The Ruby Riot Series: Box Set Part 11

"I need to let Bryn know I'm leaving, in case he gets all guard dog on me."

Jax grimaces. "Might give that a miss in case he gets all guard dog on me. See you upstairs?"

"Sure."

Heart still thumping, I head back to the function room to let Bryn know I'm leaving. He isn't around. I spot Liam chatting to a younger guy wearing a Blue Phoenix t-s.h.i.+rt, and touch him on the shoulder. "Liam? Did Bryn leave?"

Liam looks round. "Said he had some phone calls to make. He'll be back in five, I think."

"When he comes back tell him I've left."

"Sure." Disinterested he turns back to the guy and continues a conversation about guitars.

Eager to leave, I weave through the impressive number of bodies back to the door.

"Tegan!" Somebody with a Portuguese accent calls my name from behind and I look around.

Two of the advertising agency guys, from the group I spent time with at the club last night, stand near the bar. Most of the younger, casually dressed people have left for the party upstairs, so they stand out amongst the suits around. The guys beckon me over The taller, dark-haired guy who I chatted with the most last night kisses my cheek as I reach them. "Great to see you again, Tegan."

"Hey, Tomas. You scored an invite, then?" I ask.

"We're sneaky." He winks at me. "The agency directors were invited but weren't available, so we stepped in. Not bad, huh?"

"Nice. Helena and Isabel not with you?" I ask, looking around for the rest of the group from yesterday.

"Nah. Haven't seen them since last night. Don't really know them that well." The other guy whose name I've forgotten chuckles and says something in Portuguese. "Listen, me and Paul are clubbing again later. You want to come?" Tomas waves a hand. "We'd stay here, but I expected this party to be a bit more... more."

"That's why I'm leaving. There's a real party going on upstairs, come if you want."

"You sure?"

"I'm pretty sure it's an 'open to everybody who's here' type of party."

Tomas nods and indicates a nearby group chatting over gla.s.ses of wine. "We have strict orders to hand agency cards out to some of the local companies and introduce ourselves." He mocks a yawn. "Where's the party? We'll catch up."

"Sixteenth floor. I'll leave you to your fun."

Tomas pulls a face and takes cards from his pocket; I head off to see if Jax has kept his word.

The normally peaceful sixteenth floor of the hotel is busier than the club last night, and makes the official bash downstairs look like a village tea party. I raise a brow as a skinny girl runs down the hallway, pursued by a s.h.i.+rtless guy, who catches his giggling prey around the waist. The girl turns and they proceed to kiss unashamedly, his hands up her s.h.i.+rt, hers at his crotch.

Wow.

Okay.

I met him earlier when he was hauling speakers around the stage; if that's what groupies do with roadies, the Ruby Riot guys are in for a fun ride, in more ways than one.

The suite I walk into barely resembles mine although it should be identical. The furniture has been rearranged, the two sofas pushed together and a coffee table shoved to one side, now littered with empty bottles and gla.s.ses. A smoky haze and familiar sickly scent fills the air, giving the scene a dreamlike ambience. More than a dozen people fill the s.p.a.ce, the laughter and voices more exuberant than the muted conversations downstairs.

Will and Nate hold court on the biggest sofa, surrounded by girls, one with platinum blonde hair who's managed to lose her top. Possibly this is what the girl left the house wearing tonight, but the lacey, barely-there material looks like lingerie to me. Lucky Nate has the best view in the house as she's on his lap, arms around his neck with her ample b.r.e.a.s.t.s close to his face. Will stares at the ceiling giggling at something, and a girl seated next to him looks perturbed at Will's lack of attention, despite the fact she's running her fingers across his chest.

Jax sits alone in an adjacent armchair, focused on his phone again. Does he do that as a sign to tell people to 'stay away'? Girls hover on his periphery, including the girl from earlier who, although she's chatting to a different guy, keeps glancing at Jax.

I sit on the sofa arm and when Jax looks up, his frown at the interruption turns to a smile. "Hey, stranger."

"Drugs?" I ask Jax incredulously, indicating the people around.

"Just a bit of weed."

"Is that a good idea?"

"You telling me you've never hung out with people who smoke pot?"

"I have, yeah, but not in an obvious place with a flas.h.i.+ng neon sign saying 'Rock stars in training, arrest us for drug use'."

Jax laughs. "You're funny, Tegan."

"Have you been smoking?"

"Not tonight. I take it you don't?"

"Not my thing." I glance around. "Isn't Riley here?"

"Nope. She stayed for five minutes and left. Shame, hey?"

"Why? What happened?"

Jax shrugs. "I dunno. Probably too exciting for her and she had to go for a lie down."

"That's not nice."

Jax ignores me and grabs a half-empty bottle of vodka from the table. He takes and inspects a nearby gla.s.s for cleanliness before holding the gla.s.s out to me. "Want a drink?"

