by Trina M. Lee
Seeing their bond in action made me feel better about everything. I didn’t want to come between them. I’d like to think it couldn’t happen, that they were stronger than that.
By the time Jett and I grabbed a cab over to Arrow’s house, I was successfully tipsy. Knowing better than to get full blown drunk, I’d tried to pace myself despite my best friend plying me with alcohol.
Greyson’s girlfriend, Maggie, was already there, filling the place with balloons and booze, among other party favors. The average-sized two-story house was already brimming with people. I hadn’t been there in a while. Surprisingly, it was cleaner than usual, although that might have been Maggie’s doing.
Right away Jett dipped into the liquor, and though she shoved a drink in my hands, I intended to nurse it for quite sometime. Wandering around the living room I perused the many band and movie posters plastered to the walls. It felt strange being there. I couldn’t help but think back on the hazy morning when I’d woken up in Arrow’s bed. What a gong show of a night that had been. Looking back on my first real experience with Arrow’s dark side, it was hard to fathom how we’d ever gotten past it. Yet for every shitty thing Arrow did to me, he’d done something equally wonderful. Needless to say, the guy messed with my head. But victimized as he’d been by the dark, I knew it went so much deeper than him merely being an asshole.
I couldn’t shake a nervous sensation that caused my skin to prickle. Wren could find us just about anywhere. He could hang out and graffiti my freakin’ balcony if he wanted. Knowing that didn’t mean I had to let him ruin a night out with my friends.
It wasn’t like there was anything else I could do. Cinder would have my head if I tried anything he hadn’t authorized. So despite the insane demon running amok, I had to continue to live my life. At least until the time came to act.
Arrow’s BMW pulled into the driveway, and just the sight of that car made my knees wobble. All four guys from Molly’s Chamber got out. From the kitchen window I could see that some of them were clearly inebriated.
Maggie squealed for everyone to get into place. She wanted to do the big surprise shout when Greyson walked in. Car doors slammed while everyone rushed to gather in the living room. Maggie shushed the crowd. She practically vibrated with pent up excitement. She must really love Greyson. It was adorable.
As the door opened Arrow held back, ushering Greyson in first. The party erupted with a giant, “Surprise!”
That startled him. “Son of a bitch,” Greyson shouted before dissolving into laughter.
Maggie threw herself in his arms and planted kisses all over his face. Friends clapped him on the back and shoved shot glasses at him. It didn’t take long for the party to really get underway. A large faction of people headed downstairs to the finished basement where Arrow had a full jam space set up. Others mingled through the house, drinking and talking. Cover songs boomed up the stairs, rocking the entire house.
Jett and I hung back, chilling on the couch, until she abandoned me to head downstairs with Sam. I sipped my drink, waiting for my nerves to ease off before I went down to join in on the fun.
Arrow sauntered in with a scotch on the rocks in one hand, a joint in the other. “So you came after all.”
“Of course. I said I would.” My lungs froze when he sat beside me, close enough that our thighs touched.
“Are you going to come down and jam?” He jerked a thumb at the stairs. “There’s a rule: No original songs and no playing with your own band members. I guess that’s two rules.”
“Sounds like it could be fun. I’m up for it.” Able to see Rowen in the kitchen talking with some buddies, I felt extra nervous at Arrow’s proximity. I needed to calm the hell down.
“I’d love to play with you.” Arrow sounded totally serious despite the obvious double meaning.
I laughed and found comfort in my drink. Being slightly buzzed loosened my lips. “I’ve gotta warn you, I go pretty hard. Are you sure you can keep up?”
Flirtatious mischief quirked a brow upward. His sly smile set off a small explosion between my legs. “Pretty sure I won’t have a problem with that, although there’s only one way to find out.”
Did it suddenly get about ten degrees hotter, or was it just me? No, it was Arrow. Hot as sin and just as tempting. He reached to save a lock of my hair just before it dipped into my glass.
I sat there feeling stiff and awkward as he tucked it behind my ear. “Thanks.” Yep, I’d just lost the sense of cool I had going.
