Closed Off To You (Singing Star Trilogy #1) (9 page)

“Bloody hell,” Charlie exclaimed when it fell silent.

Lizzie started to clap. Nathan scrolled through the song list and chose an upbeat one instead of giving us his attention.

When the new song came on, we all joined in. I couldn’t rip my eyes away from Nathan as he turned to look at me. Our gaze met and the corners of his lips lifted. Did he know what I was feeling?

I had always found singers and dancers attractive. In fact, I was hot for any man who had creative talent. They just turned me on.

“Budge up,” Nathan said, nudging my shin with his foot.

Ella moved closer to Martin so he could sit between us. My breath hitched when his thigh pressed against mine and stayed there. He did it on purpose. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the room to stretch his legs out. Although, to be fair, it was a bit of a squeeze.

“Come on then, boys, who’s next?” Lizzie called, putting her hand on Charlie’s shoulder.

Charlie glanced at Martin and shrugged. I frowned when Martin grinned and stood. What was going on? I had never known men confident enough to get up and sing. They weren’t even that drunk. They didn’t seem drunk at all.

“Where have you been tonight?” I asked Nathan.

He looked down at me. “We went to the cinema.”

I was even more bewildered. I couldn’t imagine the three of them sitting in a cinema, sharing popcorn. I had imagined them to act like lads, constantly at the pub.

“What film did you see?” I asked.

“Do you mind? Stop chatting her up, Nathan,” Martin said. “I’m trying to get ready for my song.”

“Who wants a drink?” I asked before Martin started.

Everyone called their agreement. All of them wanted a drink. I stood, almost tripping over when my leg bashed into Nathan’s foot. He grabbed my hand, steadying me.

“I’ll help you,” he said.

I marched into the kitchen, not looking around to see if he followed me. I wouldn’t need help. Certainly not from him.

I was being mean and defensive. He had been nothing but kind to me since he had arrived. Why did he have to be so kind?

Opening the cupboard door, I paused when my head went dizzy. I was drunk. That wasn’t a good thing.

“Where’s the lager?” Nathan asked when he came into the kitchen and closed the door behind him.

I turned, unsure what he was going to do. Why would he close the kitchen door?

The music blared, answering my question. Martin had chosen a heavy rock song to scream along to.

“Did you know he was going to choose that song?”

Nathan nodded as he chuckled. Tugging on the fridge door, I pulled out three cans of lager. I didn’t usually drink it myself. Lizzie had bought it. She would be happy to share with the boys.

“You’ve got an amazing voice. You should have auditioned for Singing Star,” I said, trying to reach the glasses on the top shelf.

His hand wrapped around my elbow before running up my forearm, over my hand, and grabbing the glass above.

Nathan’s body pressed into my back. My heart shot into my throat. I swallowed repeatedly, trying to calm myself as I started to shake. How did he do this to me?

“Thank you,” he whispered into my ear.

My head fell back of its own accord, landing on his shoulder. His chest moved when he chuckled. He had won. Or he thought he had, anyway.

“I know you want me. There’s no point in fighting it.”

I sighed, allowing his heat to envelop me as he put the glass down and wrapped his arms around my waist. He rested his chin on my shoulder, which was odd. It felt intimate, it felt close.

“You know the deal, don’t you? When you take me out for a date, we go to bed.”

He pulled away, took hold of my arm and spun me around. Pushing me against the work surface, he lowered his head and covered my lips with his. The kiss was gentle but demanding. His tongue plunged into my mouth as his hips thrust against me. My hands clung to his arms as his fingers dug into the back of my hair, caressing my scalp.

I opened my eyes briefly, knowing that I should stop the kiss. His eyes were closed as his mouth moved. I squeezed his bicep, pleading in my mind for him to let me go. I didn’t want to fall for the young man. Especially when he was emotionally unavailable.

Using all my strength, I pushed him. His arms fell away, and he stepped back, his chest rising and falling.

“I’m drunk. And if I’m not careful, I’ll give in to you.”

As he licked his lips, I gathered the glasses and rushed towards the kitchen door. When I reached it, I swore under my breath. My hands were full. Nathan came over, ran his hand down my spine and over my buttock. Opening the door, he gestured for me to go through.

Martin’s song was coming to an end. The others didn’t look away from him as I distributed the glasses. Nathan followed me, handing out the alcohol. Everyone was mesmerised by Martin’s performance. It was impressive.

He was a tall, slim man, with floppy hair. He didn’t look like a rocker.

“That was amazing,” Ella shouted as the music died down.

The other men shook their heads, obviously used to their friend’s unpredictable ways.

“Charlie, I think it might be your turn,” I said, keeping my gaze away from Nathan’s as he sat down next to me again.

“I can’t sing like these two.” He pushed Lizzie off the arm of the chair when she playfully punched him.

She cursed, outraged as her butt hit the floor. Charlie quickly got up and helped her to her feet. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” We couldn’t help but laugh.

“Then you have to sing a song, I’m afraid.” Lizzie fluttered her eyelashes over her bright blue eyes. Charlie couldn’t resist her request. He walked over to Martin, groaning when the microphone hit his palm.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard Charlie sing,” Martin said, sitting back down next to Ella and resting his arm over the back of the sofa. Ella glanced at me, her eyes wide. My brother’s friends had sussed out that we were three attractive single women. Very single and a lot older.

“I apologise in advance,” Charlie said. “Although, I can’t be as bad as my sister.”

I picked up a pillow and threw it at his head. He managed to catch it before it made contact. The cheeky git.

When we were younger, we had made up dances together. If he wasn’t careful, I would let them all know.

“I have a few secrets I could share with Lizzie and Ella, if you like?” I told Charlie.

Charlie quickly shook his head, glaring at me intently. “Don’t you dare. I have a few tales of my own.”

