by J. Nathan
I needed to fucking breathe.
The attention had begun to suffocate me. Probably because the reason behind the attention—the only reason these girls were there falling at our feet—was superficial. And as much as these girls thought they knew us from our music, they didn’t know us at all. And even though we might’ve acted like we wanted to know them in the heat of the moment, we didn’t. We’d be on to a whole new town and a whole new slew of girls waiting to take their places.
Once the elevator arrived, I stood alone inside staring at my reflection in the mirrored walls. I’d aged a lot over the past five years. Traveling, partying, and lack of sleep did that to a person. I wondered if all twenty-five-year-olds felt like me. I also wondered when this lifestyle would finally take its toll on me.
Had it already taken its toll?
Because it was beginning to feel a hell of a lot like it had.
CHAPTER TWO
Aubrey
I knew how I looked, face down on the cold marble bar in the ritzy hotel—in a sparkly pink bridesmaid dress no less. But I didn’t care. About that. About the pretzel pieces that had gathered in my dark curls spread out over the bar top. About anything.
“You okay?” a deep voice asked from beside me.
“Fine,” I grumbled.
“You don’t look fine.”
My head shot up, a wave of dizziness accompanying the quick movement. “The universal response to seeing someone passed out on a bar is to leave them alone,” I informed the guy in the dark hoodie who sat on the stool beside me.
“You’re not passed out,” he pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s how it looks,” I said, unable to discern the color of his hair or eyes since both were cloaked in the shade of the dark ball cap pulled low on his head.
He shrugged. “Sorry. Just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
I scanned the bar, the hum of conversation suddenly returning to my frazzled brain. “Wow.” A humorless laugh escaped me. “You’re the only person in this place who even thought to check if I was okay.”
He lifted his bottle of beer to his mouth and tipped it back.
“I’m even more pathetic than I thought,” I mumbled.
“I thought you just said the universal response was to leave you alone?”
Ignoring his sarcasm, I motioned for the bartender to bring me another of whatever it was I’d been drinking.
“You think that’s a good idea?” the guy beside me asked.
I turned to him. “With the night I’m having? Definitely.”
He chuckled, the soft rumble tumbling out of him as he reached toward my face and picked a piece of pretzel out of my loose waves. “You got a name?”
“It’d be really weird if I didn’t,” I sassed.
He chuckled again, this time showing straight white teeth. “You’re a feisty drunk.”
“I’m not drunk. Just humiliated.”
The bartender placed a blue drink down in front of me. I pulled it close and sipped through the skinny red straw. I wasn’t lying when I said I wasn’t drunk. But I was definitely on my way to getting there.
“What happened?” the guy asked.
I glanced down at my dress flowing down to my open-toed sparkly heels. “My sister just got married.”
“Is she younger or something?” he asked.
I glared at him. “You think I’m sulking in a bar because I’m jealous of my sister’s happiness?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t know you.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m a hell of a sister, and a hell of a catch.”
“I’m sure you are. I just wouldn’t mention ‘Passes out in bars’ on any dating site profiles. Might not be the clientele you’re looking to attract.”
My eyes widened. “Dating sites?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that what people are doing these days?”
“These days? What are you, sixty?”
He snickered, clearly not much older than me.
“So, if you’re not doing what people are doing these days, are you married?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“Divorced?”
He shook his head, seemingly amused.
“Girlfriend?”
He shook his head.
“Boyfriend?”
Laughter burst out of him.
I wanted to question his reaction, but the sound of his amusement made me forget for a couple seconds why I was in the bar alone in the first place.
“You’re funny.” He lifted his bottle to his smiling lips and downed the rest of his beer.
“I’ll add that to my profile.”
His eyes cut to mine, and he stared at me long and hard. “What’s your name?”
“What’s yours?”
“My friends call me Kozart.”
I cocked my head. “We’re not friends.”
He mimicked my cocked head. “We could be.”
I scrunched my nose. “Is that a line?”
“Definitely not a line.”
“Why? You don’t pick up funny bridesmaids passed out in bars?”
He threw back his head and laughed again. “Tell me your name.”
I gasped, my head dropping to the top of the bar and my forehead pressing to the sticky cold surface, nearly knocking over my drink.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Shhhhhh. Pretend I’m not here.”
“That’s kinda difficult to do.”
I said nothing, just stayed in that position. “Is he gone?”
“Who?”
I lifted my head a couple of inches and peeked across the bar to the elevator doors beyond it. They were closed and no one stood in front of them. I lifted my head back up.
“What was that about?” Kozart asked.
“Just avoiding some people.”
“I’d say.”
I leaned forward and sipped my drink, needing the alcohol more than ever.
“So, is the wedding still going on?” he asked.
“Yup.”
“You don’t want to be there?”
I shook my head.
“You gonna tell me why you were humiliated.”
“I came with a date and left alone.”
Kozart’s brows shot up. “He dumped you at your sister’s wedding?”
“I walked in on him screwing another bridesmaid in the bridal suite.” I didn’t mean to be so blunt—okay maybe I did. My heart had been stomped on then shattered into a million little embarrassing pieces for good measure.
“Ouch.”
“Yup.”
A long silence passed between us as I sipped my drink.
“You don’t need a douchebag like him anyway,” Kozart assured me.
“You have to say that,” I said, knowing I hadn’t really given him anything else he could’ve said.
“Babe, I don’t say anything I don’t wanna say.” He dug his hand into his jeans pocket and pulled out a fifty-dollar bill, tossing it onto the bar. “Come on,” he said, stepping off his stool. “Take me to the wedding.”
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Treyton and Brielle’s story. I always try to give you a story I would want to read, so I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, I’d be ever so grateful if you took a moment to leave even a one-line review.
To all the bloggers and readers who continue to share my books. Thank you a hundred times over! I could not do this without you!
To my wonderful ARC team members who anxiously await each new novel I write. Thank you for giving me the inspiration to give you the best that I’ve got. And thank you for taking the time to re
ad, review, and spread the word. It means the world to me!
To my always wonderful beta readers: Dali, Renee, Mimi Jean, Kim, Kerrie, and Heather. Thank you for reading Treyton when it wasn’t the polished story it is now!! I know I can count on you to give it to me straight.
To my editor Stephanie Elliot. Thank you for your honesty. I love reading your reactions to something you like, but even more so to something you don’t like. You make my work better! I’m so lucky to have you in my life!
To Gemma at Gem’s Precise Proofreads. Thank you for your great eye for detail! You are a true pro at what you do, and I am so happy to have found you! Thanks for loving Trey as much as you love Kozart. That is definitely saying something!
To Peggy with your keen eye for detail. Thank you for catching those last few mistakes!! I am so lucky to have you on my team!
To my wonderful PA Renee. You keep me organized and always give me the truth whether I want to hear it or not. You also make me laugh every day! Thank you for being in my life!
To Tiffany at T.E. Black Designs for creating another beautiful cover and Eric McKinney for the gorgeous cover photo.
And last, but never least, to my family. Thank you for always loving and supporting me. I know how truly lucky I am to have all of you!