Page 48 of Feral Touch
The day had flown by. We’d skipped lunch and dinner and the band was getting ready to go out drinking.
“I’ve got class tomorrow,” I said nervously, not exactly sure I was up to whatever shenanigans might take place during a rock star drinking party.
“It’s fine,” Kell said, dismissing my concern with a wave of his hand. I waited for him to finish the sentence, to reassure me they wouldn’t be out late or that the night wouldn’t get too rowdy, but he just looked at me expectantly. “You kids coming?”
I blinked, taken aback at his laissez-faire attitude, but Ren just laughed. “Sure. We’ve done enough work for today, I think.” He turned to me with a smile. “I’ll make sure to get you home before your carriage turns back into a pumpkin, okay?”
“I’m not Cinderella,” I muttered, gathering my things together. The last thing I wanted was for this relationship to start off on unequal footing. Ren wasn’t a prince and I wasn’t some poverty-stricken young woman just waiting to be rescued.
Well, I supposed the poverty-stricken part wassort oftrue.
I mulled over that thought as we all piled into a limousine. The whole band was there, including their PR person, Ailey. She and Jayce looked pretty snuggly together in the backseat. I tried not to stare as his hand slowly moved further and further down her back. She slapped at his chest every time he drifted too close to her ass. He would just smirk and continue testing the boundaries. The other guys completely ignored them, so I assumed it was a regular occurrence.
“It’s nice to meet you again,” Ailey had said after Jayce tugged her into the vehicle behind him. “I felt bad cutting your reunion short last time. I’m glad you and Ren managed to work things out.”
Her smile was so genuine that I thought she really must have been pleased for us. Then her phone pinged and she immediately pulled it out, forgetting about me before I could reply. “Oh dammit, another one,” she grumbled, typing away furiously with her thumbs.
“Sorry about that,” Jayce said, tilting his head in her direction. “Ailey’s always on call.”
“Poor internet girl,” Kell sighed. “Fangirls never sleep, so neither does she.” Kell scooted over next to me. I pressed back into the seat, startled, but he wasn’t paying attention to me. Instead, he leaned over my shoulder and lowered the partition between us and the driver. “Hey, can you make a stop first?” The driver mumbled something back and Kell grinned. “Exactly. Thanks, man.” Kell sat back into his seat. “We’re gonna pick up one more before we head to the club.”
“Which club?” I asked. Not that it mattered—I wouldn’t have recognized the name anyway.
“It’s brand new, just opened. I forget what it’s called. Something flashy.”
“It’s called Typhoon,” Morris said.
Kell snapped his fingers. “That’s the one. Every drink is named after some natural disaster.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That’s kind of sick.”
“They’ve been sending Ailey emails for months asking us to pay a visit. I guess they want the PR.”
“They want all the girls who will show up once the word is out that Feral Silence will be there,” Ailey cut in, not looking up from her phone. “They’ve given me permission to take photos and videos inside and post them on our social profiles.” Ailey shoved her phone back in her pocket and gave Kell a stern look. “No over the top crazy antics tonight. Best behavior.”
“No fun,” Kell complained. “I remember when you used to get just as hammered as the rest of us. Deena’s a bad influence on you.”
The limo turned a corner and slowed down. Kell brightened up and reached for the handle before the vehicle had completely stopped, practically throwing himself out the door.
“Emily!” I heard him cry.
Kell returned moments later with a pretty girl beside him. Her shiny auburn hair showed black at the roots and her dark, almond-shaped eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Hey guys!” She gave us all a bright smile as she climbed in. Kell tried to tug her onto his lap, but she shoved him off and sat beside him, buckling up properly. She looked at me curiously, but Kell jumped in before I could introduce myself.
“This is Ivy, Ren’s girlfriend.”
I nearly choked on my own tongue and blushed, feeling hot and dizzy. I snuck a glance at Ren, but he only looked pleased, not upset. My heart fluttered madly. I guessed that answered that question.
Emily gave me a knowing stare. “TheIvy? The one who—” she cut herself off, then continued, “the one who talked to Ren after the concert?”
“For the record, I didn’t throw myself at him.”
Emily laughed. “Don’t worry. I know how fangirls and internet trolls can be. They love to play with the truth.”
From the way Kell's eyes softened whenever he looked at her, I could tell he was besotted. According to the internet, Kell was a total manwhore. He was always flirting and stripping on stage, not to mention the rumors of one night stands with groupies. But he clearly thought that Emily hung the moon.
Emily was right. The internet was the last place I should look for the truth.
