CHAPTER TWELVE.
The Roundhouse Hotel was bursting at the seams with people. It seemed that the open microphone nights were extremely popular – or maybe it was because the Roundhouse served cheap beer during the open mic hours. Either way, Desiree was glad of Jack’s big hand to hold as they elbowed their way to the long bar. His size seemed to be a catalyst for people to get out of the way. Desiree noted the way the men seemed to size him up, and the women too – only for completely different reasons.
She reflected that it was nice not to have random guys hitting on her for once. She admitted to herself that she did look nice tonight – she had chosen hip-hugging blue jeans that she knew made her arse look amazing, a black, flowy off-the-shoulder top and black boot heels. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she wondered which of these guys would be brave enough to hit on her when one of her hands was clamped firm in the bear-like grip of the big Texan ahead of her.
She figured it would be none of them.
Reaching the bar, Jack shouted his order for drinks to the bartender over the general noise, and then turned back to Desiree.
“It’s crazy in here. I hope this kid is worth it.”
Jack had been a little dubious about attending until Desiree made it clear that at an open mic night he wouldn’t have to take the microphone. It seemed that amongst all of Jack’s amazing skills and talents, singing did not make an appearance. Desiree wondered what else she could find out about Jack as she replied, “I’ve never heard him. But he’s a good kid.”
She looked around the venue to see a tiny stage set up in a corner on the far side of the bar. Once the bartender had given Jack their drinks, Desiree indicated that they should move over to where the stage was. Jack nodded, and once again they plunged into the sea of people.
The noise seemed a little more subdued at this end of the pub, maybe because people were there to hear the performers. They hadn’t started yet, and Desiree looked around for Nathan, spotting him chatting to some other youths who looked quite a bit older than him. She nudged Jack. “There’s Nathan. I might go over and say hello.” Jack nodded, and Desiree walked toward where Nathan was.
When he caught sight of her, his smile widened. Thinking back, Desiree didn’t think she had ever seen him look this happy or relaxed. This was a handsome young man, when he wasn’t hiding under his hoodie. She expected that he’d also made an effort to look good tonight, since he was hopping up onstage.
“Miss Jackson, you made it!” He flew toward her, and Desiree expected to be enveloped in a hug, but Nathan screeched to a halt in front of her, hesitating and colour rising in his face, like he thought better of it at the last minute.
“We’re not in school now, Nathan. You should call me Desiree.”
“Desiree.” He grinned. “We should be getting going any time now.”
“Cool.” She could see the excitement shining in his eyes. The teacher in her ached to ask what he was doing in a pub, but she knew better than to stick her nose in. She just hoped that Nathan’s friends were taking care of him. From the number of half-empty and empty beer glasses on their table, she doubted it.
“How are you getting home after?” she asked, immediately regretting it when Nathan’s expression turned to a scowl.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure? Because we can give you a lift…”
“I said I’ll be fine.”
His face was taking on the same ugly expression it had the day before, so she let it go.
“Okay. Well, I’ll be over there with that tall guy. We’ll be cheering for you!” She smiled brightly and a grudging answering smile crossed Nathan’s face. Impulsively she put a hand on his forearm and squeezed just a little. Surprised, Nathan looked down, then back up into her eyes. He nodded, his smile growing a little bigger, then turned back to his friends.
As Desiree walked back to Jack she could hear Nathan’s friends, “Who was that? She is hot, man. Check out that arse. Is she a friend of yours?” Desiree chuckled to hear Nathan reply cockily that, yes, she was a friend of his, and woe betide any of his mates who tried to hit on her. She was still laughing when she reached Jack.
“What?” he said, putting an arm around her waist and drawing her in close to his side.
“Boys are hilarious.” At that moment the music from the stage got louder, so to his questioning raised eyebrow, she said, close to his ear, “I’ll tell you later.”
