Ruining You (19 page)

“I can’t.”

“You can’t or you won’t?”

“Both, he’s my sober driver,
and he’s spending the night.”

He comes to an abrupt stop,
and his voice rises with every word. “What the hell do you mean he is spending
the night with you? At your house? I thought your mom didn’t travel anymore?”

Stepping away from him, I
turn to walk away, but he grapples with my arm and pulls me into a darkened
corner. With a rap song’s bass beating loudly, he pulls me in close so I can
hear him. Putting his mouth next to my ear, he commands, “Talk.”

It’s not my place to speak
for Eli. I respect him way too much for that, but I’m not sure how to get
myself out of this one. “No.”

Rhye doesn’t look amused.
“No?”

Shaking my head, I say, “I
came to dance and hang out with you and Eli. He and I are strictly friends. You
just have to trust me about that.” “Poltergeist” by the Deftones pumps out of
the speakers, and the hauntingly dark chords call to me. Swaying to the music,
I wrap my arms around Rhye’s neck and pull him down to my mouth. “Dance with
me?” I ask.

Rhye groans, “Can I spend
the night, too?”

Laughing, I say, “I don’t
think my mom will go for that, but would it make you happy to know that my
parents are home and he is sleeping far away from me.”

Nodding, he pulls me back to
the dance floor. He grips my hips again, and I rest my hands on top of his,
intertwining our fingers. My body is pressed solidly against his as he rocks
his hips into mine. We dance through the next several songs, letting sweat coat
our bodies. Our movements are synchronized, a prelude of what could be.

“I’m thirsty. Let’s go,” he
says into my ear.

Working our way off the
dance floor, we make it back to the booth. As soon as I see Eli, I feel guilty.
He sits, tapping his fingers against the table. Throwing myself next to him, I
say, “I’m so sorry. I got caught up dancing.”

“I noticed, but it’s cool.
That’s why we came. I’m just glad that I don’t have to dance. Here is the drink
they brought you,” he replies pushing a red concoction towards me.

Picking it up, I take a
small sip, and my lips pucker at the sweet yet sour taste. Yummy. Vodka and
cranberry juice.

“Slide over,” Rhye directs,
pushing me further into the booth. Eli and I scoot over to make room for him. I
see him motion to the waitress for two more drinks and some shots. “So, how did
you two meet?”

Eli and I look at each other
as we burst out laughing. How do you tell someone that you met in the
“nut-house.” Just doesn’t work. People don’t get it.

“We met in therapy,” Eli
answers.

Good one. Works for me, and
I can tell by Rhye’s expression that it does for him as well. The waitress
returns with another drink for me and an array of liquor shots. I remember from
dating Rhye before that each performance is prefaced with several shots to
alleviate a small bout of stage fright.

“Liquid courage,” he says,
picking one up and downing it. He motions for Eli to join him.

“Sorry, I don’t drink
alcohol,” he smiles saying.

Rhye looks at me, shrugs his
shoulders, and nudges me to grab one. I shake my head, holding my drink up to
indicate that one was enough.

Leaning down to kiss my
cheek, Rhye says, “Off to sing for my supper.” With a wink, he walks away to
get ready for the show.

“What do you think?
Honestly?”

“I get why you’re attracted to
him. Bad boy rocker and all, but other than that, I don’t see it.”

“I definitely don’t see
forever, and neither does he.”

“Yeah, but are you ready for
a one-night stand? Or anything short term? I’m just so worried that the fire
between you guys would burn out as quickly as it ignites. I thought short-term
would be good for you, but now, I’m not feeling it, and I’m not sure you are
either.”

Looking around the bar, I
spot someone. This really cannot be happening. I hear Eli talking, but I’m not
listening. My heart just walked through the door with someone else -- a blonde
someone else with big boobs. I freaking knew it. That no-good-lying-dog! Well,
lying because he denied that was his type of girl.

Snapping his fingers in
front of my face, Eli beckons for my attention. “You have an attention deficit
problem. I really hate when you zone out.”

