“You didn’t have to, love.”
“It’s okay. I wanted to.” He’d been more than generous giving me the time off when I hadn’t really earned it yet. I put my purse away and began to stock up the shake bar, which had boxes on the countertop full of products ready for the shelves to be filled. The customers came in slowly, and the phone rang intermittently. It got to eleven before I realized none of the guys had come in, and I wondered where they were. It was boring having no one to talk to besides Kal. Maybe he gave them Saturdays off?
Kal eventually made his way over to the desk, and I thought I would take the plunge and ask him about some training while it was quiet. “Kal, I was just wondering, do you do any self-defense training here?” I asked coyly.
He rubbed the small bit of stubble on his chin, pondering my question. “Not specifically like classes or anything, but I could get someone to go through the basic moves if that’s what you want?” His eyebrows narrowed slightly.
“Yeah, that would be great.” I felt really appreciative that he would find the time to help me out. His generosity seemed to know no bounds.
“Sure thing. I’ll sort something out for you.” He clapped my shoulder.
“Thanks, Kal.” Happy that he didn’t question the reason for wanting to take the lessons, I got back to work for the last remaining hour of the morning.
Right at lunchtime, I grabbed my things and headed home to get ready for MusicFest. Walking home, I wondered what I should wear. The weather was still pretty warm, and it would probably be even warmer with lots of bodies squished together. Taylor said she was wearing a skirt and a tank top, so I figured I would wear something similar. Usually, I lived in my jeans, but I wanted to be comfortable.
After my shower, I eventually settled on my short navy and white nautical striped skirt and a navy tank. I pulled my blonde hair up into a messy bun, applied some makeup, adding a winged liner, then coated my lips with a nude lipstick and I was ready to go.
Hearing Taylor beep her horn outside, I went downstairs to meet her. Dad was quiet in the front room, so I left him to it and didn’t bother him. I didn’t want any friction that would stop me from going out. I shouted bye to him and shut the door before I could get a response.
Dance music was blaring from her car, and she was visibly bouncing excitedly in her seat. I laughed as I got into the Beetle.
“Are you excited?” she asked me, eyes wide before showing me a toothy smile. If anyone could make you feel instantly happy, it was her.
I tried my best excited “yes” I could manage, and it worked, because she squealed back with excitement. She seemed wired, and I wondered whether she’d been knocking back energy drinks before coming to collect me. “Where’s Jake?” I asked, looking to the back seats, noticing his absence.
“He’s meeting us there. He wanted to go down with his friends.” She shrugged.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into Apton Park, where it was being held. We were directed to a parking spot and, with a swift turn, Taylor parked and shut off her engine.
“Night-night, Betsy.” She stroked the car as we got out. I shook my head at her affection for ‘Betsy’, and a throaty laugh escaped her. She was leaving the car in the lot overnight so she could have a drink with me.
The music from the festival speakers was vibrating through my bones, and as we walked toward the entrance, it was almost deafening. Taylor pulled a pair of tickets from her purse and handed them to the lady behind the ticket booth. Part of me wondered whether they would actually work because Jake had got them for us from an unknown source, and I wouldn’t put it past him to get fakes. But she scanned the barcode and we were granted entry and given wristbands, and I stared in shock at the letters ‘VIP’ printed on them. A stab of guilt hit me for judging Jake’s credibility. He’d never took money from me for them either, and they must have cost him quite a bit to get us VIP access. The normal tickets alone were expensive enough. Maybe I was being too hard on him.
We walked through the grounds and located the VIP area. There was a bouncer standing guard at the entrance, and we showed him our wristbands like giggling fools. Once inside, we stopped and looked around the vast area. Taylor grabbed my arm and held her breath, shaking her head in disbelief and taking in our surroundings.
“This is amazing,” she squeaked when she could finally talk.
