Out of Beat (Boys of Fallout Book 1)

by Cassandra Giovanni

  “Him?” Danny asks, and his mouth twitches.

  “People choose sides,” I reply as I tuck my hair behind my ears.

  “We’re kind of running late,” Zack says as he sticks his head in the door. His goofy expression falls, and he looks at Joey and Danny. “Dude, it’s just a tattoo. Don’t hold it against her. All of us have them. Hell, we have matching ones.”

  Danny runs his hand over his close-shaven head and nods. “Yeah, Zack’s right.”

  His jaw clenches as he looks me, hazel eyes sad, and then turns to go out the door. I follow him and then run ahead, jumping onto Zack’s back. It almost causes him to face plant, but he grabs onto Aaron.

  “You should’ve chosen me,” Aaron says, laughing. “Zack weighs what you do.”

  “She caught me off guard,” Zack says as he boosts me up a bit. “So, it’s because of me, right?”

  Danny shakes his head at me, and his whole body is tense.

  “What are you talking about?” I ask as Aaron holds the door open for us.

  “The tattoo,” Zack replies. “Cause I call you Lark.”

  “Yeah, I got a tattoo for a nickname that I hate,” I reply as I slide off his back. “Try again.”

  Joey steps to the receptionist and tells her who we are. She stands and leads us down a hall to a recording room. Danny falls into step beside me and his hand wraps around mine, bringing my wrist up and flipping it so he can see the birds that fly across it with the words Free Me beneath it. It could just be a cliche, but when Danny’s gaze rises to mine, I know he realizes it’s not.

  “Will you tell me?” he asks, and my chest tightens from how serious he looks– how much he seems to still care.

  He’s the only person I ever really wanted to tell. The person I would’ve asked to come with me to get the tattoo– the person I thought of when everything went to shit.

  “If you really want to know,” I reply, and Zack coughs at the door to the recording room where Aaron and Joey have already taken seats.

  Danny ignores him. “I need to know.”

  I nod, and then follow him in. Danny takes the seat across from me next to Joey, and I end up next to Aaron.

  Each of the guys introduces themselves, and then the radio guy turns to me. “Someone’s girlfriend?”

  “No,” I reply. “Photographer and Joey’s little sister.”

  “Ah, so these guys are like your extended brotherly family?” he asks, and I find my eyes falling on Danny.

  He’s staring at the tattoos on the inside of his forearm. I force a smile as I answer, “Yeah, something like that.”

  Aaron leans over. “Except for him.”

  My head snaps around, and he winks at me, and then nods at Danny. “I think it goes both ways.”

  “What?” I form the word with my lips, but no sound comes out.

  “Three, Two, One!” the radio announcer says, cutting off the conversation and leaving me in shock. “Paul Wentz here with Kill Me Softly for Take Over Tuesday! New to Take Over Tuesday? It’s simple, really. The band takes over the station, playing their favorite tunes– maybe a few acoustics for us and I ask the tough questions! Let’s get started with some introductions.”

  I sit in shock, my mind bouncing between having to tell Danny something I didn’t think I’d ever talk about again, and Aaron’s insinuation that Danny has feelings for me. My gaze moves from my tattoo up to Danny, and he gives me that toothy grin that makes my heart hammer out of beat.

  And I have to admit; I like it. It’s good to know, after everything, it still beats– at least for him.

  Chapter 5

  I convince Joey to give me the passwords to each of the band’s social media accounts, and I start posting the pictures I took at the radio interview, along with side comments about what was going on. I put plugs in for the tour, too, and when we stop to get pizza he pulls his cell phone out to find a text message from their manager telling him to keep doing whatever he’s been doing because tickets are starting to sell out. I’m just glad for an excuse not to talk to Danny about my tattoo, but he keeps glancing over at me like he wants to talk and doesn’t know how to bring it up.

