Who He Is (FireNine, book 1) (15 page)

“How about a race?” Gage asked. “It’ll be just like lawn mower racing… on water.” He winked at me, but I frowned, reliving our night of square dancing
and the kiss that almost happened. “Hop on, baby,” Gage said to the girl, his eyes still locked on mine. “You know I like it from the back.”

I rolled my eyes again, looking at Montana, who was staring off. I looked back and saw the same girl with the black G-string.
Ugh, men.
“Montana, come on,” I said, snapping my fingers in his face again.

“Oh, right.” He climbed on behind me, hooking his arms around my middle. He placed
his chin on my shoulder but kept his lower half a few inches away. “I won’t get too close,” he said in my ear.

I smiled over my shoulder before looking at Gage, who’d been staring at us the entire time. “So, about that race?” I asked, grinning.

He slid behind the brunette who had her fingers clutched around the handles. He then cupped her breasts with his hands, grinning over her shoulder. “Ready, baby?”

She smiled.
“Of course.”

He looked at me just as I
had shuddered and looked away.

“All right, get ready!” Montana yelled.

I clutched the handlebars, staring ahead.

“Set… GO!”

I sped off, leaving a splash of water to resemble my dust. I squeezed the gas lever as Montana hooted and hollered. Some water splashed onto us, but it felt nice along with the wind beneath the blazing sun. I’d put Gage and his skank to shame as I circled around and rushed forward. I thought they would at least catch up, but it wasn’t happening. As I looked back, it seemed the skank was whining, clutching the handle a little too tightly. She soon started complaining about her nails, waving them in the air dramatically. Gage rolled his eyes a dozen times before looking at me and narrowing his eyes as we rushed back to shore.

I laug
hed as we met at the shore and Montana hopped off immediately. “All right, Miss Eliza,” he said, unclipping his lifejacket. “It was nice fucking with Gage, but that hot chick over there is giving me the fuck-me eyes and I can’t afford to miss out. I’ll catch you later, I promise.”

He kissed my forehead playfully
and then dashed away to get to the blonde in the G-string. I knew Gage caught Montana’s playful kiss on my forehead because his deep voice asked, “You’re interested in Montana?”

Gage was a few steps away, his head coc
ked and his eyes narrowed again. His skank was still sitting on the wave runner, sighing over her broken nail, her bottom lip poked out.

“I’m not.” I smirked, climbing off
, and unclipped my jacket. I pulled it over my head and sauntered toward the stand where they’d been hanging. When I hung it up and turned around, Gage stood a step away, his head tilted.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked.

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“You and Montana. What is it?”

“Montana and I are just friends.”

He laughed dryly, running a hand through his untamed hair. As he lifted his arms, his muscles tensed, and I inhaled to keep myself steady. He had a body to die for…
ink I wanted to lick away, but I couldn’t fall for it. I didn’t want to. I couldn’t stand him. “Friends? That’s funny. Friends don’t flirt.”

“So you’re upset
we’re flirting?”

“Well… yeah, ‘cause you said before you weren’t interested in him. Flirting means interest.”

I folded my arms. “Never said I wasn’t interested in him, actually.”

“S
eems like there’s more between you two.” His eyes hardened as he took another step forward. My breathing became heavier as he closed the space between us, bringing a hand up to cap my shoulder. His hand on my skin was bringing even more warmth to my body. It was hot as hell outside, but with him this close, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I were to suddenly combust. “You’re mad about my girls?” he asked, smiling.

“They’re not
your
girls,” I muttered, aiming to remain confident.

“They’re my girls, all right. You could be as well.”

“I want nothing to do with you, Gage. What part of ‘we’re friends’ do you not understand?”

“Why can’t you just flirt around with me like you do with Montana?”

I stifled a laugh, pulling away from him. I wonder if he realized how desperate he sounded. “Gage—”

“Ellie,” he interrupted. “What’s so bad about me? I’ll let you know right now that Montana is ten times worse than I could ever be. You see how he left you for another chick. You really want that?”

“Montana and I are just friends, just as you and I are—and I’m sure you’d do the exact same thing he did. I don’t care what either of you do. You’re both my
friends
.”

He pressed his lips, his hazel eyes expanding. “You always say that, but I find it hard to believe.”

I frowned. “Why?”

