Althena Book 2

64. Invited

The helicopter lands at our house and I text Lila. She comes over.

"My cousin isn't expecting me until 9. I'm staying with her, and we have a day of stuff planned tomorrow. I saw you on the news. It looked like every rich person from Darkburn was at that party." She plops down on the couch beside me.

"Yea, it was exhausting." I put my feet up on the table. "Is my boat docked in the docks district?"

Drogon shakes his head. "No. The Docks District is towards the river inlet. Your boat is at a dock at the far end of the Beach District."

Conner puts his shoes on. "If it was in the Docks District, we would need a plane to get to it instead of the helicopter. The boat is leaving the dock at 9 though. Make sure you're on it before then."

"I'm invited?"

"It's your boat, baby. We have to be there, and we're not leaving you here."

Drogon laughs. "Yes. You're invited."

"Where's it going?"

"We're going to take it up the river and dock in Riverside. That's where most of the kids are from. A few are from the palace district. They'll have helicopters there to take them home. It'll be a 5-hour trip. You need to be on the boat by 9."

Lila nods. "I need to be at my cousin's by 9. We'll be there before then. Can I use a helicopter to go to my cousin's house?"

"Yea, that's fine."

The boys leave and Lila and I sit on the couch and watch tv. "Did you want to do anything?"

"Not wear heels."

She laughs. "Yea, you were really dressed up. It's nice to sit here."

"It is." I nod. "I have to get ready, or I will be asleep very soon."

"Same."

My phone wakes us up at 7:30. "Where are you?"

"Sleeping."

Mike laughs. "I wondered why the guards said they were on the porch. Don't forget 9, babygirl."

"I remember. Thanks for the wake up call. We're up now." I hang up.

Lila falls over and stretches. "Good nap."

"Yep. I need boat clothes."

"What the hell are boat clothes?"

"I don't know."

"Wear a bikini under some shorts and a t-shirt. I think that's what people wear on a boat."

"Good plan." I get up and stagger upstairs. I put myself together and put my hair in a messy bun. It's good enough to be on the boat. Then I change my mind and put a summer dress on over the swimsuit.

Lila sees me. "I want one."

We go back upstairs, and she picks out a summer dress and fixes her hair. Then we finally leave at about 8:30.

We get out of the helicopter and I can see my boat is all lit up. Looks like every light is on.

"I can hear music from here. They need to turn that down."

"We're going out over the ocean. It doesn't matter."

"That's your boat?"

"Yea."

"That thing is huge."

"I'll give you a tour before you leave. We can take it out another time."

She giggles and gets out her phone. "Have our own party. I'm setting my alarm for 10 till 9. I have to leave by then... My cousin canceled. She's ill."

"I'm sorry. You can party with us tonight. Come on. I'll give you the tour."

We get on the boat, and she's in awe. We go through the bottom first and I show her the bedrooms. Then we go through the kitchen and dining areas. The interior living rooms.

"Where is everyone?"

"On the deck. The top 2 levels have deck space outside."

"I bet it's beautiful."

"There's a pool up there."

"Damn."

She follows me onto the back deck and there are 5 guys sitting on the couches. I don't know any of them. Clayton is on a couch with a girl. She's whispering something in his ear. Or maybe kissing his neck. He's pulling on her bikini top. Lila freezes beside me.

Clayton looks up and stares. He's not staring at me though. He's staring at Lila. I look and she's still frozen in place.

I spin her around and put my arm around her. I lead her the hell out of there. We get down a level, and it's empty again. "You ok? I didn't know there would be girls here."

She rubs her face and nods. "It's fine. I need to go."

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here. I guess we were right. I'll stop liking him soon enough."

"We can stay down here."

"No. Just say the original plan. I have plans with my cousin. Don't say anything about me liking him, please."

"Of course. You're going to your cousins and wanted to see the boat first. I gave you a quick tour. All is perfect."

"Thank you. I'll tour the rest later."

I help her off the boat and watch the helicopter take off. I don't know where she's going, but I can't make her stay. I know she's hurt. I can't imagine seeing someone I like, like that. Then I remember Darmon at his engagement party. I felt like such a fool.

"You good, baby?" Conner puts his arm around me.

"Yea, how is everything going up there?"

"Fine, we're getting ready to leave the dock. Did Lila leave?"

"Yea. She couldn't stay."

"That's right. Her cousin." He leads me up the steps and to the pool deck.

There are probably 20 people in the pool and hot tub. Clayton and Akmae are sitting at the bar drinking beer. Conner grabs one and sits with them.

"You guys are boring."

Akmae smirks. "We can sit here and watch girls in bikinis this way."

"CONNER."

He smacks Akmae in the arm. "That's not what we're doing. We're having a drink and watching the water."

"I'm watching you, Conner."

"I know, babygirl. Drogon's probably watching the girls."

My eye twitches and I take off for the wheel deck. Mike, Monte, Cyrus, and Drogon are all in it. I cross my arms and glare at them.

Mike gives me a double take. "What, baby?"

"Are you guys watching the girls in bikinis?"

Mike shakes his head. "I didn't know there were girls here." Then he stops. "We can't leave them unsupervised together. That's a lot of teenagers."

Monte nods. "He said his guy friends. There's a lot of alcohol here too."

