Documentary (34 page)

Dylan didn’t answer when she pushed past him, marching straight toward Wes. He excused himself from his dance partner when Dylan approached. Her heart was pounding from the heated exchange. She looked back but Jeremy had returned to his seat. He was already chatting up one of the girls who had been whisked past the ropes with her friends. “So Jeremy is not who I expected him to be,” she said vaguely to Wes.

“What do you mean?” Wes asked, frowning. His eyes lifted from her face to over her head at Jeremy. “Did he say something to you?”

It’s not just what he said necessarily, it’s the way he said it.
Dylan looked back at Jeremy, and he looked pleasant and calm, and the woman was laughing when he leaned in to say something. Dylan sighed when she turned back around to Wes. “He just came across like a complete prick, no offense.”

“Oh, geez.” Wes’ eyes widened in concern and regret. “Sorry about that, Dyl. I feel like tonight’s been shitty all around. Abel can stay if he wants, but we’re going to
Velvet.
It should be fun.” After she nodded, she trailed him to find his brother then Wes clued him in to their plans, and the three of them left for
Velvet.

Once inside the new club, it didn’t take long for Dylan to get into her element with the music
so loud and the club so packed, the incident with Jeremy already forgotten. She immediately dragged Wes out to the middle of the crowd for several songs.

“You gonna make up with your boyfriend tonight or just drive him crazy, looking all gorgeous and stuff?” he whispered as they rocked to the heavy beat exploding all around them.

Dylan separated herself from him but kept a hold of his hands and tried not to smile. She couldn’t deny that the outfit was meant to poke at Kai a little when he got here. “Stop calling him my boyfriend, Wes,” she screamed across the space between them. She almost wanted to ask if he was coming for sure, but she refused to let Wes claim victory over his theories.

“He’s your boyfriend, Dyl,” Wes said, shrugging. “I walked into a couple fighting earlier.”

“How would
you
know what couples do?” she asked teasingly before she backed up against him. She loved it on the dance floor, but at least Wes and Abel’s VIP table in the roped-off section allowed her an escape to rest her feet. Dylan felt faint disappointment that Kai wasn’t in the club as the night wore on, but it was mixed in with some relief. If Kai were here, even if his heart twisted up upon the sight of her, he was still
Kai White
—a guy with a guitar and a sweet voice and a sexy everything—and she would have to deal with seeing him with other girls, and she had definitely reached the quota for that sighting. Not that the thought helped her not yearn for him any less. Her mind wasn’t even lost in the music. It was nowhere close to the nightclub. It was wherever Kai was and nothing felt right.

Rihanna’s “Only Girl in the World” started to blare from the speakers as she and Wes danced, and she pulled him up to a low platform a couple girls had just stepped down from.
It was about a foot off the ground, and two other girls were dancing on the one across from them. Wes danced behind her with his hands on her hips as she swung them to the thump of the music. He was screeching in a high-pitched tone, in a pointless attempt to match Rihanna’s voice, right into Dylan’s ear. She cringed and turned around to face him.

“Wes, honey, make sure you stick with surfing,” she said, patting him on the chest. He scowled, hugged her closer and sang even louder.

“I’m an awesome singer,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. As the song transitioned to something else, he pumped one fist and twirled around in a circle but stopped abruptly before making a full rotation. “Oh… crap. He’s here.”

Dylan turned her head only just realizing that they had a direct view into their VIP area. Kai was standing at the railing watching them even as he talked to one of the many girls Abel had invited in there.
And why does he have to look so sexy right now?
He was wearing a black Lava baseball cap and a black polo shirt with his jeans and black Nikes, his usual uniform. Their eyes connected, her chest clenched and she looked away. She hoped he hated every minute of seeing her up there.

“So
what?” she said.

“
So what
? Oh… you
want
him to see. Girl, you got a lot of evil under there,” Wes said, tapping her nose with his finger. He glanced at Kai and gulped down. His glare at Wes was murderous. “I’m wondering how long he’s been looking over here…‘cause right now he looks like he wants to rip my head off and drink the blood from my neck.”

