by Lisa Swallow
“You know, when it’s obvious in a chick’s eyes she wants you naked.”
Bryn’s face hardens further by the moment, and I stop unsure why I’m getting a death stare. Jesus, if Bryn’s stressed like this before the tour kicks off properly, what the hell will he be like on a shit day?
“Did she tell you her name?” he asks.
“Never had the chance, she walked away all coy and mysterious. The girl said you might know who she is.”
“Right. Long brown hair, you said. Tall?”
“Yeah. And beautiful. Like a model.”
Bryn gives a short bark of a laugh. “Don’t get too carried away. She’s attractive, but I wouldn’t go that far. Or is that a line you use on girls, Jax?”
My dumb brain finally switches into gear. “You know her.”
“Oh, yeah, I know her.”
Shit. I thought the girl meant Bryn knew who she was, not this. She’s Bryn’s chick. Why else would his tone harden and look darken? Oh, shit. The girl I’ve seen him with recently must’ve been traded in for a newer model. Nice one, Jax.
“Crap. Sorry, man. Didn’t realise. I’ll back off and she probably wasn’t looking at me like that…” I hold my hands up in apology; telling one of Blue Phoenix I’m intending to hit on his girl is not a great start to the tour. Bryn’s an easy-going guy, but his tense demeanour suggests there’s another side close to the surface. A side I haven’t seen and don’t want to meet.
“Yeah, I suggest you keep your hands off,” he says, voice low and loaded with warning.
“I didn’t realise,” I repeat. “I’m sorry, honest.” Perspiration builds across my back as I wait for his response.
Bryn glances along the hallway. “Where did she go?”
“In there.” I indicate the door.
“Right.” Bryn strides away but passes the room the girl went into.
I continue to the elevator in a daze; the journey from my room to the bar took a very different turn to the one I expected when I walked into the hallway five minutes ago.
If the chick is with Bryn, she’s bad news because I didn’t imagine her reaction to me. I may not have the same experience with women as the Blue Phoenix guys; but I know enough and that was an unmistakable and barely hidden connection. Bryn’s wrong. She’s beautiful but in a larger than life, confident way that’s sexy as hell in a girl. I’d lay bets she knows what she wants and how to get it. Until the conversation with Bryn, I’d swear that was me.
***
TEGAN
I flop onto the huge sofa in the room Bryn organised, sinking into the mound of cushions. Five minutes later, I hop back up and wander to the panoramic window. Dusk covers the Lisbon skyline in a fading orange glow, and I stare across the city, disconnected from the outside world in the air-conditioned room.
Bored.
My brief encounter with Jax lingers, or the image of his blue eyes and sensual mouth do. And if I start thinking about what lies beneath his shirt…
Rock stars.
My whole teen life, I’ve known them via my brother. Blue Phoenix? Never interested me. Too close to home. I know some girls go for the whole ‘brother’s best friend’ thing, but grungy, longhaired guys? Not for me. When Dylan cut his hair last year, I saw the attraction, but he’s not my kind of guy. Too old, for starters.
My certainty that girls fall over their feet for guys like Dylan and Jax purely because they’re famous retreats. Jax Lewis isn’t hot because he’s the latest darling of the music industry. Jax Lewis is searing hot, period.
And I’m guaranteed to burn myself.
I grab the remote control and click on the expensive TV, the screen double the size of the one I left in the London flat I share. Squinting at the bright cartoons jumping across the TV, I change my mind. I drop the remote back on the low, glass table and investigate the bathroom. Marble. White. Shiny.
Jacuzzi. Nice.
In my bare feet, I climb into the oval bath and sit on the edge, and study the array of tiny plastic bottles on the shelves. Hesitantly sniffing one, I pull a face at the overpowering rose scent and carefully place the bottle back in place.
Nine p.m. This isn’t my usual time for ending an evening, normally it’s the start. I didn’t come on tour to sit in a hotel room watching cable TV. The tour moves on in a couple of days - one performance tomorrow and Portugal is done - so I have places to explore, bars to try. I’ve researched the scheduled stops, and chosen places to visit in each city. I have in mind where I’m going tonight; if I’m with Blue Phoenix, I can try the kind of club I don’t have a cat in Hell’s chance of entering in my ordinary life.
