Back-Up (15 page)

Hunter is in a corner huddled close and whispering with A
manda. They make a nice couple. Hunter with his fair spiky hair and adorable smile and Amanda with her exotic long curly hair and warm brown eyes. In hindsight, he isn’t a good match for Lori. He is too sweet. Trey is more her style.

Wait… I have an idea.

Wondering if I’m too late with my brand new plan, I look over at Lori who is glued to Jack’s side. But in all fairness the three other girls have gotten closer to him as well. One of them is giving Lori a death stare every time Lori opens her mouth. Jack and Lori have been openly flirting, but surprisingly Jack isn’t making any moves. Although Lori is very touchy, feely, Jack is not. He’s keeping his distance.

This gives me a glimmer of hope.

I search for Trey and spot him across the room watching Lori. He doesn’t take his eyes off her. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? He is her typical bad boy rocker type, and I know that she will fall head over heels for him if she gives him just five minutes of her attention. I haven’t spoken more than two words to Trey since I met him, but I can’t let that stop me from putting my plan in motion.

I nonchalantly walk over to where he is standing. H
e turns towards me to acknowledge my presence.

“Having fun Leila?”

“Yeah, I am.” I respond lamely. I don’t have a thing to say to this man. Standing side by side in complete silence, five seconds in I am starting to feel uncomfortable. Thankfully, I notice Trey’s eyes glued to Lori once again. I seize the opportunity. “Have you met my friend Lori?”

“No I haven’t. Introduce us.” His request is more of a command
.

“Sure, wait here.” I walk over to where Jack, Lori, and the trio are all downing shots. Lori always becomes the life of the party without even trying
. Nothing intimidates this girl, absolutely nothing. She isn’t fazed in the least that the other three are all vying for Jack’s attention. She could give a crap.

She looks hot in a simple short red tank dress, her signature heels, and her auburn hair
that hangs loosely to the middle of her back. While laughing and holding onto Jack’s shoulder, she downs another shot. It’s clear that she is beyond buzzed.  I need to change her course of action immediately.

I lean over and whisper in her ear. “I want you to meet someone.”

“Oh Lei, take a shot. You need one!” Jack looks amused and holds out the shot glass he just had against his own lips a moment ago. Damn that’s hot.

Smirking, he says, “I’m afraid we don’t have ginger ale.”

“Funny.”
I take it from his fingers, down the shot, and hand him back the glass in one fast motion.

Wow, that burns.
I detest tequila. How can they down these things so effortlessly?

Jack laughs at the face I am making. Once the burning stops, I feel a slow, warmth spread in the pit of my stomach that feels kinda nice.

“Want another one?” He asks while staring into my eyes. What I want is to grab his face and shove my tongue down his throat. I really need to have sex before I start working with him or I will be charged with assault.

“No, I’m good. I just need to borrow Lori for a minute. We’ll be right back.”

I grab Lori’s arm and pull her across the room. She protests until I stop her smack in front of Trey. Her eyes lose focus for a second and then she gives him a slow smile.

“Lori, this is Trey Taylor.
He is bass guitarist for Devil’s Lair. Trey, this is Lori Banzini, my good friend.”  They shake hands, and it’s happening. They check each other out and Trey actually smiles.

Success!

I excuse myself after a few minutes of being completely ignored. Looking around the apartment, I try to decide who would be the lesser of all evils. Alisa, Logan, Hunter, Amanda, Scott and Patti are on the couch chatting like old friends. I guess they naturally migrated together since they are the only couples at the party.

Joseph, Matt, Scary Sally and a few guys are at the table playing some drinking game. Joseph looks relaxed and like he is having fun. Even Matt is smiling and having fun.

Evan has a cute blonde laughing at his every word. He feels my eyes watching him and turns towards me and smiles.

Missing in action are Jack and the blond who was shooting daggers at Lori.
I feel a touch out of sorts and amble over to the mock bar to get another drink. Everyone else is buzzed and I am not.

Mixing a rum and diet coke, I feel someone’s breath on my ear.

“Are you having fun?”

I jolt
around in an extremely clumsy way and spill half my drink. Jack chuckles and says, “Did I scare you?”

“Yes.” I respond truthfully. He did scare me. He does scare me.

He grabs a roll of paper towels and bends to clean up the spill.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be silly. It’s no big deal.” He straightens and grabs a half full bottle of Tequila.  “Can I show you something?”

Caught in his net, I nod mechanically. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that I would follow him to hell.
Jack leads me into the hallway and then up a short flight of stairs. He turns to me just as he’s about to open a door and I first notice his eyes are slightly unfocused.

Crap.
Is he drunk?

This could be a huge mistake.
Drunken Jack and Horny Leila...oh fuck.

He opens the door to a beautiful rooftop hangout.
I gasp from the view. It’s simply breathtaking. Jack smiles at my reaction. There are mini Christmas lights strung along the perimeter. There are a few plastic patio tables with chairs. There is a tacky pleather couch against the wall under an overhang.

“Wow, Jack this is incredible. If I lived here I would never leave.”

“I spend a lot of time up here. I love to come up and play my guitar. I become very inspired. A lot of my songs were written up here.”

“Why is the party not here?”

“Ssh… this is my secret. I’m not sure we are even allowed up here. No one in the building knows about it or uses it, so I’ve declared it mine.” He smiles devilishly and motions towards the couch. “Want to sit a while?”

He walks me o
ver to the couch and sits close. I can feel every nerve in my body pulsing from his proximity. We quietly enjoy the cool night air and the spectacular view.

