by Rhonda James
Or the right way, my inner voice argued, making my stomach flip.
“Did you stop by to be polite, or was there something else you needed? Directions? Maybe a cup of sugar?” I hooked a thumb in Dylan’s direction. “I know this one could use a little sweetening.”
Hawk turned his head back and forth between us, watching our exchange with great interest before finally snorting. “Nah. Just being friendly before we head out of town,” he answered vaguely.
Curiosity got the better of me. “Out of town? Did Hollywood finally call?”
Dylan leered, but it was Hawk who answered. “Not yet, but they will soon enough,” he declared confidently. “We’re heading over to Panama City for a summer gig, playing in a bar down there. Should be pretty badass. Only trouble is, our van broke down this morning and now we’re stuck for wheels.”
“Why not just rent a car?” I shrugged.
Dylan grunted as if he were about to speak, but Hawk cut him off with a hand gesture. “That’d be fine if we weren’t hauling all our gear. We need to find another van, or at least something comparable with a trailer hitch. You wouldn’t happen to know anyone with a van for sale on the cheap, or one we could borrow, would you?”
“Sorry, but you’re the only ‘friend’ I know with a van,” I offered a rueful smile. “That sucks, though. When are you supposed to be there?”
“We’re supposed to play tonight, but I guess that’s not happening. If we can’t find a ride, we’ll be lucky to keep the job,” Dylan answered.
The gears in my head started turning. Wasn’t this exactly what Sophie had been preaching about? A spur-of-the moment trip with strangers would qualify as being more adventurous. Right? Panama City was about an eight-hour drive. I could easily manage that. My eyes darted to the SUV in the driveway then back to them, bypassing Dylan to land on Hawk’s kind face.
“That’s my car over there.” I turned and pointed to the Navigator. “I’ve been thinking about getting away for a few days. If you think we’d all fit in there with your gear, I’d be happy to give you a lift.”
Dylan’s eyes nearly fell out of his head, while Hawk’s smile filled his entire face.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’d really do that? You don’t even know us,” Hawk exclaimed.
My eyes darted back to Dylan, and he met my gaze, revealing little to no emotion. Could I really handle being trapped in a car with him for eight hours? At least you won’t be alone with him. There will be other people, my inner voice reasoned. “Well, yeah. I sorta know Dylan, being that I used to… I know his brother, and he used to talk about Dylan,” I stumbled over my words. “Besides, I’m in need of an adventure. How bad could it be?” I caught the briefest glimpse of a smile tip at the corners of Dylan’s mouth.
Smile, dammit, I silently pleaded. I’d give anything to see him smile. Something inside told me it would be a sight to behold.
Hawk stepped forward and took hold of my hand then bent down and gave it a kiss. “Miss Victoria, if adventure is what you seek, then kindly allow me to be your humble guide.”
He righted himself, and I didn’t miss that Dylan’s gaze had zeroed right in on where our hands were still joined.
“If you’re sure I won’t be in the way,” I played along, batting my lashes and loving the reaction it garnered.
“In the way? Never.” Hawk winked.
I knew he was just being nice. Knew they needed a car and I was easy prey. But what they didn’t realize was that right now, I needed this distraction far more than I cared to admit. Spending eight plus hours trapped in a car with Dylan Cross was the last thing I wanted to do, but opportunities like these came up once in a lifetime, and I’d be damned if I was going to allow my pride to come between me and a much-needed adventure.
Something told me Sophie would be proud.
CHAPTER 7
SIN
“I think that’s the last of it,” I announced to anyone within earshot. We’d just spent the last hour unloading the van and hooking the trailer to V’s car. Now we were back in her driveway, waiting for her to finish packing her bag. When I looked back over my shoulder, I saw that no one was paying attention to me; they were too busy drooling over Victoria, who’d just stepped outside wearing a pair of shorts that accented her killer legs. At her feet sat three large bags.
Bags? WTF? I thought she was just dropping us off, not staying the whole summer.