  A part of me wants to talk to him about it because I think he’ll get it. When the guys decide to watch a movie with zombies in it, I gag and then head into what’s my bedroom for the next six months. I close the pocket door behind me before changing into my pajamas, but I don’t bother opening it back up because I know my eyes will keep drifting to the disgusting images on their TV. I lay back on the bed and stare at the ceiling. I’m used to being alone by now, but it doesn’t get any easier especially when four people I’ve missed for so long are right outside the door. Listening to them on the radio, I was reminded how Joey and Zack are the bold ones while Danny and Aaron tend to be quieter. Then again, sometimes Zack says more than enough for all of them.

  Maybe a little too much. Like how he called Danny celibate during the radio interview when they were asked about their relationship status. As if every girl on the planet doesn’t already want to jump him, now they all think he’s in desperate need of getting laid. I grit my teeth as I sit up in bed.

  I shouldn’t care. I know I shouldn’t, but after so many years apart he still has a way of making my heart go crazy with just one look.

  I flip my wrist to look at my tattoo, and a knock comes on the door.

  “Sky? Can I come in?” Danny asks from the other side, and my heart does that crazy shit all over again.

  “Sure, come in,” I say as I lean back against the headboard.

  “Leave that door at least partially open!” Joey calls as Danny slips in.

  He rolls his eyes and shuts it partially, so there’s just an inch open, but Joey can see me, so he doesn’t seem to mind.

  “What’s up?” I ask as he stands in front of the bed in his pajama bottoms and a loose white t-shirt. He tips on his toes and then his heels.

  “I was wondering if we could talk,” he asks, and his neck turns red.

  I tap the space next to me, and he comes to sit there. He leans his back against the headboard and puts his hands in his lap.

  I look over at him. “So what’s up?”

  He looks at his hands, chewing on the inside of his lip before he reaches over and flips my wrist. His fingers run over the tattoo.

  “Why this?” he asks, and his eyes follow the trail of goosebumps that raise the bare flesh of my arms until his gaze meets my face.

  “Why do you need to know?” I whisper. I want to tell him, but the burning fear in my belly keeps me silent on the subject.

  “Because I care,” he answers. “And I know you well enough to know you were trying to deal with something by getting this.”

  “You know how I said I would’ve run away with you to get you away from your mom?” I ask and his lips part as he nods. “After you left I still wanted to run away.”

  “You felt trapped?” Danny asks, and I nod.

  He looks up at the ceiling as he pushes my clenched fist down and weaves his fingers between mine. “I screwed up, Sky.”

  My chin moves to my shoulder and his chest heaves as he looks at me from the corner of his eyes.

  “I should’ve called, or texted or something…anything. You were always surrounded by friends…and he ruined that?” Danny asks.

  I look down at our hands. “School was hell after. The nicknames–Scarface wasn’t even the worst one.”

  Slut. Whore. Bitch. And the worst one. KO.

  Danny’s other hand comes up to my face, and his thumb caresses the scar, skimming over the bottom of my lip. “You’re beautiful, inside and out.”

  “And scarred,” I reply.

  “I wish I was there for you,” he says, and he curses as he pulls his knees up and puts his arms over them. His head ducks between his shoulders. “You were always there for me.”

  I reach over and squeeze his shoulder. “I know you would’ve been if I asked.”

  He tilts his head, so he’s looking
at me. “Why didn’t you ask?”

  “I guess I didn’t know how,” I reply.

  Danny laughs, looking ahead. “You’re too strong for your own good.”

  “I said the same thing about you,” I say, and he nods.

  “But I knew when to run to you.”

  My jaw clenches. I should’ve run. I should’ve followed them. But instead, I stayed, and everything changed.

  “So I figure you would’ve run to me if you really needed me,” Danny adds, and my nails bite into my palms.

  I needed you because I knew you were the only one who’d understand.

  The guys call Danny “Madman” because they think he has a short temper. In high school, he always showed up with some bruise or cut, so they assumed he’d kicked someone’s ass. I always hated it when they called him it because I knew the truth. It was the same reason I despised the nickname KO. On the surface, it wasn’t bad, but the truth beneath was far more painful.

  When I don’t respond Danny leans his shoulder into mine. “You would’ve, wouldn’t you?”

