Deviant(20)

Louisa gasped. “Shit. Of all the things I thought, I didn’t expect this.”

I nodded. “I thought we were going to walk in and find Lurch answering the door, and a bunch of suits of armour standing on either side of the walls.” I shuddered at the thought.

Louisa laughed, but then we were interrupted by the man who answered the door. “If you walk through this door, this is where all the guests are waiting. I shall take your bags to your rooms. Please take your keys. Miss Temple, you will be in room twenty. Miss O’Shea, you will be in room twenty-one.”

We both nodded and took the keys. “Thank you. Can you tell me if the owner will be here this evening?”

The man smiled at me. “No, I’m sorry, but I can’t. I have never met him so I cannot say.”

I highly doubted he was telling the truth, but nodded anyway.

Louisa and I stood and watched as he walked off. We were left feeling a little nervous about what we would find once that door was open.

Taking a deep breath, Louisa shrugged. “Here goes nothing, girlfriend.”

She grabbed the handle and pushed. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t just a bunch of random people sitting around drinking and chatting. Most of the guests were men, but there were a couple of other girls sitting in chairs, eyeing us as we walked in. It made me wonder if they were another Tyler and Louisa…out of their freaking minds!

Of course, once we opened the door, all went silent and every set of eyes immediately snapped in our direction.

Like us, they were all dressed smart, but casual. At least I could breathe a sigh of relief that I had managed to wear something that could be pulled off for any occasion. For me, you could never go wrong with a little black dress. And don’t forget the high heels.

“Good evening,” one of the men said as we entered. “My name’s John, this is Jose, and the gentleman next to him is Pete. May I ask your names?”

“I’m Tyler,” I replied, offering him my hand. “And this is Louisa.”

I took a moment to regard John as he shook our hands. Every guy in here was handsome in their own right. The women were also pretty. I kind of felt a little exposed. I wasn’t sure whether this was on a list of criteria or not. What if I failed miserably in the owner’s eyes? I wasn’t sure why I even cared.

The other noticeable thing was that every one of them were either in their late twenties or early thirties. All looked like they had varying degrees of money, but none of them looked poor.

John was tall and well-built. He had dark, slicked back hair and blue eyes. He wore a white shirt with tanned chinos, and had a dimple of his left cheek when he smiled. Jose looked Mediterranean, with soft olive skin, light brown eyes, and wavy brown hair. Very nice. Pete was your average blonde, not so tall, but had a rather cheeky smile.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” I finally managed to say as I broke free from John’s grip.

“The pleasure is certainly mine.” John trailed his eyes over both Louisa and I, making us blush.

“I believe I’m missing out on the introductions.”

Everyone turned their attention to the voice behind us, and what I found nearly had me on the floor. Both Louisa and I gasped. “Brad?”

Brad smiled cautiously as he approached. I wasn’t sure whether he was still mad at me after the incident a few nights ago. “Tyler, nice to see you again. And this is Louisa, right?” Brad leaned in for a kiss on the cheek.

“That’s right. You remembered.” Louisa flicked her auburn hair, and I couldn’t help but notice Pete taking a breath at her sight. It certainly looked like she had an admirer already.

“It’s kind of my job to be as observant as I can. I don’t think that was a night I could easily forget.” Brad looked my way and I cringed a little.

“Don’t embarrass the poor girl, Brad. For fuck’s sake.” John glared at him.

Brad just shrugged and came in closer. “So, have you managed to figure out what kind of relationship you and this guy have?”

With Brad side-lining me like that, Louisa took it as her cue to carry on talking with John and the others. I did notice that Pete went muscling in there straight away. I think he wanted to stake his claim, and quickly.

“I’m not in a relationship, Brad. It’s really hard to explain, but I can tell you I’m not taken.”

Brad looked confused and I couldn’t blame him. “Are you being stalked or something? You know that’s against the law, right?”

I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped me. Brad seemed to see what it was before I could even wrap my head around it myself. I wanted to tell him, but I felt some sort of morbid loyalty to my stranger.