Page 122 of Deeper

Zander opened his mouth and froze, his dark eyes staring right past his sister.

I followed the direction he was staring and a shiver went down my spine.

Teddy Sykes was crashing the party. Dripping in black, he had on a black blazer, silk V-neck black top, and black pants to match. His silk shirt was unbuttoned, a glimpse of his tanned flesh underneath on display. An assortment of thick banded rings were on his two hands, one on his left hand’s thumb, and two on his right hand, his ring finger and pinky. His hair was up in a bun. He was the epitome of a rock star.

“Fuck,” I heard Zander mumble underneath his breath.

There were four more chairs left at our table, they wouldn’t have…

“If you knock his teeth out, do it quick and run,” Paul advised.

Nazanin drove her elbow into his side. “Paul!”

He shrugged. “Or make it look like an accident. I don’t know.”

“Ay,Tedday!”

Peyton Hearst shouted a greeting towards Teddy just as his gaze landed on Zander. This time, there was no smirk, only an empty expression as the tall muscular singer simply went over to Peyton. I was only partly surprised Peyton had saved Teddy a seat, even though he’d ended things badly with Piper. Peyton seemed to still like Teddy. I’d skimmed past countless blogs and reports that the two Hearst twins were always feuding. I wouldn’t have put it past Peyton to have invited Teddy just to get back at his sister.

Zander grabbed the pitcher of water that was sitting on the table and was quick to pour himself a glass.

“Jo! Hey!”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Not to be outdone, Piper Hearst caught Jolie as she was entering the tent and escorted her to the table where her brother and Teddy were sitting. Teddy’s eyes ran up Jolie’s long legs as he took her in and admired her. The pretty blonde was casual in her gray romper set and wedge heels. Her hair was curled and pinned to the side, and she was glowing from some recent time under the sun. She shook hands with Teddy before taking a seat next to Piper.

“Jesus,” I heard Paul sigh. “I’m going to need a couple of shots to make it through tonight.”

He wasn’t the only one.

Zander drank his water and managed to actually laugh. “I’m the one supposed to be sweating bullets, yeah? So, if I’m calm and relaxed,youshould be even more so.”

“You’re calm and relaxed?” Paul challenged.

Zander shrugged, not even glancing in the direction of his enemies. “I’ve got my manager, my sister, and my girl with me, why should I be anxious? I’m not performing, and we’re just here to eat and meet people. You wanna find Remy now and…?”

Paul let it go as he sat back in his chair. “I mean, it, Zan, be on your shit.”

Zander held his hands up, flashing a smile. “I am on my shit.” He turned and faced me. “Are you good?”

Now that I in fact was in the midst of three of the four horsemen of the apocalypse: Nazanin, Teddy, and Jolie? “Never better.”

Zander went to his sister. “You good?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m great.”

“Then we’re all good.”

It was settled, and not too long later they began ushering people from tent A to go and start making their plates. I hung close to Zander, in case Teddy tried something petty and in case Jolie further wanted to make it clear that she was single. Being that our table was near the back of the tent, thankfully, their table was already through the maze of food by the time we got to the catering tables.

Zander and Nazanin didn’t eat pork, so they opted for the grilled chicken pieces. I wasn’t the biggest red meat eater, but I also wasn’t a fan of ribs all like that, so I didn’t mind following in Zander’s lead in getting the chicken. Watching Paul opt for a steak brightened my mood, because somehow, even if I hardly knew him, it was so him.

“What?” he asked as he noticed my staring. “You can get steak at any restaurant in LA, but this, this right here, Bia, is a Dymond steak.”

I chuckled as we went back to our seats. “Hope you don’t chip your tooth.”

Two other couples were seated at our table, new artists in the pop genre and the other in the hip-hop genre. Zander was polite to them and even laughed as the girl dating the upcoming pop star gushed about how much of a big fan she was of So What.

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