Hypnotic

**IMPORTANT NOTE** PLEASE READ >>>> Firstly, I want to thank everyone who sent messages of encouraging words and asked if I was okay. I truly appreciate that and I'm really sorry for the lack in posts. I feel incredibly guilty about that.

I recently finished editing Labeled(to self publish), and some things have changed. I'm not sure if he'll appear here in this story yet. Jeremy(Taylor's BF) is now Wes. In the edited version of Labeled Vic is strictly Victor, I'm hoping it'll help with the confusion of the brothers a little better in Labeled. In this book, Jade will call him Vic, and only Jade..there may not be a whole lot of the other brothers in this story, again we'll see what happens..characters play out themselves. they write the story. I'm gonna go through past chapters and correct this, you'll see in this chapter why..

Also, please let me know if there are any discrepancies..it's been a while since I've immersed myself in their world again.

All my posts are rough drafts, thank you for reading!

I wake up alone without the ache in my head and unfortunately the memories of a disastrous night come flooding to fore front. I don't dwell on it long, because I can't change anything. I'm just thankful I won't be seeing her ever again because I won't be returning to the Peacock anytime soon. I get up and take a shower.

After dressing I join my brother and Chase who are sitting in the living room watching TV.

"Morning sunshine." Vance says when I plop down on the love seat, across from Vance, taking up the whole thing.

I mumble a "morning." back.

"You strike out last night or what?" he asks not taking his eyes from the tv.

"Or what." I return.

Vance laughs loudly smacks the arm of the chair, "Big bro got shot down. BURRRNNN." I don't even correct him because it's so far from the truth. Calling a girl the wrong name and then not being able to perform because she isn't said girl is much more embarrassing. "Send her my way, I'll take care of her."

"Shut up Vance." V enters the room with a plate in her hand and sits on the couch next to Chase, placing the plate in his lap and grabbing one of the two sandwiches. "I'm glad." She smiles my way and takes a bite of her sandwich. Vances head snaps towards V, taking in her snack, "Where's my sandwich!" he shouts. In that moment, he reminds me a lot of Joey Tribbiani from the tv show Friends. V looks at him and shrugs, "I dunno, in the kitchen still, waiting to be made."

Chase and I laugh, Vance doesn't get up but grumbles about being a horrible sister. "Victor did you want something to eat?" she asks me, her voice extra sweet.

"You're adopted!" Vance yells out and gets up, stalking out of the room and into the kitchen causing us all to laugh.

"Victor! Are you going to Ma's later?" Vance yells from the kitchen.

"Yeah!'

Earlier in the week, Ma sent out a family text inviting us all to dinner on Sunday, tonight. With the family starting to leave their home, family dinners have become a mandatory weekly affair.

XXX

It's been a long week and the guys from work have invited me out to a bar afterward. "A band is playing, it'll be fun." They said.

Fuck it.

So here I am, at a bar loud music filling the building. We've filled up a few tables, a few female coworkers joined us, and they've definitely let their hair down. I've been nice but I learned my lesson on that. I'm nursing a beer, enjoying the down time when a table across the way catches my attention or more accurately a brunette with tattoos. I pause my movements and watch the girl, she stands and makes her way to the bar. I'm suddenly on my feet following her. She's leaning against the bar, her hair down and wild, skin tight pants molded to her amazing ass and legs.

I slide in next to her and she glances at me but quickly looks away until she realizes she knows me. Her gaze comes back to me slowly and I can feel my lips upturn. Her body shifts towards mine, and I notice her top dips low exposing her plump cleavage. Her head tilts, "Hey stranger, I'm hurt, you've traded bars?"

"I could say the same to you."

She smirks, "My best friend is in love with the drummer." Her head nods towards the band.

"And let me guess, you're in love with the lead singer?"

Her nose scrunches, "Am I that obvious?" then rolls her eyes, "No way, musicians are not for me, been there, done that!" Her response shouldn't bother me, but yet it does. The bartender brings Jade her drinks pulling our attention away from each other. She grabs the neck of the beer bottle and takes a swig. "But seriously, where have you been? What's up with the house? You just left me hanging!"

"I'm sorry, I've just been trying to get my shit together. But Rachael just called this morning, I got the house!"

