The Bad Boys of Summer Anthology(243)

“What’s going on today?” I asked as Ben faced forward and Marco put the car in drive.

“The boys have a show tonight and Monday night.” He sighed as the tires of the truck hit the main road. “Besides tomorrow, Sunday, and Tuesday, their weekend in Orlando is booked.”

“Oh.” I nodded.

“Yeah. There’s supposed to be a huge turnout tonight. I had to make sure I told the drivers to get the boys there on time and make sure Deed P. is there on time as well. I still haven’t figured out what the hell held him up during the last show. It almost cost us a good penny.”

I stared at Ben’s back before looking out my window. I had to remain quiet about Deed. I didn’t know what happened to him either, but it had to be something serious if he was left with a black eye.

Marco pulled up to Cracker Barrel and I hopped out quickly. Turning back, I saw the band hopping out of their truck as well, but they had to be escorted to the door by a few security guards when a cluster of squealing girls rushed for them. It had to suck for the boys. They couldn’t even go out and eat comfortably without fans hounding them.

As soon as we were inside, the woman behind the counter gave us a table immediately. Of course, she got the boys to autograph a few things for her in return, but they thought nothing of it. Ben asked for an entire section alone so people wouldn’t purposely walk by our table just to get close to FireNine. Being with the band made me realize how people would do anything for an autograph. Even the employees stepped out of their way to get a few things signed.

Unfortunately, I had to sit between Ben and Gage. It kind of bothered me that Gage was sitting so close, and even when I slid his chair away from me with my foot, he always managed to get close again.

Cal sat across from Ben, engrossed in a topic about the magazine and how he was going to write the article about the band. He was really excited about his job. I couldn’t wait to be like him one day—excited to work. Most people are miserable when they think of work. I didn’t want to be like that. I wanted to be eager for my next day on the job.

Our food arrived and I drenched my French toast with syrup. Gage chuckled from my side and I looked up to meet his eyes. “You’re like me,” he noted, pointing at his plate with his fork. “You love syrup.”

“I do love syrup.” I cut my toast into pieces and began to eat, but it was kind of nerve-wracking to have Gage so damn close to me. His heavy arm always brushed against mine when he would cut his pancake or when he took a sip of his orange juice. He was so close I could smell his body wash hidden beneath the sheen of spicy cologne. It wasn’t too strong for me so I dealt with it, but I had to get his chair to move again.

Placing the tip of my sandal against the leg, I pushed his chair forward slowly but kept my gaze on my French toast. I grabbed my drink and Gage laughed silently, his shoulders shaking as he placed his elbows on the table. “Don’t you like being close to me, Ellie?” he asked, almost in a whisper.

My stomach rolled. I couldn’t understand how it was possible to feel so pleasured by someone’s voice. Gage’s voice was so damn sexy that I couldn’t deny it, no matter how much I despised the way he was.

“You’re just really close,” I murmured.

“You don’t like when I’m close to you?”

“No.”

He chuckled silently again before looking around at each person busy chatting over their breakfast. He then slid his chair in closer and my heart paused on the next beat as he placed his hand on my thigh beneath the table. He and I both knew if I were to jolt I would bang my knee against the table and draw attention, so I kept perfectly still.

His fingers moved up until they were completely between my legs. It was a gesture he’d pulled once before, but I couldn’t remember much of it from last time. This time, it was as clear as day.

His fingers were warm, the palm of his hand soft as it caressed my skin. My breath kept hitching and I was glad everyone was talking because otherwise, I would’ve been making a fool of myself.

“It’s funny how you seem to hate me so much, yet your body is reacting so positively to my touch,” Gage whispered in my ear. “Maybe you do like when I’m close to you.” My legs clenched around his hand and he chuckled softly so only I could hear. “There are so many things I could do to you, Ellie, if only you’d let me.”