“You want to know what I
hate, Eli? I hate ex-boy...friends or whatever he is, who lie and show up on
the one night you decide to go out. Well, you’ve been wanting to meet him, so
there he is.”

Motioning to the couple at
the bar, Eli asks, “Kane?”

Nodding my head, we both
stare. Kane is dressed in dark jeans, black knit sweater, and black boots. His
hair has been buzzed short, and the low neckline shows off the written tattoo
on his neck.

“Well, I have to say, you
know how to pick’em.”

“Don’t I just,” I say,
grabbing one of Rhye’s shots and downing it. Sucking in air as the stout liquor
burns all the way down my chest, I continue to stare at them.

The blonde beside him smiles
at something he says. Her short curly hair makes her look younger than she
probably is. She has on a white button-up shirt, jeans, and boots. Her glossy
red-lipstick makes her look like a two-dollar whore. Grabbing two more shots, I
turn them, up one after another. The second one doesn’t burn as bad going down,
but the warmth spreads throughout my stomach.

“Slow down, chugger. I don’t
think you want to be praying to the porcelain gods tonight, and I’m betting you
haven’t had alcohol in months.”

“HA-HA!” I say rather
loudly. My lips start to feel a little fuzzy. I don’t want Kane to see me
sitting down and not having a good time. I start to slide out of the booth, but
my leather dress sticks to the vinyl seat. Ugh! Finally maneuvering out, I turn
to make sure Kane did not see that bit of humiliation. Thank God he didn’t.
Signaling to Eli, I mouth, “Get up. Hurry!”

“What are we doing?”

Grabbing Eli’s hand, I lace
our fingers together and tug him until he follows me.

“This is a bad idea. For the
record, I already feel how much of a bad idea it is. I swear, Jay. If you get
me punched, kicked, or assaulted in any way tonight, our friendship is over.
Got it?”

“Quit whining, Eli. We are
just getting closer to the stage to see Rhye.”

“Oh...that’s even better.
Didn’t you tell me that Kane can’t stand Rhye? Just for the record, your boy
over there is double my size and Rhye’s. I think he can take us both out with
no problems.”

“Nobody is taking you out…
well, except me if you don’t play along,” I hiss at him. Finally, I get to a
place off to the side of the stage on a raised dais. Forcing Eli behind me, I
move to stand in front of him with our hands still intertwined. Hearing him
clear his throat, I turn my head back to glance at his disgruntled expression.

“Let me get this straight.
You are trying to make the guy, who we both know you are insanely in love with,
jealous with your gay soon-to-be ex-friend? If you get me hit while your
boy-toy serenades you with love songs, I swear, Jay,” he snorts loudly. “Trust
me. You don’t need me to piss him off, and you’re about to do just that. Just
being in the same place as Rhye while he sings to you is enough. As your
friend, my advice is that we get the hell out of here before Kane sees you.”

Seeing a human-bullet heading
my way out of the corner of my eye, I mutter, “Too late.” Looking down, I say,
“Hey Kane.” His green eyes drop to my boots before slowly rising until they
reach my face. The appreciation in his eyes makes me shudder. His desire is
tangible.

“Hi, Jay,” he says,
narrowing his eyes at my hand holding Eli’s.

Eli shakes my hand free and
reaches out. “Hi, I’m Eli. Jay’s ‘gay’ friend.”

Turning back towards Eli, I
give him an exaggerated eye-roll before facing Kane.

Kane’s face is almost
completely relaxed now, and he even has a slight smile on his lips. Shaking
Eli’s hand, he says, “Kane. Jay’s ‘straight’ friend.” He and Eli look at each
other before bursting into peals of laughter.

“Real funny guys. Laugh it
up.” I glance around to see Kane’s date looking a little lost without him at
the bar, so I sarcastically ask, “Lose something, Kane?”

Giving me a scorching sexy
smile, he replies, “Not yet.”

Crossing my arms across my
chest, I shake my head at his answer.