The open mic night was compered by a vivacious blonde in a tight dress and heels, and a loud, nasally voice. The microphone was turned up so loud that Desiree could barely make out the words she was saying through the echo and feedback. She looked up at Jack and gave a meek shrug, which he answered with a grimace. Maybe an open mic night wasn’t such a good idea for their second date.
Thankfully, Nathan and his band were up first. To Desiree’s surprise, Nathan jumped up and took centre stage, guitar in hand. She was doubly surprised (and quite pleased) when they didn’t launch into a heavy rock song, but started with the chords of a well-known rock ballad. And when Nathan opened his mouth, Desiree was astounded.
Nathan’s voice was amazing. Not only did the words pour out of him, Desiree could hear the emotions of all the lyrics as well. She was mesmerized. How on earth could a fifteen-year-old kid sing so easily about love?
Then she remembered his comment from after class yesterday, about holding on to love where you find it, and chided herself for assuming that at fifteen, Nathan couldn’t know anything about love. She realised that Nathan was significantly deeper than she gave him credit for.
Nathan’s friends were brilliant on their various instruments as well, and all together, they were the total package. Nathan came alive behind the microphone. He looked out over the crowd, making love to the girls whose gaze he landed on, while his soft, seductive words drew them closer. He looked much older, much more mature than his fifteen years. Desiree smiled gently. She couldn’t wait to talk to him about this.
She leaned back into Jack and listened to the beautiful song. His arms wound around her waist, finding the bare skin between her jeans and her top. He leaned the side of his face on her hair and Desiree sighed a big breath of satisfaction.
She was conscious of a slight disappointment when the song finished, only the band immediately launched into a boppy, reggae sound and continued their set. Following that they changed styles again, covering a popular pop song. And finally, they played what Desiree expected at the beginning – something rocky and heavy.
When the leggy blonde shouted into her microphone, Desiree assumed she was asking for applause for the boys, and Desiree clapped hard, wolf whistling and fangirling as much as she could. The boys barely looked up, but when they did, it was with sheepish smiles on their faces. They appreciated the applause, but weren’t comfortable with it.
Well, they’d better get used to it. They’re going far.
“Well, look at this. It’s Desiree the deserter. Fancy seeing you here.”
Desiree frowned and turned toward the sarcastic, unwelcome voice. Steve stood near them, swaying on his feet. Desiree’s heart sank.
Don’t do it Steve. Don’t be a fucktard.
“Hi Steve, how are you?” Desiree smiled, hoping to stave off the sarcasm she could hear in his voice.
“Not as good as you, obviously.” He looked her up and down, and Desiree felt Jack shift restlessly behind her. She put a calming hand on his arm.
“Steve, you remember Jack, don’t you? From the other night at the bar?”
“Sure, sure. The guy you couldn’t take your eyes off.” Desiree sagged. How embarrassing. She felt her face turn tomato red, and when she looked up at Jack, he was looking back at her, grinning. She gently elbowed him in the stomach. He schooled his face into an innocent expression and said to Steve, “Did she say anything about me?”
What the fuck? Jack!
“Sure, she said plenty.” Steve looked around furtively, then leaned in to Jack. “Did she fuck you yet?”
Jack straightened up suddenly, his smile gone. “I don’t think that’s a question I care to answer.”
“Okay, so obviously she hasn’t.” Steve ran his gaze over Desiree again, and licked his lips. She shivered, and Jack’s arms tightened around her. Steve’s eyes narrowed at the slight movement. “But just so you know, Jack. She’ll dump your arse just as soon as you fuck her, and go find someone else. Like the skank she is.”
“Stop it Steve. You’re drunk.” Desiree tried to keep the tone of her voice light, and failed miserably. “Are you here with some friends? Maybe you should go find them.”
“Why, so you can rub up against Captain America here?” He noisily imitated having sex, and several people round about looked at him with distaste.
Jack’s face was thunderous, his voice tight with suppressed anger. “You should stop right now, Steve, before I do something I might regret.”
“You’re going to defend her? Well, that’s nice and all, but it won’t change anything. She’s a one-fuck wonder.”
