Gifted Connections 1

“Much more…appealing than the other underwear I’ve seen you in,” Noah stated with an evil twinkle in his eyes as he picked up another lacey bra with bows on the straps. “Although, your bar uniform was…very appealing.”

I choked on my indignation when I remembered that he had seen me in a sports bra before when he was healing me, and those scraps of fabric I called a uniform at the bar. I was about to give him an ear full when Jax spoke up with a wag of his eyebrows. “It really was a great ensemble.”

I made a spluttering noise, looking at them in disbelief.

Noah was calm as he sifted through the bag some more. He held up a pair of thongs with an eyebrow raised towards me.

“Stop it,” I stuttered as I jumped out of Jax’s lap to grab the bag out of Noah’s hand.

Noah hadn’t been expecting me, and I caught him— and myself— by surprise as I landed with enough force against him that he began to lose his precarious position on the edge of the bed. He tried to grab the bed but grabbed me instead, and soon I was being pulled off the bed with him.

In my panicked state, I did notice how he turned to take most of the brunt of the fall. Even with his thoughtfulness, the air was knocked out of my lungs as I landed on his muscular body. Height-wise he wasn’t the tallest of the guys, but muscular-wise he was second to Remy.

It took me a second to catch my breath.

“Blake!” Jax called out in concern, his head popping over the side of my bed.

“Are you okay?” Noah asked contritely, all traces of laughter gone from his eyes.

“What in the world is going on-” Jemmy stopped as she rounded the corner of my bed. She then began laughing uproariously.

I looked around in confusion but saw the humor in it all when I noticed I was sprawled on top of Noah with a rainbow of underwear all around us.

I rolled off Noah, onto my back, and giggled. Soon, Noah and Jax had joined in the laughter. If you couldn’t beat them, might as well join them.

After the laughter died down, I rolled over and picked up a handful of my undergarments. I winked at Jemmy as I walked towards the closet. “The boys decided to rifle through my unmentionables. Since they already got a sneak peek, I think I’ve decided to model them for one of the other guys. That’s only fair,” I said with malicious humor.

I heard another peel of laughter from Jemmy as I entered my closet.

Noah groaned. “She’s kidding, right? She’s not going to hold that against us, is she? We were only…helping.”

Jax sighed loudly. “Shut up, bro. You got to see her when you healed her when she’s been nearly naked. I’ve known her the longest, I’m probably the closest to her. We’ve been talking for years. If anyone should get a private show, it should be me.”

That only made Jemmy laugh harder. “Play your cards right, and you both can get a show.”

I groaned realizing my plans of teasing them had backfired.

We finished putting my stuff away and quietly left Ella’s bags in her room, planning to tackle them in the morning.

My phone went off along with everyone else’s. I tapped my screen to check my Snapchat as Jemmy and Jax went running out of the room, pushing and laughing at each other.

Drake had sent us a picture of three different flavors of ice cream and what appeared to be some homemade chocolate chip cookies. Dessert, anyone?

“Let’s eat,” Noah said gleefully. He casually threw an arm around my shoulder. “I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, but Drake makes the best chocolate chip cookies.”

I fought the urge to not stiffen and forced myself to relax. It really was comforting to have his warm arm around me. I couldn’t allow my past to constantly dictate the future. Not all men wanted to harm me. This was one of my connections, and I owed it to them to try to get to know them. I barely knew them, and I’ve already come to the realization, with the exception of Jace, they were a physical bunch. Even Remy seemed relaxed and comfortable when Jemmy had cuddled with him.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Noah said quietly as we went down the stairs together. “Does anything hurt? Do you need me to heal anything?”

I decided to tease him, instead of reassuring him, giving him a caustic reply as my old self would have done. “Your gift must come in handy when you want to feel a girl up.”

His jaw dropped open. “Did you just make a joke? Because I assure you, gift or no gift, I have no problem getting the ladies to want my touch.”

His reply shocked me for a moment. I guess he would have no problem getting the girls with his good looks, but again, the past needed to stay in the past. We needed to focus on the future.

“I don’t think you bragging about your past conquests is the wisest,” Jemmy said as we entered the kitchen. Her spoon poised to her mouth. Jax snickered, but Jemmy quickly looked over at a pretty petite girl that was sitting on the countertop next to Drake as he pulled more cookies out of the wall oven. “I mean, no girl wants to hear that. Right, Rose?”

I realized how close Jemmy came to allowing our secret to slip. I turned to look at Rose more closely. I always thought I was tiny, but Rose may be slightly tinier. She had a mature looking face, compared to my baby face, but she didn’t have the curves I did. She was very pretty, with her extremely blond hair cut in a pixie style that most girls couldn’t pull off. Her eyes were a unique shade of blue and were very large, but it was charming and cute. Her make-up was on the dramatic side, much like Jemmy’s. I was surprised to see she had a nose ring, and I noticed a belly button ring peeking out beneath her bubble gum pink crop top. Somehow, I imagined someone more subdued and unassuming for Drake. He didn’t seem to like to draw attention to himself, and Rose looked like she embraced a more outgoing lifestyle.