“Because he’s with the band. Now, move out of the way,” he said, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest. “Or I’ll have to remove you myself.”
“Give it a try, fucker.”
She didn’t move an inch, and I watched this chick stare down a six-foot-four bodyguard security detail as if it were the most natural thing to do on her Friday night.
Fucking hot!
“Look, it’s no big deal. We’re not that picky about the list.”
“But—”
I held up my hand and interrupted whatever he was going to say. “Come on. Just put her down as a plus-one for me.” I threw my arm over her shoulders and gave the guy a big toothy smile. “No harm, no foul.”
“Mr. McDermott, I’m under strict orders.”
“And you’re following them,” I told him. “Come on, babe.”
Without a backward glance, I marched the girl straight through the door and into the dimly lit shithole.
What the fuck? Why had the guys in The Drift claimed that this place was kick-ass? It looked like a run-down hole in the wall.
“Thanks for that,” she murmured.
“Anytime.”
I removed my arm from around her shoulders. She was hot, but claiming her as a plus-one was all a ruse to get her inside. There was no way I would actually tap that. I had a hot blonde, who loved me, waiting for me when I got back to Princeton next week.
“So…you’re with the band?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“That’s cool,” she said. “Girls dig guys in bands.”
I smirked. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that.”
She stared at me for a second in assessment. “You probably play guitar. Callous fingers.”
“I do,” I said, surprised that she had noticed something so small.
“Nice. Girls get hot for a musician,” she said with a completely straight face, not in the leering way I normally associated with groupies who wanted to get in my pants.
“Good thing I play an instrument then, huh?”
She nodded. “Good thing. So, McDermott, do you have a first name?”
“Grant.”
“I’m Courtney.”
“Well, Courtney, if you’re into dudes in bands, let me introduce you to my brothers.”
I couldn’t believe I was giving up this chick to someone else. I would never have done this before. She was way too hot to be slumming it at this dive bar. But I ignored the radar going off in my head that if she was this hot and single, then she must be batshit crazy. Really, anyone could handle some crazy for a chick like this.
We ran into Miller first. He raised his eyebrows at me when he saw Courtney. Yeah, she was fucking sexy as well. And I clearly needed to get rid of her.
“Courtney, this is Miller. She’s a local.”
“Nice to meet you,” Miller said as he shook her hand.
“You guys seen anything but this shithole suburb? Everyone likes the tourist crap.”
She and Miller talked about the different monuments he had visited this afternoon while I grabbed us beers from the bar. When I returned, drinks in hand, Vin and McAvoy were chatting up Courtney as well.
She accepted the drink I handed her and took a long swig. “Thanks.”
At that moment, the chick McAvoy had been fucking on tour bounded up to him. She whispered into his ear, and then he guided her toward the bathroom. Vin was looking up at Courtney as if she were the last fucking drop of water in the whole world. Unfortunately, I had a feeling douche-bag game wasn’t going to work on her since she actually seemed relatively normal, so that mostly left Miller.
“Let’s find a seat,” I said.
I gestured to the sitting area where I could see Ridley and Trevor smoking with a few groupies. We walked over there when Ridley caught sight of me.
He jumped to his feet. “Court, baby!”
She squealed and ran into his arms. “Rid! What the fuck are you doing here?”
Trevor stood just as quickly and practically grabbed her out of Ridley’s arms. “Shit! It’s been for-fucking-ever since I’ve seen your fine ass.”
She giggled. Her green eyes were shining, and then everything hit her all at once. “Oh fuck. Guys…”
Her eyes went out to the rest of the bar, almost fearfully. She seemed to be searching for someone. I was missing something.
“So, you guys all know each other,” I mused.
“Um, yeah,” Courtney said. Her long hair covered half of her face, and she tucked the hair behind her ear. “I really didn’t know. I haven’t been keeping up with the tour schedule. No wonder the bouncer wouldn’t let me in and said I wasn’t on the list.”
“Bouncer?” Ridley asked. “He fucking set up a bouncer to keep you out?”
“I thought it was suspicious that he would choose this place,” Trevor said.
“All right. Someone going to explain to me what’s going on?” I asked.
Courtney looked down at the ground and then glanced off past my shoulder. Her eyes widened a fraction, and I turned around to see Donovan walking toward us. He looked murderous for someone who looked like he’d just been fucked by each chick on his arm.
Then, it clicked. God, I was fucking horrible with names. “Courtney,” I muttered, turning to face her. “The Courtney. You’re Donovan’s ex-girlfriend?”
“She is.” Donovan stood imposingly next to me.
I could feel the tension rolling off of him from where I stood in the middle of his staring contest with Courtney.
“And she can get the fuck out of here.”
Courtney crossed her arms over her chest. “You don’t own the place, Donovan.”
He cringed slightly at the way she’d said his name. “Actually, tonight, I kind of do since I rented it out.”
She shook her head in disgust. Her lips curled up, and I thought she was going to snap back at him.
“Whatever. I don’t want to be near you anyway.” She hugged Ridley and Trevor. “Good seeing you guys. Tell Nic and Joey I said hey. If you’re here for any longer—well, you know where I live.”
Then, she turned and walked away.
All of that for nothing.
Something in me felt for her in that moment. I didn’t know what pussy part of my body was making me walk after her, but I did. I should just let her walk her hot ass out of the bar. Donovan and I were finally on okay terms. Bringing Courtney into the mix was a surefire way to get him to hate me again, yet for some unknown fucking reason, I couldn’t let her leave like that.