The Bad Boys of Summer Anthology(248)

“I just… I’d rather have something better on,” I murmured.

“Oh, great.” Deed threw his hands in the air. I was sure his eyes rolled along with it.

“Deed, cut her some fucking slack.” Montana frowned at him. “The fuck is your problem anyway?”

“She’s my fucking problem!” he barked. I flinched, blinking rapidly. “She’s not even supposed to be with the band. If she doesn’t know what we do after shows or even how to dress, she shouldn’t be tagging along.”

And just like that, I wanted to snap. Deed’s attitude pissed me all the way off. I could have blown him up on the spot. I could have smacked his stupid sunglasses away from his eyes and showed the boys his black eye. I could have done so much… but I held off. My hands had balled into fists, but I loosened them, realizing I was turning into the Eliza I no longer wanted to be. I couldn’t let it happen. I had to let it go. He wasn’t worth it.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold my tongue for long so I turned quickly and rushed down the hall.

“Shit,” Montana hissed. “Why the fuck would you say that to her?”

“Eliza,” Gage called at the same time. For a moment, I thought I caught a hint of sympathy behind his voice.

I ignored both of them, though.

I pushed out the exit door and as soon as it was shut behind me, hot tears burned my eyes. I had to cool off. I had to remain calm. I had to tell myself over and over again he wasn’t worth it, but I swore if it were five or six years ago, I would have blown up on him. I used to be ruthless. Reckless. I had to fight for myself so much and sometimes the girls were way bigger than Deed. I should have busted his lip for his attitude. A part of me was proud for walking away from something that could have turned deadly and ended the tour for them completely.

I drew in a deep breath, taking a slow look around the parking lot. Besides the black truck I knew was meant for the boys to ride in and the miscellaneous cars scattered about, there was absolutely nothing around. The night was young and the moon was high in the sky. The stars twinkled and a soft breeze blew by, allowing me to inhale deeply.

The door of the stadium burst open behind me and I turned around, spotting Gage coming out first, Montana right behind him. Deed was last to come out and I knew he was glaring at me, even beneath his sunglasses. I could almost make out what was really beneath them. Aggravation. Frustration. Anger. A black eye.

“Eliza, are you okay?” Gage asked, meeting up to me.

“I’m fine.”

He blinked, taking a step back to get a clear look of my face. “You aren’t going to cry, are you?” he asked. “I don’t know how I would handle you… crying.”

“I’m fine, Gage. Just go away. It’s not like you care.” He frowned, looking me over a dozen times before settling on my eyes again. His eyes then softened and he was fixing his lips to say something, but before he did, Montana hustled forward, his eyes remorseful.

“Sorry,” Montana apologized. “Deed’s a fucking asshole. Don’t take the shit he says to heart.”

I sighed, looking from Montana to Deed, who was climbing into the front seat of the truck.

“Montana, can we talk for a sec?” Gage asked, taking a few steps back while gesturing Montana to come his way.

I watched as the boys took a few more steps toward the truck while whispering to one another. Montana kept stealing glances at me as Gage hooked an arm around his shoulder, still muttering something I couldn’t make out.

“All right, man.” Montana capped Gage’s shoulder. “See you there.” Montana quickly hopped into the truck, shut the door behind him, and then they pulled off.

I frowned as Gage watched them leave before he turned around to look at me, his fingertips in his front pockets.

“What the hell? Are they coming back?” I asked.

“No. We’re going to meet them there.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“You want something better to wear, right? There’s an outlet right around the corner. I’ll even buy the clothes for you.”

I shook my head. “Gage—no. I could have just gone somewhere else,” I said, looking down at my clothes.

“Ellie, if Ben left you with us, you’re sticking with us. We aren’t letting you go somewhere else. If you wanna look more presentable, I’ll take you to get dolled up.” He winked. “I don’t mind.”

“Gage—”

“Come on.” He insisted, cocking his head to his right, his elbow held out for me to hook my arm through. I wanted to tell him no. I wanted to tell him to call Montana and get them to come back… but his smile was too much. It was simple and sweet, yet deadly. It was mesmerizing, causing effortless butterflies to flutter around the pit of my stomach.

