VIP (Rock & Release, Act I) (3 page)

CHAPTER THREE

Teagan is
not
back by the time the opening performer, Kylie VanHaven, starts her set. I tell myself it doesn't matter because, based on what I can hear of her first song blaring out from the amphitheater, she's not very good live anyway. I finish my second watermelon-tini, deciding I actually do enjoy how sweet it is and order a third, which Vera brings and then joins us at the table, pulling up a chair next to Jared. "Shift's over."

"Thank God for another girl." I slide a halfway cold basket of nachos—one she brought to us a little while ago—toward her. "Help yourself."

"Thanks. Starving." She digs in, grabbing a chip and scraping cheese off before eating it. I'm about to ask why she'd skip the best part, but Jared interrupts my train of thought.

"What do you mean, another girl?" He scowls at me, clearly offended.
 

Good. "You're a bit much to handle on my own."
 

"Too hot to handle, you mean?"
 

"Not even a little bit." The watermelon-tinis have made me bold. And maybe a little mean.

He slides his hand away from mine, where it'd been resting just a little too close. Finally, he's getting it.

Vera looks back and forth between us, trying harder not to laugh with each exchange. "Jared," she says, biting her lip for a moment to keep from cracking up, "She's got you all figured out."

"I should get back to working if I'm not wanted here."

I say, "Oh, relax," at the same time as Vera says, "Oh, like you ever really work," so that our "Ohs" come out in sync and we both start to giggle.
 

"It's cool," I say a second later, when Jared's still wearing the most wounded of expressions—even though he hasn't moved from his seat. "You have good taste in music. I respect that. Just lay off the sleaze. And keep these coming." I lift my glass toward him and then take a long drink.
 

"Stop calling me sleazy unless you're
trying
to get kicked out of here."
 

Whoops. Guess I pushed him too far. But I don't feel bad about it, and find myself quoting my mother, though my words come out a little more slurred than hers ever would. "Sometimes we need people to hold up mirrors to the things we can't see on our own."

"Honey, you're not sleazy." Vera lays a hand on his arm and shoots me a look I don't know her well enough to read. "You're just…maybe a bit too aggressively into pretty girls."

Jared looks down at her hand, where she's rubbing her thumb along his skin, maybe to calm him down.
Oh
. She has feelings for him. I instantly feel bad for her. And irritated with him. Even more so with Teagan, though, because I'm still stuck here. I stare down the exit, willing her to return. But of course she doesn't, and the three of us fall into an awkward pause with Kylie's amped music beating through the air.
 

No one speaks.
 

Vera's still holding Jared's arm.
 

Jared's still tense.
 

I keep sipping my martini.

Nobody's looking at each other.
 

I grab one of the neglected nachos, and it crunches loudly in my mouth. Now they're both looking at me.

"So…" I fail to come up with anything to say. I should leave. This is so uncomfortable.

But then Gage walks over to our table, and there's not a chance in hell I'm going anywhere.
 

He greets Vera and Jared and nods his head to acknowledge me, his eyes—up close, they're such a light brown they're almost golden—lingering on my face (
oh, hello there, tingles sparking at the center of my stomach
). The corner of his mouth quirks, like he knows exactly what I'm thinking. "Hey."

I start to respond before I remember the mouthful of martini I've just sucked down, and all that comes out is a sputtering choke.
 

I turn my head and cough into my hand for what feels like hours, my cheeks in flames—and definitely bright red.

Awesome.
 

"Nice set today." Jared slides his arm from Vera's grasp and reaches out to shake Gage's hand. Gage hesitates a moment before taking it. Maybe he's not a huge Jared fan. Maybe that makes him even more attractive.

"I'm heading out," he says. "See you tomorrow." His gaze drops back to me, though, and he doesn't turn to leave. This time when I have trouble breathing for a second, it has nothing to do with choking.

"You should stay and have a drink." The words tumble from my mouth before I can stop them, tripping over my tongue and cartwheeling past my lips and if I could grab them and swallow them back down I would.
 