A goddamn distraction, that’s what she was going to end up being. I rolled my eyes at the whole situation and made my way over to where they stood gathered around her.
“This is Jonathan Taylor. He plays bass,” Hawk introduced him to Victoria.
“Nice to meet you, Jonathan,” she greeted.
“Call me J.T.,” he insisted.
“Okay, J.T.” Next, she turned to Styx.
“And this is our drummer, Billy Harrison, but everyone calls him Styx,” Hawk clapped him on the shoulder.
“Everyone?” she smirked and held out a hand for Styx to shake.
He grasped her by the fingers, drawing them to his lips. Wait. Did he just fucking kiss her hand? “Everyone but my Gran, and that’s only because she’s stubborn, though she claims it’s because she’s seen my bare ass.”
“Well, Billy, if I’m going to call you Styx, you better be prepared to show me your mad skills.” She winked at him.
What the ever-loving fuck was going on? Flirting? She was fucking flirting with all of them. Annoyed, I reached out to take her bags, shooting Hawk a nasty glare as I bent down.
“Think you packed enough shit?” I bitched before shoving both suitcases in the last remaining space and using my bodyweight to shut the back hatch.
“I’ve decided to use this time as a little getaway for myself. I haven’t taken a vacation in two years.” She sighed tragically.
“Poor baby.” I smirked, which earned me a glare from the guys. Great, now I knew which side they would be standing on for the next eight hours. “We should probably get going. As it is, we’ll barely have enough time to stop for food if we want to get there in time to get settled and warm up before our set.” I held my hand out for the keys, but Victoria only glared.
“I don’t think so, buddy. No one drives this car except me.” With her nose in the air, she sidestepped around me to take her place behind the wheel.
“You heard the lady.” Hawk motioned for me to go before him, granting me first choice of where to sit. Naturally, I chose the front seat. If I couldn’t be in control of the speed, then I’d be the one giving directions, ‘cause I damn sure didn’t trust her map reading skills to get us there.
“What are you doing?” I asked impatiently as she furiously typed on her phone.
“What’s it look like I’m doing?” She waved her phone in my face and then snatched it back to resume typing. “I’m plugging our destination into my map app.”
I reached for her phone in an attempt to stop her. “You don’t need an app. I’ll tell you where to go.” As I settled in, I looked over and found her watching me. “What?”
“You better not be a side-seat driver. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s someone nagging me while I drive,” she said with both brows raised. “Besides, it’s not as if I need the app. I drove all the way from Tallahassee just last night. I think I know how to get to Panama City. I just wanted the app in case you fell asleep or something. God only knows what you did after I caught you creeping on me last night.”
Creeping on her?
My mouth opened, ready to deliver a smart-ass comeback, but I decided it wasn’t worth the trouble it would cause. “Listen, thanks a lot for doing this for us. We… I really appreciate it.”
She turned over the engine and then smiled over her right shoulder. I noted the faintest appearance of a dimple near the corner of her pouty lips. “Wow. Bet it hurt a little to admit that, huh?”
“You have no idea,” I murmured before lowering my chin to my chest and laughing. “Guess I had that one co
ming, huh? Hey, for the sake of those trapped in the car with us, you think we could call a truce? Just for the next eight hours or so. Then we can go back to detesting each other.” I winked, and her dimple made another appearance.
“Truce.” She thrust her hand out for me to shake.
I grasped her tiny hand in mine and gave it a firm pump, noting the softness of her skin. Our eyes met, and she smiled. The heat from that smile ran up the length of my arm. All too quickly, a vision of her hand wrapped around my shaft flashed through my mind, and I quickly pulled away. “Truce,” I mumbled before twisting around in my seat to stare out the window.
If my sudden change in behavior startled V, she didn’t let on. “Everyone buckled in?” she asked in a singsong voice. Once everyone obliged, she put the car in gear and backed down the drive.
