by Amity Cross
Frank came back while I was daydreaming. “Will came up to me just now, and I swear he was gonna punch me one. You’ve pussy-whipped him, Zo.”
My lip curled as he set another bottle of cider on the table for me. “What are you on about?”
“I don’t think he liked the idea of someone else touching you.”
That made me madder than I thought it would. “He’s hardly spoken to me this entire week and spends his free time flirting with randoms and probably fucking them, too. Like it’s his business what I do. I can dance with whoever I want, however I want.”
“Calm down, Zoe.” Dee threaded his arm through mine. “You’re drunk.”
“No, I’m not,” I protested.
“If he’s trying to make you jealous, looks like it backfired,” Frank said, trying not to look me in the eye.
“Can’t say I want to be him right now,” Dee agreed.
Abruptly, I jerked away from him and ducked into the crowd before he could pull me back. Truthfully, I was a little drunk by that stage, so when I walked up to the bar and saw Will waiting to be served, I scowled at him with such force I even scared myself. When he turned around and saw the look on my face, he actually looked surprised.
“What the hell is your problem?” I asked, thumping down my empty bottle on the bar.
“Frank told you.”
“Of course, Frank told me.”
“This is the most animated I’ve seen you off stage.”
“What’s your problem?” I asked again, and suddenly, I felt incredibly turned on at how riled up he’d made me from this one little thing. Frank said Will had it bad? I had it worse.
“I don’t have a problem.”
“Why the hell do you care?” I exclaimed. “On second thoughts, don’t answer that. I couldn’t care less.”
“I could care a lot.”
I was too angry for his cryptic remark to register. “Oh, go fuck your random skank over a toilet, and leave me the hell alone.”
Will stared at me dumbfounded, and for once, he seemed like he was lost for words. I didn’t stick around to wait for him to snap out of it. I turned sharply on my heel and elbowed my way back to where I’d left my next drink with the boys.
“You sure put him in his place,” Dee sniggered as I approached.
“Oh, go jump, Dylan.”
“Your name’s Dylan?” Chris asked.
“Now see what you’ve done?” he exclaimed. “You’ve ruined my mystique.”
“Is that what you call it?” I asked.
He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Never mind. I’m taking you back to the hotel if you’re done defending Frank’s virtue.”
“Hey,” Frank exclaimed. “I don’t have any virtue to protect.”
I didn’t have the strength to protest as Dee slipped an arm around my waist and guided me from the venue. Going back to the hotel was a good idea. I was so worked up, who knew what I’d say to Will next. Hell, what would I say if I saw him with another girl? Yeah, going back to the hotel was a great idea.
Chapter 7
Needless to say, the next day I was feeling a little delicate.
I managed to get on the bus and sink into a seat toward the back, sunnies on, hoodie pulled up over my head, and earphones jammed in my ears. Thankfully, Dee claimed the seat in front of me creating a human buffer.
We were off to Newcastle, just north of Sydney, and had a few hours of travel ahead of us. As everyone piled into the bus, they looked just as bad as I felt. When Will climbed on, bringing up the rear, I turned my head and stared out the window to where Simone was closing the back of the 4WD, boxes piled up high. I was so aware of him passing it took all my willpower not to turn back. He was like a bloody magnet of pent-up sexual tension, and I wanted to stick myself against him, but he made me so furiously mad it would be a cold day in hell when that happened.
He didn’t make a move to talk to me, and once the bus began to move off, I managed to close my eyes and drift off to sleep.
It seemed like only a second later that I woke to Dee poking me with a finger from his seat in front. “We’ve stopped, Zo. Do you want anything from the shop?”
“Yeah.” I sat up, stretching. “I’ll get out.”
We’d pulled up to a roadhouse at the side of the highway. Bob was filling the tank with petrol, and most of the guys had gotten off to stretch or had disappeared into the servo for drinks and chocolate. It sounded like a good idea. I could benefit from a bottle of water for the cotton wool stuffed in my head.
As the automatic doors swished open, the first thing I did was pull off my sunnies. The next thing was my gaze colliding with Will. He stood right in front of me in the middle of the servo looking sheepish, his hair falling into his eyes in that annoying way that made me want to brush it away.
With a dramatic sigh, I stepped around him and made for the fridge at the back, determined to get my bottle of water and get out, but Will had other ideas. I felt his aura follow me down the aisle, and I could’ve turned around and yelled at him, and I did turn around, but I hesitated at the last second. He looked ten times worse than I felt.
“I’m— I didn’t—” He shuffled nervously, looking at the floor.
I looked him up and down. I should have noticed the change in his demeanor, but I was still annoyed. He was jealous of Frank? Well, I was jealous of all those random girls who seemed so much better than I was. To him, I was worth less than a onetime fling, and he had the audacity to get up into Frank’s face about dancing with me? Way to go making a girl feel special.
Pulling a bottle of water from the fridge, I stalked away toward the counter.
“Zoe,” he called out after me, but I kept going.
Pete was standing at the counter already and turned when I came up behind him.
“He is sorry, you know,” he said kindly from under his hoodie.
“I’m not over it yet.”