"Shit." Cyrus takes off. "I won't look at the girls, woman. Get out of the way. We can't leave drunk teenagers alone. Someone will end up f*****g pregnant or falling off the boat."

Monte nods and goes with him. "Probably both."

Mike winks at me. "I'll be up here driving the boat, babygirl."

Drogon kisses my cheek. "You know better than to worry about us, baby. We'll keep an eye on everything, but we won't mess with the girls."

I wrap my arms around him. "I love you."

"I love you too. You relax and meet some of your brother's friends. If anything gets stupid, you come get us."

"Ok." I go back to the bar and sit by Conner. "I love you."

"I love you, baby. You know I will never touch anyone else. I want you, forever."

Akmae leans up and smirks. "But he will look."

I smack Conner across the chest.

"Damn it, asshole. She was calming down."

"She looks too. Don't let her fool you. Look there." He points.

I turn and watch a sexy man get out of the pool. He's only got shorts on and lots of muscles. Clayton and Akmae crack up laughing.

Conner puts an eyebrow up at me. "What was that, woman?"

"He said look."

"He didn't say, stare and drool."

"I didn't drool."

"It was close." He kisses my head. "It's fine to look."

"Conner, you just want to look at boobs."

"I want to look at your boobs." He pulls the top of my dress out and looks down it. "You have the best boobs."

"No." Clayton pulls me away. "Just no. Is Lila still here?"

"No. She had a thing with her cousin. I was giving her a quick tour of the boat before she left."

"Ok." He seems sad when he says it. I wonder if he likes her. Not that it would matter any more anyway.

"You boys can go back to trying to get girls topless now. I'm going to do something else."

"See if Mike put food behind the bar, please, babygirl."

Monte comes up when I'm going through the bar. "30 teenagers. 31 counting you. It'll be fine. We can handle this."

"Good to know, but they're getting hungry."

He smacks my butt when I bend over. "Get out of there. I'll make steaks. They'll be fine."

"Thank you."

I go back to Conner and step between his legs. "Monte's cooking steak."

He rubs my legs up to my hips. "Relax, babygirl. You want a drink?"

"No."

"Come on." He takes my hand and leads me to the back deck. Then he pulls me down on top of him on the couch. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know anybody. They keep looking at me. I wish Lila would have stayed. We could have hid in a bedroom and did our toenails or something. Hell, I wish I was at the casino. I could get some work done."

"You have to make the best out of the situation at hand. Remember it's for Clayton. You don't have to drink. But you can watch the water and enjoy the breeze. Talk to people a little. It'll be ok. We'll be home before you know it. And you're doing your interview tomorrow. Someone said you 2 are scuba diving too."

"Yea, that's gonna be fun."

"We'll be fine, baby. Let's make it through the night."

I snuggle him. "Ok."

"Clayton is not in a good mood." Akmae sits across from us.

Conner shakes his head. "I'm trying to get laid here."

Akmae nods. "This is a bad spot, man."

They crack up laughing.

"He's always trying to get laid." I sit up so he does too. "What's wrong with Clayton?"

"No idea. His mood changed fast. And you don't fit. You're not wearing a bikini."

Conner growls.

"What? I'm helping you."

"That is true. You're not wearing a bikini, babygirl. You should be."

Clayton sits by Akmae and stares at the table.

"What is your problem, Clayton?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit." I smirk. I already know. "You have to say it."

"I like Lila."

"And you let her catch you with another girl. That was very stupid."

"I didn't know she would show up with you."

"I would have told her if she hadn't."

"I know. I'm a f*****g idiot." His head falls back.

"Why didn't you invite her?" Akmae takes a drink.

"She's Thena's friend. Not mine."

"You just like messing around with girls that are hard to get." Conner pulls out his phone. "You're young, that happens."

"Oh, so you never messed around with anyone?"

"Sure I did. They weren't Thena though. That's who I wanted. After I figured out she was mine, I never touched anyone else. The thought never even crossed my mind. She's mine. I'll mess around with her forever. She's all I've ever wanted."

"How do I get to Lila?"

I cross my arms. "If you want to mess around with other girls, you don't. You're not ready for a commitment. You'll end up hurting her. And it sounds like you want to make out with random girls for a while."

"I want to mess around with her."

I laugh. "Clayton, she's not going to do that. If you want to make out with girls, you have to leave her alone."

"I am ready for a commitment."

"She's not." Conner rolls his eyes. "She doesn't want that with anyone but her mate."

I go for the door and roll my eyes.

"Where you going?"

"I need to get my story straight. Everything is different now."

Clayton jumps up. "Does she like me?"

"Well, probably not now. She saw you with another girl. This is what you get. Now sit the f**k down and think about what you did. I guarantee you weren't thinking about her at all when you were trying to get your hand in that girl's swimsuit."

"I'll never do it again. I won't touch anyone else if she likes me."

Conner cracks up laughing and pushes him down. "Let your sister talk to her. She'll see if she likes you or not."

I roll my eyes and go to one of the bedrooms. I throw myself on the bed and get my phone out.

Cyrus about takes the door off. "Is anyone in here with you?"

"No."

"I'm sorry. We have the bedrooms monitored. Can't be too careful."

"I understand. I'm going to talk to Lila for a minute. When are we leaving the dock?"

"In about 15 minutes."

"Will you let me know right before that, please? I would like to watch from the deck."

"Of course, baby." He kisses my shoulder then leaves.