Smirking, he leaned forward, brushing the tip of his nose across my cheek. My skin ting
led, my breath catching as one of his hands moved down to my waist and then past the small of my back to cup my ass. I gasped as he chuckled. “I find it hard to believe because you’re always gasping… always holding off on your next breath to see what I’ll do. You may not notice it, but you always lean in, wanting some part of your body against mine.” I looked down, noticing how my chest had inched forward to press against his.

“You always tense up when I touch you. What part of your body do you want me to touch most, Ellie? Your lips?” he asked, running a finger over my bottom lip. I wanted to savor that finger on my lip, lick it just because it was part of his body. “Your chest?” His finger dragged from my lip to my chest and heat boiled in my stomach. “Your full, perky breasts that I can’t seem to stop staring at? If I had the chance, I’d motorboat the hell out of ‘em.” He smirked, his fingers expanding and reaching in for one of my breasts. Before he could grab it, I snapped out of my daze and shoved him away, scowling.

“God, you’re so full of yourself.”

He chuckled deeply as I pushed past him to get to the coolers of beers. “I’ll be waiting, Ellie!” he called. I grimaced over my shoulder, but that grimace turned into a mask full of shock as a cluster of girls rushed for him, fighting to be on his arm for the rest of the afternoon. He simply laughed over their arguing, his eyebrow arched amusedly. His eyes then swung up to meet mine as I stopped in front of the coolers and snatched out a beer. It was hard to look away from him. “I’m ready when you are,” he mouthed at me, grinning widely.

“Never, dickhead!” I mouthed back.

He simply chuckled, chose two from his collection of girls, and went off with them. Not once did he look at me as the day carried on.

When the sun had set, Montana finally came to check on me, a smile gracing his lips. “You okay, Eliza?”

“I’m great,” I sighed, sitting up on my towel.

He tilted his head, his eyes softening. “I’m being a horrible date, aren’t I?”

I giggled. “A very horrible
one, but don’t worry about it. I’ll move on.”

He chuckled and placed his palms on his knees to bend over.
“Most of us are going to a party later. I know how you hate parties and… well… I’ll be hanging with the hot chick over there for the rest of my evening.” He pointed back with his thumb and I looked, seeing Miss G-string standing a few feet away with a towel on her shoulder. “Maybe you should call Ben, tell him to get you a ride back to the bus.”

I nodded because the bus sounded like heaven to my ears compared to a party. “Yeah. I’ll do that.”

“Great.” He sighed, standing up straight. “Have a good night, Miss Eliza!”

I waved at him, laughing at how nonchalant he was. Montana was sweet, but when he had plans, he didn’t like to be held back. I couldn’t blame him. He was living his life and doing what he wanted. I was never one to make others hold back
, so I had no problem with him fleeing.

After calling Ben and hurrying for the parking lot to wait for my ride, I sighed and sat on the curb, the palms of my hands planted behind me on the concrete. Someone cleared his throat behind me and I glanced over my shoulder. Gage came into view with the blonde from the mall and the brunette he’d ridden with on the jet ski.

“No date?” he asked, smirking.

I stuck my middle finger up and turned my head. I was no longer in the mood for him.

Gage chuckled, stepping ahead with the skanks. He nuzzled the brunette’s neck as they approached the truck. She giggled obnoxiously, and as the girls climbed in before him, he spanked their asses and they yelped excitedly.

I rolled my eyes, looking away. He was truly
revolting.

The doors slammed shut and the truck made a U-turn to get out the parking lot. As it drove by, Gage winked at me, making kissy faces and then shouting, “Make it soon,
Sweet Ellie!” Again, I gave him the middle finger and as soon as they were out of sight, my truck came and I sighed heavily, ready for the night to just be over.

The following night
the boys had a show and, of course, they knocked the ball out of the fucking park. Amazing, beautiful, and heart throbbing, as always. I hated how Gage could sing so beautifully but had one of the ugliest and cockiest personalities. I don’t know why it did, but it bothered me that I’d caught on fire for his ass once again right after jet skiing.

It was two times in a row, and each time I made myself look foolish. He knew what he could do to me with his touch, how weak I could become.

Ugh.

It annoyed me.

It excited me.

It pissed me off.

It thrilled me.

It was completely enthralling, but I knew I had to keep my distance. He wasn’t good for me. He expected me to become one of the many whores on his arms.
Um… not likely. Not ever.
Unlike them, I had pride and dignity in myself.

After the show ended, a few girls stormed backstage arm-in-arm, waiting on the boys to come out of their dressing rooms just to meet them. As I sat on the sofa by the wall, I couldn’t help but watch them. They were giggling… a lot. They were too eager to see the boys and were even taking pictures with one another with their tongues hanging out while they waited.

