Page 8 of Jace 4Ever
“Try me.”
“So,Noah shoved the condom and a five dollar bill in his hand and told him to find someone else to fuck over.”
Nelson was lost in laughter, and I’d had to stop on some of Noah’s stories so I could regain my composure. Eventually, we both managed to stop laughing, and he took a sip of his drink.
“I really feel for Noah. The poor guy can’t get out of the way.”
“We all watch out for him and let him know we only laugh because it’s funny, not that he’s the source of it. He gets it.”
Running his thumb over the back of my hand, he grinned. “So, you’ve really found a super supportive group here.”
“We all watch out for each other.” I nodded. “We have some odd balls who only show up once in a while, like Smoke. But once you make a friend of one of us, we’re kind of a package deal. Which is why most of us are going back to Austin’s tonight.”
“I could, ostensibly, hang with any of your friends, now that we’re friends.” Nelson raised an eyebrow.
“You could,” I said. “But you’re Nelson Powers and they would have hung out with you anyway.”
Chuckling, he laced our fingers together. “I just want them to know, without question, that there’s no one else in your group that I’m interested in.”
Swallowing, I stared at our hands. This man was really, honestly, actually interested in me. He had spent two hours just listening to me talk about Noah and my other friends. He didn’t try to take me away from my friends’ important party, and he didn’t make me interact with people I wasn’t interested in.
We’d gone down to the bar at least twice, and a different set of friends was there each time. Noah’s smirk was tight and full ofyou go, girl!, while his twin Uriah, Chase, and Marcus were just staring open-mouthed. The second time, Vincent, Parker, Caspian, and Drew were staring at us. Vin and Parker were all unsubtle thumbs-up. Caspian just stared. Drew and Nelson had some kind of weird interplay, like they knew each other but one of them didn’t want the others to know.
I wrote it off in favor of the cocktails Parker bought us.
“Could you be friends with them?” I asked.
“Hell yes.” His grin was blinding. “I liked the way they didn’t freak out about me. Well, they did, but then just wentnormal.”
I chuckled. “We got so used to having Maddox around and his growing fame we didn’t realize it was a problem at all until we were mobbed at the park one day. We all went out to hang out on a nice day and Iswearit was like a scene out ofHard Day’s Night. Including Maddox running away like a cartoon character.”
Nelson was laughing hard. “I can see him doing that!”
“Hey, Romeo!”
Nelson and I turned and peered over the edge of the balcony to where Noah and Uriah were standing and laughing. Noah elbowed his twin. “I told you they’d both look.”
Nelson lifted his middle finger to them.
“Come on, you can woo him on Austin’s balcony,” Noah said.
“Austin doesn’t have a balcony.” Uriah’s face turned puzzled.
“Uri, really? I’m trying to be a smart-ass here, and you’re all sullen and serious? You need another drink!” He turned to head back to the bar.
Uriah snagged his arm. “You’ve had so much I’m getting drunk through the twin link. Stop.” He looked back up at us. “Come on. The limos are here and we’re going to Austin’s to crash.”
“Drink!” Noah yelled.
“So not only does bad luck follow the man around, he’s a funny drunk.” Nelson stood and offered me his hand. “Come on. Let’s go get a ride.”
I put my hand in his and he hauled me out of the chair. I thought he would let go—but he didn’t. He laced our fingers together and walked us down the stairs.
At the door, waiting, were all of Up Down Left Right and all of Robot Servant, as well as Noah, Uriah, Marcus, Chase, Angela, and Hailey. We had two limos, and while the rock stars piled into one, the rest of us climbed into the other, and at the last minute, Bryce ran back to our limo.
Well, staggered drunkenly.
“There. Even numbers now.” He crushed himself against Hailey. She gave him a stink face, and I knew they were going to end up together.
