The girls gasped. I took another look at them and wondered why they were acting all offended. Vin was probably right. I could do better, but I’d been heading toward something pretty nice.
Oh well. Later perhaps. I nodded my head at Vin. “Truth.”
“Pig,” Kimberly grumbled, standing swiftly. She grabbed Kristin’s hand, flipped me off, and dragged her away.
I bet they’d still f**k me if I asked.
“Sorry to cockblock, but I totally just drugged some chick,” Vin said, smiling like a total dope while crossing his arms over his chest.
“You just did what?” I furrowed my brow. “What the f**k did you do that for?”
“So, look, I know this chick Cheyenne. She follows us around when we tour, and she brought her f**king hot roommates with her tonight. I picked one out, but she turned me down flat.”
My eyebrows shot up. I loved pu**y as much as the next guy, but even I could admit that Vin was a good-looking guy. He had the Italian guido look going for him—tan skin, shaved head, and built like a tank.
“You finally meet a chick who says no, and your response is to slip something into her drink? What the f**k is wrong with you? You don’t drug girls to get them to have sex with you. You move on to the next one. Seriously, Vin, you’re the f**king scum of the earth.”
“Yeah, bro. Are you just figuring this shit out?”
Vin cracked up, laughing at himself, and all I could do was shake my head at my bandmate’s insanity.
“You’re a f**king imbecile, Vin.”
He shrugged like he didn’t f**king care, but this was low, even for him. Although he couldn’t get any girl he wanted like I could, it just seemed unnecessary. Not to mention, adding date rape to his record sounded pretty shitty.
“Just take a look at this chick though, man.”
“All right, show me which piece of ass turned down my man.”
Vin pointed out a small blonde chick standing against a column surrounded by a few other girls, nursing a pint of beer. She looked completely out of place but coherent. I watched as she buttoned and unbuttoned the top of her cardigan. She didn’t seem to be showing any side effects I would assume she’d have if Vin had really drugged her. Actually, she just appeared really uptight and vigilant. She looked like a cork, and I wanted to be the corkscrew—uncap that pressure and help her explode.
“No wonder she turned you down. The girl has a boyfriend,” I told him automatically.
“She could be a closet nymph, and I bring out her inner sex kitten,” Vin said, raising an eyebrow.
“No way. Boyfriend. I’ll find out how serious it is.” I winked at Vin and then started walking over toward the girl.
“Bro!”
I turned back around with my signature smirk already fastened into place. I was ready to go in for the kill.
“You actually going to give her to me, man?” Vin asked, concerned.
“Sure. After I’m done with her.”
I heard Vin cussing me out, but I tuned him out as I was striding toward the blonde. Vin wouldn’t mind sloppy seconds. Plus, no one kept me interested very long anyway.
Chapter 4: Aribel
“Grant McDermott is walking over here,” Cheyenne whispered. “Grant McDermott is walking over here!” She grabbed Shelby’s arm and started bouncing up and down. Her curly red hair flounced all around her. She was tall, confident, and outgoing with a killer body to boot.
Gabi paced a little. Her blonde pixie cut was as unruly as ever. She was generally quiet and had a bit of an up-in-the-clouds personality, but I still loved her. “Oh my God, he’s so gorgeous.”
“I just can’t believe it.” Shelby swished her brown hair over her shoulder. “He looks even better up close.”
“Do I have to be the one to ask?” I messed with the button on my cardigan. “Who is Grant McDermott?”
All three girls turned and stared at me at once. Yeah, I guess I’m that person.
“What planet do you live on?” Cheyenne asked. “I mean, I know Benjamin just broke up with you, but I can’t believe it addled your brain that much.”
“Aw, that’s cute, Cheyenne. You think my brain is addled.” I let my dark blue eyes grow wide as I tried to play the innocent act through my sarcasm.
“Don’t even start with me,” Cheyenne snapped.
“All right. It doesn’t matter,” Shelby said, jumping between Cheyenne and me.
“Didn’t you watch the show, Aribel?” Gabi asked.
“Um…kind of?”
Okay…I hadn’t really been paying attention. I’d had no interest in attending the concert in the first place, so I’d been going over the calculus lecture from yesterday in my head while I sipped on my beer. This just wasn’t me. I preferred quiet places, like libraries, classrooms, and the privacy of my own room. Plus, the beer was disgusting. I’d just been staring at my new pint since that creepy guy had put something in it after I refused to suck his dick—his choice of words, not mine.
“Grant McDermott is the lead singer of ContraBand,” Cheyenne filled me in with an eye roll. “He’s practically the whole reason we show up. I can just see his fingers playing across that guitar and imagine what they would do to my body.”
I held up my hand. “TMI, Cheyenne.”
“And he’s walking over here,” Gabi whispered, unnecessarily pointing him out.
I took a good, long look at Grant McDermott. He swaggered more than walked over to us with his dark-wash jeans hanging low, hugging him perfectly. Tattoos peeked out of his charcoal gray T-shirt, and dog tags hung loose from his neck. He was muscular but lean. His hair was long in the front, but it was shaved short on the sides, and looked purposely messy. His smirk was cocky and his eyes inviting.
His entire appeal from the clothes to his demeanor was contrived. Looking at my friends obsessing over him, I was pretty sure they were too far lost in a Grant McDermott haze to see through the playboy attitude.
Grant walked right through a crowd of women clamoring for his attention and straight toward me. I just stared at him with furrowed brows. He smirked when he saw that he’d caught my attention. I almost looked away, but his attention only infuriated me. I tilted my chin up and held my ground. What the hell did he want?
“Hey, Grant,” Shelby said when he finally stopped in front of us.
He nodded in Shelby’s direction, but his eyes were fixed on me. “What’s your name, darlin’?”