. Is that too late for work?”

“Nope, I’m doing the afternoon session tomorrow. Sam is always out like a light. I could curl up on the sofa and chat to you all.”

“Perfect then.” I grinned.

“Ooooh, I might go out and buy a onesie for the occasion,” he chirped, excitement laced in his voice.

“There’s no need—”

“Seriously, Iz, I’ve been looking at it for a while, but Sam said I had to cut back on my spending but it is to die for. If I’m meeting your friends at a slumber party then I’m wearing a onesie.”

“Won’t Sam get mad?” I asked, frowning. I didn’t want to be the cause of any arguments.

“Oh I’m sure I can win him ’round in other ways. You know how persuasive I am. He can’t stay mad at me for long. Anyway I have to go and buy it. Ooh I could maybe stop at Royale’s too and buy some accessories, maybe a scarf?”

“Elijah—”

“I gotta go, Iz. I’m so excited about tonight. Will talk to you later, sweetie, bye.”

He hung up before I even had chance to persuade him he didn’t need to get dressed up. Heck, I’d be wearing my old pyjama bottoms and a T-shirt, but it was his typical style to go all out. I knew it had a lot to do with his mood and his need to impress. I should maybe warn Corinne and Micha about his overzealous personality, but I was sure they would love him and be more than ready for a visit in person. I missed him like crazy, but as his normal topic of conversation was always wedding related, I was glad for the distance in that way. I looked at my watch I had to be at the theatre shortly I needed to finish up and get going. I was hoping my second night was going to run more smoothly.