“I know, right,” I agreed in awe. I’d never been in a VIP area before. It was huge. There were several large tents for various things like getting temporary tattoos, drinks, food, and one for having your hair done. I frowned slightly at that one. Why waste time getting your hair done? But nonetheless, there were quite a few people in the tent taking them up on the offer. There were areas where you could sit and relax on comfy rattan furniture or huge flat bean bags, and toward the back of the VIP area, in a kind of secluded spot, was a makeshift pod with soft lighting and TV cameras, where a presenter was interviewing what looked like a band. I could feel my excitement bubbling, and I was glad I changed my mind about coming. I looked over to one of the bars, and through the small crowd that was gathered there, I spotted two familiar people, Cam and Jamie. I couldn’t believe my eyes; that must’ve been why they weren’t at the club this morning.
Here I was, trying to avoid Taylor having anything to do with work, and now I wouldn’t have a cat in hell’s chance of keeping her away from it. I knew we lived in a small town and that practically anybody who’s anybody came here, but jeez, cut me a little slack. Cam and Jamie were both standing with a small group of people, a mixture of guys and girls, but I couldn’t see Marc or Leon anywhere. I wondered whether they all hung out together or not outside of the club.
Cam was wearing brown cargo shorts with a simple white tee that complimented his caramel skin. He casually ran a hand through his mop of dark chocolate hair while talking to a guy he was standing with. Jamie wore black chino shorts and a black tank top. His broad shoulders made the straps look very thin, and I couldn’t help but glide my eyes over his body. Butterflies stirred in my belly. I was staring long enough to catch his gaze, and it startled me again as our eyes met. He didn’t smile at me, as per usual, but he raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment, which was something in itself. I returned his sort-of greeting with a half-smile. He looked gorgeous, and I felt slightly jealous of the girls standing with him because he was actually engaging in conversation with them and not ignoring them the way he did with me.
“Who are you staring at?”
“Nobody.” I spun around to Taylor, who was eyeing me quizzically before she looked out in the same direction.
“Let’s go and find Jake,” I said, quickly distracting her.
We walked back out of the VIP area and headed toward the main stage. She rang Jake’s cell, and he told her where he was and we made our way over. He was standing at one of the bars with the rest of his friends, and as usual, he was dressed in black. His friends had made more of an effort, and they were all talking animatedly with beers in their hands. Taylor threw her arms around Jake and drew him into a long kiss, and I politely greeted his friend Mav, who was actually an all right guy. Over Jake’s shoulder, Taylor gave me a wicked grin, and I glowered at her, hoping she’d take heed of my warning to not try and set me up with him. As nice as the guy seemed, I’d like to be able to choose one for myself.
We grabbed ourselves a beer from the bar, and I pulled Jake aside. “How much do I owe you for my ticket?” I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t going to pay him back.
He waved me away with his hand and shook his head. “Nothing, it’s my treat.”
He looked pretty genuine about it, and it was nice of him to put himself out of pocket to pay for tickets for both Taylor and me, so I accepted his generosity. “Thanks, Jake. I appreciate it.”
“No problem,” he said, before turning back to his friends.
Taylor tugged on my arm. “Do you want to tour this area?” She gestured to the main part of the park where we were hanging out.
“Absolutely.” I held my arm out for her, and she linked her arm with it, and we set about looking around. We walked through the main stage area, where the big acts were headlining, and quite a few people had already taken up camp at the front of the stage. I hadn’t even a clue which band was on first.
After a good walk around, we started making our way back to Jake, when somebody jumped out in front of us, causing us to shriek and clutch each other for dear life. Cam’s chuckling face came into view.
“Fancy seeing you here.” He grinned, putting one arm around me and pulling me tight to his hard chest as I clutched at my furiously beating heart.
When he released me, I looked up to him. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry, couldn’t help it.” He gave me a schoolboy smile.
Jamie casually stood next to him, swigging on his beer. He nodded at me and meeting his eyes made me feel shy. But my shyness was soon marred by the fact I wanted to walk away because I was petrified I was going to end up making myself look like a fool in front of them. At work was one thing, but outside of that, I didn’t want them judging me, especially Jamie; he already seemed wary of me.
