Page 49 of Just Between Us

The Marionette is in the heart of Mayfair. It’s a footballer, reality TV star and Chelsea socialite’s playground which is exactly what the club is filled with tonight. Kez’s friends join us, all beautiful influencers who constantly snap pictures of themselves to get paid an insane amount of money for a single post. I respect it.

It’s been a while since I’ve been out to a real club, and the familiar reverb of pumping music is almost welcome. In the two and a half years of being with Cole, I’ve become domesticated, but I prefer it this way. Sleeping in the arms of the person you love beats out the stench of cigarettes and dubious white lines on a kitchen counter in some future baron’s flat in Peckham.

Kez links her arm with Cole and leans into him. “I can’t believe you actually came!”

“I’m not here because I want to be,” Cole says, but he lets her hold him.

Next to me, Kai’s eyes scan the vast expanse of the club. There are stars on the ceiling, and they twinkle down onto the expensive velvet and marble. Dancers in suspended cages move to the beat effortlessly in skimpy outfits, their long limbs shimmering in gold.

“How much would they have to pay you to dance up there?” Kai asks.

I look up at the dancers again. The idea of horny men and women gawking at me all night makes my skin crawl. Honestly, you couldn’t pay me enough. I turn back to Kai. “A million pounds at least.”

He gazes at me with wide eyes. “No way, really?”

I huff out a laugh. “You seem surprised.”

“I don’t know, you’re always so confident.” He shrugs. “I thought you were going to say that you’d do it for free.”

After they made me skip a few grades in primary school, I quickly learned how to become palatable to the older boys in my class.

Rule number one: I should never sound or act smarter than them even if I was.

Rule number two: I should always laugh when one of them makes a joke about the geography teacher’s tits.

I knew how to hide the shy, anxious boy inside me with quick smiles and later on with my tattoos, but he was always there, and he still is.

“How much would they have to pay you?” I ask.

Kai shrugs. “It’s too dark up there to see a face. Give me a few shots and maybe fifty pounds and I’m down.”

“I’ve got fifty pounds right now.” I grin.

Kai laughs, leaning against me. “Just need the shots now.”

Around us, the music is loud, strobe lights blending into each other as bottle girls emerge from the shadows dressed like Playboy bunnies with bottles and sparklers at regular intervals. I watch on with a hint of amusement as a few of Kez’s friends all but claw at each other to get Kai’s attention. One of them grips his thigh and he loudly clears his throat, scooting away and closer to me ever so slightly.

Next to me, Cole reaches for a bottle of water and hands it to me after twisting open the cap. “You’re on your fifth shot,” he says, “Drink,” he instructs.

I raise an eyebrow but drink happily. Arguing is pointless.

He picks up a second bottle and holds it out to Kai.

“Oh, I’m not thirsty,” Kai says.

I smirk. “You should just drink,” I tell him over the music.

He frowns, eyes full of questions.

“Do you want me to hold open your mouth and force you, princess?” Cole asks, voice low.

Princess. Cole calls him that sometimes during sex and I’m only mad I didn’t come up with it first.

Kai’s eyes widen but he takes the bottle in Cole’s hand and takes a long sip, making a show of it.

Cole smiles. “Good job.”

He blushes and maybe this isn’t the right time but something about it makes all the blood in my body rush down to my dick and I have to shift just so I don’t tent in my pants.

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