Claiming Addison (11 page)

Rusty climbs out of the car and opens my door for me. I get out and am followed by Kate. She ignores me, skirts Rusty and heads straight for the back door of the bar. If she’s gonna be such a prude, I can’t understand why she even tagged along. I shrug it off.

“Addison.” I turn to Kyle as he comes running up to me. “Are you ready for this?” He asks with a sincere concern in his eyes.

“Absolutely.” I smile as Bert, the driver of my car, holds open the back door, unleashing the wild and crazy sounds coming from inside the club. There’s screaming along with very loud rap music? Oh for the love of…

“It’s great dance music,” Kyle says.

Was I talking out loud again? Jeez, I gotta watch that. “Yeah, I guess.”

He laughs. “Not a fan of the rap, are we?”

“Um no, not at all.”

“Don’t worry, they’ll change it up once the guys are here.”

I shrug and we duck inside.

The club is all shiny black, electric blue and chrome everywhere. The dance floor is sunken and surrounding the main floor are raised platforms of various heights with tables and tons of people standing around. Leroy and Beck lead the way, parting the masses. When you put the two of them shoulder to shoulder like they are right now, they’re like a brick wall being moved through a pool of water. Kyle and I are hot on their heels with Rusty bringing up the rear. Beck stands at the door, ready to open it, and I nod, giving him the go ahead. He talks into his mic and just like that, two town cars pull up in front of the bar.

The second of the two car’s doors open as soon as Beck and Leroy are next to the car. Out climbs Peacock and Dex, but Sam and Jess don’t get out. What the?

“They want to come in the back,” Rusty tells me over my shoulder.

“That’s odd.”

Rusty chuckles. “I think the guys made them do it.”

“Oh for the… why would they do that? Wait,”-I hold up my hand- “don’t answer that.”

There are only two reasons for them to make the ladies do something like that. One, they’re ditching the girls or two, for whatever reason they feel the need to protect them. I shake my head as Beck and Leroy shove the guys into the door. Both Peacock and Dex smile at me as they pass.

There are dual roars going on. The crowd outside has reached a fever pitch and the crowd inside has realized that the band is arriving so they’re whooping and hollering. I’m trying to see who climbed out of the car, but given that I can’t see anything, I assume it’s Mouse. My suspicions are confirmed a moment later when the crowd outside grows so loud that I can hear them through the door, then the flashes and reporters jump into action. I push open the door and hear, “Mr. Carver! Talon!” followed by uninvited random questions about the concert etcetera. God, they’re loud, but just like the force of Leroy and Beck with the crowd in the bar, Talon, Mouse and Mills plow through the throng of people and are in the door without uttering a word. Thank god.

As soon as the guys hit the club they scatter and I notice that the bodyguards are right there with them the whole time. I turn to Rusty. “Shouldn’t you be watching them?”

“I should, but my orders are for you. So unless you want to make nice with one of them and stay near them, I’m left to watch you.”

I roll my eyes. “I won’t sit or hang out with them, but I can hang near them, will that help?”

He nods. I make my way through the packed crowd, straight to the bar. After all the alcohol the last two nights, this isn’t a good idea. But with figuring out who Kyle is and the back and forth with Talon and Kyle, I need about a dozen of them.

“Two shots of Crown and an Irish Bulldog, please,” I tell the bartender.

“An Irish what?”

Oh, come on. I give the ingredients to the bartender and he nods his head and sets about making my drinks. When he’s done he slides them over to me. “Cash or charge or tab?”

“Tab,” someone says behind me and I turn to see Kyle. “69’s tab. Anything she wants.”

I roll my eyes and slip the bartender a twenty anyway. “Keep it,” I holler as the music pick up its beat. The bartender smiles at me then proceeds to look me up and down. What the hell is it with guys all of a sudden? Is my repelling pheromone broken? Do I have ‘flirt’ tattooed on my forehead?

I shoot back one of the shots, slam the glass back to the counter, grab my other two drinks and turn to find somewhere close to the guys, but Kyle is blocking my path.

“Thanks for the drinks,” I shout.

“No problem, where are you going?”

I shrug and slide past him. I walk around for a couple minutes until I find a table that is far enough away, hidden, but in close proximity for Rusty to help the other guards with the guys.

Unfortunately I’m too close to them because I get eyefuls of Sam and Dex making out. Peacock is getting friendly with Jess. Mouse has a very skanky looking chick on his lap and I shoot down my shot. Wrap it up, Mouse, you tap it, fucking wrap it because…I burp into my mouth. Ew, okay and we’re over that one.

One problem with moving past Mouse and his skanky piece is that my eyes land on Talon and the blond haired, blue eyed bimbo laughing her way into his pants. I roll my eyes.
Seriously, since when does laughing get you laid? Oh, why all the time
— insert an eye roll here —
…it’s too easy, come on, Talon, take on a challenge, damn it.

Then out of nowhere he looks right at me, almost as if he knew I was watching him. But he turns back quickly, like he didn’t actually see me, which is entirely possible. It’s really dark over here. Then I’m distracted when Kyle enters the circle of the band with a brunette he picked up on his way back from the bar.

What’s confusing me the most about the pre-show ritual, and what happened between Talon, Kyle, and I, is that I’m sitting here alone while they entertain their sticks. I try desperately to ignore them but it’s like watching a car accident about to happen and being unable to take your eyes off of it.

