Page 19 of The Devil's Tattoo
“Hell, no.” Dean nudged me toward the bar. “Go and party a little. You earned ittonight.”
Instantly, I was accosted by a couple of guys who began to tell me how much they loved the gig and how much they liked ‘Walls.’ I shied away a little, but they weren’t over the top about it, and it made me feel a little warm inside knowing something I wrote spoke to them. I was nervous enough that I looked around while I listened politely, and I couldn’t help but curl my lip up in disgust when I caught sight of Will Strickland in fullmanwhoremode.
He was leaning against the bar, talking to a pretty girl who was tall and willowy with long brown hair and was wearing short shorts with boots and a tiny little cut-up T-shirt. The kind of pretty I wasn’t. He was standing too close, and even though the music wasn’t very loud, he leaned in to hear everything she was saying like it was an excuse to press into her and feel her tits against his chest. When his hand settled on her hip, I bit back an annoyed hiss working its way up my trachea along with a pile ofvomit.
Why the hell should I be jealous? I was nothing like this girl, and I was obviously not Will’s type at all. Not even close. But something had snapped inside me, and this crush I had on him obviously ran deeper than I’dthought.
I’d only spoken a handful of words with him, and this was my reaction? I was going mad, and it was only daybloodyone.
Dee sidled up to me as the guys I was speaking with moved off. He saw the look of rage plastered on my face and glanced over to where I was firing death glares, and he patted me on theshoulder.
“You know,” he said. “At first, I thought they asked for us becauseofyou.”
My heart twisted. “Theydidn’t.”
“Looking at that”—he nodded toward Will—”I reckon I was wrong. They want to ride on ourpopularity.”
“Dee.”
“Player,” he drawled, and I knew he was a littledrunk.
I took his drink away and said, “We’ve gotta get up early tomorrow for the airport, and I’m not going to nurse your hangover or yourattitude.”
“Zoe, don’t becranky.”
“You created this monster, so I’ll do what I want,thanks.”
“Frankenstein,” he mumbled and pulled me in forahug.
“Frankenstein was the doctor. I assume you’re calling me amonster?”
He slumped against me and rolled his eyes. “You’re hurting my head,ZoZo.”
“So if I’m Frankenstein’s monster, who does thatmakeyou?”
“God.”
“If you’re going to smite someone,God, smite WillStrickland.”
Dee waved his hands around, and if I weren’t so annoyed, it would have been comical. “Sorry,” he said. “All smiteded out. Is that evenaword?”
“When you’re ready,God, let’s find Frank and Chris and blow thisjoint.”
“And Simone,” he drawled. “She’s staying atFrank’s,too.”
I glanced back at the bar, and this time, Will caught my eye. He was still wrapped up with the girl, so before I had to acknowledge him, I turned away, my expression cold. Not wanting to stay inside a moment longer, I walked straight out and up the stairs to the streetoutside.
I couldn’t deal with another broken heart, and a guy like Will would smash it without even trying. I wasn’t sure I had one left to break,anyway.
Deep, deep down, I hoped I didn’t get stuck sitting next to him on the plane or anywhere else. Operation ‘Get Over that Stupid Crush on Will’ was in full swing, and I didn’t intend to stop until this whole embarrassing thing was not even a blip on myradar.
