Underneath by V. J. Albert (best e reader for academics TXT) 📖

Just some he knows by heart. All of them are kind of friends of his now.

“Will you drive back home tonight?” Lance suddenly asks, and Luca almost laughs because to him it’s quite a stupid question. Every sober and reasonable person would know that it makes no sense to drive back home after partying. Especially because London's kilometres away from there. It’d take Alexis and him hours to get home and by then it’ll be morning already. But Luca doesn't think any of them is sober anymore by now.

"No, I'll stay at a hotel."

"Really, will you?" The other guy smirks and Luca knows what this means. He's got himself a fuck for the night. Achievement completed.

"Yes, I will. In a room with a king-sized bed all for me, myself and I. What a pity, isn't it?"

"Could change that." Smirking again. Lance really got the whole point. So Luca hopes at least. To Luca Lance doesn't look like someone who's into relationships either. It's not because he's a stereotypical macho kind of guy but more of how he acts and how he moves. It's kind of like Luca approaches someone he wants, it's how he talks with someone he wants. That's it.

"We could", Luca says and smirks right back at the guy he will take back to his hotel room tonight.

"When will we go then?" Lance asks straight forward, and Luca notices his bladder for the first time this night. He hasn't gone to the lavatory in hours. The alcohol didn't really help the thing either.

"Can go as soon as I've been to the toilets. 'M back in a sec." With that Luca leaves and walks over to the bar where he finds Alexis immediately. She's the one surrounded by a lot of guys, all staring at her and trying to get her attention. It's kind of funny when Luca thinks about it. He never has thought about it how similar he and Alexis actually are. Although Alexis isn't just into one-night stands. She's got Dean already anyway.

"Excuse me." Luca has to say to squash through the crowd of guys. "Sorry", he says when he steps on some feet and then rushes further. When he reaches Alexis, he tabs on her shoulder. She doesn't notice him immediately. "Al." His best friend turns around, smiling at him, cup with alcohol in the right hand and left hand on one of the guys behind her. Alexis might be a little too drunk to remember that back home in London she has someone waiting for her who's kind of her boyfriend. And anyway Luca's quite confused since that guy doesn't really look like someone Alexis would fancy. "Al, I found a guy I'm taking back to the hotel. Going to the lavatory now and then 'm leaving. Are you alright on your own or shall we leave together?"

 Al looks back at the guy she's holding on to. He seems to be soberer than she does and to Luca this is a pretty good thing, or maybe it's a really bad thing. Luca really can't tell because he's too drunk to seriously think about it rationally right now.

"Going to go to the lavatory, too, then coming with you. Tom here will accompany us, right Tom?" Al now looks at the guy with black hair and blue eyes and yes, he's definitely not her type but she's probably too drunk to actually care.

Tom nods slightly and all guys that have surrounded Alexis the whole time leave one by one, probably noticing that there's nothing to get here anymore.

"Y-You", Al starts and stares at Tom. "Stay here, wait for me. 'M back in a few." She puts the cup on the bar, kisses Tom on the cheek and then grabs my hand and drags me to the lavatories.

We pass the VIP lounge which is bursting at the seam with people dancing, drinking, laughing and chatting uncontrollable. Luca just can make out some blonde guy with some weird as paper hat on his head. He can't really see much before he's dragged further by Al.

"So, what about that Tom guy."

"Oh, he's brilliant. We like the same movies and same music. Told him about you and you being gay and he's totally okay. Not some homophobic arse. Really like the guy."

"Ya know he's not ya type, right?"

"He isn't? Wouldn't take him with me if he wasn't would I now?" Luca just rolls his eyes at his drunk best friend.

"What about Dean? You remember the guy back home in London you're obsessed about?"

"Oh. Shit." It just hit her apparently. "Got to leave Tom here then."

When they finally reach the doors to the lavatory, they hug and part their ways.

Luca opens the door to the men's loo, walks in and runs into someone.

"Arse-", Luca starts but when he looks up, he stops because he's staring right into the beautiful emerald green eyes of Henry bloody god damn Shaw.

Six

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Oops", Henry says and Luca's so in shock that for a moment he forgets that he hates the guy he's confronted with now.

Again.

"Hi", it blubbers out of Luca's mouth before he even realises it.

Dammit. Luca, you don't like the guy. You insulted him in front of your sister who's undyingly in love with the pop star. Why ya tryin' to make convo?

"Going to insult me again?"

"Guess you've got enough of the truth for one day."

