Page 16 of Hard Rock Desires
“You really know how to wound a guy, Grace.” Zain shook his head and chuckled. “All the other women fall over themselves when I take off my shirt.”
I turned my head to take a sip of water, trying to hide my blush, because I’d been one of them. Zain was toned as hell, and that six-pack was enough to send me, and the rest of the fans, swooning.
But there was no reason why he had to know that little fact.
“Shots!” the bassist, Finn, yelled out. He held a full bottle of vodka in one hand and a bottle of dark rum in the other. “Who’s in?” he asked, rattling them.
Everyone cheered. More than half the people gathered toward the middle of the room, pulling up chairs around the large coffee table. Someone had procured dozens of shot glasses, and Finn was busy pouring a round for each person, including Lisa, who was sitting quite close to the other guitarist, Chris.
“Hey, cutie in the corner!” Finn called out to me. “Come join us!”
My stomach sank to my knees. I’d thought all the beer flowing was enough to make my stomach roil. Now they’d broken out the hard liquor. I knew the smell would permeate the lounge room we were all partying in.
A miserable sort of envy set in. Everyone else was chatting, flirting, and laughing with each other, while I sat here on the outskirts with my water. Why couldn’t I just be like everyone else? Why couldn’t I just let loose and have fun?
But, really, I knew exactly why.
The questions turned into a different sort. Why was I even here? Why had I stayed? Why wasn’t I already safe at home in bed?
“Hey.” Zain tweaked on a strand of my hair. “You don’t have to drink if you don’t want to.”
There were a dozen unasked questions on his concerned face. Usually when I turned down alcohol people assumed it was against my beliefs, or that maybe I was recovering from a drinking problem. I never bothered to correct them either way.
But Zain didn’t assume, and he didn’t ask. He was perfectly fine accepting a simple ‘I’m not much of a drinker’without probing further. It was refreshing.
“You should go over there and be with your friends,” I told him. “You don’t have to sit here in the corner with me.”
“I can drink with them anytime,” he dismissed. “It’s not often I meet someone who isn’t immediately impressed by me.”
I laughed, despite myself.
“So I’m a challenge, is that what you’re saying?” I asked.
“I have to admit, it’s kind of nice to have someone call me out on my bullshit.” He leaned back in his chair and stretched his long legs out. “It’s refreshing.”
How interesting that it was the exact same thing I’d been thinking about him.
“I’ve got a lot of things I can call you out for.” Gloating about his womanizing ways and bragging about his good looks, to name a few. “Want me to start a list?”
“No thanks,” he said. “My ego’s already taken enough blows from you today.”
“Somehow, I think your ego is still perfectly intact.”
“You’ve made a few dents.”
I took another sip of my water. It hadn’t really been my intention, acting so uncharitable towards him all night, but the guy really could stand to be taken down a few pegs. Still, I didn’t want him to have a bad impression of me.
“I can see why your band is as popular as it is,” I said. “Until We Break puts on a great show. You’ve all got great chemistry on stage. I suppose it comes from knowing each other for so long and from being such good friends.”
“We’re a family.” Zain lips twitched downward, almost a frown. He glanced over to where the group of them were doing shots. “That’s how I feel, at least.”
It was an odd thing to say. I followed his gaze to where the keyboardist was sitting on the sofa. Next to him was the girl drummer, the youngest. I thought about his words, the exact phrasing.
“Do you think the others don’t feel that way?” I asked.
Zain shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable.
“That’s not really what I meant,” he said. “It’s just, things have been different lately. Ever since we got signed. I don’t know.” He leaned back in his chair and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I guess it’s stupid of me to expect everything to stay the same. People grow. Priorities change. Sometimes people no longer want the same things. Sometimes people move on.”
