And I wondered if Danica would be his one and only, forever.
I’d always believed Ash wanted to be shared, that he wasn’t, at his heart, a monogamous person—no matter what he said about it. And I didn’t see that changing.
But hey, I’d been wrong before.
And as much as I’d love to poke my nose in, it wasn’t my business anymore.
“Okay. Hate to break it to you, Xander,” Taylor said, “but Lucas is hot. And ladies talk. I’ve heard he has a pretty big dick—”
“I’ve heard that, too,” Courteney put in cheerily.
“Long,” Danica agreed, “as opposed to girthy.”
“Jesus Christ,” Xander grumbled.
“And Jordan may not be as gay as you hoped if she’s letting him drill her with it,” I concluded. I took a sip of my drink and smiled at Courteney. “Helpful?”
“Very,” she said.
Xander glowered.
“You’ve ordered them not to be together when they’re around you?” Ash said with a chuckle. “How long do you think that’s gonna last?”
“Hopefully until he gets over it,” Courteney said, stroking Xander’s neck soothingly.
“Can we all talk about something else?” he said.
“Oh, I have more gossip!” Courteney said brightly. “Xander went on a date with a man.”
Xander groaned.
“I really, really like your girlfriend,” I informed him.
He half-smiled, because he fucking adored her. That much was obvious, because he wasn’t even trying to shut her up.
“For that charity auction, remember?” Courteney said.
“Oh, I remember.” I’d been at that charity event, last month, when Xander was up for bid in a bachelor auction. I was pretty sure that Xander was zero-percent gay, but a man in the audience who obviously was had paid two-hundred-thousand dollars for the pleasure of having dinner with him.
“Oh, do tell,” Danica said. “How was it?”
“What do you mean, how was it?” Xander said. “It was dinner with a dude.”
“Yeah, but did sparks fly?” she teased.
“Yeah, Xan,” Ash put in. “Did you put out?”
“Did he call you afterward?” Danica said. “Are you seeing him again?”
“Very funny.”
“When did this happen?” I asked.
“Last week.” Courteney grinned and looked to her man for confirmation. “I think they had a nice time.”
“It wasn’t horrible,” Xander admitted. “Though I’d still rank it as the worst date I’ve ever had.”
“Only because he didn’t get laid at the end of it,” Courteney poked. “The guy is super rich, and he has a membership to some exclusive sex club. He invited Xander to come with him and said he’d sponsor him as his special guest, and they could have group sex with kinky rich people,” she gushed, all in one excited breath.
I looked at Xander. He just sighed and shook his head.
“So obviously, you went,” Ash said. “How many of the kinky rich people did you screw?”
Danica giggled.
“Can we seriously talk about something else?” Xander tried again.
“He wasn’t interested,” Courteney supplied, squeezing her man’s bicep. “I told him he should try to get us both an invite so we could go together and just, you know, look… because once in a lifetime opportunity, right?” Xander threw her a darkly disapproving look and she shrugged. “He didn’t like that idea.”
“Really?” Ash said. “What else are you gonna do? You just said you’re bored as shit.”
“Yeah, Xander,” Danica teased, “maybe you’d learn something.”
Taylor laughed, covering it with a sip of beer.
Xander threw us all a dark look. “Thanks for all weighing in on it, but I’m gonna give it a hard pass.”
“Too bad,” Danica said. “Sounds like you made quite an impression on your date.”
“He did spend a lot of money on you,” I mused. “Sounds like he was willing to spend more…”
“Yeah, it’s all very flattering,” Xander said. “I really missed my calling as a male prostitute.” He glanced at me. “Help me out here? You’re the great party hostess. Throw out a juicy topic to shut these clowns up.”
“It would be my absolute pleasure,” I said. “Let’s get down to something way more important.”
“Let’s,” Xander said, happy to change the subject.
I leaned in, looking him in the eye. “How long do I have to pretend that I don’t know how tight you are with Cary Clarke before I casually mention that I want him to produce our album?”
Xander shook his head at me, but he chuckled a little.
Cary Clarke was Courteney’s brother, he was a legend in the local music business, and he just happened to be one of Xander’s BFFs. They’d been in a band together and were still tight, which was saying something, because I’d never heard of anyone who could get in tight with Cary Clarke anymore. Even the bands he produced didn’t seem to get to meet him in person.
I knew Ash had filled Xander in on my intentions regarding Cary, so this wasn’t a surprise to him. I’d mentioned it to Courteney too, though she’d been a little closed-mouthed on the topic.
But I really wasn’t one for beating around the bush, and frankly I’d sat on this for as long as I could stand.
“I’m not asking for promises,” I said, eying them both. “Just an in. Like, what are the odds we can get a meeting with him, when the time comes?” I cocked an eyebrow at Xander. “Or do I have to go through your girlfriend?”
“Oh, no,” Courteney said. “I am done meddling in my brother’s life. If you want a meeting with him on official band business, talk to my man.” She shoved a thumb in Xander’s direction.
“Xan?” I said hopefully, batting my eyelashes.
“I’m not promising you jack,” he said bluntly. “I don’t speak for Cary, and the odds of getting a meeting with him are about one in I-don’t-have-a-clue. But I can ask him, if we’re all agreed on it, when the times comes.”
“Yes.” I threw my arms around him and kissed his forehead. “Have I told you you’re the best drummer on the planet? Also, you look fabulous in that shirt.” It wasn’t a word of a lie, in my opinion.
Here was the key to