"No way!" Her face lights up, "That is awesome! Congrats dude!" she punches me in the arm lightly.

"Yeah, it's been stressful. We've been back and forth with the sellers but we finally settled."

"When's the party!?" she throws her arms up "Woot! Woot!"

That makes me laugh, and suddenly some tall girl appears out of nowhere. "Well no I see what's taking you so long, J." Her thin heavily tattooed arm wraps around Jade's shoulder. "Who is your handsome friend?"

"Zara, this is Vic, Vic this is Zara." Jade introduces us, the nickname rolling off her tongue like we've been friends forever. No one calls me Vic, its always Victor, and I like that way more than what would be considered normal.

Zara's eyes widen, "The infamous Victor Russo?"

"Infamous?" I question and look towards Jade, has she been talking about me?

"Oh, yes, you've conjured up quite the stories with the females."

Oh. I cringe and look away, subconsciously my hand lifts to rub the back of my neck. The past few weeks have been bad, I can admit that. My gaze moves back towards my table, I shift uncomfortably, hating the direction this convo has now gone. I shouldn't care.

"Oh, are you here with someone? Am I keeping you? I'm sorry!" Jade's word rush out, my gaze snaps to her.

"No, no! I'm here with some co-workers."

"Perfect!" Zara claps pulling my gaze to her, "Come sit with us!" she invites. I look back to Jade for confirmation and nods. Zara pulls Jade by the hand, quickly Jades hand shoots out for mine and pulls me along behind her. We reach their table just as a few guys walk onto the stage, I take a seat at the table. The girls stand just in front and Zara screams loud, joining the other whistles and yells. The band instantly starts playing without any introduction, just right into the song, which isn't bad. Zara and Jade start moving to the music, snagging my attention to Jade's body, she moves her hips in a sensual sway. She's hypnotic.

When the song ends, she glances over her shoulder, and fuck if that isn't the hottest thing. There's a sheen of sweat on her skin, making me think of sex. Fuck. I like Jade, I like being around her, and it's obvious she isn't interested in me. I need to keep my shit under wraps. She turns fully and grabs her beer bottle off the table and takes a drink, "What do you think?"

"Not bad. Who are they?"

"Apex."

"Apex?" I question.

"Yeah," she nods, "Apparently there's this porno called apexes and this girl uses parts of her body with multiple men at the same time." She rolls her eyes, "I don't know."

"Alright then." That was not what I was expecting at all, and then a thought occurs to me, "You watched this?"

"No." she laughs and I don't quite believe her, I stare at her, "Okay, I saw like two minutes of it."

I burst out laughing, she swats at my arm, "Stop!"

"What, it's cool, you like porn." I shrug. "Most guys would find that pretty hot." I take a swig of my beer but keep my eyes on her.

She purses her lips, "I'm sure." Her attentions returns to the band who transitioned into another song, shortly a few guys from my office make their way over to our table. I reluctantly introduce them to Jade, who's seemed to move closer to me, and stays there for the remainder of the night. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and I find myself moving to the music. When they move onto an Ozzy Osborne cover, I find myself standing and singing. It's the first time in weeks that I've truly enjoyed myself, forgetting the shit storm that my life has become. Jade turns and faces me, singing and smiling. She's so beautiful. She grabs my hand and begins to twirl around, and then my hands are on her hips and we're moving together. The song ends way too soon, and the band finally introduces themselves to the crowd, that's roaring loudly. Jade's turned toward the stage, but her body is resting against my front, her hands are above her head clapping. Music from the speakers begin to play, but it's not nearly as loud, it suddenly seems so quiet.

Jade pushes her hair from her face, her smile wide, "That was so much fun!"

"It was." I agree.

Suddenly a few members from the band join us, and I find myself standing closer to Jade. The drummer greets Zara very enthusiastically, when they break apart, she introduces me to Spencer. Then Peter the bassist, and Trevor the lead singer. Trevor's eyes trail down Jade's body and lingers a bit longer than I like. "You have a good time Jade?"

