Page 18 of Malice and Surrender
“No, of course not. I heard that there is a special headliner here tonight, Grim Man Garbage Bag, you know….” Roach stopped and looked over at me, but I wasn’t helping him out of this mess.
Lane looked completely unimpressed as she lifted an eyebrow at Roach. “You mean Grimhead Crew?”
“Yeah, them. I was only joking. Ha, ha.” He pretended to laugh.
I smirked at how ridiculous Roach was acting, earning a dirty glare from him. If this was his ‘I’m acting totally cool and aloof routine,’ it seriously needed work. Given even a sniff of opportunity, he would have this girl in the back of the truck fucking her hard. Oh, Hollywood was going to love that when he got out. I smiled wide. Okay, this night was making me feel a little better.
“Whatever. Look, Cole, I know that Nate has you watching me. My brother is such an ass. Of course, my brother would send his friend to spy on me. You don’t need to. I’m not going to do anything stupid.”
“Define stupid,” Roach said.
Lane made an angry huff sound and stomped away.
“Wow, you are slick, just like butter on a hot summer day,” I drawled, smiling at Roach. This night was far more entertaining than I initially thought it would. Watching Roach humiliate himself was a sport for me.
Raine
Damn, this place was insane already, and Allen, the manager for Grimhead Crew, was a complete dick. I got it; he wanted the best for his client, but this was their stupid idea in the first place. It wasn’t like I asked them to come here and turn the bar upside down. We spent our normal prep time rearranging where the stage was and then finding chairs that Jace, the pompous leader of the group, found comfortable to sit his royal ass on.
“Fuck, I’m so excited for tonight,” Avro said, and I looked up at him as I wiped down shot glasses.
The line outside was wild, and we had to call in all our bouncers. Plus, ask the temp company to send over more to make sure the crowd was under control. I had no idea how the news of Jace and his band being here had leaked to social media, but there were posts all over the place announcing the secret location of the impromptu concert.
“Why? This looks like it’s gonna be a hell of a night, and not in a good way. If we’re forced to call the cops once, we’ll be lucky,” I mumbled, my eyes going to the stage where Jace was in the middle of his sound check.
“Because that is Jace Everly. I mean, come on. I know you’re not that oblivious. Look at him. He is a steak dinner ready to be devoured,” Avro said and licked his lips.
“Sure, whatever you say,” I mumbled, but a hint of jealousy crept through my system.
Avro was openly bi-sexual, and we’d never dated or been intimate on any level. Today at the beach was the most non-work interaction we’d ever had, and it was very PG. Yet, the fact that he was staring at Jace like he was food, and Jace was openly staring back, bothered me.
I continued to take in the rock star with his mop of shock-white hair, part of it hanging in his eyes. I hated to admit it, but he somehow pulled it off, and it looked great on him. His matching silver eyes practically glowed under the spotlights. It made me wonder if they were contacts or somehow a trick of the light that was all him. He had that air of arrogance that all those who found popularity had. I hated that attitude. Just because you became famous didn’t give you the right to treat people like dirty pieces of toilet paper stuck to your shoe.
Jace looked over, and he smiled as our eyes locked. Forcing my stare away, I pointedly looked up at Avro, who seemed more flustered than any of the girls outside.
“Okay, fine, the guy is hot. You planning on leaving me here to run off with the circus?”
Avro’s lips curled up as his eyes found mine. He was wearing all black tonight that matched his dyed black hair in a sexy gothic way. He even put in cat-eye contacts that made his intense stare seem more unnerving than usual. He leaned against the bar, staring directly into my eyes.
“What is that I smell?” I looked around and down at the glass before sniffing my black tank top. He laughed at my confused look. “I mean, is that jealously I detect in your voice?”
My face heated, and I kept my eyes trained on the next shot glass I picked up. “No, of course not. What would I have to be jealous over?”
“Absolutely nothing unless…you wanted there to be,” he said. The sultry tone had shivers racing down my spine.
I cleared my throat. “I’m just concerned I need to find a new bartender,” I said, giving him a pointed look.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, leaning in a little closer.
We’d worked together for a long time, and it had taken me a while to accept that I was genuinely attracted to Avro. The thing was, I hated the idea of dating. Others loved the thrill of getting dressed up and going out for the night with someone, but I liked comfy clothes and a movie. More unnerving was that I hadn’t had sex since my attack. That was eleven years ago. Forget a duster. I needed a whole cleaning company to remove the cobwebs in that cave.
Shit, I’d practically hidden in my house this entire time. I wasn’t even sure how to flirt with Avro. Was that something people even did anymore? Should I shoot him a text—when and where to meet—and then we could sit and stare at our phones? That seemed to be the norm now. We worked together, and…he was my only friend. Dating and sex could ruin that, and then what? Emotions were far too confusing.
“I’m sure that I want to get this done before those doors open,” I said, pointing to the tall stack of shot glasses still needing to be wiped down. I loved it when they first came out of the kitchen, all clean. They were warm to the touch, and something about that fresh smell comforted me, but I hated the little spots that would dry on them if we didn’t wipe them.
“You can’t fool me, Raine. I saw that tough exterior crack for a little while today, and very soon, you’re finally going to let me in,” Avro said.
I bit my lip as it felt like he was talking about things far more intimate than the words that came out of his mouth.
