by E. M. Moore
I bite down hard, trying to ignore how fucking rude he’s being. “This one’s almost done,” I say. “If you want it.” He’s dressed like he’s about to head outside to enjoy the beach, but he takes a seat at the bar next to Finnick anyway.
“They’re really good,” Finnick says. He even smiles over at me when I look back. I look away instantly because I can feel my face heat in surprise. I tell myself to knock it off and finish Archer’s pancake.
When it’s done, I try to hand him the plate, but he’s preoccupied with his phone. Ian waltzes in at that exact moment and reaches out to intercept it. Archer only catches it leaving in front of him, and by that time, Ian’s already moving away. Archer sneers at Ian’s back and then says. “I need another one, Assistant.”
I bite my lip to keep from laughing. Ian’s smiling like he won the lottery, coating his pancakes in butter and then syrup. After he takes his first bite, he says, “Anyone heard from Sean this morning?”
The guys just shrug. Finnick looks worriedly down the hall. I hesitate at first, not sure if I should say anything because it’s doubtful Ian was including me in the “anyone” comment, but I speak up anyway. “I took him water and Aspirin this morning.”
Finnick glances up at me. He has honey colored brown eyes, and right now, they’re trained on me. He looks away almost immediately afterward, but I think he looked somewhat…appreciative.
Ian takes his time swallowing his last bite of pancake before asking, “Is he hurting?”
I shrug. I really don’t want to give Ian the satisfaction of saying yes, but Sean didn’t look great this morning. I finish the next pancake and hand it to Archer who takes it without a word, diving in like he’s starving. He looks over at Ian warily as if he’s half expecting his lead singer to steal it from him again.
We continue that way, the guys not really saying much to one another. Ian stands the whole time, leaning against the wall that leads to the kitchen area, like he can’t even bear to be in the same room with me. After they all pass on another pancake, I start making some for Sean. Finally, Ian moves over to the bar top where Finnick and Archer are still seated.
I look over my shoulder casually, then force words out of my mouth. “What do you need me for today?”
“Why? Planning on going to the beach again?” Ian asks, smirking.
“Actually, yes. Also…” I pull out one of the notebooks I bought from the store yesterday, flip to the first page, and write my name and number at the top. “This is my cell number. If you need me and I’m not inside to call through the intercom, you can get ahold of me here.”
Ian looks dismissively at the number. It doesn’t matter to me whether they use it or not. I just have to prove I’ve given it to them, that they have every resource to get in contact with me when they need me.
“Thanks,” Finnick says.
I nod once. There’s no sense in adding anything else. I don’t know what’s up with Ian. It’s like he’s mad all the time. He’s a freaking rockstar for crying out loud. He’s done things people have only dreamed about, yet he’s walking around this house with a giant chip on his shoulder. Even with his own bandmates. None of it makes sense.
Since the guys haven’t given me anything to do, and they probably won’t, I steel my shoulders and ask, “Do you want lunch again?” I don’t know why I’m so fixated on feeding them food. I guess that’s just something tangible I know I can be doing for them. I’ve been working or studying before and then realized I accidentally skipped lunch, so this is just a small way I can help them. Otherwise, they would have to take time out of their day or interrupt a hopefully really good studio session to feed themselves.
“That would be nice,” Finnick says.
“Jesus,” Ian growls. “Why don’t you—?”
Finnick talks over him. “We should be in the recording studio again, upstairs.”
Once I have three pancakes on a plate, I shut the stove off and turn, giving Finnick a slight smile and then walk toward Sean’s room. I knock on the door and hear a short grunt in response. “It’s Aisley,” I say. “I made breakfast.”
“Come in,” he calls out.
I walk into a room that’s almost completely shrouded in darkness now. It takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the low light. There’s just a few rays of sun peeking out from the sides of the curtains, but not much.
“What is it?” he asks.
“Pancakes,” I tell him. I practically shove the plate into his face, and he takes it from me.
I go to walk away, but he asks, “Syrup?”
“Out on the bar top.”
Then, I close the door behind me and walk away. Sixty seconds later, Sean follows me out. If I thought things were going to be weird between he and Ian this morning, I was wrong. Whatever happened between them last night seems to be done and over with. They’re both their same miserable selves, poking at one another like they’re trying to get under the other’s skin. I hurry up and do the dishes that I dirtied and then head back down to the sanctity of my room.
When I get down there, I have a text waiting for me from Mr. Nolan. Thank you, Aisley. I’m sorry you had to deal with that and thank you for being honest with me.
I screenshot it and send it to Heather. She sends me back a GIF of someone dancing flamboyantly in celebration.
She’s right. It does feel like a win. In reality, whether or not The Rowdy Rogues like me is unimportant. They have nothing to do with my long-range goals, and in fact, working with them has taught me that not everyone in this business is good. Just because I have something in common with someone else doesn’t mean they’re worth knowing.
10
Around lunchtime, I go to the kitchen to start making them sandwiches again, but when I get there, Archer is out on the deck, standing in front of the grill with smoke wafting in front of his face. I peek my head out. “Do you not need me for lunch then?”
