Lustful Hearts
Chapter 106: Thе Mоrnіng Aftеr

We met with Elijah and Sam the next day for a late breakfast. They both shuffled in looking worse for wear. I stifled a yawn but for a different reason after christening more than one wall the night before. Joel sipped on his orange juice, his eyes taking in their hungover expressions. He smiled in a wicked way, after all before we'd got together this was typically how he spent his Sundays.

"Hey guys," I chirped, taking great delight in the fact each syllable would be like nails down a blackboard.

They both grimaced, slithering down into their seats. The look they shot me was so pitiful like they would need a vast amount of coffee within the next hour.

"Keep it down, Iz. We're dying here." Elijah groaned.

A smug smile spread across my lips, I didn't want to know how they got in that condition, but I was guessing within minutes he'd be filling me in with all the gory details.

"Nice to see you looking more like yourself." My remark was within reference of his choice of costume, dressed as a woman for the night. It was good to see him without all the fakery, heavy makeup and beehive wig.

"Well, I normally keep that kind of thing behind closed doors," he remarked winking.

Sam choked on his coffee that had just arrived. Elijah patted him on the back, looking delighted he'd stunned us all. I shook my head in amusement, he was lying but by the look on Joel's face, he obviously hadn't realised.

I smiled letting that thought linger a few moments before whispering him the truth. His face broke out into a grin as he continued to devour the mega deal breakfast that was sat in front of him.

"It was a good night though. We got the karaoke out just after you left."

Thank god we'd been spared that agony.

Sam's face grimaced in obvious recall to that memory. I could just imagine Elijah half cut, hogging the microphone all night.

"I did a fabulous rendition of all the big gay anthems."

Oh jeez, I was sure the neighbours wouldn't agree, already cursing their arrival and they'd barely been in the flat a week. "So what did you sing?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Joel's face instantly lit up. "I Will Survive."

"Five times." Sam groaned.

Oh dear god, once was bad enough without inflicting that kind of torture even more. But five times that was just cruel.

"Well the audience loved it. I had to give them more."

From the look on Sam's face, Elijah's story was slightly fabricating the truth, probably more to do with the beer goggles he had been wearing at the time.

"Did you do Gaga?" I enquired. It was his usual party piece after all.

"Of course." He smiled taking a sip of coffee while the toast still sat untouched on his plate. "You know that's my song."

Didn't I just.

I wasn't a Lady Gaga fan, but I knew her albums back to back thanks to the relentless amount of times they were played.

"I could give you a quick rendition . . ."

"NO." We all yelled together, making Elijah look slightly perturbed by our united response.

“Fine,” he snapped as Sam soothingly stroked his back. His eyes flicked to mine in amusement before returning to Elijah's pandering to his ego. "You know you have to rest those vocal chords, you probably pu a strain on them singing for three hours straight."

Both mine and Joel's eyes widened in horror. In general Elijah had an amazing voice, but him singing high-pitched ladies' songs was enough to make your ears bleed.

Sam gave us the 'I know' look. I felt bad for him having to put up with that all night, but I couldn't help being grateful we'd escaped that kind of hell.

Elijah clutched his throat. "Yeah, I may have wrenched my chords reaching those high notes."

The kind of notes that would shatter glass no doubt.

Elijah sipped on his coffee, his eyes flicking between both Joel and me, our silent exchanges bringing a smile to his face.

Little did he know our amusement was down to him, Joel whispering several strangled cat references in my ear.

"So it looks like you two more than made up then?" he asked, placing his cup down on the saucer. He crossed his arms in contemplation as we waited for the string of personal questions to follow.

My fork stilled mid-air, my appetite suddenly gone. The way that twisted mind of his worked, he would be after specifics.

Joel quickly jumped in to spare my blushes. "Yeah, you could say that." He pulled me towards him and kissed my hair.

My face quickly changed to tomato red thinking of all the amazing wall sex. I had the injuries to prove it, my back ached from the harshness of the hard walls, but every second had been worth it.

"If that beautiful shade of red is anything to go by you more than made up for it."

My eyes instantly widened at his directness. He was unbelievable.

"Elijah," Sam warned, sensing my unease on discussing the matter further.

Really?

He always had a way of embarrassing me further, but I was keeping tight lipped, in fact the exact opposite to last night.

I think I might have wrenched my vocal chords too. It was a good job we had a detached house, I'd never be able to show face in front of Betty otherwise.

"Iz knows I'm joking, if I had sex god in my bed I'd be grinning from ear to ear."

Joel stiffened beside me. Did Elijah have a short memory? I glared at him, and his smile dropped.

Elijah let out an awkward chuckle. "Joel, you do know everything I say is just harmless banter, I'm perfectly happy with Sam. He's my Izzy, he's my future and we'll keep each other smiling even when we're old and grey."

Sam let out a soft aww before placing a sweet kiss on Elijah's lips. I squeezed Joel's knee, and his arm encircled me, pulling me into a hug. I nuzzled against his chin, breathing in his rich intoxicating scent. Just enjoying the serene moment.

"But if you ever change your mind, we're always up for that threesome."

Joel sagged into me as Elijah and Sam chuckled loudly. I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

So close...

***

"What are you reading?" Joel asked, walking in the door. He'd just finished a shift at the pub and looked tired after a long, hard day. I was tired myself.

Elijah had dragged me around the streets, searching for some furnishings for the flat.

I swear I never wanted to look at another cushion again. He had rewarded me with a large caramel latte at Starbucks, but to be honest by the time we found the perfect shade of cushion, I was about to physically suffocate him with them.

"Nothing, errr, just a book." I tried to disguise the smile I had been wearing only moments earlier.

Joel's eyes scrutinised mine before narrowing, taking in the expression on my face. "Are you reading Kellan again?"

I gasped in mock horror. "No, I'm not."

Yes I was.

"Don't lie you have that goofy grin on your face, I can tell which books you're reading through your facial expressions." He moved closer, and I went to hit the home key to hide the evidence. But I was too late when he snatched the Kindle from my hand.

"Aha, I was right, caught in the act." He held aloft the Kindle revealing my blatant lie.

Dammit!

I rolled my eyes at his smugness.

Yeah, yeah whatever.

"One of these days I'll have to read this Kellan book to see what all the fuss is about."

That was NEVER happening.

"I don't think Kellan is quite your cup of tea, unless you have something to tell me?" I raised a brow in amusement as he narrowed his eyes.

A smile spread across his lips. "Well, I've got to see what my competition is. I can't be out done by a ... what is it you call them again?"

I smiled at the sheer fact we were even having this conversation. "A book boyfriend or BB for short."

He bit back a smile. I could tell he was replaceing the whole thing completely amusing.

The cheek!

"Well I've got to keep my eye on these BBs, can't have anyone outdoing me." He tossed the Kindle, and his eyes locked on mine. In two full strides, he was standing over me. His hands reached under lifting me up into his arms.

"Joel, what are you doing?" I asked confused. Where the hell was he taking me?

He nibbled lightly against my lips. "I'm going to take you upstairs and make you forget about this Kellan. My name is the only one you'll be screaming tonight."

My eyebrows rose with intrigue. "Really? He's going to take some forgetting, he's my favourite BB, remember?"

"Well, then I need to take it up a gear and make you forget even your own name," he said, without missing a beat, quickly heading towards the stairs.

My eyebrows almost hit my hairline.

I didn't doubt him for a minute.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