Or… Maybe I wouldn't. Maybe I like this bold version me who says what she wants to.

He meets my gaze, half of an amused smile across his lips, revealing white teeth, with one slightly crooked cuspid, and, no, I actually don't regret my words at all. His mouth. Those lips. That perfectly imperfect smile… If what I said convinces him to stick around, I'd be nuts to be sorry for what I said.

"As long as I don't have to drink anything quite this pink." He taps the rim of my glass with a long, slender finger.

"I'm Cassidy." I stick my hand out to him—because if I'm going all confident and carefree Cassidy here, I'm not holding back.
 

"Gage." He doesn't hesitate to reach out this time around, which makes me a little giddy though I hide it by swallowing the rest of my drink, which thankfully goes down smoothly this time. When
he
holds my fingers a second longer than necessary, I don't mind at all. And when he keeps his gaze on mine as he slides into the seat next to me, his expression friendly—and a little suggestive—my lips curve up in response.

Vera winks at me and cocks an eyebrow, all knowingly. "Where's Zoey?" she asks Gage.

He shrugs. "We broke up a month ago—thought you knew."

"Ooooh yeah. Sorry, I'd forgotten." But she slips a second wink in my direction when he's not paying attention, and I know she's pretended to forget so I'll understand he's single.
 

I tip my chin toward her in silent thanks. I like this girl more and more, regardless of her apparent soft spot for Jared, who's wearing a smug little smile when he says, "Zoey left a little while ago for a trip with her parents. But I'm sure she'll be back around here before you know it."

Gage shrugs a second time, his face carefully bland. There are words going unspoken between him and Jared here, but I can't quite catch the gist. Why does Jared know this much about Gage's ex in the first place? But maybe they're friends. I bet Jared and Vera doubled with them sometimes.
 

Jared hails down another waitress. The blonde from the epic make-out session earlier.
 

"Hey, I saw you!" The effects of my most recent martini start to kick in, and I can pretty much feel the whoosh of all my inhibitions flying out the door. "You were behind that corner—"

"
I was
just about to take your drink order," she cuts me off, eyes flashing a warning to shut the hell up. Guess she recognizes me, too.

The alcohol in my veins wants to tell her how hot the kiss was, how sexy the guy she'd been with was, but I bite my tongue and hold up my empty glass. "I'll have another one of these."

Gage orders a beer, Vera and Jared rum and cokes. While we wait, I ask Gage how long he's been performing.
 

"Feels like forever." He steeples his fingers and stretches his arms out in front of him. He has long forearms. Muscled but not overly bulky, like Jared's. They look smooth, and my palm heats with the sudden need to lay it on top of his skin. I wrap it around my empty glass instead.
 

"Your talent's been the topic of many of my conversations today." More words I don't think about before speaking.

"She liked your Franklin Charles cover," Jared adds, though his attention's on Vera. Guess I'm forgiven. Maybe it's because Vera's hand is under the table, and her arm is angled toward where it might just connect above his knee.

"A Franklin Charles fan. Nice." This time Gage throws me a full smile. It's a bit like a jolt of adrenaline, and it sends yummy little trills up the sides of my neck.
 

I don't know what's gotten into me today, but I'm kind of digging it.

"Who?" Vera asks.
 

Jared laughs. "Maybe I should hire Cassidy since she knows more about music than most of my staff."

"If I didn't have something amazing lined up for the summer, I might even accept," I say. I can't help imagining what it'd be like: Summer in the sun, full of music. No cubicled office and uncomfortable suits. No CEO ass-kissing…
 

But it'd also mean no proud and happy parents.
 

The waitress—Nicole is her name, according to Vera—brings our drinks, along with a round of shots, including one for me, which she says is, "Tequila. Patrón. Just because I like you so much."
 

She doesn't like me. She doesn't know me from any other customer here. Well, most of the other VIPers are in the concert already, but still. The shot is a bribe to keep my mouth shut.
 