“He’s a good guy, he’s just…” He shrugged. Even Pete didn’t know what was going on.
Louie appeared from behind the magazine rack with a copy of Rolling Stone in his hand. “Strung out.”
“You’re gonna make him snap,” Pete agreed.
I was going to make him snap? In what world was I the one Will Strickland was agonizing over? I sighed and paid for my water. Sliding my sunnies over my eyes, I went to walk back out to the bus. Turning back at the last second, I hoped the feeling I had in my gut was right.
“He’s got a funny way of showing it,” I said.
Louie glanced at Pete, but before they could offer any more commentary, I went outside, the automatic door swishing closed behind me.
High-fiving Bob as I climbed back on the bus, I noticed Will sitting sideways in his seat toward the back, his knees curled up against his chest. His head was leaning back against the window, eyes closed. Some kind of feeling passed through me at the sight of him looking so beat, but I wasn’t sure what it was yet. With a sigh, I slid back into my spot behind Dee.
He poked his head over the seat and wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Pussy-whipped.”
Riding the high of another great show in beautiful Newcastle, we hung out at the bar as the venue began to empty.
I was determined more than ever to focus on the band and monopolize the wealth of knowledge that each venue presented. New tech guys, new support bands, and new sound guys. I asked them questions about everything, as much to ignore my rising attraction and anger toward Will as to learn something new.
It was a Thursday night, so a lot of the people who had come out to see the show were leaving. In real life, people still had day jobs and couldn’t hang out all night like we could. I was watching the crowd mill around the merchandise table and trail their way to the door, absently rubbing my arm.
“Is your arm bothering you?” Dee asked, appearing beside me.
“What? No.”
“Cos I know it does sometimes.”
“How do you know that?”
“I see you rubb
ing it like it’s aching. You should get it checked out if it’s bothering you.”
“No, it’s fine.” I waved him off.
“How’d the merchandise go tonight?” he asked as Simone came over.
“Like hot cakes,” she replied brightly. “I’m gonna have to call in a new order if it keeps going like it is, or we’ll have nothing left for Melbourne.”
“Bloody hell!” Dee chortled. “We’re gonna be rich and famous.”
“I’m gonna need some help, too. I’m glad Dean’s back soon.”
“Already?”
“Yeah, he’s going to meet us at the hotel in Sydney.”
Dee wandered off abruptly as Sticks walked past. He grabbed the drummer’s arm and started talking furiously with him, and I wondered what the hell it was all about.
“Have you said anything to Chris yet?” Simone asked, drawing my attention back to her.
“No.” I shook my head and smiled at her embarrassment. “But I will.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem. You need help boxing up the leftovers?” I asked, pointing back to the merchandise table.
“Nope. Louie’s helping me. He’s gone to get the extra boxes from the car.”
Nodding, I glanced across the room and saw Chris sitting at a table by himself, a drink in one hand and his phone in the other. Winking at Simone, I went over and pulled up a chair next to him.
“Hey, Zoe.”
“What are you doin’ sitting here all by your lonesome?”
He shrugged. “Just wanted some alone time.”
“Oh, do you want me to go?” I went to stand up.
“No, no. It’s okay.” He gestured for me to sit down again.
We sat there for a moment in silence, and it was probably as good a time now than any to bring up Simone. “What’s the deal with you and Simone?”
“Sorry?” He seemed surprised I would ask.
“You guys have known each other a while, right?”
“Yeah, a few years. Why’d you ask?”
“I was just thinking about it before,” I replied absently, even tricking myself into thinking I was telling the truth.
“Did she say something to you?”
Oh man, this was easy. “No. I just noticed something.”
He was watching me intently, and I knew I had him. “What?”
“I dunno. I might be wrong.”
“Spit it out, Zoe.”
“Chris?” I asked firmly. “Do you like Simone? I mean, like like her.”
He tried to hide his blush. Chris was shyer than I thought, and I knew exactly where he was coming from. He was so good he’d even fooled me until this exact moment.
“What did you notice?” he asked, deflecting my question.
“I was going to say I think she likes you.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
He reddened again and hung his head over his drink.
I leaned over and whispered in his ear, “She likes you. Done deal.”
He looked up at me in surprise and glanced across the room to where Simone was laughing with Louie and Frank. She turned then, as if she sensed we were looking, and caught Chris’s eye. She smiled a little, and I swore her cheeks turned pink.
“See?” I declared.
“I don’t know what to do,” he almost wailed.
“You’re so cute, Chris.”
“Zoe…”
“Buy her a drink. Talk to her. Tell her you think she’s beautiful. Tell her you like her.” Sounded simple when I put it like that. Why couldn’t I be that coherent where Will was concerned? I fell into a puddle whenever he came into my orbit…that was until he did something to piss me off. I was so mad at him for having a go at Frank, but I still found my thoughts wandering to his eyes, his lips, and his hands and what they could do to me. Just thinking about it made warmth pool in all the right places.
I shook my head to try to clear my mind of its dirty thoughts, and Chris grinned at me.
“I know how you feel,” he declared.
“Am I that obvious?”
“No.” He shook his head. “He is.”