A few miles into the drive, I turned on the radio and started scanning the channels, stopping on the first rock station I came to. Keeping my fingers on the dial, I peered over my shoulder and found her watching me. “Got any favorites?”
She thought about it for a moment then pointed to the phone in my lap. “I’m curious to see what kind of music you listen to. Play me something off one of your playlists.”
I groaned as I scrolled through my favorites. “Come on, V. You’ve gotta give me something to work with. What kind of music do you normally listen to?” I asked, half expecting her to come back with an answer like Justin Bieber or Adele.
“Well, I have a pretty eclectic taste, but lately I’ve been addicted to Black Veil Brides.”
I was not expecting that.
I chose a song then leaned back in my seat. “We do a lot of their covers. They were always popular with the college crowd, so after singing them a few times, they became a part of our regular set. They’re really talented.”
“Oh, I totally agree, and their lead singer is pretty hot, too.” She blushed.
“Uh oh. V’s got a little crush on Andy,” I teased.
Her cheeks went crimson, but she didn’t deny the accusation. Keeping her attention on the road, she flexed her fingers on the steering wheel while the music played. “You remind me of him,” she quietly admitted. “I mean, just a little bit.”
I’d admit, this wasn’t the first time I had someone tell me that. I turned my head, waiting for her to look my way, but she never took her eyes off the road. I watched the rise and fall of her chest, noting the slight tremor in her hand. I thought about pretending I hadn’t heard her, just to hear her say it again. To hear her admit she was attracted to me. I wasn’t really sure why. Maybe after all the snarky banter, I liked the idea that she didn’t hate me as much as I’d always suspected. Then again, maybe my ego just needed a good stroking.
Yeah, your ego isn’t the only thing in need of a good stroking…
Diverting my gaze back to my phone, I scrolled until I found something other than BVB. “I may have heard that two or twenty times before,” I admitted before turning my gaze to the window and forcing myself to think about something other than Victoria Prescott finding me hot, because if I didn’t, I was going to have a hard time explaining the bulge in my pants.
Four hours later, after stopping for a bite to eat and stretch our legs, we walked out of the restaurant stuffed and ready to get back on the road.
“Dylan?” V called from a few steps behind me. I turned in time to see her toss something in the air for me to catch. The keys met my open hand with a sharp sting. “Why don’t you take this leg of the trip? I’ll sit in back and get to know Hawk a little better.” My gaze darted to his, and he threw me a wink before offering her his arm.
My eyes narrowed as I watched her slip her arm through his and allowed him to guide her back to the SUV. I palmed the keys, and for a second contemplated throwing them at the back of his head. Charming fucker. He had Melody waiting at home, so I knew he wasn’t going to put the moves on V and expect something in return. But she didn’t know that. Huffing out a breath, I gave my head a shake to rid myself of all those thoughts. Victoria meant nothing to me, so why the fuck should I care if they hooked up?
***
Turns out I cared a fuck of a lot more than I wanted to admit, but I wasn’t about to let anyone else know how it irritated me.
Mile after mile, I kept one eye on the road and the other on the rearview mirror. J.T. was sound asleep, taking up the entire middle seat, while Styx was in the passenger seat pounding out a beat on the dash. That meant Hawk and V were cozied up all the way in the back. I couldn’t see where his hands were, but more than once I saw him lower his ear to her mouth when she spoke. Thanks to the radio and Styx’s accompaniment, I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they both laughed. In fact, they laughed a lot.
As if sensing my eyes on him, Hawk called out to me.
“Yo, Sin! I’m really digging your brother’s girl. She’s fucking hilarious.” As he said this, he threw an arm around her shoulder and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Fucker. He’d known her less than six hours and made it further than I had in six years.
What the fuck? Where did that come from? No matter how attracted I was to her—and based on my reaction to my best friend being near her I was clearly attracted—it didn’t matter because she belonged to Michael.
“Excuse me!” V gasped. “I’m not Michael’s girl. I’m not Michael’s anything. He’s an asshole who can go fuck himself.”