His hand recoiled and I was partially relieved, partially upset. Relieved because that was too close to me reaching a damn orgasm and upset because I kind of liked his hands on me, his fingers moving up and down my leg. Unlike the club where he had his hands on me briefly, this moment seemed longer. It was weird how no one noticed how close he was to me, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he would have definitely finger-fucked me if he would’ve kept his hand down there a little longer.

“Liza?” Ben called.

“Hmm?” I answered quickly.

He looked down at me, his eyes narrowing as I placed my hands on my thighs. I could feel my cheeks burning with blood and heat, but I kept my eyes on him. “Cal said he’s looking for an artist to draw something for him for his article. It sounds like something you’d be interested in,” he said, gesturing to Cal.

“Oh.” I gulped, looking from Ben to Cal. “What would it be?”

“Oh, just some minor drawings. When writing an article for It’s Real magazine, we get to decorate our pages ourselves, but it has to match the topic. Since my article will be based on the band and music, I’d gather a ton of drawings of guitars, microphones, creative music notes… maybe even cartoon characters that are singing. I’d make it spiffy, fun.” He smiled.

I nodded. “I can help with that.”

Cal winked. “That’d be great, Eliza.” He and Ben started talking about a bunch of junk I didn’t really care about again, and I sighed heavily, reaching for my glass of apple juice to kill the fire that still seemed to be burning inside of me… because of Gage Grendel.

I dared a look at him and his fingers were folded on top of the table. He was leaning his back against his seat, a smirk on his lips, staring ahead. I wasn’t sure what at, but as I looked up, I figured it out.

A girl with blond hair, a tight miniskirt, and a purple belly shirt stood at the entrance, staring directly at Gage. She batted her eyelashes at him a few times and then winked as she stepped around the corner to get to the restrooms. Was that her gesture to get him to come after her?

What surprised me most was that it worked because, clearing his throat, Gage pushed from the table and slid in his chair. No one else seemed to notice he was walking toward the restrooms but me, and that’s only because the stunt he pulled was really ignorant and disgusting.

I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t stand how he could make me catch on fire one second, but then right after he’d find someone else to give his attention. It confused me and I was pissed I felt anything toward him. I didn’t want to feel anything because feelings hurt. I had to shut off my damn emotions and continue acting like I didn’t care. I knew he was only going to continue.

Gage disappeared around the corner and didn’t return for a whole fifteen minutes. No one at the table happened to notice he hadn’t come back yet… no one but me, anyway. I knew what he was doing in the restrooms, most likely in a stall with the blond whore he knew nothing about. How could he just do that to himself? What if she carried a disease? I knew he was low, but I didn’t think he would go as low as having sex with a completely random girl.

Everyone finished up their meals and as soon as we all stood and pushed in our chairs, out came Gage fixing his red T-shirt and jeans. His hair was mussed, way messier than just a few minutes ago, and he looked worn, as if he’d just worked out. Gage saw us getting ready to leave so he headed for the exit. As I stepped past the restrooms, the random blond whore was stepping out, applying lip-gloss to her lips curved into a satisfied smile. Un-fucking-believable.

“Oh shit!” Montana yelled from the knick-knack area. I turned to see him holding up a large Tootsie Roll pop. He pretended to lick it and I laughed as I stepped in, forgetting all about Gage and his gross bathroom scandal.

“Can I get a picture of you with that?” I asked.

“Anything for you, Miss Eliza.” He winked. I lifted my camera off of my chest and he posed, holding the Tootsie pop against him, as if he were a kid. I giggled as I snapped two and then pulled the camera from my eye.

“So, Eliza…” Montana sighed, putting down the lollipop. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

I shook my head quickly. “No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I’m really picky, I guess. He has to be worth dating.”

Montana snorted a laugh before picking up a hand-sized water gun. “So, in other words, you’re waiting on a guy you know you’ll want to marry. You’re that kind of chick? Old-fashioned?”

I blinked quickly because he was right on… sort of. “Kind of.” I lied. The truth was yes, but it was way too early for me to be thinking about marriage, which was why I was taking my time on dating. There was no rush. I had plenty of time.