Climbing out of the Jacuzzi, I drag my t-shirt over my head and turn on the shower.
Post-shower, I dress in the one ‘evening’ outfit I shoved into my rucksack when I left England. One of the staple items in my limited travel wardrobe is a black dress. One that doesn’t crease easily and can be rolled up small and tucked away. Small, tight and clingy but if I team the dress with a short jacket and understated make-up, I can avoid any implications that I look slutty.
Ready to go, I shove my phone and purse into a small bag and head out to find Bryn. Following a couple of minutes banging on his suite door with no answer, I send a text, asking where he is. When there’s no response, I head downstairs.
I’ll go out on my own instead.
I wander through the ground floor, past the quiet cafe to scout out the bar in case Bryn’s there. A group of guys hang around, ordering drinks. Others sit at the wooden tables tucked in the shadows of the blue-carpeted area, beneath the dark grey walls covered in fine art prints. The long hair, scruffy clothes, and loud English voices immediately identify these guys - and the odd girl - as part of the tour entourage.
A quick sweep of the room and I spot plenty of empty glasses and bottles but no Bryn. No Blue Phoenix either. Two guys with short, spiked black hair occupy a table opposite me. They could be the Ruby Riot twins; I’m not a hundred percent sure.
“You never told me your name before.” Jax appears next to me, with a cleaner look than before - stylishly distressed denim and a woven dark blue shirt over his jeans. The rolled up sleeves reveal muscled forearms, and thick leather bracelets wrapped around his wrists. Again, with the lurching heart pulled toward his blue-eyed scrutiny.
“Tegan.”
“Jax.”
“I know.”
He smiles cautiously and I catch his subtle, spiced scent, the one suggesting I should bury my nose into his chest and inhale. “Can I get you a drink, Tegan?”
“I’m going out, thanks.”
“On your own?”
His genuine surprise irritates me a little. “Yes, I often do things on my own.”
“Not with Bryn?”
“Bryn? Why? Did he mention me?”
“Kind of. Have a drink while you wait for him, I think he’s in a meeting with the boys and their manager.” Jax gestures at the bar, indicating he’ll follow me in.
“Oh, right.”
Earlier, Jax seemed interested, now he’s fighting against too much eye contact. My stomach sinks but his disinterest is probably for the best. I hesitate.
“No strings, I won’t hit on you. I wouldn’t dare,” he says with a small frown.
I follow Jax to the bar where he orders me a bottled beer. I perch on the stool and pull my dress into a more decorous length, Jax watching the action a little too closely.
“All set for the tour?” I ask him.
“Yeah. Bit nervous, never played venues this size before. Doesn’t help that Ruby’s sick.”
“Oh, not good.”
Jax blinks and drinks too. “Yeah, well, she’ll be fine. So how about you? What are you doing here?”
“I’m not sure yet. Bryn’s going to find me something to do, to help out.”
“He’s going to make you work on tour? That’s a bit bloody cheeky!”
“Why?”
“If I brought a chick on tour, I wouldn’t do that!”
; “He wasn’t expecting me.”
Jax smirks at a private joke he has with himself. “Right.”
“What? What’s he said?”
“Nothing much.” He pauses and picks at the label on his beer. “I don’t mean to be rude, but aren’t you a bit young for him?”
“Pardon?”
“Tegan!” calls a familiar voice.
I look over my shoulder at Bryn who strides over. His height and size are intimidating enough; his tattoos and sour look would add to anybody’s nervousness around him. Not to me, but Jax studies the bottle he’s holding.
“I answered your text, but you didn’t reply,” says Bryn. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
“Just buying Tegan a drink while she waited,” offers Jax.
Jax is rewarded with a hard look from Bryn. Oh great. Bryn’s eyes widen as he studies my appearance. “What are you dressed up for? Where are you going?”
“Out. Did you want to come?” I ask.