Ian answers. “Not for lunch,” he says, a beer in his hand, “but we need you for something else.”
He waves me over, and I walk outside. The warmth of the sun heats my skin instantly. It’s impossible for me not to look out toward the beach and the waves. They’re like a beacon to me. Even though I talked a big game earlier about leaving my cell phone number so they could get ahold of me whenever they needed, I stayed inside to see if they’d use the intercom to get in contact with me. The threat of getting in trouble again was enough to keep me in the recesses of my small room. However, I made the most of it. I wrote a couple of songs. It turns out, these guys weren’t doing the same.
“What is it?” I ask.
He looks down at the beach. There seems to be quite a few more bodies there today than there has been before. “We want to throw a party.”
“Okay…” I hedge. “So, throw a party.”
“I’m not asking for your permission,” he says, disdain dripping from his voice. “What I need is for you to go down there and pick up some people to come to our party.”
Finnick sneaks a glance over at his cousin, but looks away, lips thin. Archer, too, doesn’t seem very happy about this. Sean’s still looking a little too pale, and I’m not even sure he realizes what’s going on around him. “Why can’t you do it yourself?”
He kicks his feet up on the glass table in front of him. “If we go out there, we’re bound to get recognized. That’s why you have to do it.”
I really hate the smug look on Ian’s face. God, he’s just so full of himself. I cross my arms over my chest. “Funny. I had no idea who you guys were.”
Ian’s face falls. The tension in his neck and shoulders intensifies even though he’s trying to appear relaxed. Sean actually smiles, though, proving that he’s actually paying attention.
“This isn’t a great idea,” Archer says, flipping burgers on the grill.
“You’re right,” Ian says. “It’s a fantastic idea. Get some more burgers and throw them on there. We’ve got beer, and we can always get more. Right, Aisley? You
said you wanted to know what you could do for us, so do it.” He points toward the beach. “Go down there and get us some hot girls to party with.”
This is fucking ridiculous. There’s a challenge in Ian’s gaze though that I don’t want to back down from. He thinks I won’t do it—or that I can’t do it. None of those assumptions is correct. I hold my finger up and run downstairs to change into my bathing suit and cover-up. When I come back upstairs, I walk right past them, looking more the part of beachgoer, and head out onto the sand. Unlike the other night, the sand is boiling hot. It burns the bottom of my feet, but I grit my teeth and keep moving forward. Where we’re at, there’s mainly just families, so I start to walk toward the area where I saw a bunch of people yesterday. Like the other night, the area looks crowded again.
On my way there, I spot a couple of pretty girls walking toward me. Two guys are following closely behind them, almost like predators stalking prey. The two girls are giggling, so I head toward them, “Hey,” I say.
“Hey,” they both say in unison. I gauge whether I think they’re of age or not now that I’m close up. The last thing I want to do is send underage girls to a party with The Rowdy Rogues where there will be alcohol. I’d really get fired for that and rightfully so.
Finally, I decide they are. They look college-aged for sure. “So, my friends and I are having a party if you guys want to come hang out?”
I must sound like a crazy person. Who would just go to a party because some random person walked up to you on the beach and offered it? Also, I almost choked when I said “friends”. The Rowdy Rogues are definitely not my friends. In fact, they’re doing everything they can to be the opposite.
“Yeah?” the blonde asks.
I point down the beach. “It’s the gray beach house like five houses down,” I tell them. “There’s a buff dude already barbecuing at the grill. You can’t miss it.”
They both look at each other, then say, “Yeah, okay.”
I hadn’t expected this to be so easy. I almost feel bad when the girls start to walk away. I hope the guys plan on being nicer to their guests than they are with me. “Cool. I’ll be down in a few minutes,” I call out. “I’m just going to try to get a few more people.” The guys, who were staying discreetly back from them, watch as the girls take off toward the beach house. I point after them once they’re out of earshot. “You can come too,” I say with a smile. The guys didn’t say explicitly not to invite other guys, so fuck it. They should have a little competition.
Further down the beach, I come upon a volleyball net with a bunch of people playing and sitting near it. It feels like the easiest way to invite a larger group at once, so when the ball rolls out of play, I pick it up and invite them all to join the party when they’re done. “Free beer,” I say. I know for sure these guys are college kids as they’re already discreetly drinking out of water bottles that definitely don’t have water inside.
A guy in jet black hair winks at me. “Are you going to be there?”
Despite myself, my stomach twists. I give him my best smile. “Yeah, definitely.” I walk away, looking back over my shoulder to find him watching my ass. I smile to myself and gather a couple more people. After I’ve estimated I’ve found about twenty to thirty, a mix of both guys and girls, I head back. The volleyball net I found the large group at is now occupied by a different group, so I’m pretty confident they’ve made their way down to the beach house.
My heart skitters a little as excitement pours through me. Maybe this was a good idea. Being cooped up with The Rowdy Rogues, even only for a day, was too much. It would be nice to talk to people who aren’t all full of themselves.
I hurry back to the beach house and find Archer still at the grill. A girl next to him is talking his ear off, a beer in hand.