Silence.

Raised eye brows towards Luca.

"I just have one question", the pop star starts. "Do you always run around, telling everyone what you think about them straight to their faces without actually knowing them?"

"Do I have to know you? If I'm being honest, I don't want to. I'm pretty much sure there's nothing for me to find, so why even try?"

"You're very judgemental, you know. You have an image of someone in your head and you're not even trying to find out that they aren't actually like that." Luca wants to laugh at this because he's never been wrong before. Every person he had an idea of how they were, were just exactly how he imagined them to be in the end. Most people actually disappointed him even. So why try to get to know any person for real? It'll always just lead to disappointment and Luca was already fed up with the feeling of that. He had enough of that in his life already. Luca might not know Henry Shaw personally, actually doesn't know anything about him other than what media says but to Luca it was enough to get the picture. Rich womaniser playing with every woman who's willing to come along and let the pop star in their panties. He's having some public relationship with them and then he lets them fall back down into reality which is him not being interested in any stupid real relationship.

That's even worse than what he himself is like, Luca thinks. He at least gives everyone the knowledge of him being unavailable, him being just after a fuck for the night, nothing emotional. Henry doesn't. He's playing some fucked-up game and Luca doesn't know how girls can be into that kind of thing. How can it be attractive to someone, trying to change someone who makes it so clear that he's just being the person he really is?

Luca doesn't get the whole drama. Doesn't get the obsession about Henry Shaw. Sure, he's good looking, but to Luca that's all there is to the guy.

"Going to tell me now that you're a saint, not a sinner? That you're a good guy? That all the media has to say about you is some crap they just make up? My deepest apologise that I don't want to get to know the 'real' you."

Luca walks past the curly one. He's in the lavatory for a reason. Besides, Henry must have somewhere to be, right? Probably being in the VIP area and finding some new girlfriend. Or weren't girls from random clubs his thing, just models and other singers like that Theresa Rhodes Luca couldn't stand either? Luca actually doesn't care about that. He doesn’t care about Henry Shaw at all.

"Never claimed to be a saint but you don't know anything about me and still you judge me as if you know me since I was a little boy", Henry says, and Luca is perplexed for a second because he didn't expect the pop star to still be there.

Why can't this boy just leave? Leave him alone in general?

"I know enough." Luca doesn't think he sounds convenient but what does he care. All he wants to do is leaving the restroom, taking Alexis safely to the hotel; giving that cute guy a ride to his hotel room and then have a nice fuck all night long. That's what he wants, not some annoying conversation with Henry Shaw.

"What exactly do you know then?" the celebrity asks, and Luca just wishes for someone to enter the room, for someone disturbing this private bubble the two of them got into. Luca doesn't want to be in a bubble with Henry Shaw, not even a metaphorical one.

Henry walks towards him and it makes the older boy uneasy. God be dammed, he's peeing right now, and Henry fuck you Shaw is disturbing him pretty much. That's at least what he'd call it.

"You should at least try to get to know me. Spend some time following my everyday life. I think then you can judge me as much as you wish but till then you don't know anything at all about me." Luca blinks, once, twice. Did he hear correctly? Henry pop star Shaw is standing in a club's restroom while he's peeing and kind of asks him to spend some time with him? What even is this? If it wasn't so stupid, Luca could think Henry Shaw just asked him out on a date. But firstly, Luca doesn't do dates and second Henry Shaw knows he hates his guts. Funny that. And besides, Henry Shaw was straight.

Luca blinks again because he can't really make up his mind about this. Can't decide if it's worth it, changing his own rules. Didn't he always say he won't ever try again to get to know someone? Never ever, would he try to see behind someone's façade and look if there's more to find? Luca's still sure there's nothing underneath Henry Shaw but emptiness. Somehow though, Luca has the sudden want to know for sure. Have a last try of finding out that not everyone's just like their outside picture makes them out to be. Then he thinks about Chel. How he made her be ashamed of him today and how much she loves the guy with the green eyes that somehow stare at him through the mirror and it's scaring him. It's scary, mostly because he's in a damn loo and peeing right about now. It's the weirdest situation Luca's ever been in.

"You want me to follow you around like a puppy?" Luca asks in disbelieve, zipping his trouser close and strolling to the sinks at the other side of the room, passing Henry. Luca doesn't want to look at him but somehow he just can't help himself, he has to. He watches the pop star's reaction and it's ridiculous, really because the younger one starts to giggle