“Wes…
really
?” Dylan made a face but Kai did look pissed.

“He’s all psycho, no smolder. And that poor girl is better off talking to a brick wall or a handsome surfer named Wesley Abraham Elliot
t than hanging all over Kai White right now.” Wes backed away from her. “Sorry, baby, I gotta go check on my boy. And I know he was being a complete asswipe earlier but ease up on him. He’s crazy about you.”

“Whatever.” Dylan crossed her arms and kept bobbing to the beat, but she wanted to go check on him too.

“You’re mad at
me
now?” Wes asked, incredulous, after he stepped down to the dance floor. He threw his arms in the air in exasperation.

“No, I’m not.” She leaned over and hugged him. “Thanks for hanging out with me.” She released him but pulled on his arm before he walked away. “Wes…he’s been drinking a lot the past several shows. Today too. He won’t talk to me, we’re not really talking, so…just…please just…”

“Aw, look at you…” he said with a knowing smile. “Yeah, I got it.”

“Shut up. Bye,” she said with a dismissive wave and a smirk. She stepped down off the platform when Wes meandered away, and there was no shortage of potential dance partners
to take his place. If only she could bring herself to pay even the slightest ounce of attention to any one of them, like the one who was pressed up against her back several minutes, and several songs, later. Especially when Kai was still staring at her.

He had been flirting with women who came over to him, even letting one of them slip her hand under his polo shirt. Dylan felt like someone was shoving a spear through her chest, but she realized that she had been worried for nothing because the playing field was leveled in a nightclub. He was pretty and he had fame, but she was a woman in a nightclub. The parade of women seem
ed to bore him the longer he watched her, and he started blowing off any woman who came up to him. Wes had shot her an apologetic look when he tried to pull Kai away from the railing, but he had shrugged him off. They were torturing each other, and Dylan knew she should’ve just turned around or moved to another part of the club, but she couldn’t.

He couldn’t either. 

“…Ool?” the guy behind her asked. Dylan spun with a smile, still moving her body to the music. His name was Tim, he went to University of Georgia, his family was on vacation, and he was insanely attractive.
A great distraction. But not Kai.

“Sorry, that was my favorite part of the song. I missed what you said,” she shouted, smiling wider to cover her lie as she circled her arms over his shoulders.

“No problem. I asked when do you head back to school?”

“Early January, I’ll be back in San Fran.” He was nice from what she could remember from their conversation when she had managed to concentrate long enough to listen. She just wasn’t
feeling it.

Tim hugged his arms around her waist, his hand inadvertently grazing her butt. He pulled it away immediately. His mouth moved but she shook her head and made a face, pulling his face closer to her ear. “Where else does the tour go after Fort Lauderdale?”

“California after Christmas, actually, and then back to Miami for Wintervention again,” she said. Tim’s brow creased and he pointed to his ear. He leaned forward, pulled her closer by gripping her hips and his lips brushed her ear.

“We’d hear each other better outside on the patio, and I kinda need a cigarette. You have a bracelet and I have a stamp…” His voice trailed off. “Uh…”

“Dylan!” Someone was screaming her name behind her, and when she turned she ran straight into Kai. She got angry after being startled.

“What?” she shouted up at him, raising her shoulders. “What? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me?” Kai sneered at Tim as he sidestepped Dylan.

Wes was behind him, looking annoyed. “I tried,” he yelled in earnest at Dylan. He walked over to her side. “One minute he tells me he needs some air, then I see him hopping over the damn railing.” Wes threw his hands up. “Oh come
on
! She’s leaving!” He watched a girl and her friends slip out of VIP, and he sounded so disheartened that it was almost funny. “I can’t be Leko tonight.”

“Then leave it the fuck alone, Wes,” Kai shouted. Wes moved until he was next to Kai.

“I give zero fucks about you acting like a complete ass, Kai, but I do care about you doing it in front of
her
.” Wes whipped his finger in the direction of Dylan. “For your own fucking sake.”

