Читать книгу A Good Girl’s Guide To Bad Boys - Katie Hart - Страница 16

Chapter 11

My feet moved almost mechanically. Forwards, backwards and across while my arms rose above my head and I ran my hands down my bare stomach. The beat rang through my chest and echoed around the warehouse. I had decided to take a break after uni. The crew weren’t practising but I didn’t feel like going home. So I did what I normally did when I was stressed or needed to sort my head out. Danced. I moved down onto the floor, allowing my arm to hold my weight as I shuffled and kept my feet in the air above me, almost as if I was flying, weightless.

Dancing had always been important to me, from the age of five when my mum enrolled me in ballet, to the age of thirteen, when I saw a street crew dancing for money in the streets. It sorted me out if I was stressed and provided a break from reality, which recently I really needed.

My breaths rushed in gasps and I smiled to myself, leaning forwards and resting on my knees.

‘You’re good.’ I raised my eyes and found myself glancing up at Seb.

I straightened, placing my hands on my back as I stretched myself out. ‘Um, thanks,’ I replied through my gasps of breath and Seb smiled.

‘No problem. Although, I didn’t come here to stalk you,’ he joked and I smiled, turning around to turn the CD player off.

‘So, what did you come here for?’ I asked, wiping my forehead with my towel.

‘I did originally come here to ask you out for a coffee but I think that you could probably use a shower first.’ He smiled and I grinned, sniffing my armpit.

‘Do I really smell that bad?’ I teased and he laughed, shaking his head.

‘Nope but feel free to stop at my dad’s place for a shower, it’s closer than mine or yours,’ he said with a shrug as if it was nothing. I, on the other hand, wasn’t too keen on the idea of being anywhere near the father of the two brothers.

‘Sure, that’d be great.’ I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder as Seb led me over to his car. It wasn’t quite as nice as Hunter’s but it was probably about £100,000 out of my price range. Seb held the door open and watched me as I stopped, his eyes flickering over my stomach in the crop top.

‘Would you prefer it if I sit on my towel?’ I asked and his brows furrowed.

‘Unless you sweat through your ass, you’re fine without it,’ he replied with a teasing edge to his voice. I felt my cheeks burn as I gave him a sour look, lowering myself onto the posh-looking leather seats.

‘I took you for a motorbike kind of guy,’ I admitted, fiddling with the straps on my bag.

Seb smirked, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. ‘Do I look that bad ass?’ he asked and I laughed, shaking my head.

‘My dad drives a motorbike. He works in an office. Motorbike does not mean badass. But, yeah, you do,’ I added. He chuckled, turning the wheel effortlessly onto a neat-looking street. The houses were like soldiers, standing straight and tall, towering over the road as we drove through. Seb stopped outside one of the biggest houses there, killing the engine.

After looking over at me, he smiled, getting out of his side and walking over to mine to hold the door open. I thanked him and followed him up the steps to his house, gaping in awe when he revealed the marble porch that led to the type of bachelor pad you’d see on MTV.

‘Wow,’ I squeaked, looking at the pictures on the wall and the plasma screen that looked about the size of my bed. What surprised me was that for a father, there were no pictures of his sons, his wife or any form of family member. Just a couple pictures of some supercars. Seb chuckled, leading me through to a fairly large bedroom. It was clean, too clean for a room that was lived in.

‘This is the guest bedroom, you can use the ensuite.’ I followed his arm as he gestured to the door at the back of the room. I nodded and thanked him before going into the blinding white bathroom.

In no time at all, I was in the shower and feeling the hot water rushing down my body, soothing away the aches and sweat.

Seb was waiting for me after I had changed, applied a thin layer of mascara and towel-dried my hair.

‘Ready to go?’ Seb asked, heading towards the door. I nodded, following him back out to his car. Going for coffee didn’t seem like too bad an idea; he couldn’t exactly do anything to me in a public place, but Hunter’s warning was stuck in my head.

The car rumbled to life again once I was inside, it roared ferociously before trampling down the road towards a cafe. I’d never seen it before but it looked fairly cosy.

‘My dad used to take Hunter and me here when we were kids. The cappuccino is amazing,’ Seb threw over his shoulder. I tried not to show my curiosity at hearing about their dad. Hunter hadn’t really said anything about his family.

‘Hunter hasn’t really mentioned his dad,’ I admitted and Seb glanced over his shoulder.

‘It’s understandable. They don’t really get along,’ he informed me as he held the door open.

The cafe was something like Starbucks but quainter and not quite so busy. I took Seb’s advice and ordered the cappuccino before trailing behind him to a booth in the far corner.

‘Does he get along with anybody in your family?’ I joked, attempting to look like I wasn’t digging in his personal life.

‘His mum, that’s about it,’ Seb said, looking at me over the rim of his cup.

‘You don’t have the same mother?’ I asked and he chuckled.

‘We’re only a few months difference in age,’ he clarified and I nodded, blushing. ‘He doesn’t really help himself with the family side of things, though,’ he added.

‘How so?’ I pushed.

‘Let’s just say that he walked out on a lot of things, some more important than others,’ he replied in a hushed tone. He glanced around the cafe before leaning on the table with a small smile. ‘Anyway, enough about me. Have you got any siblings?’ he asked.

‘Nope, only child. You, apart from Hunter?’ I replied.

‘Nope,’ he answered, leaning back in his chair. ‘What do your parents do?’ he asked.

‘My dad works in a law firm and my mum designs clothes, yours?’

Seb smirked. ‘My mum is a nurse,’ he replied. I tried to ignore the fact that he didn’t mention his father, the challenging glint in his eye prevented me from pushing it.

We managed about an hour of small talk about families, hobbies and chocolate before Seb decided to drop me home. Just as I got to the lift, my phone started to blast out my mum’s personal ringtone.

‘Hey, Mum,’ I replied in a chirpy tone, grimacing as the lift doors clamped shut.

‘You haven’t called for a few days,’ were her first words. I rolled my eyes, looking at the tattered ceiling in exasperation.

‘I know, I’ve been busy studying, Mum,’ I breathed out. The doors opened and I strolled out towards the door to our apartment.

‘I hope you are, young lady.’ She continued to talk but I ignored her as soon as I smelt a smoky, earthy stench attack me. Frowning, I walked into the front room, only to find Hunter and another guy with what looked like a lump of drugs.

‘Is that pot!?’ I exclaimed far too loudly, snapping the attention of both boys into my direction.

‘Andrea Celeste Deeks, are you taking drugs?!’ my mother’s voice screeched through the end of the link and I stiffened. I was pretty sure that all the colour had drained from my face.

‘No, mum, pot as in cooking pot,’ I replied nervously, glaring in Hunter’s direction as he looked at me lazily. The guy beside him looked stoned out of his head so I breathed through my mouth, walking into the other room, trying to get away from the smell.