“Oh, shit! My bad. Damn, girl, what’d he do to you?” Hawk teased.
“The list of atrocities is far too lengthy, but let’s just say I walked in on him drilling his tiny dick into my roommate’s fat ass,” V seethed as Hawk whistled under his breath.
Okay, so she didn’t belong to Michael, but it didn’t matter because she’d still fucked him. In my eyes, that meant she was untouchable. I could annoy the hell out of her, but I’d never fuck her.
Pity.
CHAPTER 8
V
“Well, guys, it’s been beyond amazing getting to know each of you.” I removed myself from Hawk’s warm embrace and cleared my throat, willing myself not to cry. As we came through town, we’d stopped by the bar to drop off their gear before driving to the house they were renting from the guy who owned the bar. “But if I don’t leave now, you won’t have enough time to warm up before your set.” I wrung my hands in front of me, hating the thought of saying good-bye. I’d met them less than ten hours ago, but in that short span of time, each one had found a special place in my heart.
Even Dylan.
I’d thought being trapped in the car with him would be unbearable, but it turned out we had more in common than I’d ever would have suspected. For instance, we both hated mayonnaise. We’d watched all the Bourne movies too many times to count. We both agreed his step-monster, Sarah, was a raging bitch. And we were huge fans of Black Veil Brides and knew all the words to their songs, which we’d proven by singing them at the top of our lungs during the first half of the trip.
We hugged one last time, and they thanked me profusely as we said our final good-byes and I headed for my car. Dylan called after me just as I was pulling the door shut.
“Hold up.” I watched as he jogged my way, and when he reached the car, he placed one hand on the open window. “Listen, I just wanted to thank you one more time. I’m sure hauling our asses all the way down here wasn’t high on your to-do list, especially after the drive from Tallahassee, but it was really cool of you. If you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call.” He took my hand and slipped something in my palm before turning back to the house. Never once glancing back. Once he’d gotten far enough away, I looked down to find a business card with the band’s name and website, but when I turned it over, there was a name and phone number scrawled on the back.
His.
One glance in the rearview mirror revealed that while everyone else had gone inside, Dylan remained on the front porch, watching me drive away. I thought about throwing up a hand in a parting wave but decided against it
. There was nothing between us, so what good would it do to prolong the parting? Besides, hadn’t it been just last night when I’d promised myself I would forget anything and everything about Michael and move on? Spending time with his brother probably wasn’t the best way to go about forgetting. Right?
But they are complete opposites, my inner voice pointed out.
Either way, it didn’t matter because they were here to do their thing, and I was merely passing through. I would find a hotel for the night and take off tomorrow morning for whereabouts unknown. I’d meant what I said when I told the guys it had been a while since my last vacation. Since moving to Tallahassee, I’d only been back home twice. Dad was always working, and Mom spent all her time organizing one charity event after the other. If they weren’t doing that, they were traveling. Dan, lived in Colorado and was married with a toddler, so he had his hands full. With no place to go and no incentive to leave campus, I’d become the worst version of a college hermit. My last vacation had been a trip to New York to visit Sophie. Once I was settled, I had every intention of calling to see if she wanted to fly down and join me for a girls’ weekend.
***
“Booked? How is that possible? This hotel must have three hundred rooms. I only need one. Surely, you must have something for me.” I knew there were people behind me, waiting to check in, and they probably heard me begging, but I didn’t care. I’d already heard this same story at three other hotels. By this time, I was tired, mildly cranky, and beyond desperate. “Please. I’ll take anything, even the room by the elevator that everyone else hates.”
The girl behind the counter sighed as if she’d been asked the same question more than once this evening, and then went on to give the same explanation I’d already memorized. “I’m sorry, but there’s a major event going on this weekend. Most of our rooms have been booked for months. There’s a motel about ten miles from here that’s bound to have a vacancy,” she finished, sliding an all too familiar list of area lodging across the counter before turning to assist the next customer.