I thought about why I didn’t have friends, but then reality slapped me out of my stupor and told me exactly why.

“
You were no good to be around.”

If reality were real, that’s what it would have said to me. It would have scolded me for doing what I used to do for my
mom. I didn’t deserve friends. I remember when I made a friend in elementary school. Her name was Teresa Talon and she wore pigtails every single day. She was a brunette with bright brown eyes and extremely tan skin. I met her during one of our recesses and we immediately became buddies.

One night, Teresa asked me to come to her house for a sleepover. I told my
mom and she said I could, but only if I came back with something valuable. By valuable she meant I had to come back home with something worth a lot of money. Something she could pawn for some extra cash.

Let’s just say after the sleepover, I could never play with Teresa again. I could never see her, hang with her on the playground—I couldn’t even set my eyes in her direction. Those were her
mom’s commands. I was placed in another class and never saw Teresa again.

“OH MY GOD!” one of the girls squealed, snapping me out of my daze. “There’s Gage Grendel! Oh my God, look at him! He’s so fucking hot!”

I rolled my eyes because if she knew how Gage really was, her pants wouldn’t have been so hot. Gage came down the hall in black jeans and a white T-shirt with black Arabic print on it. When he saw the cluster of girls bouncing up and down for him, he revealed a low, lazy smile and kept moving forward.

As soon as he was a step away, the security guards stepped in place so the girls wouldn’t trample him. “Gage! Please sign this!” one of the girls screamed, holding out a poster and a Sharpie.

“Gage, I have something even better.” One of the girls with bright pink hair pulled out her tit and held out a Sharpie. The security guards’ eyes widened as they stared down, but they kept their arms folded and the girls back. Gage chuckled, as if it were nothing to him, and signed her tit. Gross.

“How’s that?” he winked at her.

“Thanks, Gage,” she said, aiming to sound seductive. I snorted a laugh.

Gage continued signing
things for the group of girls and soon each band member joined him. Roy didn’t stay as long as the others and I couldn’t help but watch him nearly sneak out the exit door. He was one who didn’t like to be seen at all. I had the urge to go after him, but I didn’t. I couldn’t afford to be nosey and I definitely didn’t want to follow after him and witness him beheading a poor kitten or a harmless turtle.

“All right, ladies. Time for the boys to get going,” one of the security guards said, pushing the girls back. “Come on. Out the door you go.” He grunted, aiming to keep one of them back. The
other rushed forward to help get them out and when the door had shut, they both sighed, staring at one another, their heads shaking. “I swear it’s like a fucking zoo every time.” One of them chuckled.

“It’s the damn wild,” the other added as they
walked down the hall.

“So let me guess…” I sighed, pushing from the sofa. Deed, Montana, and Gage turned quickly to look at me. It was like they just noticed I was around. “You’re going to the club again tonight?”

“Oh, no, Miss Eliza,” Montana said, shaking his head. “Tonight we’ll be hitting a house party. It’s going to be epic. Tons of other famous people will be there.”

I raised my eyebrows. Yet again, I was stuck with the band. Ben had taken the keys to the bus and my only ride was with them. I knew he did it on purpose, but he acted like it was an accident when I’d called him about it. I could hear him trying to conceal his snickering while on the phone.

I looked down at my clothes. Pink shorts and a solid grey T-shirt. I definitely wasn’t suited for a house party—let alone a party where a ton of famous people were going to be. FireNine was already too much for me.

“Do you think your driver will drop me off somewhere else before you get there?” I asked.

“Uh, hell no,” Deed snapped. “We aren’t making any stops. We’re going straight there. Gah, who let the
girl
tag along?” I couldn’t see his eyes beneath his sunglasses, but I knew for sure they were upset.

“I don’t have to go. I was just—”

“No,” Gage said, interrupting me. “You’re worried about your attire, but you look fine, Ellie.”

“I just… I’d rather have something better on,” I murmured.

“Oh, great.” Deed threw his hands in the air. I was sure his eyes rolled along with it.

“Deed, cut her some
fucking slack.” Montana frowned at him. “The fuck is your problem anyway?”

“She’s my fucking problem!” he barked. I flinched, blinking rapidly. “She’s not even supposed to be with the band. If she doesn’t know what we do after shows or even how to dress, she shouldn’t be tagging along.”

