“I’m fucking serious, man.” War ran a hand over his face while holding the beer steady in the other. “I mean it. I’ve never felt this way around a chick.”
My eyes narrowed. War was never serious about any woman. “Come on, War. She’s just a freshman. You’ll be bored with her in no time.” I cast a quick glance around. “Let me ask Dizzy if he knows anyone.” I lowered my voice. “Someone older, more interesting and experienced, you know, like you usually go for.”
War frowned, his head cocked to the side. “What’s your problem, Bryan?” Tension seemed to crackle in the air between us. He straightened. “You think Lace’s too good for me?”
“No, War. Of course not. I’m not saying anything. I just don’t think she’s your type.”
“You gotta be kidding. She sure the fuck is. Bold, sassy, sexy as hell.” He raised his brows, giving me a look like I’d lost my mind. “How’s that
“Ok.” I shrugged, trying to be casual about it. Maybe he’d let it go. I prayed he would.
“Bryan.” He put his hand on my arm. “We’ve been through a lot of shit together, haven’t we?”
I nodded.
“And I’ve always had your back, haven’t I?”
“Yeah, but I really don’t see what this has to do with…”
“Took that stint in juvie when you wrecked my old man’s car,” he cut in. “Did all that AA counseling bullshit. Still doing the community service hours.” A shadow fell across War’s face giving it a sinister glow.
Grimly, I nodded. He’d done all that for me and more. I owed him.
“I saw how you looked at her, man. But I don’t want you coming between me and this chick, understand? This one’s mine.”
I made a promise based on our friendship that night. I figured he would get tired of her in a week or so, like he always had with all the other girls before. Then I’d be free to make my move. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. And that promise ended up costing me more over the years than I ever could have imagined.
8
I exhaled the breath I’d been holding, my eyes following the attractive brunette Bryan had just dismissed. As she pulled herself unsteadily up on a bar stool, her shoulders sagged. The weight of Bryan’s rejection obviously hit her hard.
I’d thought that I had managed to put my life back together pretty well after my mother left it in a pile of rubble. Unfortunately, the foundation had been faulty. Like a stack of Jenga blocks, Bryan’s love and approval had been the critical bottom layer. When he had yanked that away, the tower had begun to wobble. Then War and the group had shut me out, bringing it completely down. Martin was there waiting to set fire to what was left. I was worse off than before. Instead of rubble my life was scattered ashes.
The brunette drew my attention again as she knocked back another shot, swiveled around on her chair, and scanned the room. Bryan hadn’t been the first one she had approached. She had made overtures to all the guys, except for my brother. She stood, swayed a bit, and crossed the room toward him. Dizzy already had two girls with him, one on his lap, another one beside him. She stood in front of him at least five minutes before he finally acknowledged her.
“Whatcha staring at, babe?” War asked me.
“Nothing,” I muttered distractedly. I wasn’t about to share. I didn’t know why I found myself so interested in the brunette, or why the way the guys were treating her disturbed me so much. Or maybe I just didn’t want to examine my reasons too closely.
Dizzy waved her off too.
I stiffened when she rushed past me with tears in her eyes.
“I’ll be right back.” I slid War’s hand off my thigh and immediately went to look for her. I found her in the restroom, her hands braced on the edges of the porcelain sink. Telltale trails of black mascara ran down her cheeks. In the mirror, eyes flooded with pain met mine before darting away. I obviously wasn’t the one she was hoping to see.
I moved beside her. “Listen,” I said softly. “They’re not all that.”
“Who?” she asked, though I think we both knew who I was talking about.
“Tempest.” I hooked a thumb over my shoulder. “Those jerks who just blew you off.”
“Listen, I grew up with those guys. They’re no better than you are. They put their pants on one leg at time.” Watching the desperate way she had thrown herself at the guys made me sad for her. Third night on the tour and already I was sick of this groupie bullshit. It turned my stomach. I touched her arm. “I don’t know when they started being such asses, but I wanted to apologize, for my brother Dizzy in particular.”
Her eyes widened in acknowledgement.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Lilly.”
“Lilly, let me tell you a few eye opening things about Dizzy.” I pulled a towel out of the dispenser, wetted it, and then started to wipe the mascara from her cheeks. Without the makeup, I realized she was much younger than I’d assumed, probably not more than seventeen. A hard age, a vulnerable age, the age for me when I’d lost everything. “The guy’s personal hygiene sucks. He literally stinks. I’m sure you noticed. He’s been re-wearing the same clothes for the past two days. Then there’s his eating habits. He thinks just because milk duds have the word milk in them that they’re nutritious and therefore make an acceptable breakfast.”
Her lip twitched.
“Oh, yeah.” I nodded. “He’s a junk food junkie. Eats Cheese Whiz straight from the jar. And even though he’s twenty-one, he still acts like he’s twelve. He watches SpongeBob. All. The. Time. He’s got every single episode memorized. This from a guy who half the time can’t be bothered to remember the words to the songs from his own band.”
Lilly smiled. “Why are you telling me all this,” she asked softly.
“Because I want you to get that he and the rest of the Tempest guys are just like the guys you probably go to school with. I saw the way they treated you out there and I didn’t like it. So they’re in a band and they look really sexy when they’re up on stage under the lights.” Her face was clean now, so I threw away the towel. “Don’t idolize them. Don’t let them get to you.” I took her hand and led her out of the restroom. “You deserve better than the disrespect that’s being dished out there.”
Back in the main party room, I stopped to study her again. Her eyes glittered way too brightly to have just been the result of my pep talk. I wondered what she was doing besides those shots. I scrambled for something to say that might help keep her from making all the same mistakes I had.
Just as I was getting ready to speak, another girl walked up and joined us. She was blonde and her four inch heels made her taller than me. She gave me a hard look before turning to Lilly. “This chick bothering you?” They were obviously good friends, the blonde’s expression sympathetic as she glanced at Lilly and squeezed her shoulder.
“No.” Lilly shook her head. “She’s cool. She’s Dizzy’s sister.”
“You’re really lucky to have someone looking out for you,” I told Lilly while my eyes searched for the one who I used to rely on in that way. Bryan had been hard to miss in a dark charcoal button down that did amazing things for his eyes, but I couldn’t find him now. He had been standing over by the window before I’d followed Lilly into the bathroom
Eyes back on the pair of girls, I finished my thought. “Hold on tight to that. Having just one person who believes in you can make all the difference in the world.” I pulled in a deep breath through my nose. I suddenly felt really fucking old and worn out. “You two should get out of here. I love these guys, but you know as well as I do, they’re not looking for a relationship. They’re just looking to get laid.”
“She’s right.” Lilly’s friend tugged on her hand and pulled her toward the door. “See that’s what I told
