Page 12 of Reflex
“Time and a place, man,” he muttered.“Time and a place, and this ain’t it.”
“Ash?”Xane prompted, giving their lead guitarist a nod.“Think you can work some Gore magic?”
“You betcha.”One mega-watt smile plastered across his silly mug, Ash headed outside.Fearless?Stupid?Spook wasn’t sure which it was, but he was grateful for it.He watched Ash take off at a right angle to the building, away from the waiting car.
“I’m going to lend some muscle,” Paul announced, shuffling free of Graham’s guardianship to go after Ash.
“If it works, we’ll pick you up around the corner,” Xane called after him.
If…
As if there was any doubt.
Spook watched uneasily through the tinted glass.Sure enough, the first few fans, having caught sight of Ash, were now peeling away from the waiting limousine, which in turn was alerting others to the fact a band member had been spotted.When they saw Rock Giant jogging to catch up to Ash, a general stampede erupted.That was right when Xane pushed Spook onto the street, and they ran the three yards necessary to tumble into the waiting vehicle.
Xane slammed the door behind them.The noise turned a couple of heads back in their direction, but with Ash and Paul on the street, no one was interested in pressing their noses to the smoky glass to find out who was in the car.
The opposite side door opened a moment later and Ginny followed them inside, shadowed by Dani and then Luthor.
“I swear all I have to do is stick a woolly hat on, and no one knows who the fuck I am,” the latter bemoaned.He threw a look in their direction and a subtle furrow appeared between his brows.It vanished almost instantly, when Dani slapped him across the arse.They both settled together on the back seat.
“You’re the man who’s shagging Xane Geist,” she counselled, “You’ve got to expect some resentment.It’s not that they don’t recognise you, Luthor.They’re just super mad at you for stealing him, and that’s mostly the ‘girlies’.The guy-fans have been totally supportive of you.”
Luthor raised his hands.“Yeah, well I’m not apologising for my relationship.”
“No one is saying you have to.You just need to accept that it screws with their fantasies of banging him.At least you don’t get hissed at.You’re still hot, even if you’re a drummer, and they still get to imagine being in the centre of a Xane-Luthor sandwich.I’m the bitch who has it all, and deserves blasting into smithereens.”
Dani had certainly come a long way in the last year from the insecure woman Xane had installed on their tour bus as the price of his return to the band.Looking around, maybe she wasn’t the only one who’d grown.
“Hot, despite being a drummer,” Luthor moaned indignantly.
“You know perfectly well that’s not how I intended it.Tell him, Xane.”
“It could be worse,” Xane said distractedly.“You could be the bass player.”
“I kind of like those at the moment,” Spook muttered.Rock Giant had saved his arse.
Unfortunately, speaking had the effect of fixating everyone’s attention back on him, and they were all looking at him as if he were made of finely drawn glass.He was not about to fracture because some nob-end had knocked him about a bit.
Xane subtly moved his hand so that it lay over the top of Spook’s on the leather seat between them.The touch was appreciated, though unnecessary.For fuck’s sake, he was fine.
“Get out of that,” Xane said a moment later, initially confusing Spook, until his friend nodded down at the blood-splattered remains of Spook’s T-shirt.It was only on looking down at himself that Spook realised how badly he was shaking.He couldn’t make it stop, either.Upper arms, shoulders, even his flippin’ legs were jigging up and down like he was perched on top of a washing machine.No wonder they were all squinting at him.They probably figured he was in shock or something.
“It’s cold,” he rasped.
“Have this.I’m stifling.”Xane took off his own silk shirt and handed it over.“I’m good with just my jacket.”
Spook nodded, accepting the offering, though he couldn’t make his fingers work well enough to fasten the damn squirrelly little buttons.Mind, it did give him a hit of pleasure to fling the ruins of his T-shirt on the floor.
“Here.”Ginny leaned in and slid the shirt buttons for him.“That colour suits you.”The shirt was the darkest of reds, practically black except for when the light hit it a certain way.He liked that she didn’t try to crowd him and sat back the moment she was done.
“That’s better,” he said.“It was a bit nippy.”
He didn’t think any of them bought that the shakes were down to being cold.
The driver pulled off, stopping around the corner so that Ash and Paul could extract themselves from the fan base, and get in.The crowd even let them.Gore magic, like Xane said.Ash had always been able to work a crowd.
Ginny gave a humph on seeing him.One side of Ash’s face was covered in lipstick prints, and a pair of panties sat tucked into the top pocket of his jacket.
“Public service,” he mumbled, when Ginny shot him a death glare.The lingerie subsequently went out of the window.
Spook passed the rest of the drive in silence.He tuned out of the conversation, right after he claimed a drink from the mini-bar.A second would be sliding down his throat just as soon as they arrived at this gathering, because while alcohol didn’t precisely stop the snakes from slithering over his skin, it did deaden the sensation.