Desiree felt the whoosh of air as Jack’s fist sped out from behind her and connected with Steve’s face. Someone let out a scream. Steve staggered but didn’t fall. With a sneer he said, “Get her to tell you about herself sometime, Jack. She’s not worth your time.” Before the bouncers could make their way over to them, Steve had disappeared back into the crowd. Jack would have followed him, except for Desiree’s hand on his arm.
The wild look in his eyes died down as he looked at her, and he smiled grimly. “My apologies for that, ma’am. But there’s some things you can say out loud about a lady, and some you just can’t.”
Desiree, still a little shaken by the turn of events, replied. “Thank you for defending me.” She threaded her arm through Jacks, noticing that both were shaking. She took her bottom lip in her teeth, then said, “Did you want to get out of here?” At his nod of agreement, they threaded their way back through the crowd, only stopping when Nathan caught up to them.
“Wait, are you okay? What happened with that guy? Did you punch him?” Nathan looked up at Jack, a little hero worship evident on his face. Jack looked uncomfortable, and Desiree replied for them.
“No, nothing. He’s just… nothing.”
“Good. So,” his voice turned a little shy. “Did you like the band?”
“Seriously? Oh my god, Nathan, you guys were amazing.” Desiree was happy to see the smile return to Nathan’s face. “And your voice? Why aren’t you on The Voice or Australian Idol or something?” Nathan’s grin stretched as far as it could.
“We’re auditioning the next time they come to Perth.”
“And so you should. You guys blew me away tonight.”
“Thanks, Miss… Desiree. Thanks for coming.” Nathan grabbed her hand awkwardly for a moment, then let it go. His eyes flicked nervously to Jack, who was watching silently. “And thanks for… everything else as well. I appreciate it.” With that, he turned and was quickly swallowed up by the ever increasing crowd.
Desiree and Jack stepped out into the cool, night air, and Desiree took a deep breath. “You wouldn’t think that kid was only fifteen, would you. He talks like a little adult.”
Jack smiled. “Yeah, I sometimes hear stuff like that from Faith as well, and I say to myself ‘What happened to my little girl? Who on earth is this young woman talking to me?’”
“And it happens overnight,” Desiree said, enthusiastically nodding her agreement. “Sometimes, on a Monday a kid is still a kid, and then by Wednesday or Thursday, you turn around and they suddenly grew up. It’s astonishing to see.”
Jack was silent for a moment, then, choosing his words carefully, he said, “Steve seemed pretty cut up about something, but you guys were friends only the other night. Did something happen?”
Desiree’s heart sank. She hoped Jack would let it pass. “Oh, we had a thing a while ago. He just won’t let it go.”
“Ah. okay then.”
Desiree really didn’t want to discuss Steve’s insinuations with Jack, but she realised she should say something. Steve’s hurtful words would be burrowing into Jack’s brain right now, and he would be drawing all kinds of conclusions about her.
The problem was that most of his conclusions were probably correct. Because really, Steve was right. Up until very recently, Desiree had been that girl. The love-‘em-and-leave-‘em type.
But since meeting Jack, Desiree had changed. She didn’t want to jump into bed with Jack. Well, she did, but she was happy to wait for the right time.
How on earth could she explain that to Jack? How could she tell him that he was the first guy whose bones she didn’t want to immediately jump, without making him think she didn’t want to get physical with him?
We are NOT letting that happen, Desiree. No fucking way.
Jack looked at Desiree long and hard. She swallowed.
“Jack, there are some things about me that you probably won’t like. I haven’t been a particularly nice person sometimes. But I’m sure you’ve done stuff you regret.” A shadow crossed his face, and he seemed as if he was about to say something, but Desiree pressed her advantage. “We all have skeletons in the closet. And when I’m ready, I’ll tell you mine. Okay?”
After a long moment, Jack replied, “Okay. Let’s get you home.” But his tone was studiously neutral, and Desiree’s heart plummeted.
Had Steve just managed to destroy the best thing that had ever happened to her?