Sinfully Pleasurable

chapter 1

My grin could have split my face.

Brandon had an arm around my waist, holding me against him tightly. All eyes were on us as we strolled through the hotel lobby that Zain's party was taking place at. I had helped him and his fiancee choose the place, and I was still in awe of it's beauty. I'd been to the hotel a handful of times and every time, I would admire it.

"You love it too much here," Marc teased me, resting a hand on my head. I smacked his hand away fast, giving him a warning look. He chuckled and ducked down, pecking my cheek in apology.

I broke away from the boys when we reached the doors of the party room where Marie and Micah were waiting for us. They were slumped against the wall, speaking quietly with one another, their faces schooled into identical expressions of boredom. They both perked up at the sight of my boys and I, obviously pleased they wouldn't have to wait any longer for us.

"Took you long enough," Micah grumbled, though his grin informed us he was only joking.

"I'm actually on time for once, be nice," I replied, bumping my shoulder against his as I passed by into the party room. A wall of voices slammed into me and I winced, backing up into Axel. My anxiety had been getting better lately, but I still wasn't comfortable in situations like this. Too many people gave me too stress. "I know for a fact neither of them have this many friends and this much family..."

"You approved the guest list," Brandon pointed out with a small shrug.

Corey stepped in between Brandon and I, preventing me from slapping his arm. "Are we searching out Zain and Charli?"

"Yeah," I sighed, nodding. "I wanna let them know that we're here. Then we can make rounds and keep up appearances." Being from a well known, wealthy family was absolutely exhausting. It meant having to be on a stage almost every time I was in public.

"How many drunk men do you think we will have to fend off tonight?" Raven mused as we began to search for my eldest brother. He stayed close to me, his protective nature shining through.

"Six," I said, my lips quirking up, finding amusement in this conversation. "At least six. That's my guess."

"Put on a fucking parka please," Marc mumbled and I burst out into laughter. I stood on tiptoe, pressing a quick kiss to his lips as a silent reassurance.

"Please save that for later. Making out is kind of me and Charli's job. We are the happy couple that is engaged to be married, after all."

Zain looked happier than I had seen him in awhile, a smile on his face and his eyes lit up with joy. Ever since getting sober and finding Charli, he had been in a much better place, even working with Knox on several business projects. It'd been such a long time since I had seen him so put together and in such a good place. I beamed and wrapped him up in a quick hug, giving him a very big squeeze before stepping away.

"Glad you could be on time for once," Zain said, grinning widely.

"Sang," Axel wound an arm around me, staring at Zain. "Your family is a bunch of assholes."'

I smirked at Zain, taking pleasure out of his mock offended look. "I know. It's going to be so nice to have someone pleasant like Charli join the family." I paused. "Speaking of that lovely Brit, where is she?"

"Greeting guests," Zain replied, scanning the room, most probably looking for his fiancee. "As soon as she spots y'all over here, she'll be here to greet you. You know how she loves you."

"I haven't seen her in so long," I sighed dramatically, fighting the urge to smile. It bothered Zain to no end that Charli and I were friends, practically best friends, and because of that we rubbed it in his face as much as possible. I also loved to constantly point out that I was dating his childhood friends, another fact that tended to bother him just slightly. It had become one of my favorite habit's to push my older brother's buttons.