“Do you want to dance?” I look up into the face of a cute, but not drop dead gorgeous man who’s about my height in heels. He’s wearing a 69 Bottles t-shirt and ripped up jeans. All in all it’s not a bad package. I look over at the circle of band members and their bevy of bimbos and agree to dance. He holds his hand out to me and I take it. I stand up and he pulls me straight to the dance floor.

Just as we get there the song changes to David Guetta’s remix of Usher’s Without You and I lose myself in the music, not giving a shit who I’m dancing with or what I look like doing it. Each thump of the bass flows through my veins; and the beat consumes me. My dance partner, thank god, has some skills and he’s keeping up with me. The song is slower, but it has a great beat so it’s easy to move around.

At one point I turn around so that dance boy is behind me and I’m grinding on him without actually touching him. My eyes are heavy, lost in the music, alcohol kicking in and I see through tiny slits that I have an audience. An audience of five. Talon and Kyle are all but wiping drool from their chins. I work it a little longer, playing it up to what I know they’re watching me do.

When the song concludes dancer boy asks if he can buy me a drink. I shake my head. “No thanks, I think I’ve had enough for tonight. Thank you for the dance.” And with that I leave him, walking toward the guys, mainly Sam. I get to her and whisper in her ear. “I need to talk to you, now.”

I grab her hand and she comes with me. Dex of course protests. “Girl time,” I shout and he scowls at me. I drag Sam through the back door of the club. I need some air.

“Addie, why are we out here?” she asks me.

“Because I’m sending you home.”

“What the fuck for?” She’s pissed, as she should be.

“Because you’re my best friend and I’m not going to let Dex fuck you over.”

“That’s my fucking choice, Addison, not yours.”

“You know what, Sam, you’re absolutely right. It is your choice, but let me tell you this. He will fuck you and dump you. He won’t commit to you, he won’t make you his wife. Seriously, Sam. It will be a one night stand. Is that really what you want? With him?”

“Yes,” she says matter of fact and I’m shocked.

“No, you don’t. You’re better than that, Sam. You don’t need to screw the biggest slut in this band, for what? Heartache. I know you, Sam, and I know what this will turn into. When he’s done with you, he’ll throw you to the curb without a second thought.”

“She’s right, Sam.” I spin around to find Dex has just come through the door. “One night, one fuck, you deserve better than that.”

“Wow, Dex, did that hurt?” I tease him.

“Excruciating.” He smirks.

“Addie, is it so wrong to throw your inhibitions out the window,” Sam says. “To indulge in a fantasy?”

I take a couple of steps closer to Dex. Her question spurs my own desires to have Talon and Kyle, not separately but to have them both, together. “If you do this, with her, I don’t want to hear about it, no bragging, no gloating, not a fucking word, you get me?” He nods. I turn to Sam and walk back toward her. “Sam, I swear to god, if you do this, know that come time for that bus to leave, if you’re still on it, I will throw you off of it because come Vegas tomorrow night, there will be somebody new capturing his attention and you will be a notch in his bedpost. If you can live with that and leave me out of it, then by all means, have at it.”

I don’t wait for her to reply. I walk over to Rusty. “I’m going to get into that car and return to the bus. Between here and there I have the driver of the town car and the bus is surrounded by security, plus the drivers and whoever else might be there. Do not come with me.”

“It’s my job,” he argues.

“Don’t give me that bullshit, I am a big girl, I can take care of myself.” I turn straight for the car and the driver. “Take me back to the bus, then you’ll need to come back here.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He opens my door and I slide in. I don’t look at Dex or Sam because I know what’s going to happen and I don’t want to be a part of it. I also don’t want to go back inside to see the girls hanging all over Talon and Kyle like the bimbos that they are. I’ve had enough for today.

Ten minutes later we are driving in past security and I have the driver pull up alongside the bus. I’m on the wrong side of the car so I slide across the seat. I want to be able to just walk straight onto the bus. I slide the driver a twenty and climb onto the bus quickly.

Within a matter of minutes I have my pajama pants and tank top out of the drawer and I’m in the shower, desperate to wash the filth off of me from tonight.

Luckily by the time I’m done, no one has returned. The driver is standing at the front of the bus looking over a couple of things. “What time do we need to leave?”

“By eight, ma’am.”

“Okay, wake me if you need help throwing people off of the bus. Otherwise, make sure you roll on time.”

“Got it,” he says and he leaves the bus. There are beds on the other bus for the drivers and from my understanding there are two additional drivers tagging along with us for longer trips, but not all. They show up when we need them, like in Albuquerque to get us to Galveston.

I return to my little alcove of a room and climb up into my bed. I pull my headphones and iPod from my messenger bag at my feet. Plugging in and curling up with a good book sounds amazing. I pick one of my softer playlists and settle in to read a great book about a homeless guy, on a train platform, who counts the smiles of the heroine of the story. It’s a heartwarming romance and I love it.

Sometime later, I hear muffled sounds of people returning to the bus, but I don’t get up, I don’t really care. Unless I have to kick bimbos off the bus.

I roll toward the bus wall, putting my back to the curtain, glad I threw my hoodie on before climbing into bed. I try to fall asleep, hoping they don’t come back here to bug me.

At some point someone, I don’t look to see who, opens the curtain because the room floods with light. The light fills the room for a good minute or two before it falls closed again. Then finally after what feels like the longest day in history, I settle in, comfortable and ready to sleep. Though it’s a bit ironic, even a little depressing, that I was hit on, practically drooled on, caused two ‘heart attacks’, and yet I am the only one going to bed alone.