“He couldn’t care less about me.”
“Zoe, he almost thumped Frank. You know, the big bear who wouldn’t hurt anyone?”
“I’m still pissed at him,” I said sullenly.
“Give him the chance to apologize at least.”
“I’ll take that into consideration.”
“Zoe, if you feel the same way...”
“One, he flirts and feels up everyone but me. I’m not jealous. I feel worthless to him. And two, take your own advice.”
He sank back into his chair and took a sip of his beer before coming back with, “I will when you take yours.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing he was dead right.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I still couldn’t help but feel disappointed. How could Will like me like that when he was too busy flirting with everyone else but me? He’d been a class-a jerk of epic proportions, and to date, there had been no exception. Someone who cared wouldn’t do that. Even his attempted apology had seemed halfhearted, which made me believe he never gave them out to begin with.
Will Strickland was an a-hole. No matter how I felt, he was not interested in me the way I wanted him to be. Not one iota.
Chapter 8
“What did he say?”
Simone was standing beside me, an anxious look plastered on her face and her usually slick ponytail haphazardly bunched on top of her head.
A few days had passed since I had one, yelled at Will, and two, spoken with Chris. And what an eventful few days it had been. We’d played an extra show in Newcastle, did some interviews, and another messy but fun photo shoot on the beach.
I was glad it was just The Devil’s Tattoo for the latter. I hadn’t spoken to Will since, you know, his crap attempt at apologizing, and he hadn’t tried, either.
We were packing up the bus for another day of driving. This time, we were going down to Sydney, and I wasn’t looking forward to it at all.
“He hasn’t spoken to you?” I asked, surprised. I’d told Chris it was a done deal. Him and Simone.
“No,” she replied, her shoulders sinking. “He’s been really awkward around me.”
“I don’t know why.” At the photo shoot yesterday, he had been quieter than usual.
“What did you tell him?”
“Simone,” I scolded her. “He likes you. He told me. I told him you felt the same.”
“You didn’t!”
“Of course, I did.”
“Zoe—”
“Done deal, Simone. Someone has to be the first one to make a move. May as well be you. Obviously, Chris is still scared stiff.”
“Why would he be scared?” she asked with a frown.
I looked at her over my sunnies. “Why would you?”
She looked up then and caught sight of Chris lugging his bag across the car park. With a small squeak, she scurried off toward her rental and opened the back.
As Chris passed me, I said, “Asked her yet?” Knowing full well he hadn’t.
He paled and kept walking.
“Playing matchmaker?” I stiffened at the sound of Will’s voice in my ear.
“What’s it to you?” I asked flatly, not bothering to turn around.
“I’m sorry, okay?”
“For what?”
Silence. I looked up at him, and he was smiling at me with a lopsided grin, the stubble on his chin infuriatingly sexy.
Anger and desire flared up inside of me, and I snapped, “Still an a-hole I see,” and stalked off into the bus.
Unfortunately, we were a seat down, and I’d waited too long to get on. Will was last, and he could’ve sat next to anyone, but as if he wanted to irritate the hell out of me, he slid into the seat next to mine. “I said I was sorry.”
“Yeah.” I glared at him over the top
of my sunnies. “I got it.”
“Can we start again?”
“You’ve gotta be straight with me,” I replied. “I don’t do games. I don’t do cryptic.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so I put my earphones in and turned on some Queens of the Stone Age to drown him out. To my annoyance, he pulled an earbud out, and I snatched it back from him. My breath caught as my hand ran over his, and his gaze snapped up to mine. I never once believed that zap of electricity shit, but right then, that’s exactly what I felt, and by the look on Will’s face, he just might have, as well.
“Zoe…”
I scowled at him and put the earbud back in with a small shake of my head. I’d just gotten my life back on track. I didn’t need this emotional roller coaster. I was stuck sitting next to him for the next God knows how long. I just had to focus and get through it.
I hated that I was so attracted to him. I hated how I fantasized about his hands, his fingers, and his lips. I hated that he crept into my thoughts with ease. The thought of him near me overwhelmed everything else to the point his body against mine was the only thing I could think about. I was thinking this, and he was sitting right next to me. Five centimeters separated us. I was so hyperaware that I squirmed at the tingling between my legs and sank down into my seat. Pulling my hoodie over my head, I hoped he couldn’t tell how amped up I was.
Thankfully, he decided not to push it any further, but he didn’t move from the seat next to me, either. I’d been bitchy enough, and asking him to move would be the bitchiest thing I could do. We all had to get along for the next five-ish weeks, so I stared out the window and did my best to ignore him.
With the combination of late nights and a smooth ride, it wasn’t long before I fell asleep despite all my best efforts to keep my eyes open. It was only two hours, but two hours extra sleep was better than none at all.
“Zoe.”
Opening my eyes, I wasn’t sure where I was for a moment. My leg was pressed up against someone else’s, and for a moment, I thought it was Dee, but when he said my name again, I realized I was still sitting next to Will, and it was his leg I was pressed up against. It was so unexpected that I jerked away like a scared animal. Like a lamb who’d been cornered by a fox.