"No, I don't drink a lot. I'm avoiding spirits."

"Right." He stands. "I'll fetch you a beer instead."

"It doesn't matter, I -" Before the sentence is out Jax is gone. Another beer is not a good idea. I don't want to move from relaxed to uninhibited. As Jax walks off, the girl who was sitting on him earlier follows.

"You're right, quite the party." I turn to see Tomas and Paul arrive and their faces unmistakably brighten as they look around the room at the girls. "Ruby Riot boys party better than Blue Phoenix, huh?"

"Looks that way," I say.

Paul says something to Tomas in a low voice. He replies in Portuguese and Paul walks away. I'm willing to bet they didn't come up here because they're fans of the bands.

"Did you go to the concert?" I ask.

"Of course. And you? Although you'd be VIP because of your brother." Tomas looks around. "He's not here?"

"I'm not an extension of my brother."

"You're here to have fun, right? Lucky girl, you get to party with rock stars for six weeks." Tomas rests against the wall and stretches his legs in front of him, bringing himself down to my height.

"I didn't come for that. I wanted to travel more of Europe and explore the places we visit too."

"Yes, I said I'd show you around Lisbon today, but you never called." Tomas pouts and I laugh at him.

"You never gave me your number!"

"You wanted my number, Tegan?" he asks quietly.

c.r.a.p. "No, I meant if you'd wanted to be my tourist guide you'd need to... Doesn't matter."

Tomas rubs his mouth with the tips of his fingers. "I saw you with Jax Lewis before. Are you his girl? You weren't with him last night."

"No."

"Surprises me. You're a very beautiful girl. He's a fool."

I look down at my shoes. Great. Here we go. "I'm not looking to hook up with rock stars," I lie. "Or anybody really." Not you. Take the hint.

Tomas appraises me a little too closely for my liking. "Ice queen, huh?"

"No, just choosy."

Tomas smiles warmly, the skin crinkling around his eyes. "Sorry, I'm not hitting on you. I'm too honest sometimes."

I indicate the room. "Plenty of girls here." I'm sure this dark-haired, well-built guy has no problems charming whoever he wants.

"I'm choosy too." He touches my arm. "Let me bring you a drink."

"Somebody's fetching one for me."

"Oh? Who?"

I scan the room for Jax. He stands close to the bedroom door with a beer in his hand talking to a couple of girls, and I bristle. But what did I honestly expect?

"I think he forgot. Sure, I'll have a beer."

As I wait for Tomas to return, I attempt not to watch Jax, but he remains in place and my line of vision. Will joins him and a few minutes later the pair is surrounded by a loud group, and I can't see Jax anymore. Even though I expected this, I'm p.i.s.sed off and insulted.

"Tegan." Tomas returns and pushes a beer into my hand.

"Thanks." Distracted, I drink from the open bottle, eyes on Jax.

11.

JAX.

The beer in my hand warms and I finally break away from the group, shrugging Will's arm from my shoulders. I intended to go straight back to Tegan, but what can I say? People want to talk to me, and I can't say no. These chicks want to do more than talk, but I'm determined to show Tegan who I want tonight. Yeah, things won't go as far as I'd like, but it would be a start just to put my hands on her. From there, we can see how things go.

Tegan stands close to where I left her, but she's with a guy.

The guy from the club last night.

What the f.u.c.k? I was too wasted back then to know what happened - did Tegan hook up with him at the club?

I don't like him. He's close to her, too close, and he keeps touching Tegan as they talk. One of those guys, who are all smarmy smiles and perfect grooming, thinks he's G.o.d's gift. A little voice whispers 'hypocrite' but at least I don't pretend to be refined. I'm crystal clear about what I want from girls; he probably has some great lines he uses instead.

When I approach, the guy steps closer to Tegan who's resting against the wall next to him. Really? I hold the beer out to her. "Sorry I took so long."

"I found her one instead," says the guy and studies me.

Tegan refuses to take the bottle. "Busy were you?"

"Just chatting," I say.

"Mmm."

I expected her to be terser than this, but she's less annoyed than I expected. Tegan rubs her head and frowns.

"We were talking," says the guy.

"Really? Well, I'm back now. Tegan?" My gaze remains on his and he raises and eyebrow.

"Jesus, put the testosterone display away," says Tegan with a sigh. "I just want to sit down. I don't care who with."

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah. Tired, I think. Busy couple of days."

As Tegan heads to the nearby sofa, she stumbles over somebody's feet.

"Cool chick," says the guy. "Tegan said she wasn't your girl though. Is she?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Don't want to step on your toes, was going to have a go."

I narrow my eyes at his att.i.tude to Tegan. "Bad idea, mate. You seen the size of her brother?"