“Miss this?” Dex says, with a wry smile. “Never. I want to see the look on the crowd’s face when you hurl all over them.”
“That was one time!” The man I take to be Austin howls. “And I was hungover as fuck. You’d be sick too if you’d done ten shots of God knows what the night before.” He laughs, before noticing me standing here. Right away, he turns on a devastating smile. “Well, hey there darlin’,” he drawls with a smoky look.
Dex throws his arm around my shoulder again. “This is Alicia,” he says meaningfully. “She’s with me.”
Austin drops the smolder. His grin turns friendly. “Nice to meet you.” He reaches to shake my hand. “I apologize in advance for the show.”
“Don’t say that!” Tegan interrupts. “You’ll do great.”
Austin gives a self-conscious grin. “I don’t know about that. I said I wanted to start small, get my feet wet with something low-key, but I guess someone leaked it.”
“Never mind the crowd,” Dex smirks, “what’s up with those boots? Don’t tell me you’ve gone country.”
“Fuck you,” Austin drawls, then breaks into a smile. “So what if I have? I’ve been telling you for years, Jonny Cash was the baddest guy in town.”
“Austin here was always trying to make us listen to his country playlists,” Dex tells me. “Remember the time you tried to add steel guitars to the backing track on ‘A Hundred Nights’? I thought Connor was going to smash your amp in.”
There’s a beat. The easy smiles falter. Then Austin raises his beer bottle. “Rest in peace, man.”
Dex nods.
I slide my hand into his and squeeze. He gives me a quiet smile before turning back to Austin. “So, you all set?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Austin gulps his drink. “I’ve got a bunch of songs, going to release an EP at the end of the month.”
“Digital-only, or indie release?” Dex sounds interested.
“I’ve got a small label willing to cut a couple thousand units,” Austin replies. “I’m putting up most of the money myself, so we better hope it sells.”
Their words are going way over my head, so I catch Tegan’s eye. “Bathroom?” I ask her quietly.
“I’ll show you.” She rolls her eyes at the guys. “Leave these guys to geek out alone.”
I follow her back through the crowd and into the main club to find the women’s restroom. “You want a drink?” Tegan asks.
“Thanks,” I reply. “Jack and coke?” Then I stop. Should I be asking someone who’s just got out of rehab to be buying me alcohol? But Tegan sees the look on my face and smiles.
“It’s OK, I’m not going to relapse at the sight of a drink. Besides, booze was never my problem.”“What was?” I can’t stop myself from asking.
She gives me a wry grin. “Bad boys.”
Tegan heads for the bar, and I duck inside the bathroom. It’s tiny, papered with more flyers and scrawled graffiti, and a door on the stall that won’t bolt.
I’ve just ducked into the stall when there’s a burst of noise as the door swings open again and a couple of girls enter, their conversation loud and clear to hear.
“I thought he was in rehab.”
“No way, he’s been training as a Buddhist monk in Nepal.”
“I don’t care where he’s been. Dex Callahan is looking fine.”
I pause, curious to listen.
“Who was that girl he was with? The redhead.”
“Who cares?” The other voice laughs. “You know he never leaves with the same girl he came with.”
My heart twists.
“Right, I forgot,” she giggles. “Let’s see if we can sneak backstage. I want to find out if the rumors about his, you know, are true!”
The door swings open again, and then there’s silence.
I slowly emerge from the stall and rinse my hands, catching sight of my reflection in the cracked mirror. I look like a stranger: pouting lips, smudgy lined eyes. For a moment, I feel a crash of insecurity. What am I even doing here? I’m not some rock chick, at ease slamming back tequila and hanging backstage. And I’m definitely not cut out to be just one in a long line of groupie conquests—a temporary plaything for Dex until he gets bored and moves on to the next willing, nubile girl.
I catch my breath, forcing myself to calm down. I’m over-reacting. Just because those girls think Dex is still the wild party guy he used to be, that doesn’t make it true. I know better than anyone that he’s changed.
He’s still wild, but that devastating magnetism has been unwavering, fixed on me since the moment we met. He’s been clear, he wants me—all of me, completely.
But for how long?
I brush away the whispers of doubt, and head back out into the bar. The lights have dimmed, and the show is about to start, but I find Tegan and Dex at a table right by the stage. The best seats in the house. I look around for a free chair, but Dex catches me round the waist and pulls me into his lap instead. I smile, melting against him.
“Hey,” I whisper.
“Hey yourself,” he murmurs back, his lips vibrating against my cheek. “Did I tell you yet how unbelievably sexy you look tonight?”
I feel a flush of awareness ripple through my body. “Yes, but feel free.”