"Yeah! Good show!" I feel her lean into me, and without thought, my arm goes around her. Trevor's gaze moves to me. He nods, "Good. I'm gonna go grab a drink." He leaves abruptly, obviously not liking my proximity to Jade. I eye Peter who's attention is on a few females.

"Care to tell me about that?" I ask and she moves out from under my arm.

"Sorry!" she says sheepishly, "That was so wrong of me, but I'm getting tired of turning him down. He's relentless."

"Poor guy." I joke but secretly thrilled. She covers her face, "I'm going to hell." That makes me laugh, "And I'll be there with you babe."

The music ceases, and the lights come on, we glance around realizing most of the place has cleared out. "Oh damn." Jade whispers, and giggles. "It's gotta be late!" Her comment makes me glances at my watch, it's nearing 2am. Zara comes up behind Jade, wrapping her arm around Jade's shoulders, "I'm gonna go with Spencer, do you need a ride?" I don't miss Zara's eyes land on me for a second before returning to Jade, who pats Zara's hand. "Yeah, I'm good. I'll call for one."

"No, I'll take you home." I blurt out, a bit more aggressive than I intended.

"Okay, caveman." Zara's eyebrow arches, "what if she's not going home?"

"I'll make sure she gets wherever she wants to go." I shrug, acting like I don't care that she doesn't go home, but deep down, I don't like that.

"It's cool Zara, go ahead." Jade insists.

"You sure?" her friend asks, and Jade nods in response. Zara squeezes Jade, "Call me tomorrow." She says before releasing her and moving away from us.

"Thanks Vic." There's that nickname again, I feel that. "Are you okay to drive?" she questions.

"Yeah, I stopped hours ago."

"Well then, I'd appreciate the ride, thank you." She tips back the rest of her drink, "Alright, I'm ready."

We walk out together in silence, and don't say anything until I'm pulling out of the parking lot. Jades curled up into the seat, her head against the head rest, "Did you have a good time stud?"

I shake my head and puff out a laugh, I'm never going to live that down. "I did, it's been awhile since I've had that much fun. Thank you."

"Good, that makes me happy." I glance at her, her eyes are heavy, but she smiles at me lazily, "It was nice seeing you sober and smiling." I don't respond to that, my life has been shit for the last few months.

"So Zara?" I change the subject.

"She's my best friend."

"You two are a handful."

She laughs, "Yeah, we are."

"She seemed a little protective of you, or was that me?"

"It's just because of you, it's not everyday your high school crush comes back into town, then fucks anything with a vagina outside a 10-mile radius." I wince, that hurts, despite it being true. She must've seen that because she apologizes. "Sorry, she's just looking out for me."

She had a crush on me? "You had a crush on me?" I ask incredulously.

"Uh duh, just about every female did at some point but I was a little freshman when you were a junior."

"And now?" I'm intrigued.

"And now you're an accountant?" She yawns loudly.

I smile at her response, because what? "I meant your crush?" I had no business asking this, and I shouldn't have but FML right?

"And now...you need a friend." She pats my arm gently, then leaving it there. I glance over at her, and she's fast asleep. Her knees tucked up under her, facing me, mouth wide open. It's the funniest and cutest thing. I repeat her words in my head all the way to her place. A soft snore escapes her lips, causing me to laugh. When I reach her apartment, I pull in behind the bar and park next to her Honda.

"Jade." I whisper. Nothing. I gently shake her arm, "Jade." Her eyes open slightly, "What?" she whispers back.

"We're at your place." At my response, her eyes open and she glances around the car. "Oh." She says uncurling herself from the seat, unbuckling the belt. I turn off the engine and quick get out to help her up the stairs. It seems like forever in her tired state, but she finally opens the door and stumbles inside, removing her shoes at the couch. "If you're tired, you are more than welcome to crash here."

Friends. Friends. Friends.

"Will there be breakfast in the morning?" I ask.

"Sure." She mumbles and I close the door behind me, locking it.

Friends. Friends. Friends.

Friends Don't Fuck.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, I literally finished this last night. I'm sorry if it's not enough, I know you all have been waiting(some longer than others). Your thoughts and comments give me life, so keep giving them!

ALSO! I created a facebook! Friend me! (Jenni Linn). I'm hoping to really connect with my readers more, share inspirations and ideas..