When his hand lingered on the side of my face, my insides squeezed together, and I braced myself. Able to smell him and feel him while looking into the depths of his eyes had me itching to sate the rest of my senses with Arrow.
“Am I interrupting?” Rowen’s voice shattered the moment. He stood where the kitchen met the living room, staring at us with something akin to shock and revulsion. “Should I come back later, or is this an okay time to discuss what happened to me earlier today? I certainly wouldn’t want to be an unwelcome third wheel.”
Arrow jerked his hand away and fumbled to light the joint. “Dude, don’t be like that. We’re all here to have a good time.”
“Yeah, I see that. Looks like you two are off to a good start.” There was such venom in the glare Rowen shot his brother. He came to sit on the edge of the coffee table in front of us. “Sorry. I’m bitter but that’s my problem, not yours.”
“Rowen, I—”
Before I could tell him nothing was going on, he cut me off. “It’s cool. None of my business. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about what happened at work this afternoon.”
That had an ominous ring to it. I gripped my glass tighter and leaned forward on the couch. “Please don’t tell me it was Wren. I mean, it was daytime. How could it be?”
“I don’t know but it was somebody and it was dark as fuck. I was under a car today when the hoist almost fell on me.” Rowen paused to take a drink from his beer bottle. “I heard the metal groan and made it out just in time. Sure, accidents happen, but this didn’t strike me as a random event. I think somebody rigged it.”
The image he’d just painted scared the ever-loving crap out of me. To think that he had come so close to death and I’d been none the wiser left me feeling hollow and a little sick. “And you’re definitely okay? You didn’t get hurt at all?”
There was no hiding my panic. If Wren wanted me then he could come for me, but he damn well better leave my friends out of it. But no, it was too late for that now. They’d already involved themselves, so the demon considered them fair game.
After all, that was all this was to him. A game.
“I’m totally fine, Spike. It’s probably a miracle that car didn’t crush me.” Rowen scrubbed a hand over his face and up through his mohawk.
Beside me Arrow took a large drag on the joint and passed it to his brother. “Sounds like you need this. Something kind of fucked up happened to me today too. I don’t even want to think about it. It really freaked me out.”
My bad feeling continued to grow. Both Rowen and I stared at Arrow as he shifted uneasily on the couch.
Finally he forced the words out. “When I woke up, I rolled over in bed, and… fuck me… Vicky’s body was there beside me. Rotten. But she was just staring at me like she wanted to ask me a question but couldn’t because she was fucking dead.” He swallowed hard a few times as if trying to keep from vomiting at the memory of it. “I blinked a few times and then jumped out of bed. When I looked back she was gone.”
The three of us were quiet for a few minutes. The constant murmur of voices around us and music from below kept us from sitting in true silence.
“I found a pentagram painted in blood on my balcony this morning.” I stared into my drink. “Obviously we’re all being messed with.”
“Even more reason to stay together and not let trivial shit divide us.” Arrow shot a pointed look at his brother that made me cringe.
Rowen stood up and handed me the joint before turning a sc
owl on Arrow. “Trivial shit? Nice to know that’s how you see the biggest breakup of my life. But seeing as you’re moving on with my ex, I guess I shouldn’t expect you to really give a damn.”
“Bro, it’s not like that and you know it. You’re projecting a lot more onto Spike and me than there really is.” Trying to play peacemaker, Arrow stood up too. “We need to just set this personal shit aside and focus on the demon fucking with us.”
“Is that what you’re doing?” Rowen swung a hand wildly at Arrow and me. “Hanging out here, all cozy on the couch, while the real party goes on downstairs. Even though whatever is going on with you two is none of my business, you could at least have the balls to be honest about it.”
I coughed mid-toke on the joint. Surprised because nothing had happened between Arrow and me other than one kiss, I shook my head and tried speak, but the tickle in my throat stopped me.
