Front & Center (Book 2 of the Back-Up Series) (27 page)

“Stop making me laugh.” I use my sleeve to wipe my nose. “Jackass.”

Jack reaches into his pocket and pulls out a five-dollar bill. “Here, baby. This should hold you for at least five minutes.”

I snatch the
money and sit at the first empty slot machine I find.

“You’re serious? You want to play
slots?”

“Shut it and sit. It’ll be fun.”

Lizzy takes the seat to my left, leaving Jack and Evan standing and gawking at us. “This sucks.” Evan grumbles.

“You don’t have to stay. Get lost.” I say over my shoulder
, “I say our five dollars on the slots will win us more money than your twenty on the tables.”

“You’re on. And don’t cheat.”

I shoot him a look. “Says the guy who cheated at every board game we ever played.”

“I did not.”

Jack leans over and whispers in my ear, “You seriously want us to leave?”

“Yes.
I want to chat with Liz.” I turn towards him, kissing his lips.

“Stay put. Oscar is in the area.”

“Yes, Dad.”

Jack pinches my ass and challenges Evan.
“Let’s prove them wrong, Evan.”

As soon as they walk away,
I immediately turn towards Lizzy. “We’re cheating.” She laughs at my admission.

“You’re on.”

“I’m glad they’re gone. I wanted to spend some time with you.”

“Same here. We’re going to be related soon. I’ve always wanted a sister.”

Her words touch my heart. “Me too.”

“He’s absolutely nuts about you. I’m sure you know that.”

“I do. I am about him as well.”

“You’ve completely changed him. My p
arents are off the wall excited.”

My thoughts go to my dad and his feelings toward Jack at the moment. I need to fix that and soon.

“I really can’t wait to get home. This tour has been exhausting in so many ways. I just want to do normal things. Your parents invited me to their house and I can’t wait to take them up on their offer.”

She giggles at my admission. “You’re living the life of a
rock star and all you want is a burger on the grill?”

“Sick, right?”

“No, I understand. After this tour, your lives may never be as normal as you’d like though. You guys have been pretty busy, living in that bubble on wheels, but things are happening out there.
Committed
is constantly being played on the radio. It’s strange, I still can’t get used to it. I even heard your single a few times.”

“I know.
I have no idea what to expect when we get home. I think Jack and I both treasure those days, before we left on tour so much, that we will make it a priority somehow to hold onto the mundane.” The ringing of Lizzy’s machine halts our conversation.

“I won.” She watches the numbers on the winning tally. “Hey, I won fourteen dollars.”

We look at each other and crack up.

“No, you won thirty
-four dollars.” I offer and wink.

“Oh, right.”

“So you and Evan have been seeing a lot of each other?”

“Yes.” She bites on her bottom lip and looks at me before continuing.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. Can I confide in you?”

“Of course.”

“I think I love him.”

My smile splits my face in two. “Really? I’m so happy for you Liz. Does he know?”

She shakes her head. “I haven’t told him yet.”

“What are you waiting for?”

She gives me the trademark Lair smile. “For him to say it first
, of course.”

“Ah. I understand. And he should.” I look
at her profile until she turns and add, “I think he will.”

Her eyes widen before she asks, “How do you know?”

“I’ve never seen him like this. He’s different, in a good way.”

She turns back to her slot machine, trying to contain her smile. “So am I.”

“He is a romantic at heart.” Lizzy smiles like a Cheshire cat at my comment. “Can I tell you another secret?”

She turns towards me
in complete earnest. “Oh, yes.”

“
Evan once stood outside a girl’s house, when he was in eighth grade, and sang
This I Promise You,
towards her bedroom window.”

“N Sync?”
Lizzy asks.

I nod without turning towards her.

“That’s so romantic.”

“It was
, until a dog chased him off the front lawn and down the block.”

Lizzy starts laughing so hard
, she nearly falls off her stool. Her reaction spurs on my own bout of hysterics.

“What’s so funny?
”

We both clamp up and turn to see Jack and Evan standing behind us.

“Nothing.”

“Marino, you have that look on. What are you telling her?”

“Nothing.”

Jack
cages me in with both of his arms on the slot machine. “You’ll tell me later?”

“Maybe.”

“You are back way too soon. How did you guys do?” Lizzy asks innocently.

“We both lost our twenty within three minutes.”

“Ah ha. I told you so. I don’t even have to cheat. I still have four twenty-five and Liz won fourteen.”

“
Awesome. Now you can buy us each a drink.” Jack pulls me off my stool and steers me towards the bar. “The guys are waiting for us.”

I turn back to see Evan and Lizzy going at it in the middle of the slots section. “I’m sure they’ll catch up.
”

We can hear the guys before we see them. Hunter is
hooting about something and Scott is telling him to shut up.

“Hunter is in a better mood.”

“I haven’t even had a chance to ask him if he has spoken to Mandi yet.”

As we approach
, he shouts over to us, “Oh, good. You can settle this. Jack, do you remember the chick who snuck onto our MACE tour bus?”

He looks down at me before replying. “Yeah.”

“What did she have tattooed on her ass?”

“Hunt, really?” He responds
, looking at me.

“Please, she doesn’t care. She wouldn’t be here if she did. I’ve got fifty bucks riding on this. Scott doesn’t believe me. Tell him.”

“So much for keeping it to yourself.”

“It was a over a year ago. Statute of limitations is up. Tell him.”

Jack sits on a chair facing them and pulls me onto his lap. “I apologize for these idiots.”

“Now I’m curious. Spill it.”