  Our eyes lock and his flash over my face. I can’t lie to him, and I feel a cold sweat building on the back of my neck at the idea of telling him everything.

  “Yo!” Zack says, yanking the door open. “You two better not be ending Danny’s celibacy! Guess not.”

  Zack saunters back into the living area, leaving the door open and narrows his eyes at me as he flops back onto the stack of pillows he has on the floor.

  “Are you really celibate?” I ask, glancing over at Danny with a smirk.

  He leans forward and rubs his neck. “I don’t sleep around, and I haven’t had a girlfriend in awhile.”

  “How long?” I ask, and I feel the air in my throat stop as I wait for his response.

  Danny looks over at me. “I’d guess two or so years. Let’s just say the last girl I kissed made it hard to forget her.”

  He slides off the bed and nods into the living room. “I’ll make them change it to a cooking show.”

  Just what I need. A cooking show. That will totally take my mind off that comment.

  Not.

  Chapter 6

  Comatose.

  That’s a pretty good description of how I sleep. The first night on the bus is no different, except we must have somehow entered the midwest because I’m being woken up by an earthquake and we don’t have them — at least not like this — on the East Coast. My eyes shoot open to find there isn’t a natural disaster shaking the bus. It’s three half-naked men, only in boxer briefs, jumping on my bed. They start laughing when they see my face, and it amps up their jumping, which practically sends Zack’s already bent six-foot frame into the ceiling. I grab my cell phone and hit the video button before they can react, and Aaron and Danny grab to hide the shape of their junk. Zack just keeps jumping.

  Not surprising. He’s also the one with what appears to be an owl tattoo peeking out, only eyes showing, from his underwear.

  I put my phone down as the jumping gets even worse and my body jerks up and down with them. They’re all laughing so hard I don’t know how they’re still jumping.

  “Will you stop it?” I ask, and Danny’s smirk turns into a full-blown smile. I’m trying my damnedest not to let my eyes drop from his face, but at some point, I lose control, and my eyes fall to his bare chest. His arms appear to be the only tattooed part of him, and his body is still as flat as ever– he’s not chiseled like Aaron, but for some reason I find myself staring at Danny’s body over washboard abs-Aaron. My face is on fire, and I close my eyes before they can drop further because I do not need Aaron and Zack to see me staring at Danny’s crotch.

  “Joey!” I yell, and he saunters into the room, also shirtless, but thankfully wearing sweatpants. His chest tattoo appears to be the same owl that might just be perching on Zack’s man-junk. Joey jumps onto the bed, propping himself on one arm and smirks at me as he also bounces up and down from the force of the guys. “I thought it was an earthquake,” I hiss, crossing my arms.

  Joey looks up at each of the guys, and his lips purse as he nods. “Natural disaster about sums it up.”

  “Can you make them stop?” I ask, and Joey rolls onto his back, which results in Zack jumping on top of him. Apparently, he just can’t resist a bare-chested Joey.

  It’s a catalyst that unbalances the group, causing Aaron to fall off backward, and suddenly I find my arms wrapped around Danny as he lands on top of me.

  “Good morning,” Danny says as he looks down at me, his arm muscles tightening as he suspends himself over me. His face is inches from mine, and his lips are so damn tempting when he’s trying to pout like he’s innocent in this whole thing.

  “Interesting way to wake someone up,” I whisper, and he raises his eyebrows before kissing my cheek and sitting up next to me. With him shirtless, I can see he has the same owl on the cap of the shoulder that leads to the arm filled with sporadic tattoos. I reach out and touch it, running my fingers over the haunting eyes, surrounded by blooming red roses. A shiver goes through Danny’s body and my eyes lift to meet his. “I love this.”

  “It’s for our first hit single,” Joey explains, and my eyes lift to see Zack is spooning him still.

  “Seriously, Zack, are you sure there isn’t something you need to tell me?” I ask, and Zack’s eyes flutter open. He blinks a few times before burying his head in Joey’s shoulder.

  “Very secure in his manhood,” Joey explains, rolling his eyes. “You don’t remember him being like this before?”

