Page 7 of Revelry

“No, the last thing you need right now is another red-headed bitch clouding your judgment. What were you thinking?” Deb demands.

“I don’t know, Deb; that she was hot and on her knees in front of me. I wasn’t thinking much past the point where all the blood rushed to my cock.”

I clear my throat and everyone turns to look at me. Zed lounges on the couch banging his fists on his chest in time with Ash’s bass and the guide track behind it, the sound engineer glances up from his porn mag, and Deb and Cooper stare at me with the wide-eyed gazes of a couple of kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Deb recovers first. In fact, her turnaround is really very impressive. She looks like she’d make a hell of an enemy. Which, judging by the look on her face, I’m about to experience firsthand.

“Oh look, Coop, it’s yourotherassistant.” Her perfectly painted red lips turn up in a vicious smile and then she stalks towards the door. “If you’re going to fuck this one, big brother, make sure to double bag it.”

He gives her an impatient smile, the kind only shared between people who’ve shared a childhood, and probably know where your most embarrassing photos are stored. Debbie leaves the room and Cooper turns his steely gaze on me.

“I bought coffee, though I didn’t know what kind you liked.” I screw my nose up under his scrutiny. Is he looking for something? Do I have something on my face, or does he always stare at women as if he wants to write songs about their eyes? “Oh, and you should probably know I’m not going to have sex with you. I’d rather choke down this Styrofoam cup.”

Zed quits banging his palms on his chest, long enough to smile at me. It’s kinda creepy when he does that. He’s all tattoos, and platinum hair, piercings and manic excitement, but he looks like a little kid when he smiles. It’s weird, given how many women want to screw him silly.

I glance back at Cooper. He laughs. At first it’s just an incredulous grunt, and then it turns into an all-out, chest-heaving, stomach-clenching laugh.I don’t know what the hell is so funny. All I really want to do is just back away from the crazy rock stars and run like hell. But, I need this job, so of course I don’t. I just wait for him to take his coffee from my outstretched hand. When it looks like he’s not going to, I set the cardboard carrier down on the table along with the paperwork from Harbour Records.

“Is that our paperwork?” Cooper asks.

“Yep.”

“Zed, you wanna go get Levi to take a look at this?”

“Au contraire, he’s busy with ze busty blonde that goes by ze name of Marie,” he says in a French accent.He’s so fucking weird.

“Please?” Cooper asks and gives him a not-so-subtle head jerk toward the door.

“Oh, you wanna talk to Red alone, huh?” Zed rises to his feet. He’s absolutely huge this close up. I don’t know how I failed to notice that earlier. “I get it, just, you know, if you’re gonna fuck her silly sideways make sure you—“

“Out!” Cooper shouts, and Zed sniggers as he backs out the door.

“Look, if you’re gonna be working for us, you should know that the guys are kind of idiots,” Cooper says, folding his arms across his chest as he leans against the wall.

I mirror his posture, but I’m not leaning against anything these men have touched because … ick. Levi has more than likely already had a girl on every square inch of flat surface this studio can boast. “I already gathered that, but thanks for the heads up.”

“I know you don’t wanna be here.”

I roll my eyes.Really? Whatever gave him that idea?

He frowns, his blue-grey gaze searching my face. “Would you say something please?”

“What exactly should I say?”

“Fucked if I know. Say something about the music. About how the coffee shop was a bitch fight. About how much you don’t want to be here.”

“I don’t really see how telling you any of that stuff helps me escape this nightmare, but you want words? Fine. Ash just hit a bum note. In fact, in the five minutes that I’ve spent in this room, he’s hit about three of them. Which the sound engineer would know if he was paying attention and didn’t have his head stuck in a porn mag.” I turn and give the guy a pointed look. He stows the magazine under the table with a sheepish grin thrown Coop’s way.

“Still want more words?”

Coop smiles. “Yeah. Actually, I kinda do.”

“Okay then, Zed’s drumming makes me want to take my clothes off. He’s a genius, rivalled only by Moon, but I doubt we’ll ever see his full potential because despite what he thinks, the drugs actually impair his mojo. Your voice is okay, mediocre at best, but it’s your looks that really carry you as a front man. I’m still trying to work out what it is exactly that Levi does other than bang groupies and receptionists. And I don’t really know how I wound up being the unlucky son-of-a-bitch that gets to follow you jackarses around when there are at least forty other women at Harbour Records that would give their ovaries for the honour.” I take a deep gulping breath and blow it out slowly. “And, it’s highly possible the bitch at the coffee shop spat in one of the lattés.”

“Why would she spit in our lattés?”

“Because I’m really unpleasant when I want to be.”

“No shit.” He laughs, and my stomach does this horrid flippy thing, while my traitorous vagina practically rolls out the welcome mat.

Fucking rock stars.

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