“Not tonight, not in the mood. Stay and have a drink with me instead. We can discuss whether you’re staying or not.” His terse tone is back and riling me that he’s using it in front of Jax.
“Whether I’m staying? You know I am!”
“Maybe.”
Jax looks between us and shifts uncomfortably. “And what have you said to him?” I jab a finger at Jax. “I told you, I’m not here to jump the nearest guy!”
“I haven’t told him anything.”
“Not telling people I’m here won’t make me go away!”
“You know how to pick them, Bryn,” says Jax with a laugh.
“What does that mean?” I snap.
Jax holds his hands up in defence. “Nothing! Just the last girl I saw Bryn with was umm… insistent too.”
What the hell? I rub my forehead. “You saw Bryn with…?” Wait. “Ohmigod! Bryn! Tell him I’m your sister!”
There’s a choking noise as Jax’s beer catches in his throat. He coughs, eyes watering as he stares at us. “Sister?”
“Yeah, my little sister,” says Bryn darkly, and the look they exchange suggests they have spoken about me before.
“Oh, sorry. About earlier. I didn’t mean…” Did Jax say something he shouldn’t about me? Is it wrong that I’m secretly pleased?
“Yeah.” Bryn crosses his arms, stony faced.
“I guess I should…” Jax waves his bottle in the direction of the nearby table. “Was meeting the guys.”
As Jax climbs down from the stool, I watch in disbelief as he walks away, then jerk my head around to Bryn.
“What the hell was that about?”
“Nothing much. I didn’t like the way he talked about you before.” Bryn takes the seat Jax vacated and orders himself a beer.
“What did he say?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
I inhale a calming breath. “Can we get one thing clear, Bryn? I’m twenty years old and my own person. I do not need you treating me like a naive little girl.”
“Jax behaves like me and the guys did when we first got famous. Different girl every night, all that crap.”
“So?”
“So, I don’t want him screwing around with my sister.”
I’m about to retort when I notice the look on Bryn’s face, remembering the guy threatening the kid who lived two doors down because he bullied me. The guy who still walked me to school when he was sixteen. The protective streak in my big brother is a mile wide, and nothing I could do would change that.
I close my slender fingers over his. “Bryn, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I don’t need protecting. I’ve dealt with a few things you probably wouldn’t be happy knowing about, when I was travelling. This is nothing.”
He stiffens. “Like what?”
“Woman travelling alone things, and I’m fine. So I think I can handle people like Jax.”
Handle Jax. Investigate what lies beneath his clothes. Put my mouth on his. Find out exactly what he has that causes girls to throw themselves at him. How has this man burrowed under my skin this quickly?
“Fine,” he mutters. “But if you do stay with the tour, you’re here on my terms, and if anyone fucks around with you, there’ll be trouble.”
I bite back a laugh and nod, his serious face preventing me showing my amusement. “So I’m staying?”
“Yeah, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you. Don’t get involved with anybody on tour. They’ll break your heart.”
“Awesome!” I tiptoe and kiss my big brother on the forehead. He wrinkles his nose and wipes his face.
Seven years apart, and Bryn has no hope of understanding the real me. If I was looking to find a guy, I doubt anybody here would fit the bill.
Even if Jax is sitting across the room with his eyes fixed on me in a way that phases out everything and everybody around us.
Almost everybody.
JAX
Sister.
Bryn’s sister.
Holy fuck. I throw my mind back to the conversation I had with Bryn earlier, cringing at each word I used. I knew I’d stuck my foot in it when I thought she was Bryn’s chick, but if she’s his sister that’s ten times fucking worse. Oh yeah, I told Bryn his sister wanted to rip my clothes off and I was planning to help Tegan out of hers.
Shit.
Keeping away from her as much as possible is the only way to show Bryn I respect him, and his sister. But if Tegan keeps looking at me the way she does, that’ll be bloody hard.
Bryn is in for fun and games with his stunning sister around on the tour. I can’t wait to see what happens to the first guy who hits on her.
Will throws a beermat at my head as I approach the table. “What’s up with you?”
I scowl and wipe my cheek where the cardboard hit. “Nothing.”
