“Hey,” I said, catching up to her.
She smiled briefly but continued walking toward the door. “I didn’t know The Drift was going to be here. But thanks for getting me in tonight even though it ended up not being worth it.”
“Donovan’s a dick, but that doesn’t mean you should leave,” I found myself saying.
She stopped in her tracks, patted my cheek twice, and then smirked. “That’s sweet, but I’m not going to fuck you.”
I cracked a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ve no plans to fuck you either.”
Honestly, I wasn’t interested in her in that way at all. Old Grant would have already fucked her but not the man I was with Ari.
“But if you want to hang out with dudes in a band who aren’t as douchey as Donovan, then you should come to our show tomorrow night. We’re ContraBand.”
“You sing that ‘Life Raft’ song?”
“Yeah, that’s us.”
She sighed heavily. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Anyway, I have to work.” She smiled forlornly. “You’re cute, Grant. But boys in bands are trouble. Find yourself a girl not jaded by them, and then don’t fuck it up.” Courtney sighed and then was gone.
What she didn’t know was, I had already found that girl. And I would never wreck her life like Donovan had wrecked Courtney’s.
I bounced back and forth on the balls of my feet as I stood in front of the backstage entrance.
“Calm down,” Cheyenne said. She firmly placed her hand on my shoulder to try to get me to stop.
It was totally not like me. But neither was road-tripping it down to Washington D.C. with my roommates to surprise Grant at ContraBand’s last show.
Convincing them all to come with me had been a bit of a feat. Cheyenne had been in, but Shelby and Gabi had both seemed hesitant about it. I understood Gabi since it had only been two months since the breakup. However, Shelby and Miller hadn’t ever been anything official. They had been talking and sleeping together for a couple of months, and then when he’d gone on tour, they weren’t.
Eventually, everyone had piled into Cheyenne’s SUV, and we had made our way to D.C. We’d purchased crappy cheap tickets in the back of the auditorium. It was probably the farthest I’d ever stood away from Grant during a show, except maybe at New Year’s in New York City. But we didn’t want to risk the guys seeing us. We knew all the lyrics anyway, and the acoustics were good, even in the back of the theater.
Finally, we were flagged through backstage with a group of fans. I reveled in the carefully controlled chaos that I used to despise. Granted, these venues were much better organized than the League or the Poconos music festival.
Cheyenne took control and marched us through the crowd of people. I saw Grant first. He was laughing at something Vin was saying, and my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. He was so gorgeous. It had only been two weeks since I saw him in Boston, but I was looking forward to taking him home with me this time.
I dodged a few groupies as I rushed Grant and circled his waist.
“Whoa!” he said, reaching for my hands to peel me off of him. Then, he seemed to realize who I was. “Ari? Oh my fucking God! What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to surprise you! I couldn’t wait for you to get home.”
“This is the best fucking surprise.”
His lips were on mine, and suddenly, the world dropped off. My head tilted back, my eyes closed, and I let Grant sweep me away.
“How did you get here?” he murmured against my lips.
“The girls drove down with me.” I pointed to them standing off to the side.
Cheyenne was somehow already flirting with Trevor, which didn’t surprise me. He was absolutely her type. Gabi and Shelby were standing together, whispering. They both looked uncertain about how to move forward now that they were here.
“Can’t believe you got them all to come with you.”
“Is that Cheyenne?” Vin asked.
I gave him a once-over. “You don’t stand a chance.”
“I’ve already been in that, babe. No one else is going to fucking tap that.”
“Sure.”
Vin glared at me and marched straight over to Cheyenne. I had a feeling they’d be sleeping together before they even left the building. Cheyenne was nonchalant about her relationship with Vin, but I knew she liked him despite how much of an asshole he was. She’d kept claiming that he was different with her, but by the way they were arguing already, I wasn’t sure I believed her.
“Well, that was easier than I’d thought,” I said.
“You planned to piss him off to get him and Cheyenne together?”
“They like angry sex. Trust me. I hear all about it.” I cringed. “Seriously, I can’t unhear these things.”
“Try living with him.”
“No, thanks.”
Miller and McAvoy walked in at that moment.
“Ari,” McAvoy said, giving me the nod.
“What’s up?” Miller said. “Didn’t know you’d be here.”
“Last-minute decision, and I brought you boys presents—kind of.”
They looked at Grant in confusion.
“Gabi and Shelby are here, too.”
Miller’s smile grew, but McAvoy paled.
“Fuck!” he mumbled.
“You should probably talk to Amanda,” Miller said softly.
I recoiled at the name of the girl he had been sleeping with when I was in Boston. Was that girl still around? Gabi would self-destruct if she found out.
“Too late,” McAvoy said.
The girl sauntered across the room, heading straight toward us. McAvoy ran a hand back through his longish hair. He seriously looked torn-up about what was about to go down, but I felt no sympathy for him. He’d broken Gabi’s heart, so he could fuck chicks on tour, and now, he was.
As soon as she reached us, he grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. I could see Gabi assessing what was going on.
“That’s not good,” I said.
“No,” Grant agreed.
Everything happened so quickly.
The Amanda girl yelled at him. All I caught was, “Motherfucker,” before she clawed her fingernails down his cheek to the point of drawing blood. She kicked and hit him so suddenly that all McAvoy did was stand there and took her crazy.
Security appeared a few seconds too late and hauled her, kicking and screaming, out of the venue. Gabi rushed over, concerned, and after she helped to stop the bleeding, the two of them disappeared.