“Who’s this?” Taylor squeaked, eyeing Cam like he was dessert.
I cocked my head, rolling my eyes at her, and I decided I best introduce them and get it over and done with. “Cam, this is my best friend, Taylor. Taylor, this is Cam and Jamie.”
Cam held his hand out and shook her hand, and Jamie, being Jamie, didn’t react at all and stood there looking at her, uninterested.
“You know this one as well?” She jutted her thumb to Jamie. I couldn’t help but smile a little too widely when I looked over to him. I tried to stop it from spreading across my face by biting the inside of my lips together, and he looked at me, puzzled. I wondered how stupid I looked.
“How the hell do you know these hot things, and why the hell have you not told me about them?” A look of pure shock spread across her pretty little face at the fact that I had been hiding these two from her. I better never tell her there were two more.
“They work out at the club,” I muttered under my breath, and she leaned in closer to me.
“What?” she shrieked.
I repeated myself to her again; my tone laced with warning.
“You said there weren’t any hot guys there. Surely even you think they’re hot?”
I felt my cheeks heat. Cam smiled appreciatively at her comment and looked at me, probably wanting a similar response that he was not going to get from me. Jamie began sipping his beer quicker, looking anywhere but at us, and I began to look for an exit, feeling as awkward as he looked. She was embarrassing the hell out of me, and I wished for once that she would just act normal. “I’m sorry about her. She’s hyper on energy drinks.” I glared at her. “Have a nice time. I’ll catch you later.” I couldn’t get the words out fast enough. Cam chuckled, amused as I pulled her away with me. I couldn’t believe she had humiliated me.
“Hey, I wasn’t done talking to them,” she whined, looking back in their direction.
“Them? That’s plural. Technically, you were only talking to one of them, and that was one too many,” I snapped.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” She stood rooted to the spot, hands on her hips, and looking hurt.
I suddenly felt like I was being unnecessarily short with her. “Nothing, c’mon and let’s go.” I began to walk, but her feet remained where they were.
“Hold up.” She put her hands up in front of her.
I sighed loudly.
“What or who the hell has got you in such a tizzy?” She eyed me curiously.
I silently cursed the fact she was always quick to figure things out; nothing got past her. But there was no way I was admitting to her that it was Jamie who got me in a tizzy. Plus, there was the simple fact I just knew she would embarrass me if we ever bumped into them because let’s face it, it would have happened sooner or later. “Nothing and nobody.” I tried to look as calm and collected as possible to throw her off scent.
“Do you like one of them, Lo?” Her voice was low, her expression serious.
I could feel myself starting to blush, and my heart rate picked up pace at the risk of being exposed. “No, I just didn’t want you fawning all over them like that, because I have to work with them,” I said pointedly.
She looked taken aback, but that was the way I felt. “It was just harmless flirting. I don’t know why you’re overreacting.” She looked at me suspiciously again.
I probably did overreact. I was just embarrassed at how brazen she could be. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so harsh,” I apologized.
A small smile tugged at her lips, and I knew I’d been forgiven. “It’s okay. But seriously, they were hot.” Her eyebrows wiggled lasciviously.
I wanted to shout I know! to her, but for some reason, I couldn’t admit that to her. We hugged it out then linked arms again and carried on exploring the grounds. We bumped into people we knew from school and had brief chats with them, and we even noticed a few professors, which we found hilarious. We grabbed an itinerary from one of the stands so we could see which bands we wanted to watch. The band we wanted to see was called Unscripted, and was the first act to open up the festival. We had an hour to kill, so we made our way back to Jake, who was still standing in the same spot with his friends. We lay on the grass next to him, people-watching for a while, and when it was time to go and watch the band, Taylor let him know where we were going, and he said he would come and find us later.