“Mrs. J. H. Lair.”

“AH! Fifty bucks asshole,
” Hunter demands from Scott.

“
Wait, some bimbo is walking around as Mrs. Lair?”

“Ridiculous, right?”

“More like fucking annoying,” I mumble.

He leans in and nibbles on my ear before declaring, “There will only be one Mrs. J.H. Lair, my wife.”

I turn towards him and kiss his lips. “God, I love hearing you say that.”

“I love saying it.” He shifts
subtly under me and whispers, “Can you tell?”

I stare into his eyes
, my gaze then moving to his lips. I simply cannot get enough of this man. I’ve never really considered myself a sexual person, but Jack has single handedly turned me into a total sex fiend. He watches me as I continue to stare at his lips. He pokes his tongue out and slowly licks his bottom one.

I press my lips to his ear and whisper,
“I have to go to the ladies room.” He watches as I raise my eyebrows, sending him an obvious signal.

“I’ll walk you.” Thankfully he gets my message. “We’ll be right back.”

“You just got here.” Hunter shows his annoyance. “You dog.”

“Shut up.” Jack retorts, before leading me straight to the back of the casino.
On our way, we catch a glimpse of Oscar loitering a few feet away, and Evan and Lizzy standing in the center of the slots still making out. We are all going to get arrested today.

“Oscar, stay with Liz please. We’ll be right back.”

He nods, a knowing smile on his lips. A few months ago, I would be absolutely mortified right now. I’ve definitely changed.

“Where are we going?”

“Don’t have a clue. But I’ll know when I see it.”

He wordlessly steers me around the perimeter of the casino until he sees a storage closet. Nonchalantly, he turns the knob and it miraculously opens.

“Mr. Raunchy is back.” He pulls me inside and immediately locks the door. My heart is pounding from the adrenaline rush of being inside a storage closet in the middle of one of the most prestigious casinos in Vegas, as well as from the anticipation of what’s about to happen.

“We don’t have much time.”

“I won’t need much time.” I admit. He smiles wide and immediately unzips my shorts and drags them and my panties down and off my legs in one swift motion.

Once he drops his own jeans
, he props me up on a counter in the corner. His fingers find me and he smirks adorably. “You are so ready.”

Nodding
, I push into his hand and he pulls my bottom lip in between his teeth. He then thrusts himself into me without any ceremony, whatsoever. My reflexes kick in. I wrap my legs around him, pulling him deeper with each thrust. His hands are gripping the counter on either side of my ass and mine are gripping his arms. I can feel the strain of his muscles and it’s sexy as hell. I bury my head in his neck and moan when my orgasm hits me full force.

His movements becom
e jerky and faster. It doesn’t take much longer for him to come inside of me. I take hold of his face, pulling him towards me to kiss his lips. My mouth on his muffles his grunts.

He smiles seductively
, once he’s done. “Damn, that was good.”

My smirk tells him I agree. “The smell of
cleaning products may now be another trigger for me.”

“Me too. My list is getting longer and longer since I’ve met you.”

We quickly put ourselves back together and return to our band mates. Lizzy and Evan have since joined them. “So, where did you go?” Hunter asks smugly.

“I needed to show Leila a…
slot machine.” He squeezes my hand as he says it. He takes the only remaining chair and pulls me onto his lap.

“Yeah, ok.” H
unter shakes his head. “Jen just called. She wants to see us.”

“She can, after the show. I’m not changing our plans.”

“She said to tell you it’s important.”

“So is having fun.”

“Jack, she’s probably pissed about the Jessa stuff. Don’t make it worse.”

Jack
looks at me and sighs. “Fine.”

“Whipped much?” Trey touts
, and Jack throws him a look.

“Shut up, T
rey Taylor.” I counter. He smiles wide and winks. I’ve gotten so much closer to Trey and I really like our relationship. It’s fun, easy, and unexpected.

“Let’s all do a shot first. I’ll need it to deal with her.” Jack says while motioning over a waitress. Her eyes fixate on him and as if on cue, they then give me the once over. It always goes the same way. I can practically read their thoughts each and every time.

He orders us all a shot, then another, and then a third. When we finally make our way out of the bar,
I am pleasantly buzzed. Evan and Lizzy decide to watch the fountains and the rest of us hail cabs.

“Now I’m ready to meet with Jen.” He says to me
, as we climb into a cab.

“Me too.” I giggle.

He smiles wide. “Should I worry you are getting really good at taking tequila shots?”

“I still hate them, but I like how they
make me feel.” I bring my lips to his ear. “They make me horny.”

Jack leans back and closes his eyes.
“Fuck.”

“No cursing in my cab.” He focuses on the
irate cabbie and whispers, “I’ll get even.”



“Can you please focus?” Jen asks for the tenth time.

She has been trying to get us to behave and it’s been close to impossible. Dylan, Malcolm and Krista are in the holding room with us. Dylan filled Jen in on all the Jessa drama. He said she took it fairly well, but then again, she may implode at any moment from the reality of it all.

“Ok, I’m sorry. Guys knock it off. Jen tell us what you need to.”
Jack takes control and motions for Jen to speak.

“Things are going very well.
Committed
is in the top twenty on the charts and your album is in the top fifty. Our goal is to be top ten for both by the time we play in New York. Krista is doing a fantastic job with publicity. We are having a contest for a chance to win a night with Devil’s Lair. We will provide transportation to and from New York for a fan and their guest. They will have front row seats at our final show and hotel stay for two nights. They are eligible to win through our website.”