"Thanks." I nod—
message received
—and throw back the shot with everyone else. Ah, tequila, my old friend. No sticky watermelon sweetness, just tangy heat straight down my throat and into my belly. I shake my head when she offers me a lime.

"Good girl." Jared's impressed. "Sweet like a watermelon
and
badass with tequila."

Vera, sucking on a lime, rolls her eyes.
 

"Thanks, Nicole." Gage wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, clearing the tiniest splash of tequila from his mouth. His sexy, sexy, kissable mouth. I should stop staring at it.
 

And I will.

Any second now.

"No prob." After nudging me with her knee until I look at her, and with one more silent warning—
there will be no discussion of what you saw, or else
—she heads back to the bar.
 

But even if I can't talk about her kiss, it doesn't mean I'm not thinking of it. Remembering what it looked like when she was held against the wall, the way her curly-haired boy toy's body pressed against hers… Again, I find myself noticing Gage's appealing fingers, now wrapped around his beer. He was so talented using them on his guitar. I wonder what other talents they have… I wonder again what they'd feel like teasing sounds out of me. And soon the tequila isn't the only thing heating my belly.
 

"So why are you in here instead of out there?" he asks, gesturing toward the exit and the amphitheater.
 

"You know the girl I was with earlier, the one with red hair? I mean, I'm not saying you noticed us or anything. There were a lot of people here."
Get it together, Cassidy
. I shake my head, to clear the jumble of words trying to force themselves through my mouth. "Anyway, my friend, Teagan, got mad at me and left me here without my ticket."

"That sucks."

"Not like I was dying to see Kylie VanHaven anyway."
 

"No, missing Kylie's not a big deal—I meant it sucks that your friend's upset with you."

I sip my drink. "She'll get over it."

"Jared can get you into the concert," Vera says. "He just has to walk you over."

"
Oh really
?" I stare pointedly at him. "Funny how this didn't come up earlier."
 

"I didn't even think about it." He doesn't bat an eye. What a liar. I almost call him out on it, but change my mind at the last second. Out of respect for Vera's feelings.
 

And maybe a little because I'd rather be here than there anyway.
 

"I'll walk you over." Jared downs the rest of his rum and coke and starts to stand.

I wave him back down. "I'm fine. Don't feel like dealing with Teagan anyway."

"Oh is that all?" He baits me with a cagey smile.
 

"Maybe." My eyes slide to Gage—and he's already looking back. He knows just as well as Jared does why I'm still here.
 

And he's still here, too. Anticipation is a feather whispering along my lower belly.

"I did, by the way," he says to me later, after Nicole's come by with another beer. "Notice you."

Pleasure makes my cheeks warm, but then I remember: "Oh, right. When the waitress dropped her tray."

"Yes—but the first time I noticed you, you were watching the kiss," he confides, lowering his voice, though Vera and Jared are lost in their own conversation. "I saw the way you blushed. The way you're doing now. I saw the way you bit your lower lip."

"Uh…" My face grows hotter, half embarrassment, half something I can't quite name that's also sending little shocks down my arms and along my ribs.

"It distracted me," he admits, leaning in a little closer. "Your reaction. It made me miss a chord."

I clear the knot of air that seems to have tangled itself in my throat. "I didn't hear it."

"Probably because you had something else on your mind—like now, are you thinking of them still?" He taps a finger against his mouth. "You're doing it again."

Biting my lip, he means.
 

"Oh." There must be a better response to this, but my mind's starting to jumble. And there's this heat sliding through me that has nothing to do with the setting sun.
 

I push against the table to stand, needing to stretch my legs or walk around or, I don't know, do
something
to expel this sudden shot of energy, but when my feet hit the ground the world goes completely to a tilt. The first thing I latch on to is Gage. He steadies me, holding my arms, and I breathe out, "I didn't even do that on purpose."

"I didn't think you did." The pressure of his touch is soft, but the skin of his hands around my arms is raspy, just like his voice, and under my skin, I melt into honey.
 

"I thought I'd just stretch my legs…" I trail off.