I shrugged. “It’s not like I haven’t embarrassed myself enough already.”

My gaze involuntary went to Nathan. It had been a few weeks since the bra incident. If he still wanted to sleep with me, it must have had the opposite effect of what I’d imagined.

“I think we all have embarrassing stories.” Nathan winked at me.

Charlie turned away from us and picked his song. I was surprised that he went for a ballad. Sung by a woman. He was obviously going to muck around. Why else would he pick such a hard song?

“Is he really going to sing that?” Ella whispered across Nathan.

I opened my mouth to reply, but Charlie’s voice rang out in the room. It was eerie. It was good. It was my brother singing Mariah Carey…bloody well.

“Did you know he could sing like that?” Nathan said, leaning down to me.

I shook my head, looking clueless, I was sure. I had never heard my brother sing. There was no way I had any idea that he could throw out a tune that most women couldn’t do justice. I was mesmerised by my brother’s talent. Why had he never let anyone know? He was amazing.

“Why don’t you let him take your place on Singing Star?” Nathan asked.

I couldn’t look away from Charlie. His eyes were closed as his voice projected across the room. Nathan was right. I should let him take my place. He would kill it. He would make Lizzie and Ella famous, and then I wouldn’t have to be involved. My brain started to churn as I realised what a good idea it was. If I could get away with it. The show probably wouldn’t let me back out.

Charlie came to the end of the song and held the microphone out to Lizzie. Her jaw basically brushed the floor. Her eyes were wider than I’d ever seen them. She was speechless, which was a miracle. She might have just fallen in love with my brother. Which wasn’t good.

“Charlie! Why have I never heard you sing like that?” I blurted.

His little cheeks grew bright red as he gestured to Lizzie. She ignored him, utterly spellbound. I didn’t blame her for not wanting to follow his act. It was pretty outstanding.

“Lizzie, it’s your turn. You can’t get away with it.”

Lizzie clambered to her feet and gingerly took the microphone. Charlie sunk back into the chair and buried his head in the cushion at the back of it.

“I’m sorry. You’re not going to get away with it that easily. Can you please explain why we have never heard you sing?” I resisted the urge to get up from the sofa and shake him.

He had huge talent, yet, he had never done anything with it.

“I don’t enjoy it that much.” Charlie shrugged.

My gaze strayed away from my brother. How could he not enjoy singing? His voice was better than all of ours put together. Including Nathan, and that was saying something.

“You’re pretty good, though, mate,” Martin said.

Charlie jumped up from his seat and went into the hallway, muttering under his breath that he needed the toilet. Nathan’s left hand stretched across his chest as he scratched his right side, brushing the side of my boob gently. Lizzie stood, staring at the screen, not quite able to get a coherent thought.

“I can’t follow that,” she said eventually.

My whole body was still as I tried to breathe in. I didn’t want Nathan’s probing fingers to touch my fleshy parts too much. Although, my drunken brain wanted to be caressed by him.

My heart skipped. The tension made it even better. It was so naughty. I felt like a teenager, not allowed to get caught. There was no way my friends, or my brother, could see what was happening between us. It would ruin everything.

“Of course you can,” Ella said.

I glanced over at her. She leant slightly towards Martin. His arm had moved further forward, pressing gently into her back. If Charlie wasn’t my brother, I would worry that an orgy of some sort would unfold.

“Okay. I think I’ve got it,” Lizzie said, choosing a song from the screen.

I tried to shuffle away from Nathan, but the arm of the chair pressed into my other side. He had folded his arms, tucking his hand between us. His fingers lightly brushed my hip, up and down. He somehow managed to hook one of his fingers under my top. I had a sneaky suspicion that he traced one of my stretchmarks. His finger ran up and down the same line.

The music started and Lizzie let rip. I tried not to cringe. She had chosen one of our epic girl group songs. Spice Girls from our teen days. Ella jumped up suddenly, making me feel like a guilty teen. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to a stand. Luckily, she didn’t notice Nathan’s probing hand fall away.

“We can’t let her do this on her own,” Ella shouted, grabbing the other microphone.

I wrapped my arm around Lizzie’s waist, grateful for the interruption. If Nathan kept touching me, I wouldn’t be able to resist him. It would take everything in my willpower to stop him from taking me to bed as soon as possible.

The breath rushed out of me as Lizzie wrapped her arm around my shoulder. We held the microphones in front of us as we sang our hearts out.

Nathan’s gaze burnt into my back, I could feel it. Why was he so persistent with me? Especially as he didn’t want a relationship.

Charlie shoved his head between Ella and Lizzie and started to sing along too. It was a classic song, everyone knew it.

My heart jumped when Nathan wrapped his arm around my waist and joined in. Martin hugged Ella at the other end of our little group and we sang together as loud as we could.

“That was awesome!” Martin shouted when the song ended, obviously drunker than his friends.

It was the perfect song to end the night with. Everyone started to gather their stuff, ready to go home. My insides shook as Nathan threw glances at me. I wanted him to stay. I couldn’t help it; I couldn’t resist. All I could think about was being fucked by him.

“This has been one of the best nights of my life,” my brother said.

It was nice to share the evening with my sibling. With me being older, we rarely socialised together. I always had my friends and he had his. It seemed odd that we all gathered together, but it had worked for the night. It wasn’t something I wanted to make a habit, though.

“It has been a great evening. I can’t wait to do it again,” Lizzie said, dashing my resolve.

Everyone said goodbye and made their way to the front door. Nathan hung back as I followed him to the entrance of the living room.

He turned suddenly, looking directly into my eyes. “Do you want me to come back when they’ve gone?”

My head nodded before my brain could engage. A grin stretched across his lips, almost breaking his face in half. I wished he wasn’t so sexy. It would make life a lot easier. What was I thinking?