“I’d like a shower first, I feel a little bit yucky. How do I look?” she asks playfully.
“Like an angel,” I reply.
“Liar,” she grins back and begins to tentatively move. I put my beer down, climb off the bed and walk around to her side. I hold my hands out as she cringes rolling onto her bum and I pull her up.
“Would you like me to help you in the shower?” I offer.
“No, I’m going to use the toilet and then stand under the spray until my body starts working again,” she replies. I can see a red rim around her neck where the wooden frame and her necklace must have chaffed at her skin. I’ll need to put lotion on that.
“Ok, I’ll go see what the plans are for dinner, are you hungry?” I ask.
“I think I missed lunch so yeah, I am pretty hungry.”
“I think we all did, now I think about it.”
“Sorry about that,” she replies guiltily.
“Hey, that wasn’t your fault. Are you feeling ok about what happened?”
“Yeah, it was just another job, right? With my favourite men. I would like to speak to Tye and Mack about their father, but my need for the toilet and to feel human again wins. I’ll see you in the lounge after?”
“Take your time,” I reply as I lower my lips to the top of her head and watch her disappear into the ensuite.
Sophie
I stand under the rainfall shower for what feels like eternity, the hot water soothing my muscles that I swear I clenched for hours on end. Never has my body worked out so hard, I feel like I just took a reformers pilates class on repeat whilst being fucked. The hot water did sting like a bitch when I first got in but I’ve gotten used to the water cascading down my back and legs now. When I feel like I might be at risk of using all the hot water supply, I climb out and feel like my joints have been re-oiled or something. I stand in front of the sink and mirror, getting dry. I take a peek at my backside which is pink from the shower but the only marks visible are from the cane. Fourteen lines and I felt every single one of them. I pull on one of Flynn’s giant t-shirts and stare back at myself in the mirror, thinking what the fuck happened this afternoon?
My stomach growls so I leave the bathroom and pad towards the voices and smell of grilled cheese sandwiches. “Hi,” I say as four gorgeous men turn to see me, each with a different look of concern in their eyes. “I’m fine. I am showered and feel fresh and hungry. No harm done,” I say, holding up my hands. “Honestly. Are you all ok?” I look between them. Mack, Tye and Flynn are at the table and Rory is making the sandwiches under the grill.
“We’re fine,” replies Mack. “Here, I have a cushion on the seat, come sit down,” he commands. I smile at his thoughtfulness.
“Thanks,” I say as I ease my sore bottom down and Rory walks the grilled cheese around and places the plate in front of me.
“Eat,” he instructs and then kisses the top of my head.
“So bossy,” I rebuff good naturedly but I am very happy to dive into the food.
I watch as rounds of grilled cheese are devoured and we all talk about everything except the elephant in the room until Rory hands out fresh beers and sits down to eat his own toasted sandwich.
“So, your father is quite something…” he trails off, opening the table up for Mack or Tye. Mack runs his hand down his face and Tye looks grim.
“Yeah, you could say that,” Tye replies.
“Tell me he wasn’t like that your whole childhood,” I plead.
“He was,” confirms Tye, “but we learnt to live with it. Rules and structure above all else. His father was the same. It made the family a great deal of money though.”
“I can’t imagine doing business with him. I can’t believe he is your father, you are nothing like him.”
“We have a very good example of how not to be. Our mother wasn’t like him, she shielded us until we lost her so it wasn’t so bad.”
“How did you lose her? How old were you?” I ask, thinking of my own father.
“I was twelve and Mack was sixteen. Car crash. It felt like we had woken up in a prison when she was gone. If our father was strict when she was around, he was strict on steroids after she died.” I look on in horror as my heart aches for these two sweet men.
“Our one saving grace was that we were sent off to boarding school to finish our studies. Away from him and his overbearing expectations. By the time we came out we then went on to university, on campus, and managed to stay away. We’ve been doing as much ever since.”
“I’m sorry, that sounds rough,” I say and squeeze their legs below the table.