But nothing prevented Arrow from speaking his mind now that the gauntlet had been thrown down. “Goddammit, Rowen, what the fuck is your problem? We’re not hiding anything from you. Do I have a thing for her? Yeah, you know I do. Are we banging or dating or whatever? No. Believe it. Or don’t.”
When I was able to suck in a lungful of air again, I added, “Rowen, there’s nothing going on.”
“Not yet,” he muttered, clutching his beer so tight I expected it to shatter. “Just be careful, Spike. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Arrow’s jaw dropped, and he made a sound of disgust. “Are you shitting me, man? I’m not the one who kicked her to the curb in front of Dash. I didn’t leave her crying outside in the freezing cold.”
Muscles twitched in Rowen’s cheek. Shame flitted through his amber eyes. “I know you, Arrow. You get around. What do you have to offer Spike?”
Arrow took a step toward Rowen but was blocked by the coffee table unless he went around or shoved by me. Rowen tensed but jutted out his chin, an unspoken invitation.
I didn’t want to hear or see anymore. Standing up between them, I handed out a fiery glower to each brother. “Shut it right now. Both of you. I’m done with this shit. Like up to my eyeballs, done.”
“Spike—”
“No.” I cut Rowen off, refusing to listen to another word about it from either of them. “I will not come between the two of you. And if you keep putting me in this position, I’ll be forced to cut ties with both of you. And I’m pretty sure that would break Cinder’s heart. So either forget it or forget me.”
Well, that had come out a tad more dramatic than intended. Thanks, alcohol.
Overwhelmed and needing to clear my head, I shoved past Rowen and headed for the stairs. Jett’s voice reached me. She and some others were doing a cover of “Shout at the Devil.”
I wanted to get in on the fun. After all, we came here to party.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The basement at Arrow’s house pretty much formed one giant rec room with a small makeshift stage on one end, a pool table on the other, and a fully stocked wet bar in the corner. A plethora of comfy couches faced the stage.
Seeing as how the majority of the local rock scene was packed into that basement, there was no shortage of musicians to rotate through. I helped myself to a refill from behind the wet bar where Arrow had a good stash of party favors of both the legal and illegal kind. Then I sat back and waited for my turn to play. After a few moments of observation, it became apparent that those performing the cover songs were not the ones choosing what song they’d be playing.
It didn’t take long for Arrow to make his way down. No sign of Rowen though.
When Jett finished her song, she climbed onto Sam’s lap where he sat on the end of the couch. She saw me standing nearby and pointed for me to take the stage. “Spike plays guitar next,” she shouted, well beyond tipsy at this point.
Like the conniving jerks that they were, Sam joined in by hollering for Arrow to do vocals. I set my drink down on the coffee table in front of Jett and stepped up onto the small stage to grab the Fender guitar sitting there. The drummer from Sacred Stone joined me. The rhythm guitarist from Jett’s ex-boyfriend’s band, Something Like Sorrow, climbed up beside me, and a guy I didn’t know personally but had seen around picked up the bass. Only when Sam shouted his name again did Arrow take his place with the rest of us.
People began to shout the titles of various songs. Jett stood up on the couch in order to be seen and heard over everybody else. “The Offspring, ‘Want You Bad.’ Play that one.”
Was this chick trying to kill me? I might just die of embarrassment before this night was over. The title of the song said it all. I didn’t have to guess why she chose it.
Arrow openly shot her a middle finger before turning to the rest of us. “You guys know this one?”
Able to readily adapt, I nodded. I could bust it out with the best of them. Once everyone was on board, the drummer counted us in, and we launched into the song. Immediately the lyrics made me uncomfortable. Arrow’s low seductive voice made them personal in a way they never should have been. Thanks, Jett, you absolute pain in the ass.
The song’s faster punk vibe demanded speed and precision. My fingers flew over the strings, nailing every note. Having Arrow beside me on vocals was a strange yet exciting experience. Being forced to play with others definitely meant stepping outside my comfort zone with my girls. I kind of dug it.
