Chapter Fourteen

Cross

 

 

Seeing Drink loom over Indie like a fucking predator out in the arena filled me with the urge to put commit heinous acts of violence against his face. I’d never been an overly aggressive person, but I sure as hell didn’t like the way he looked at her, didn’t like him near her, and didn’t like knowing the kinds of things probably going through his head about her.

“Is she hot?” Drink asked when got near me.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“The reporter.”

“I didn’t notice.”

“Are you even a guy?”

I chose to ignore him because honestly, I couldn’t give any fucks what Drink thought about me.

“What was that all about?” I asked, nodding in Indie’s direction.

“She’s a bitch.”

“Uh-huh.” I dismissed him. He said that about most girls, even the ones he’d slept with. “But what was that about?”

I walked beside him as he made his way toward the backstage door. As the distance between him and Indie grew, so did my relief.

“She takes a lot of pictures,” he said.

“And?”

“I just want to make sure none are of me.”

My footsteps stopped abruptly. I didn’t like the way that sounded. Drink wasn’t shy about anything.

“Why?” I asked.

Drink stopped too and turned back to me. “Why what?”

“What is it you’re doing that has you worried it might be caught in pictures?”

“A lot actually,” he said smugly.

“What’d you say to her?”

“I just told her to delete any pictures I’m in. I suppose she could keep the ones on stage. But I gotta get to this interview. Wouldn’t want a lecture on being late. Again.”

Then he walked away. I’d deal with him later, but for now, I wanted to check on Indie.

She wasn’t where Drink had left her when I’d called him over and I looked two other places before finally finding her out in the lobby area. She was putting her camera into its bag and for a few minutes I just held back and watched her move so confidently, so smoothly.

Then she turned and those blue eyes caught me watching her. I hadn’t meant for that to happen, but I started walking toward her.

“Hey,” I said when I was close enough for her to hear me.

“Hey.”

“How’s it going?”

“Well… ” She stopped what she was doing and put her hands on her hips. Her T-shirt lifted up just enough to let a sliver of pale skin show through.

I took a deep breath and tried to ignore how much I wanted to see if that skin was as soft as it looked.

“If you really want to know how it’s going…” she continued. “Truthfully, not the best. You need to check your friend and encourage him to stay the hell away from me.”

“Frist—not my friend. But second, what’d he do?”

“Before or after he said he’d find a closet to fuck me in?”

“What?” Everything about me exploded. My face, my voice, my muscles begged to be used as I felt too big for my own skin. What the hell was Drink thinking? Not just because she was Vince’s daughter, but because she was Indie.

“Yeah, since I’m so obsessed with him.” She crossed her arms under her breasts and I pretended again not to notice. “He figured a quick fuck and I’d be cured. And I can’t say he’s wrong.”

“What?” I asked quieter. She’d once said that she wasn’t into him and I didn’t think that had changed. If anything, he would’ve driven her further away.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure time alone with him would turn me into a lesbian, which would not only cure my supposed obsession with Eric Drinkswine, but also any interest in all other men.”

I chuckled and ran a hand over the back of my head.

“I’m pretty sure that I’d also need antibiotics after,” she added.

The relief that washed over me couldn’t be measured. The idea of him and her… I didn’t want to think about it.

“OK, listen.” I stepped closer so that no one else would overhear us. “I’ll talk to him. Make sure he leaves you alone.”

“Thank you. I can handle myself with guys like that, but eventually, he’s going to get himself in trouble with my dad, Cody—”

“Me,” I said without thinking.

Indie raised an eyebrow and her mouth fell open into a small ‘o.’ Yeah, I hadn’t been expecting to say that either. Then she nodded slowly.

“If he comes near you again, let me know, yeah?” I said.

“Cross, just don’t let Eric take the rest of you down with him.”

That was the current plan. To get Drink out of the band in a legal way that wouldn’t cause many waves, but first, we had to find someone who meshed with our sound and fit in with our personalities. That was proving not to be as easy as one might think, but we were working on it. I didn’t say any of that to her. I wasn’t about to bring her into the band’s problems.

“We’re working on that,” I said instead. “I’ll talk to him, but why don’t you let me take you out to dinner?”

Indie smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Dinner?” she asked.

“Yeah, to make up for the fact that Drink exists.”

She giggled, then cocked her head to the side. Those moments between asking a girl out and her answering were some of the longest seconds of any man’s life. A yes was never guaranteed.

“Ok,” she finally said. “Sure. That sounds good. Plus, it gets us away from all this.” She twirled her finger in the air to indicate the arena, but I thought she meant more than just that. “When?”

“I can’t tonight,” I said too quickly.

“I didn’t think so.”

“I really want to, but we have to finish up with that reporter and the spread on Kissing Cinder. I guess we have to get some pictures taken.”

Indie gasped and clutched her chest. “You let other people take your picture? I’m devastated.”

I snorted. This right here with her… this was what I’d rather be doing than anything else today. “I’d rather not, but yeah, apparently I’m supposed to. Does tomorrow work for you?”

“Absolutely. You know we’ll be in a different city, right?”

I nodded. “Lexington. Just an hour and a half drive, which is why we get to sleep in a hotel tonight. I know the drill.”

Her cheeks blushed a faint shade of pink when I’d said we were staying at the hotel and I really liked the effect I was beginning to have on her. Then I thought of other things I could do to make her blush that way and knew it was time to walk away before I did something I wouldn’t regret, but that she might not appreciate, given how many potential eyewitnesses there were around.

I didn’t care who saw us.