Gifted Connections: Book 2(98)

“Woah, Blake,” Terrance said in a flirtatious tone as he winked at the boys.

The team had become like family, and he was well aware of my connections, but I also knew that wouldn’t stop him from pushing their buttons.

“Thanks,” I blushed, glad for the low lighting in the restaurant.

“You look fabulous girl!” Dawn exclaimed.

“Thanks,” I muttered with a smile.

“I heard you had an altercation and botched kidnapping attempt today,” Michael said as he leaned forward with concern. “Are you okay?”

I gave him a feigned smile and nodded as the others groaned at his lack of tact. “Fine.” I said as I glared at Jemmy.

“It wasn’t me.” She held up her hands.

“Will told us,” Terrance explained gently. “We have a team meeting on Monday, after the o-course, with the other teams. He has apprised us of the new situation regarding your…brother and Horatio.”

We had a ‘friendly’ competition on Monday, involving all the active Knights. We canceled our normal morning run in lieu of the race. It also gave us a little extra time to sleep in. It was scheduled after school began.

“Am I permitted to come?” I asked with interest. I didn’t want to be out of the loop. My hatred for Horatio had grown since this morning. I wanted to hit him where it hurt, more now than ever.

Terrance nodded. “All the teams will be there. Jemmy, Jaxson, Rachel, Gavin, and Noah will be excused from all their classes for the complete day, not just the morning.”

“Why didn’t I hear about this?” Jemmy asked affronted. This afternoon, we had already had a family meeting, minus Remy, to let them know about the new development.

“Because Pops wanted you to study for the test you’re supposed to be taking,” Noah said with a snort of laughter.

Jemmy rolled her eyes. “It’s not the first time I had to take a make-up test,” she said petulantly.

“Enough shop talk,” Rachel insisted as she handed me a drink. Her eyes were glazed over, her cheeks red, and she looked more perky than normal.

My eyes narrowed as I took a sip of it. She winked at me and held a finger up to her lips, in the universal ‘be quiet’ gesture. The drink wasn’t unpleasant, in fact it was tasty. I could taste something sour; orange juice and another taste I wasn’t familiar with. I eyed my glass for a moment before I shrugged and took another large sip. I knew it contained alcohol, but I didn’t care. After the day I had, I needed it.

I had never been a big drinker. In fact, after growing up near Heidi and her boyfriends, I had shunned it. It wasn’t until I felt I could drink in a controlled environment around people I felt safe with, did I ever allow myself to slightly overindulge in it. Plus, Will was raised in an Italian family. It was common for the children in his family to have a glass of wine with dinner. Although he hadn’t allowed his own children and the children partake in it. He had allowed Jemmy, Jaxson, Rachel, and I to drink the occasional glass with dinner.

Jaxson and Jace came back with our food, and I found myself caught up in the current conversation. Rachel and Jemmy continued to fill my glass and I let them. Especially after I spied Remy above us on the catwalk. He wasn’t alone.

Remy had kept, but refaced and renovated, the old foreman’s office located in the corner of the restaurant. You had to climb a set of metal stairs to get it. He had also kept the original catwalk that circled and intersected the outside perimeter of the whole restaurant. He found it convenient to walk along it and watch from above to make sure his employees were being productive.

I saw Remy had gotten the memo about our costumes because he was dressed as Thor. Scoot over, Chris Hemsworth, because you have nothing on Remington Murphy, I thought as I looked up at him. He still seemed to be in his aloof mood, but that hadn’t stopped two of the Knight females I was vaguely familiar with from following him to the upper level. He didn’t seem to be entertaining them much as he leaned on the railing watching the party with an unfathomable look. They continued to fawn all over him and kept whispering stuff in his ears. I was seeing red.

“Let’s dance,” Troy stated as he saw me glance up at the catwalk for the hundredth time.

I normally reserved all my dancing to the bedroom while I was alone with my music turned up, but I was feeling good enough to shed all my natural inhibitions. I took his proffered hand and let him lead me to the dance floor. I let the music sweep me away and danced with wild abandon, not caring who was watching.

Jemmy and Rachel joined us on the dance floor, and soon we were all laughing and having a fun time. I needed this more than ever. The last few weeks had been harrowing. Today had been terrifying. I needed to forget, even if it was temporary.

Jaxson and Noah were the next ones to join us and I allowed Noah to maneuver me around the floor in seductive, suggestive dances. He growled in my ear at one time. “You have no clue how sexy you are and how much I want to take you, right here and right now.”

I gave him a sultry smile as Jemmy and Rachel grabbed both of my hands and led me to the bar. “Bathroom and drink time,” Jemmy pushed the boys away, before dragging me to the bathroom.

I hadn’t realized how full my bladder was until we got to the bathroom. I started to do a pee pee dance as we waited in line for one of the six stalls.

“There’s no line for the guys bathroom,” Rachel giggled pragmatically as she grabbed our hands and led us back down to the hallway to the men’s bathroom.