We bought more beers from the bar then made our way over to the stage, where a large crowd had now gathered. We found a space beside a huge group of people who were jostling around excitedly. Taylor and I glanced at each other, equally thinking this was probably going to get a little crazy. She raised her cup up to mine. “To MusicFest, may it be epic.” We clinked cups, and the stage lights began to flash and music blared from the speakers on the stage, causing the crowd to cheer euphorically. The atmosphere was electric. We stood to join them, and as I looked around us, we stood in a sea of people I hadn’t realized had surrounded us. The festival was officially declared open, and again the crowd roared ecstatically.
“You’re gonna get squashed there,” someone shouted in my ear from behind me.
I turned to see Cam, who was surveying where we were standing amongst the large group now enthusiastically bumping into each other. I looked past him for his friends and saw Jamie, who was at the bar watching us, arms folded across his chest, his poker face on as I now called it because I could never tell what he was thinking. “We’re fine, honest,” I told him. I didn’t know why he was so concerned. It was a music festival. We knew things were going to get crazy; it was all part of it.
“You sure? You really will get knocked around, trust me. I’ve seen this dozens of times.” He genuinely looked concerned for our safety and that we might get knocked over, but I didn’t want him thinking we needed a bodyguard or that, because we were girls, we were too fragile to stand in an excited crowd. “We’re fine, I promise.” I patted his arm gently, reassuring him.
“Okay. Be careful.” He eyed the group in front of us again, before looking back at us and, almost reluctantly, left.
Taylor shrugged and carried on drinking her beer.
The presenter welcomed Unscripted onto the stage. The band was one of Taylor’s favorites; she would play their music on her iPhone during lunch and break times. I was looking forward to seeing them too. They were a new indie rock band, and their music was very heavy on the bass and fast paced. They had produced some of the best music in the charts, hitting top ten with every song they released recently.
The band came walking on, the drummer first, followed by the two guitarists, and then the sex god of a singer who was dressed in black jeans, black heavy boots, and a simple white T-shirt, with thick silver chains hanging around his neck. He swiped a hand through his long, shaggy brown hair and held his hand up to the crowd. Ta
ylor and I looked at each other and swooned. He asked the crowd how everyone was doing, and we both held our beers up and whooped in response with the rest of the crowd.
They started playing their set and things got crazy, fast. Everyone started bouncing up and down and jostling each other again. We danced along to the music, but we were becoming more and more wary of the fact that the crowd was getting a bit too intense for our liking. Our beers got knocked to the ground and our personal space was nearly nonexistent. We looked at each other again and decided to huddle together.
“Maybe Cam was right,” I shouted into her ear, clutching her arm tightly.
“What?” she screamed back.
The music was so loud we couldn’t hear each other, and when we started getting knocked about, Taylor began pushing people back. Panic rose up in my chest, and I thought we were going to get crushed to death. I turned to her, ready to suggest we make our way back to Jake, when I was suddenly scooped up and hauled over somebody’s shoulder.
From his black tank top and shorts, I recognized him immediately.
Oh, holy mother of Jesus, I was draped over Jamie’s body.
I clung on tightly to his back, and the heavenly scent of his cologne filled my nostrils. As he trudged back through the crowd, I realized I had a very short skirt on. “Jamie, my panties are showing,” I yelped, wanting him to set me down so I could save what little dignity I had left. Instead, one of his hands flew to my behind, covering my modesty. I instantly silenced at his touch. The feeling of his hand on my partially bare skin felt a little too intimate. If it weren’t for the fact that blood was rushing to my head from being carried upside down, it would be rushing straight to other areas. He set me down on my feet at the bar and I stood before him, open-mouthed in shock at what had just happened. I was too stunned and too hot and bothered to say anything to him, so I just stood there staring at him.
“You’re welcome.” He leaned in, raising an eyebrow at me. He had a glint in his eye and what I thought was the tiniest grin tugging up one corner of his mouth. My breath faltered at the way he was looking at me, and I quickly turned away from him. What met me was a sight that made me want to die inside. Taylor was slung over Cam’s shoulder as he carried her away from the crowd behind them that now resembled a mosh pit. Mortified, I cupped my hands over my face. We must have looked ridiculous having to be rescued.
Reckless Retribution (West Warriors Book 1) Page 4