“What?”

Nodding my head towards the
bimbo at the bar, I look at the expression of shock on his face.

“Shit,” he utters.

Wow, it seems like he really
did forget about her. Brunettes one, blondes zero.

Finally spotting him, she
starts to walk our way. Kane stands there like a deer in headlights. This is going
to be awkward and probably painful. Damn...double damn. When she reaches us,
she smiles a 100-watt smile.

“Hi,” she says in a tiny
voice.

Mr. Personality behind me
pipes up, “Hey. This is Jay, and I’m Eli.”

I squeeze out a smile, which
given the circumstances, is a win.

“Kate,” she says, glancing
at Kane.

Looking directly at me, she
grabs his arm as if claiming her prize. Well, this just reached a whole new
level of messed up.

Smiling at me, she asks, “Do
you like The Mavs? I love them. They are one of my favorite bands. I had to
drag Kane here to hear them.”

Okay, I wish I could act
like an adult and be the “bigger-person”, but I’m not. Looking directly in
Kane’s eyes, I answer, “Yeah, I used to date the lead singer. In fact, he
invited me here tonight.”

Thank God for Rhye, because
at that moment, he walks out on the stage with his guitar hanging around his
chest. The crowd has grown, and it’s a packed house. Shading his eyes, I can
see him looking out over the crowd. “How’s everybody tonight?” Cheers fill the
bar. “Alright. Who’s ready to hear The Mavs play the hell out of some music?”
Again, the screams echo off the walls. “Let’s go!” he yells, starting to play
one of their original songs.

I forgot how commanding and
sexy he is on stage. Very, very sexy, but he’s not half as sexy as the man
standing to my lower left. About three songs in, the moment I had been waiting
for, and subsequently dreading, happens.

“Where’s my girl?” Of
course, all the females yell to him. “Hey guys, lower the stage lights for a
second.”

Once the lights dim, he
looks out over the crowd and finally spots me. “Ah, there she is.” Pointing his

Index finger at me, he turns
it up and beckons me to him. “Come here, Jay.”

Ah, what the hell. I’ll see
this to the end. Stepping down off of the platform, I make my way to the stage.

He sits down on the edge
with his guitar. Handing the microphone to me, he says, “Here hold this for me.

I wrote the next song for
the lovely lady standing in front of me. It’s called, ‘One More Night’.”

Playing several chords on
his guitar, he looks deep into my eyes.

“We’ve
known this day was coming

You’ve
had me locked down, locked tight,

Too
many years of waiting, watching

Dreaming
of your body, all-day, all-night.

I
wasn’t the one you wanted

And
he doesn’t know you like I do,

But
the time for us has come

To
see this thing through.”

He sings only to me. Blocked
by his words, the world around us disappears. In between verses, he leans closer,
almost as if he is going to kiss me. I feel his hot breath on my mouth, but he
pulls back before our lips touch.

“You
can say that you hate me

As
your eyes devour me tonight,

Tell
me you don’t care

When
you know it feels so right.

If
you need someone to blame

For
the lust that burns too bright,

Just
hit me, hate me, damn me,

But
please let me have one more night.

So
if you need someone to blame

For
the lust that burns too bright,

Just
hit me, hate me, damn me

‘Cause
we both know it’ll only be one more night.”

When the last chord plays,
the crowd goes wild. My knees threaten to collapse, and I bet there is not a dry-panty
in the place. That was sex in a song, and his voice, oh my, that deep sexy
voice is tantalizing.

When he leans in again, I
know he intends to kiss me. Feeling the sudden need to catch my breath, I quickly
turn my head and avoid his lips.

He just laughs and grabs the
microphone to stand up. Taking a sip of water, he says, “Here’s to hot chicks
that give great inspiration.” All the guys cheer, and the girls snicker.
Rolling my eyes at him, I turn to walk back. The real world floods in around me
once again, and I glance up to see Kane seething.  Kate looks impressed, and
Eli looks at me like I’ve done something incredibly stupid.