The two girls I sent up first surround Ian. The two guys who were following them are nowhere to be seen. I bite my lip, hoping they came too. There were a bunch of girls playing volleyball in the one group, so hopefully they didn’t abandon the idea after the two girls they were following flocked to Ian. I watch the two surrounding him for a moment to make sure they’re okay. It’s not that I think he’s a predator or anything, it’s just that I worry he’s going to be an ass, and I’ll feel like shit that I brought them here.
I head inside and find Sean and a few of the guys from the volleyball area grabbing the beer out of the fridge and putting it in a cooler. The guy with the dark hair turns. “There she is.” His smile makes my nerves prick. He’s pretty good looking. Not as handsome as any of The Rowdy Rogue members, but he’s got ten times the personality as them though.
“We’re going to need more beer, Aisley,” Sean says, looking back at me.
Finnick is there, too. He looks from me to the dark-haired guy and then back.
My hands wrap into fists. I know Sean’s not just telling me to tell me. He wants me to go get it. “Yeah, sure. I’ll go,” I tell him, reminding myself that this is my job even if their demands seem unreasonable to me. It’s not like beer is going to help them write their album quicker. In fact, it’s going to do the exact opposite.
“Rex will take you,” Sean says.
Finnick walks toward me. “I’ll go with you if you want.”
I force a smile to my face. “And take you away from your party? I don’t think so.” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “How do I get ahold of Rex?”
“I’ll take care of it,” he says. He pulls his phone out, presses the screen, and then holds it to his ear. “Hey, we need a beer run. Aisley’s going with you.” He pauses for a moment. “Yeah. I’ll send her out.” He ends the call and then looks at me. “He’ll meet you out front in five.”
“Sounds great,” I say, pasting a smile on my face. I head down the stairs and straight to my room. I’ll have to at least put shorts on if I’m going to the store. I also grab my purse, making sure I have the key to the house and the incidentals credit card with me. Not that I actually think they’ll lock me out this time. That would be detrimental to their plans seeing as I’m the one who’s going to have the beer.
When I get outside, Rex is just pulling the humongous SUV in front of the steps. I get in the back before he can even bother to get out. The divider is down, so he just asks, “Grocery store, I take it?”
“Please,” I say.
He doesn’t close the divider this time while he drives. When we’re almost there, he looks in the rearview mirror. When I feel his eyes on me, I look up too, distracting myself from the thoughts running through my head. “They’re not all that bad once you get to know them.”
“Oh, yeah?” I say, but I don’t bother acting like I think he’s right. So far, they’ve tried to get me fired twice and have only asked me to do petty shit for them. I’m more than just someone who can bring them lunch.
I can help them. I know it.
When I don’t say anything else, Rex checks the rearview mirror again, but I don’t understand the look in his eyes when he glances away. A few seconds later, we’re pulling up in front of the grocery store. “I’ll just wait right here,” he says.
I nod and get out. After I grab a cart, I head inside and go right for the beer aisle. I stock up on the brand they have and then throw in some other things like flavored wine coolers and hard cider. At the end of the beer aisle are some chips, so I grab about ten bags of those, too, along with some dips that are displayed right near it. End caps working at its finest.
The total is well over two hundred dollars, so I pass the credit card to the young cashier when I check out. She looks me over, but again, doesn’t check my ID. Maybe she understands the plight of all young kids who are just on the cusp of turning that magic number. She’s also too young to realize the consequences of what could happen if she sold this to me and the store found out.
Oh well. Not my problem.
I wheel everything out in the cart. Rex is waiting at the back of the SUV, so he pops it when he sees me coming. He helps me put everything away, and th
en we’re on our way back to the party. He’s also the one who helps me take it all the way up to the kitchen.
My mouth drops when I get there. There are a lot more bodies around than I invited. It’s like people saw a bunch of others on a deck and decided to drop in. Someone’s turned on a radio, playing mostly pop. There are even a few stragglers in here, sitting on the couch and talking, even though the majority of people are outside enjoying the big deck. A few have even congregated at the foot of the deck, beers in their hand.
“What the hell?” I mutter.
Rex shakes his head. “They’re like magnets,” he says. “It’s always been this way.” Before I can ask him how long he’s been with them, he looks out over the scene warily, his eyes catching on each of the guys. He doesn’t look happy about this, and neither am I. This is a bigger party than I thought it was going to be.
We put the beer we just bought into one of the coolers that’s now empty and Rex carries it closer to the open sliding glass door. Archer turns. He has his hand around the girl who he was talking to before. His other hand is still working at the grill, but he puts it down to take a swig of beer. When he sees Rex, he says, “Dude, stay. Hang out with us.”
Rex shakes his head. “Naw, man. I gotta call the girls.”
Archer actually looks disappointed until he sees me. Then, his face shifts. He looks me up and down, distrust written all over his face. “Beer all set up?”
“Yeah.”
Rex waves and takes off. Archer nods at him, but then turns toward me. I don’t explicitly remember the girl who is plastered to his side right now, but she smiles genuinely at me, and I return it. Archer’s face is the exact opposite though. “You can leave now then.”
I almost choke. “Leave?”
“Yeah, we’ll let you know if you’re needed for something else.”