“Where’s my beer?” He indicates the collection of empties on the table.
“He got distracted,” says Nate with a snort. “Who’s the chick?”
I drag out a stool and sit, looking back over to where Tegan, girl of the dreams I never knew I had, continues an intense conversation with Bryn.
“Were you hitting on Bryn’s girl?” laughs Nate. “Let’s not go through that again.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I growl.
Will starts humming ‘Ruby’ by the Kaiser Chiefs and I take a deep breath. I’m over my crush on our lead singer; clearly, they haven’t caught up. “Ha-fucking-ha and no I wasn’t.”
“Could’ve fooled us.” Nate finishes his beer and pointedly pushes the bottle across the table at me. “Did you get her name?”
“Tegan. Hughes.”
“A full name, must be serious.” They laugh. Sometimes the twins’ shared ‘everything’, including sense of humour, pisses me off.
“Hughes,” I repeat.
“Yeah?”
I look between the guys. Friends with the pair since I was fifteen, I know them all too well. And they know me all too well, unfortunately. Since Ruby Riot launched from dead end gigs to Jem Jones’s project last year, life has changed a hell of a lot. My jealousy over Jem’s personal involvement with our lead singer, Ruby, faded to concern about her relationship with the famously fucked up Jem Jones. But I bite my tongue; the Blue Phoenix guitarist has put us where we are today.
Jem isn’t only our manager; he’s also a member of the biggest rock band in the world and wouldn’t put his reputation on the line just because he was screwing Ruby. We’re good. Really, bloody good. How else would we be the support act on Blue Phoenix’s European tour?
“Are you both drunk?” I ask, surveying their larger than usual grins and edgier humour.
“No more than usual,” replies Nate.
I tap my fingers on the table. “Are you listening to me? Who else is called Hughes?”
“Bryn?” suggests Will.
I arch a brow.
Will grips Nate’s arm and descends into hysterics. “She’s his sister, isn’t she? Oh, man!”
Nate catches on and
clutches Will’s arm in return. “Sister!”
Following shared laughter, they appraise my fantasy girl and launch into a rundown of her qualities.
“Keep your voice down. I don’t think Bryn’s happy about her being here,” I mutter.
“I’m having a closer look.” Nate jumps to his feet.
“No,” I warn.
“While I buy the beers, since you failed.” He winks and saunters off.
“Jesus,” I mutter under my breath and watch proceedings from behind my fringe.
Bryn turns to speak to Nate as he arrives at the bar, his large frame blocking Nate’s view of Tegan. Tegan shoves Bryn in the back who moves away and I watch gestures of introduction before Bryn resumes his guard dog position. Bryn isn’t what bothers me. I focus on Tegan, watching how she reacts to Nate. Is she a flirt? Do her eyes linger on him as long as they did on me?
No, they don’t. A smug feeling joins the stress of the situation.
Once Bryn’s back is turned, she switches her interest to our table. Caught in the act, I keep Tegan’s gaze long enough to show that her brother’s attitude isn’t bothering me. Tegan runs a hand down her face until she’s touching the plump bottom lip I want to tug into my mouth and bite.
Shit.
A shape obscures my view as Nate ducks down, his nose practically touching mine, breaking my daydreams about Tegan.
“Is she in slow motion?” asks Nate, setting down the bottles he’s fetched from the bar.
“What?”
“You know, like the movies.” Nate steps back and waves his head around as if fanning hair around his face, throwing an exaggerated pout in my direction. “The hot girl, the soft focus, sexy music in the background.”
Will snorts laughter and takes his beer. “So? Opinion?” he asks his brother.
“Yeah.” He takes the stool next to Will and sits. “Out of your league.”
“Yours too then since we look the same!” retorts Will.
“You challenging me? Bring it on!”
I shove Nate in the shoulder. “Bryn’s sister? Did you miss that part?”
“Shame. Never mind, bro, plenty more chicks out there in the next few weeks.” Nate looks back over to Bryn and Tegan. “I’d steer clear of Tegan if I were you. She has one of those faces.”
“What’s wrong with her face?”