“Okay, but if I’m going with you, promise me one thing,” I said, hooking my arm through his cautiously.

“What’s that?”

“Try not to leave me standing around alone like Montana did. I don’t wanna look stupid there.”

He laughed, running a hand through his tousled hair as we stepped ahead for the sidewalk. “I’ll be sure to stick by your side tonight, Sweet Ellie.”



They may have stretched the truth a little about there being a ton of famous people. There were a few around, but it was more random drunk girls and guys than anyone else. It kind of took me off guard that the first thing I saw when stepping into the house was a girl vomiting grievously into a flowerpot.

“Would you like a drink?” Gage asked into my ear.

“Uh…” I stared around, debating on whether a drink was safe or not. “Sure, why not?” I shrugged.

He held out his hand and surprisingly I took it. It happened without thought, though. I didn’t want to lose him through the crowd and I couldn’t afford to be left alone… Lies.

Gage pushed through the mass, the rave lights flickering above. They danced off the walls, reflected off of the shimmering sweat within the crowd. The atmosphere was thick, hype. Some people were so close to one another they could’ve passed as Siamese twins.

Gage finally reached the kitchen, which was even more congested, and stopped to look around for the drinks. As soon as he found them on the island counter, he told me to stay put until he came back. I leaned against the wall, but a couple was making out right beside me and I took a leap back, frowning as I watched their tongues slide in and out of one another’s mouths.

I noticed a few people standing on the patio, blowing thick puffs of smoke. Among the crowd was Montana with his mohawk slicked back again. His eyes were lower and lazier than usual and a girl was glued to his hip, his arm around her. Her hand was on his chest and she giggled a little too dramatically whenever he said something. I was more than certain she wasn’t going to be giggling within the next twelve hours when Montana kicked her off the tour bus.

Gage finally returned with two plastic yellow cups and handed me one. “What’s to drink tonight?” I asked, standing on my toes to get near his ear. I could hardly hear myself over the music, but he managed to hear what I said.

“Tequila.” He winked. “Can’t forget the salt and lime.” He held out two limes and I took one. He then dipped his finger into his cup of tequila and ran it across his hand. He sprinkled salt onto it and then looked at me. “Before each shot, lick the salt away. After each one, suck the lime.”

I nodded, sort of eager to try it, as I swiped liquid across the top of my hand and then sprinkled it with salt. I licked the salt away, took a sip of the tequila, and the liquid was strong—way stronger than the vodka from the club—but I kept it down and sucked my lime right after.

“Looks like you’ll need a few more limes.” Gage chuckled, observing my shriveled lime slice.

I nodded my head, my face puckering. “Yeah,” I breathed. “Most likely.”

Gage went back to grab a few more limes and with a few gasps and puckered faces, we finally finished our cups of tequila. It had to equal out to about three shots. The woozy feeling I caught was automatic. I couldn’t believe how much of an amateur I was. I’d gotten drunk that fast while Gage seemed perfectly fine.

“Are you okay?” He laughed.

I grabbed his arm, nodding quickly while aiming to steady myself. “Fine. Maybe we should go dance?” Woops. That couldn’t have been me. Had I really asked that? I laughed at the thought and at myself for asking Gage to dance.

Chuckling, Gage placed a hand against the small of my back and his touch alone caused my skin to tingle. He grabbed my hand before stepping through the crowd. As we pushed through, I found out why everyone was having so much fun and why the crowd was so wild. Everything looked so different. Who knew tequila could get someone out of it so fast? I’d heard many things about tequila (mainly from my mom and her husband), but I never believed anything they said about it. They tried to force me to drink it once. Since then, I’ve hated alcohol, but this… drinking with Gage was… different.

We finally hit the middle of the dance floor and Gage turned around quickly, pulling me against him as a few people jumped up and down and bumped against us. His fingers inched along my spine, running down to my hips. Gage had bought me a purple dress that revealed a bit of cleavage and legs. It was short, but he begged me to wear it, and since he was the one buying it, I gave in. I couldn’t really complain much. I guess if I wanted to fit in with the boys, I had to start getting used to wearing less clothing.