“Is everything ready? It won’t be long before he arrives,” I say nervously, and Niall smiles.
“I think that’s all of us,” he shrugs, and I nod.
There were about thirty people at Alex’s house, not counting Emily, Niall, and me. Then the door suddenly opens. My eyes widen as I see four men enter.
“Come in quickly, Alex will be here any minute!” Niall exclaims, and they run excitedly to hide like little children. I frown.
Niall turns off the lights, and we all wait in our hiding spots until we hear the sound of the garage opening. I bite my bottom lip, and then we hear footsteps. I can hear him talking to someone, but I can’t understand a single word he’s saying.
“As soon as you have information, contact me,” he says, and the door opens. As soon as the lights come on, we all come out of our hiding places, screaming, “Surprise!”
Alex gets excited and looks at us confused, but as soon as he sees me, a smile forms on his face.
“What the hell is all this?” he asks, laughing, and I smile, showing all my teeth.
“Your surprise birthday party!” I say proudly. He hugs me.
“The idea for the party was Niall’s, but it was mine to make it a surprise,” I say proudly, and he kisses my forehead.
“Man, I haven’t seen you in a month, and I feel like I haven’t seen you in years!” A brown-haired man, a little shorter than Alex, arrives, greeting him. They hug each other with pats on the back, and Alex shows him a sideways smile.
“Niall told me you were a fallen man,” the man says, raising his eyebrows.
“Alex looks at me”
“Is that her?” he asks”
“and my boyfriend shrugs.”
“So, this is the tamer,” he murmurs in a funny tone of voice. I laugh.
“Louis Tomlinson,” he introduces himself.
“Nina Moore,” I do the same, and he greets me with a kiss on each cheek.
“She’s pretty hot,” Louis ‘mumbles’ into Alex’s ear, who looks at me out of the corner of his eye.
“I know,” Alex nods. Louis smiles and slaps his back.
“Good job, kid,” he says, and then he leaves.
The other three men who accompanied Louis also came and introduced themselves: their names were Jack, Mason, and Landon.
Everyone didn’t seem to care about my age, or the fact that Alex is eight years older than me. And that’s great.
After greeting several people, I look directly at Alex and tilt my head.
“Did you like the surprise?” I ask, and he smiles, taking me by the waist.
“The cake is still missing, and I have another surprise for you,” I say, touching his chest with my index finger.
“That’s great, thanks,” he murmurs, and I sigh.
“You don’t look happy,” I say, and he shakes his head.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, and he shakes his head.
“Come on, just say it,” I say, taking his face in my hands. He stammers.
“It’s just that I’m a year older,” he snorts, and I give him a small smirk. “26 years is quite a while, don’t you think?” he asks, and I pout.
“They suit you,” I agree, and he smiles without showing his teeth.
“You really love me, don’t you?” he asks, and I lick my lips.
“A little, yes,” I joke, and he raises his eyebrows.
I smile and am about to kiss him when a man stands next to us.
Alex, a man around his thirties mutters, “Sorry to break the sexual tension here, but…. “I think I have the right to congratulate the bastard who didn’t tell me he had a girlfriend,”
He has dark brown hair, brown eyes, a strong jawline, a turned-up nose, and a toned body. I tilt my head at the sight of him. He’s quite attractive, but there’s something about him that catches my attention-and it’s not his physique.
“And what a girlfriend,” he laughs, looking at me. “My name is Elijah,” he introduces himself, and I can’t stop looking at him. I shake my head.
“Nina Moore,” I introduce myself and take his hand.
He kisses my cheeks and pulls away. He looks at me for a few more seconds and gives me a crooked smile. I frown slightly.
“I’ll be in London for a few days, for your birthday week. You can thank me later,” Elijah jokes, and I can see him looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I squint.
“Do I know him from somewhere? Maybe from one of Alex’s gatherings? Or his family dinner? Shit, his face looks pretty familiar,” I think to myself, snorting.
“Do you want one?” Alex asks me.
“Wow, man, is she even allowed to drink alcohol?” Elijah jokes, and I laugh. The waiter appears, and I take a drink from the tray he’s holding. I have no idea when he arrived.
“It’s delicious,” I say, and Elijah drinks what appears to be whiskey.
“Why don’t you get her a Sheridan’s with blackberries?” Elijah asks the waiter, who nods. “She’ll love it; everyone loves it, don’t you, Alex?” he says, and I raise an eyebrow. “And tell me, Alex, when were you going to tell me about your new girlfriend?” he asks, looking at him. Alex rolls his eyes.
“By the way, she’s lovely. I don’t know how you managed to get her,” he jokes, and I frown. “You know, it’s just in movies that the guy who sleeps with different girls every night falls in love. It’s weird to see it in reality… are you paying him? Anyway, when…”
“If you’re done with her, don’t forget to give me her number. I’m willing to pay the fee, although I don’t think you’ll even consider giving me one with my services.” He winks. “Maybe you’ll even think about paying me,” he adds as he turns around. “Anyway, maybe the son of a bitch in this story can still earn something good after all.”
“What a son of a bitch,” I mutter, and Elijah turns to look at me, offended.