“Head west on I-80 until you reach the turnoff for the abandoned rock mine and take the road until you see the full extent of Bartin awesomeness.”
Parker had explained to me this morning how to get out to the Blow Out.
“Is it legal to have something there?”
Of course, I have good enough sense to ask because, after all, I’m still a foreigner here. I don’t want to be caught breaking the law. It’s worse for me than it is for the Yanks. Don’t get me wrong, I want to party and party hard, but I don’t want to get caught.
“Pfft. Nah, man, we are good out there. No one has bothered us before, so I don’t see it happening now.”
And I believe him, which leads me to act like the goddamn GPS for Jax as he powers down the interstate.
“Don’t worry, you won’t miss it. I have a whole crew of trophy girls taking shifts to greet partiers by the turnoff.”
It pleased Levi to no end when I passed the message on. I doubt my dear friend will actually make it to the party; we may lose him at the turnoff.
Turning around, I look back at him as the van slows. Like a kid waiting in line to see Santa, Levi is bobbing left and right to get a better look. I don’t think I’ve seen the poor cunt so excited before.
His backseat buddy looks just as eager, if not a touch more than Levi himself. I almost lost my shit when Megan came out of her townhouse in a barely there pair of shorts and a belly shirt with those strands hanging down for the rest of the shit like it was covering everything.
Hey! I may not be fucking her anymore, but Megan is still my … friend. And as her ‘friend,’ I don’t want any guys thinking they can bed her with ease or roofie her or some shit like that.
When she promised her new guy was going to meet her right when we get there, I relaxed. But only by a fraction.
“Did you wear your big boy undies today, or are you in your superhero pair, Levi?”
“What?” He stops his nervous twitching to see women and stares wide-eyed at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Calm your tits; you’re freaking the shit out of me.” I turn back around just as four trophy girls become visible, and boy, what a sight they are. They are a black and white array of tight, belly cotton shirts meant to look like corsets, the strings are the opposite of whatever shade they were wearing with those super-short girl skirts of the same grayscale. You know the ones I’m talking about … they have to wear Spanx under them because their arses show even when they aren’t bending over.
“Captain, I think the deckhand is lost.” I jostle Jax’s arm, causing him to swerve. We have barely pulled up to show the girls our passes before Levi jumps out of the handicap door and is introducing himself to the first girl. One of the girls on my side of the van, who hasn’t been assaulted by Levi’s attempt to charm yet, looks over the passes I hand her and nods when she smiles and hands them back to me.
“Welcome to the Blow Out.” She waves to the guards standing on either side of the makeshift gate. “Find a parking space where you can and have fun.” The sultry way she says have fun has me thinking she will try to find me later. Too bad I’m going in there to find my ‘not’ girlfriend and plan on leaving with her.
“Thanks.” I hand the other passes over to my remaining crewmates and tell her to keep Levi’s. Jax doesn’t move, only watches and waits to see if Levi plans to get back in and go with us.
“Leave him. They’ll give the fucker his pass. I’m sure we’ll see him later.”
“Ax is right. Come on, Jax! I want to party!” Megan bounces in the back seat. Now that we are basically at our destination, her seat belt is long forgotten.
Jax looks at both of us, concern for our fallen etched on his face. “Well, what are you waiting for? Do as the woman commands.” I laugh, putting Jax at ease.
We continue down the old road, passing makeshift drag strips with dragsters getting ready to go and small crowds beginning to join them. Food trucks are fucking everywhere, same with different venders for any alcohol I could possibly imagine. From what I can see from the van, three stages have different bands playing and hundreds—if not thousands—of people bounce around to the beat. There are other stages for the barely clad babes Parker boasted about to dance on. Wet t-shirt contests, shaded stripper poles, pools, and motocross jumps with even a small track and more dragstrips for bikes take up all other places I can possibly see.
“This is fucking amazing.” Jax quickly finds a place to park, wide enough for him to open his side door for his ramp. I can barely hear the chime of his phone when I get out and wait for him and Megan. The bands are playing popular rock—old and new—the revs of so many engines, and drunken giggles for women getting soaked or stripping for the hell of it culminate together.
“Did we somehow cross Wyoming into South Dakota?” I don’t break my eyes from the festivities around us to ask Megan when she hops out. I feel like this is a party one would see in Sturgis, not in Utah.
“Nope.” Her dark red locks float into my line of vision as she pulls her top off and throws it back into the van.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I screech. Quickly, I try to cover her and reach for the discarded shirt at the same time.
When did I start to pull the big brother card with her?
“Stop it, Ax.” She bats me away. “I’m not yours to worry about, so chill. My guy will protect me.”
She’s right; I shouldn’t care. My dumb arse needs to leave her the fuck alone.
“I don’t give a fuck. You’re my friend—”
“And as my friend, you should want me to have some fun, right?”
I can only gape. When did she return to this brave woman I first met?
“Look, none of the other girls around here are really wearing anything. I have shorts and a bikini top on, much better than most.” She grabs her phone and wallet from the back seat.
Pointlessly, I wonder who the fuck this mystery guy is and why she is keeping him a secret. We will likely meet him tonight at some point if we stick together. Whatever the case is, I’m glad to see she is back to her old ways. That is what drew me to her in the first place. She lost herself by trying to be something she felt I needed. Now that I have Paige, I feel as though Megan finally realized we weren’t meant to be.
Jax wheels down his ramp, and with a hit of his switch, it goes back up into the van and he locks it.
“Where to first?” Clapping my hands, I look around at all the excitement. It is only two in the afternoon. I want to track down Paige, but I will stay with my friends until they don’t want me around anymore. We’ve spent plenty of time together, but it feels like I spend more and more time with Paige. I don’t, not really. I’ve been out with her more the past couple of weeks and fucking her more times than I can count.
“The stage over there; the one playing classic rock.” Jax snorts a laugh but doesn’t look up from his phone as he quickly types out a message. He, like me, grew up listening to the now deemed classic rock with our dads. Neither of us has ever felt it to be classic, just golden and the best.
“Fancy seeing some trophy babes over there?” Megan snorts beside me and Jax, who continues to ignore me. “Fine, I’ll try to remain mute.”
“Fat chance of that happening. You being quiet is almost as hard as it is for Levi not to flirt with any woman who has easy scribbled across her forehead with lipstick.”
Now Megan snorts with laughter. I pin her with a glare.
“I could if I wanted to, but I know how much you love the velvety sound of my voice. It is better than listening to the gravel and rocks crunch and pop under your wheels.”
“I prefer the popping.” Is it too late to steal his wheelchair and leave him stranded at the stripper stand? Because that would be amazing.
Don’t worry, I won’t take it far. Just lock it back in the van. I’ll keep the keys safe with me.
I’m completely joking, I hope you know. Jax is the closest thing I have ever had to a brother. The man’s life changed, and I had a hand in that. I may give him a hard time, but I’m going off his cues. He plays it off and is a glass half full kind of guy. The truth is, I’d do anything for this guy. If a doctor came to him and told him he could walk again if someone donated their legs, I would gladly cut my own off and hand them over.
Most men I’ve been around don’t use the term best friend, but Jax is my best mate. I love him and look up to him for the man he is.
“Fine.” Mutely, I walk slowly next to him. I learned after he got the wheelchair to shorten my steps to keep pace with him. It is slower when we are on unsteady ground, but I know he appreciates it even without saying a word.
Gradually, we make our way over to the stage Jax wanted, and Megan miraculously stays with us, keeping an eye out for her mystery man while checking her phone.
“Wait here.” Jax stops us just before we step into the area designated for the crowd to watch the band perform.
“I thought—”
“There you are!”