  I look at the ceiling and then admit defeat with a nod. As my eyes come down, they land on Aaron at the end of the bed. “Where’s yours?”

  He flips the inside of his arm to show his owl. “You should get one.”

  Joey sits up, shrugging a grumbling Zack off him. “Mom would kill me.”

  I put my hand up and rest my head on it so the tattoo I already have shows. “I think you’ll be all set.”

  “Does she know about that one?” Joey asks, nodding to it. I give a toothless smile. “Guess not.”

  “Sky was there when we wrote Night Owl,” Danny adds, and I glance over at him. He winks at me. They wrote the song on the same day Danny thought he could teach me drums.

  “Right, so she should know the lyrics,” Zack says as he sits up. “Sing the whole song, and you can get it.”

  I look at Joey. He narrows his eyes before saying, “You are basically a band member. Aaron?”

  I look over at him, fluttering my eyelashes and he smiles. “It was my idea, and that look seals the deal, but only if you can sing the whole song.”

  “Right now?” I ask.

  “Yes,” echoes through the tiny room.

  I glance over at Danny. “Can I at least get a beat?”

  His brows furrow as he nods. “Of course.”

  He begins to tap on the wall next to him, and I close my eyes before jumping up on the bed imitating my brother singing. I even jump with my air guitar like he does. When the song ends, I open my eyes to find Zack in front of me with his cell phone.

  “You’re not!” I yell, tackling him as I jump off the bed. He spins, and tosses the phone at Danny. “Come on!”

  Danny picks up my phone and wags it in the air. “You get rid of our boxer brief earthquake and no one ever has to see it.”

  I’m still clinging to Zack’s back. I whisper into his ear, “You already uploaded it, didn’t you?”

  Zack glances over at me with a wink. “You know me too well, Lark.”

  “How I’ve missed you,” I mutter as I drop off Zack’s back.

  Aaron squeezes my shoulder as he walks by. “Ya know you did.”

  My eyes find Danny, now laying back on my bed, arms behind his head. He pats the space next to him. “So where you getting it?”

  I flop down next to him and look his arm. “I like where you have it.”

  “Bold move,” Joey comments as he comes back into the room, pulling a shirt over his head. “They’re going to k
ill me.”

  “Payback’s a bitch,” I shoot back.

  “For what?” Joey asks, throwing his arms up.

  “You let Zack tape that!”

  Joey’s mouth drops open. “So did Aaron and Danny!”

  “Good point,” I look down at Danny.

  He shrugs. “You just looked so damn cute. I wanted to be able to watch it again because I know you’ll never repeat it.”

  My eyes move back to Joey. His mouth is still open, and his shoulders are slouched forward. “Seriously! You forgive him? What about Aaron?”

  At that moment, Aaron peeks his head into the bedroom and gives me a huge smile. “Love you, Sky.”

  Joey throws his hands up. “Fine! But I’m not taking credit for the one on your wrist!”

  Danny coughs as he sits up and our eyes meet at the corners before he slides off and heads into the main area to get dressed.

  “I’m not letting you take the blame for either of them,” I say as I stand. “Besides, I think Mom will think it’s cute that siblings have matching tattoos.”

  “Do all of them count as siblings?” Joey asks, nodding over his shoulder at the guys as they each dig in their bags for clothes.

  “For the most part,” I reply as I start pushing him out of the room.

  He digs his feet in, but he doesn’t weigh that much so I can keep pushing him.

  “What does that mean?” Joey hisses at me.

  I wink at him before pulling the door closed.

  “Do one of you have something to tell me?” I hear Joey ask the group. They all mutter to themselves because no one has a clue what he’s talking about.

  “Skylar!” Joey pounds on the thin door. “Tell me what that means!”

  “I love you all!” I yell through the door.

  “Love you too,” echoes back across the wood, and Joey grumbles before walking away.

  Chapter 7

  When I come out of the bedroom with clothes and a towel Joey holds up two fingers. I roll my eyes and look over at Zack who’s busy styling his hair, swooping it over to the side with a blow dryer. My eyes run over each of the guys, and I realize they’ve all taken showers during the time I was getting my clothes together.