Kai looked away from Wes to Tim, glowering, eyes narrowing, and he laughed without any delight. “Why the fuck are you still standing here?” He took steps toward Tim until he was right in his face.

“Because he’s dancing with me. Why are you here? Why the fuck are you here?” she screamed at Kai. “Go away.”

Kai looked at her momentarily before going back to Tim. “You think it’s okay to touch her like that?” Kai looked at Dylan, his face softening slightly. “He was ten seconds from grabbing your ass.”

Dylan smirked and jabbed Kai in the chest with her finger before crossing her arms over her own. “And? So what if he was?”

Kai laughed, somewhat maniacally, firing a snarl at Tim before he held her face in his hands gently as he smiled. “Then, he’d be
grabbing
for someone to help him off the fucking floor. And he’d need a doctor.”

“Don’t worry about who’s touching me.” Dylan pulled his hands away roughly.

“How the hell can I not, Dyl?” he fired back.

“Dude, you’re not on
Akuna anymore,” Wes said before he pushed Kai back once. “Ignore him,” Wes said to Tim, and it sounded like a preemptive warning. “Please, just ignore him. He’s stupid.” To Kai, he said, “Dude, you should consider letting Jesus take the wheel sometimes.” Wes looked like he was in over his head, but he managed to drag Kai away through the crowd. Kai started to walk back toward them, but a girl next to them whispered to her friend and pointed at him. The friend gasped and screamed, pulling on his arm.

“Whoa.” Tim was bewildered, but the shock and fear soon drained from his face. With a light laugh, he said, “
Was that Kai White? What was th—”

Holding Tim’s hand, she pulled him closer to her and shouted, “It’s nothing. My jacket is in VIP. I’ll be right back.” Past the velvet ropes, she plunged into the pile of coats on one of the couches, looking for hers. She knew she should’ve told Tim then that she wasn’t interested, but it was too awkward right in the moment after Kai had caused that scene. She’d just make up some excuse about her friends demanding that she stay
inside because they wanted to do shots. Dancing she could handle, but she’d be terrible company tonight if she actually had to talk for real. And she knew she’d have to explain why things had gotten so embarrassing.

“You’re really gonna leave with him?” She stood slowly, heart rate picking up speed, as she turned to look at Kai, who
was leaning against the barricade.

“Yup. You know how that works,” she said curtly. Dylan snatched her
jacket up and stepped to the railing, right next him, trying to adjust to the sudden acceleration of blood flow through her body. It was like a dam had burst.

“Lot
s of trouble to go through when you don’t really give a shit.” Kai shook his head. “Is this payback? Is that what this is? Why are you even mad?”

             
Dylan pressed her lips together in silence, momentarily set off-kilter by his words. Her sudden, involuntary cackle sailed into the air. She pivoted to him and propped her hands on her hips. “Payback. Oh, you must mean for having girls all over you in front of me. I’m not even talking about the fans right at the shows. And how do you know I was mad…because you’re mad right now?”
Wes is right. We’re couple fighting,
she mused, trying not to laugh.

“I’m not mad.” Kai drew her closer by pulling her toward him, gripping her upper arms, and he ran his thumbs along her collarbone
s. Right into her ear, he said, “I’m
fucking
fuming.” He smelled of alcohol. Unless his liver was made of steel, he would be flat on his ass soon in a club full of people with cell phone cameras if he kept drinking. Also, tomorrow was a huge day, and she was considerably disappointed in him for being irresponsible.

“You look good. I like this shirt. I can see your skin, but it’s still covered…that’s sexy…” Her face heated up when he lowered his hand to her stomach and grazed it through the thin fabric. Dylan slapped it away. He smiled because he knew he was getting to her and that kind of pissed her off. Dylan looked out into the crowd, searching for Tim to signal that she would be back in a second, if he hadn’t run away screaming yet.
If Wes thinks I’m evil now…
but her eyes widened when she found him actually talking to Wes.