Page 16 of Fragile

Max snorted loudly. “You mean the Antichrist? Too much effort mate. I swear, the woman has a death stare that could shrivel up even the toughest guy's balls. I don’t have the energy to teach her there are other more pleasurable things to do with that tongue.”

The Antichrist, aka Lady Amber-Leigh Swift, was a huge pain in Max’s arse, so he said on numerous occasions. The fact that he bitched about her so much was telling. He liked her and that annoyed the fuck out of him. I wondered if it would go anywhere or whether he would end up throttling the life out of her. The jury was out on that one.

“The little blonde I hooked up with earlier was tame and accommodating, just what I needed.”

“Lucky bastard, I haven’t had a boom for at least two months. Maybe you could set me up with Lady Swift?” Miles sniffed under his breath as he shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth. This earned him a glare from Max.

“You’d be better sharing a bed with a rattlesnake. She’d eat you for breakfast mate. I’ve seen her reduce grown men to tears, the little bitch. Believe it or not, I like you too much to do that to you.

“I heard redheads are fiery in bed,” Miles said with a saucy grin.

Max snorted loudly. “Having sex with Amber would probably be as thrilling as filing your annual tax return mate, I’d give it a miss.”

The accountant grimaced. “So, you think she’s stuck up?”

“The girl has something to prove my friend and I can’t be dealing with girls that think they have a bigger dick than me. I need someone who knows how to be a woman. Maybe like your Leonie.”

A heavy silence stretched between us.

“Well, what do you say, Gabe? You going to set me up?” Max asked hopefully.

“Nope, not going to happen,” I popped the P extra loudly and took a slug of my whisky.

“Come on, I let you have a pop at Natalie.”

I shook my head. “You didn’t let me do anything; she came onto me like a bitch in heat. It’s not my fault you failed to satisfy her. I did your sorry arse a solid,” I replied with a smirk. Everyone knew Max won the biggest dick contest hands down, but admitting that was another matter.

“I think you’ll find I’d satisfied her several times that night. From my recollection, you were the shoulder to cry on.” Max drawled, grinning at me like a fool.

“Fuck off,” I said with a scowl; I found him funny but I hid it. I so got off on our banter. He kept me on my toes.

“So, does Leonie look like the fun no-strings type?”

“No, Max. Back the hell off, I mean it. If you go behind my back, I won’t set you up with my contact for Legal Licensing advice. Let’s see how popular Jonathan Swift’s new bar in Soho is without being able to serve liquor. I’ll also leave you to sort out the last two parking tickets you asked me to get you out of.”

“That’s a bit harsh,” Max replied looking truly affronted, a hand to his chest.

“We’re talking rainbows and fucking unicorns; romantic shit. Kitten—she’s shy and quiet, she isn’t your type. I doubt the girl even knows the word kink.” I tried to rush past the fact that I just called her by the nickname I had created.

“Did you just call me kitten?” Max questioned with a confused expression.

To cover it up, I just threw him a puzzled, “What?”

My friend’s perplexed look vanished as he carried the hell on, “Look if you’re trying to appeal to my better nature, I can assure you I don’t have one.”

My nostrils flared, as the thought of him hitting on her was driving me mental. Someone like Leonie would not sexually mesh with someone like Max, he had a kink for the rough stuff. There were no safe words in Max’s bedroom. I shook my head. “You’re such a twat.”

He narrowed his stare and grinned, blatantly winding me up. “You’re not very creative with your insults, are you?”

Luca belly laughed and Adam rolled his eyes, although he didn’t turn his head from the screen; the guy was obsessed with football.

“I’d leave it, Max. You know it’s pointless. Arguing with a lawyer is like wrestling a pig in shit, eventually, you realise they like it.” Adam got a round of popcorn in the face for that one. As I eyed the messy floor, I thought fleetingly again about Leonie’s offer to clean the apartment.

“Talking of parking tickets. I was hoping you’d show me the ropes. How to blag it so to speak,” Adam suddenly said, briefly changing the subject.

Adam was also a law student but two years behind me, I was coaching him, but he was specialising in corporate law rather than criminal. He was like a sponge who thrived on soaking up ways to get ahead. Once he qualified and started work, he’d be the biggest ruthless promotion-chaser of us all.

Adam and his brother Dale were twins but not identical.

---