Arrow hit the first chorus hard, and I glanced up to find him looking my way. For a split second I almost lost my place and fumbled the notes but recovered quickly. Hoping like hell that nobody had noticed, I refocused my attention on our small but lively crowd.
Which now included Rowen. He hung back near the bottom of the stairs, watching us.
Afraid to make eye contact, I didn’t let my gaze linger. Scanning the room I noticed the actual number of people paying close attention to us was minimal. They were engaged in conversation or gathered around the pool table placing bets. Even climbing all over one another in full-on, groping make out sessions. Jett and Sam included.
Arrow caught me off guard by hip checking me. Startled, I glanced over to find him grinning. It was a gentle reminder that I was taking this far too seriously. We were here to have fun, so I needed to lighten up and stop overthinking every damn thing.
When I glanced over by the stairs again, Rowen was gone. A part of me wanted to drop the guitar and go after him, but what would that achieve? I wasn’t ready to be with him again the way he wanted, so going after him might just do more harm than good. So I stayed and rocked the hell out of that guitar.
When the song ended the drunken partygoers made an effort to cheer and raise hands in devil horns. Several of them shouted out who they wanted to see play next. Maggie’s voice rose among them as she encouraged her boyfriend to get behind the drums. I totally understood her enthusiasm. There was nothing quite as good as watching a sexy man with his instrument.
I put the guitar back on the stand and fetched my drink from the table. Jett managed to pry her lips off Sam’s long enough to tell me I killed it. With a nod of thanks that she didn’t see due to dry humping her boyfriend, I tossed back the rest of my drink.
Before I could go for a refill, Arrow grabbed my arm and jerked his head toward the closed laundry room door beside the bar. “Can we talk for a second?”
Feeling numb, I nodded and let him lead me away.
He ushered me inside and shut the door behind us. “Mark my words, Jett will regret this night.”
“Yeah.” I laughed even though I was nervous as hell. “She knows how to disturb the shit alright.”
The laundry room was adequate for movement but still too small for us each to have much personal space. I leaned against the dryer with arms crossed, trying to appear casual even though it was bullshit. Arrow seemed to be psyching himself up to say something. I braced myself, although I didn’t know what to expect.
“Spike, I can’t help but feel like I have to do something to fix all of this. Like I just need to put it to rest, so we c
an all move on, and things can feel normal again. Maybe it’s better if you and Rowen are together. Better for all of us. You probably belong together, and I don’t want to be the guy to fuck that up.” He was bowing out? Just like that, as if nothing had ever developed between us?
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Alcohol fed my sudden vehemence. “Arrow, you’re not the one who fucked it up.”
“No, maybe not, but Rowen is a good guy, and you should cut him a break. Give him another chance. He deserves it.” He didn’t totally believe everything he said. I could see that. Arrow was doing what he thought he was supposed to do.
I’m sure I looked as confused as I felt. “You’re really throwing me for a loop here. I mean, what in the actual hell? I thought we had something here.” It might not have been the right thing to say, but feeling flushed from nerves, alcohol, and probably a little bit of hormones, I said the first thing that popped into my head.
“Do we? You said we were friends. I don’t want to pressure you into anything, and honestly, I know I don’t deserve you. Rowen does. He’s a great guy. Everything he does comes from a place love.” This wasn’t Arrow feeling sorry for himself or being dramatic. He genuinely believed this.
It baffled me that we saw things so differently. Even though he’d been a thorn in Rowen’s side for years, Arrow ultimately wanted the best for his brother, even if that meant walking away from whatever had formed between him and me.
“It does,” I agreed. “I know that but it doesn’t change anything. What Rowen and I want in a relationship doesn’t look the same. Wanting each other doesn’t mean we need each other. And I don’t want to live in regret.”
Arrow leaned back against the laundry room door and let out an exasperated breath. “Neither do I, but I’ve gotten used to living a damned if I do, damned if I don’t life. I don’t want to be the guy that stole my brother’s girl. I’m a lot of things, but maybe I have to draw the line somewhere.” His willingness to step back was admirable. But he was doing it for the wrong reasons.