Crystal Read Online Free

lads but neither Crystal nor Tahlia had the slightest bit of interest in them.
    ‘They just remind me of my kid brother,’ Crystal confided as they watched the boys showing off by diving flashily into the pool and wrestling with each other. ‘They’re just boys. And frankly I need a man.’ As she said that an image of Max rose up in her head. She’d met him a few times now and every time the attraction she felt for him had grown stronger, until it had reached a point where it was such sweet torture to be near him that she almost couldn’t bear it. She had cried off on the last occasion when they were all supposed to meet up. Max had wanted to give the girls a send-off from the club, before they went to boot camp. Crystal invented a bout of food poisoning and was stunned when her mobile rang and it was Max.’
    ‘Are you really ill?’ he demanded.
    ‘Yeah, I feel terrible.’ Crystal tried to put on a croaky voice.
    ‘Well, that’s a pity. I wanted to see you.’ He paused, and Crystal’s stomach flipped. ‘I’m disappointed you’re not here.’ Another pause where Crystal nearly said,
So am I.
‘Good luck, Crystal. I’ll be thinking of you.’
    He was obviously waiting for Crystal to say that she would be thinking of
him
, but much as she was tempted to, she simply thanked him and said goodbye. She knew she’d made the right decision not going to the club; somehow she had to beat her obsession with Max.
    ‘Oh, there you are,’ Belle called over to them from the other side of the pool. ‘I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be in the suite next door to you, so come up and I’ll show you round.’ And with that she turned and walked away, her high-heeled sandals clicking loudly against the marble.
    ‘She obviously didn’t piss Dallas off then,’ Crystal muttered, then had a thought. ‘You don’t think she did anything with him do you?’
    ‘What do you mean?’ Tahlia asked.
    ‘Like a blowjob-for-suite scenario?’ Crystal whispered, not wanting the boy band members to overhear.
    ‘No way!’ Tahlia shook her head, too sweetly naïve to imagine such a thing, but Crystal couldn’t help wondering. Dallas was known to prefer blondes and Belle was quite capable of giving the odd favour if it got her what she wanted. . .
    And when the two girls saw Belle’s suite Crystal wondered even more. It was palatial – high, moulded ceilings, glittering chandeliers, an ornate four-poster bed in the bedroom, an imposing stone fireplace. Adjoining the bedroom was an elegant living room with yet another impressive fireplace; an HD TV set, several huge vases of lilies giving off a heady perfume, and a well-stocked drink cabinet. It was the kind of suite Crystal expected a fully-fledged pop star to have.
    ‘So how the hell did you get him to give you this?’ she exclaimed.
    ‘I just explained how badly I sleep if there are other people in the room,’ Belle replied, ‘and he was very sympathetic.’
    ‘I bet you manage when you’re with Max,’ Crystal said dryly.
    ‘We don’t sleep much when we’re together, know what I mean?’ Belle said smugly. And Crystal shut up, not wanting to hear any more.
    ‘And Dallas didn’t mind you asking?’ Tahlia said.
    ‘No, he was an absolute sweetie about it,’ Belle replied, flicking back her hair but avoiding eye contact with the others. ‘Anyway, I’m going to get ready now. I want to look my best for tonight as I think we’re being filmed.’
    ‘How was your first day?’ It was Max on the phone. Tahlia was in the shower. Crystal’s heart raced as it always did at the sound of his voice.
    ‘Great,’ she replied, wondering why he was calling her.
    ‘I’ve just spoken to Belle but she’s too busy getting ready to talk so I thought I’d call you,’ Max continued. ‘Are you feeling better?’
    ‘I’m fine,’ Crystal replied, having totally forgotten that she’d invented an illness.
    ‘Yeah, I thought so,’ Max said laughing. ‘There