Page 9 of Jealous God
And the silence afterwards seemed deafening, even when thousands of people were still screaming their name.
“You enjoyed that, huh?” Erik’s arm was heavy over my shoulders, and I jumped with a squeak before I could help myself. His laughter filled my ears. “It’s ok, Eli, everyone gets like that the first few times they see them perform. They’re good, aren’t they?”
Good? I watched as the band bounced off the stage. Louis brought up the rear, twirling his drumsticks as he came. I watched them fly through the air, mesmerised. And then my eyes locked with Jax’s. There was sweat on his tanned face, and the bandana around his head was wet as well. His vest clung to him.
Usually, sweaty guys just weren’t my thing. I liked my men clean shaven and professional. Men who looked like Erik. But at that moment, I felt my heart speed up just a little too fast. Yeah, they were good. Really, really good.
“Yeah,” I managed to mumble as they swarmed around us. “Yeah, they are really good.”
“Don’t look so shell-shocked, love.” Louis' arm went around from me from the other side, squashing me between him and Erik. “It's normal to cream your panties the first few times.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. Cream my panties? I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t doing any such thing, but words failed me. I wasn’t creaming anything over Dionysus Rising. Not at all. It was one member in particular that was giving me trouble.
But I wasn’t creaming over him.
No, not at all.
I was just a little damp, that was all.
FIVE
Jax
“Why don’t you like her?”
Dion’s words took me by surprise, and I almost dropped the cards in my hand. Playing poker was one of the ways we always unwound after a gig if there were no parties for us to attend, and especially if we had to get straight on the road. It was a small way to blow off the adrenaline generated by playing live in front of thousands. Fucking and partying were better, but none of us would get any of that tonight since we were already on the road. By the time the sun came up we would be well on the way to our next gig.
It was always this way on tour. A mad rush. I had travelled the word several times over, and yet I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually explored a city. There was never any time to do that. The schedule was always brutal, and it was always the same.
“Who are you talking about?” Even as I said the words, my eyes travelled to the back of the bus. To the one bedroom that Dion had given up for Elodie so she could have some semblance of privacy. Turning slightly, he stared back at the door as well before turning back to me.
“You know exactly who.” Shaking his head, he made a show of studying the cards in his hands. “Eli.”
Tearing my eyes away from her closed door, I met my best friend’s eyes. “I don’t hate Elodie. I don’t feel anything about her at all,” I lied easily.
Dion’s tongue played across his lip ring. One look at his face and I knew he didn’t believe a word that was coming out of my mouth. “You know,” he drawled, “you are the only person who calls her Elodie. Even the security guys call her Eli.”
“Goldilocks,” I mumbled without meaning to and instantly regretted it.
One of Dion’s dark eyebrows arched up, and his movements stilled. “Yeah, I’ve noticed you call her that as well. Mostly under your breath when you think no one is listening.”
I made a mental note to be more careful.
“Her hair is dark brown, not gold, so why Goldilocks?”
It was my turn to shrug. “No idea.” Except that was a lie. I knew exactly why I had fallen into the habit of calling her that. Because it had been the first thing I had called her when I found her asleep in the wrong bed. I wasn’t about to tell him that, though. “And I know what colour her hair is.” Laying my cards face down on the small table, I sighed. “And I don’t hate her. I don’t even know her.”
“Well, you either hate her or you want to fuck her.”
Fuck her? My cock jumped to attention in my jeans, more than down with that idea. But then again, it had always had a mind of its own. Damn thing got me into trouble more than I liked to admit.
“I don’t know her.”
“Since when has that stopped you?”
Dion had a point there, but it was one I was going to ignore. Erik had been pretty clear that Elodie was off limits to all of us. So it didn’t really matter whether I wanted to bed her or not. I couldn’t do it. Not without some serious repercussions. Anyway, I didn’t much fancy the awkwardness between us the morning after. Especially when she was going to be Dion’s shadow for the next few weeks, and I would have to see her face day in and day out.
“Just give her a chance, ok?” Dion placed his cards down next to mine. Our game was over before it had even really started. “She’s a...”