“I really
loved your show. Your band is very talented.”

“Thanks. It’s nice to hear from someone who doesn’t live in Hoboken. We tend to forget
that there’s a whole other world out there.”

“I get that
. The same thing happened to us. Playing the same bars over and over, seeing the same faces. You get very comfortable and complacent.”

“Well
, things worked out for you guys.”

“Us guys.” He corrects.

“You guys. I had nothing to do with your success.”

“You will. Once we tour
and our fans hear your voice, you will be linked to our success.”

I quietly contemplate his words. Am I ready for that?

“So what’s the deal with Matt?” His question breaks my reverie.

“Matt?”

“Sore subject?”

Matt is who Jack wants to talk about? What the hell?

Laying my head back against the couch I look up at the night sky.

“What’s the deal with Matt? Hmmm…that’s a loaded question.”

“He seems angry at the world.” Jack’s met him all of five minutes, and he’s pegged him perfectly.

“You can say that,
sometimes. There are also times when he can be Mr. Wonderful. Not sure what happened there. He is opposite his brother Logan.”

“Now that I’ve met them, it’s hard to believe they are even related.”

“Yep, it is.” I avoid Jack’s gaze, I continue to stare up at the beautiful star filled sky. I can’t help but wonder why Jack has fixated on Matt.

“You two have chemistry.” His blunt statement doesn’t squelch my curiosity.
I don’t see why he would care if we did have chemistry, which we most definitely
do not
.

“
No we don’t.”

“From where I sat it sure look
ed that way.” Jack takes a quick swig of the tequila, and leans back against the back of the couch, now avoiding my gaze.

If he only knew
that the reason I acted that way was because I was fantasizing about him the entire time. Jack waits patiently for me to continue. I want him to know that I am not attracted to Matt and don’t want to be linked to him ever again so I decide to fess up.

“Well he and I dated,
twice. Once during high school for less than a year. The second time a few years later for even less than that.”

“So you do have chemistry.”

“No, we have history.”

Taking another drink of tequila he then a
sks, “Why did you guys break up twice?”

“Damn
, you’re nosey.”

Shrugging, he continues to watch me brazenly, waiting for my response.

Fine, he wants to know details? I’ll give him details. I shift sideways on the couch to face him and he does the same, our knees practically touching. “The first time was in high school. I guess I out grew him. He was stuck. The second was a few years later. I thought he matured and gave it another shot. Then he cheated. No strike three after that, I’m afraid. Cheating is a hard limit for me.”

T
alking about Matt cheating on me spurs my insecurities with relationships. As if possessed, I continue explaining our demise to Jack. “He’s ruined me in a sense. Trust is a huge factor in why I’m still single and not attached. Even after almost four years.”

Jack regards me quietly, processing my words.  “My ex-girlfriend also cheated.” That’s all he says. He doesn’t explain
or elaborate in any way. I just spilled my guts and that’s all he’s going to give me. He leans back, watching the night sky, dropping his end of the conversation.

“When?”

He waits a few seconds to respond. His pregnant pause is a clear indication he was also hurt. “A long time ago. You can say she also ruined me, in a sense.” He says, his tone harsh and filled with resentment. Who the hell would cheat on Jack? What an idiot.

“Well aren’t we a pair?”

“Their loss.” Jack remembers the bottle in his hand and takes a long swig of the tequila. Turning towards me, his position shifting him closer where our knees are now touching. He makes no attempt to move them away.

“To ditching our cheating exe
s.” He leans closer and offers me the bottle of tequila.

I shake my head and groan. “Ugh, I hate tequila.”

“Come on
, have one sip. You have to accept my toast. It’s bad luck otherwise.”

“Fine. T
o ditching our exes.” Taking the bottle I take a small sip. I steal a peak at Jack and note that he is trying his hardest not to laugh.

“What?”

“You are so cute.”

My heart pounds noisily i
n my chest. He’s just flirting. I’ve gotten to know him enough to know it comes naturally to him, but it still ignites my insides.

Suddenly he leans closer and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. I unconsciously tilt my head
and enjoy his warm touch as he caresses my earlobe. I’m falling under his spell and I can’t look away from those gorgeous, stormy eyes. I have never had a pull towards someone like I do towards him.

He shifts his gaze down to my lips. “You’re also so beautiful.”

My breath catches from his words. Slowly, he closes his eyes and moves towards me slipping his hand into my hair, pulling me closer until his lips softly touch mine. His breath smells of tequila and his lips are warm and firm. Surprise, shock, desire all swirl in my head as I accept his kiss. Our kiss lasts for three seconds. It may not seem like a long time, but it’s enough time to know I want to continue and now that I’ve tasted him, I’ll never forget it. Three seconds is also enough time for me to subconsciously realize that this is a bad idea...
real
bad.

An involuntary gasp leaves my “
still tingling from his kiss
” lips. Pulling away, his hold prevents me to go far. With our faces still inches apart and Jack’s eyes still closed, my deep desire to close the distance between us wreaks havoc on my logical, rational side.

Jack s
uddenly snaps back to reality. “Shit. I’m sorry Leila. I’ve had a lot to drink.” He pulls further away, but his hand remains at the back of my head, his fingers wrapped in my hair in a desperate hold.

I want nothing more at this moment but to continue kissing him. And if I had a bit more to drink, I may not have been able to stop. Clarity is the only thing that stops me. Clearly seeing my future balan
ced precariously on this cliff gives me the strength to pull farther away. I woodenly reach up to take hold of his wrist, pulling his hand from my hair. “I should go.”