And just like that, I wanted to snap. Deed’s attitude pissed me all the way off. I could have blown him up on the spot. I could have smacked his stupid sunglasses away from his eyes and showed the boys his black eye. I could have done so much… but I held off. My hands had balled into fists, but I loosened them, realizing I was turning into the Eliza I no longer wanted to be. I couldn’t let it happen. I had to let it go. He wasn’t worth it.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold my tongue for long so I turned quickly and rushed down the hall.

“Shit,” Montana hissed. “Why the fuck would you say that to her?”

“Eliza,” Gage called at the same time. For a moment, I thought I caught a hint of sympathy behind his voice.

I ignored both of them, though.

I pushed out the exit door and as soon as it was shut behind me, hot tears burned my eyes. I had to cool off. I had to remain calm. I had to tell myself over and over again he wasn’t worth it, but I swore if it were five or six years ago, I would have blown up on him. I used to be ruthless. Reckless. I had to fight for myse
lf so much and sometimes the girls were way bigger than Deed. I should have busted his lip for his attitude. A part of me was proud for walking away from something that could have turned deadly and ended the tour for them completely.

I drew in a deep breath, taking a slow look around the parking lot. Besides the black truck I knew was meant for the boys to ride in and the miscellaneous cars scattered about, there was absolutely nothing around. The night was young and the moon was high in the sky. The stars twinkled and a soft breeze blew by, allowing me to inhale deeply.

The door of the stadium burst open behind me and I turned around, spotting Gage coming out first, Montana right behind him. Deed was last to come out and I knew he was glaring at me, even beneath his sunglasses. I could almost make out what was really beneath them. Aggravation. Frustration.
Anger
. A black eye.

“Eliza, are you okay?” Gage asked, meeting up to me.

“I’m fine.”

He blinked, taking a step back to get a clear look of my face. “You aren’t going to cry, are you?” he asked. “I don’t know how I would handle you… crying.”

“I’m fine, Gage. Just go away. It’s not like you care.” He frowned, looking me over a dozen times before settling on my eyes again. His eyes then softened and he was fixing his lips to say something, but before he did, Montana hustled forward, his eyes remorseful.

“Sorry,
” Montana apologized. “Deed’s a fucking asshole. Don’t take the shit he says to heart.”

I sighed, looking from Montana to Deed, who was climbing into the front seat of the truck.

“Montana, can we talk for a sec?” Gage asked, taking a few steps back while gesturing Montana to come his way.

I watched as the boys took a few more steps toward the truck while whispering to one another. Montana kept stealing glances at me as Gage hooked an arm around his shoulder, still muttering something I couldn’t make out.

“All right, man.” Montana capped Gage’s shoulder. “See you there.” Montana quickly hopped into the truck, shut the door behind him, and then they pulled off.

I frowned as Gage watched them leave before he turned around to look at me, his fingertips in his front pockets.

“What the hell? Are they coming back?” I asked.

“No. We’re going to meet them there.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“You want something better to wear, right? There’s an outlet right around the corner. I’ll even buy the clothes for you.”

I shook my head. “Gage—no. I could have just gone somewhere else,” I said, looking down at my clothes.

“Ellie, if Ben left you with us, you’re sticking with us. We aren’t letting you g
o somewhere else. If you wanna look more presentable, I’ll take you to get dolled up.” He winked. “I don’t mind.”

“Gage—”

“Come on.” He insisted, cocking his head to his right, his elbow held out for me to hook my arm through. I wanted to tell him no. I wanted to tell him to call Montana and get them to come back… but his smile was too much. It was simple and sweet, yet deadly. It was mesmerizing, causing effortless butterflies to flutter around the pit of my stomach.

“Okay, but if I’m going with you, promise me one thing,” I said, hooking my arm through his
cautiously.

“What’s that?”

“Try not to leave me standing around alone like Montana did. I don’t wanna look stupid there.”

He laughed, running a hand through his tousled hair as we stepped ahead for the sidewalk. “I’ll be sure to stick by your side tonight, Sweet Ellie.”

They may have stretched the truth a little about there being a ton of famous people. There were a few around, but it was more random drunk girls and guys than anyone else. It kind of took me off guard that the first thing I saw when stepping into the house was a girl vomiting grievously into a flowerpot.

“Would you like a drink?” Gage asked into my ear.

“Uh…” I stared around, debating on whether a drink was safe or not. “Sure, why not?” I shrugged.

He held out his hand and surprisingly I took it. It happened without thought, though. I didn’t want to lose him through the crowd and I couldn’t afford to be left alone…
Lies.