Page 98 of Dirty Rock

“Don’t tell me Cherry baby has your balls in her grip so tightly, you’re not allowed out to play now?”

“Not exactly.” He chuckled. “But I did promise her and her friends I’d meet them at BB’s tonight.”

“BB’s?” I frowned, the name sounding somewhat familiar.

“The bar Tess used to work at. Her boss, Bourbon, and her best mate, Molly, have asked us to hangout. I’ve been keeping her to myself a lot lately, and she needs her friends. You know how it goes.” He glanced around the room, releasing my shoulder and holding his arms out. “You guys are welcome to join me. It’s a pretty decent place. Good booze. Awesome music.”

“Won’t we get mobbed?” Hawk asked, running a hand over the back of his scalped head.

Presley shook his head. “I got them extra security a few months ago. It’s become a pretty exclusive place now. Bourbon will look after us. Come on. I’ll call Uncle Dex. You guys can load in with him.”

“We won’t all fit in one car, dude,” I told him like he was an idiot.

Presley turned to me and laughed. “The guy’s a millionaire. He has vans in his garages, too.”

“It’d save me a train fare home,” Josh chipped in.

I immediately turned to scowl at him. Cheap arse fucker. But then I saw Julia’s face soften, and I knew it was at the prospect of seeing Tessa again. The two of them had become friends, and I could only imagine how much Jules got pissed off being around us men all the time.

“Jules?” I found myself saying. She turned to look at me with surprise in her eyes. “You want to head to Hollings Hill?”

She glanced around at everyone in the room. “Sure. If you guys think you can behave for one night.”

“That sounds boring as hell.” I grinned.

She rolled her eyes, but I could see she was trying to fight off a smile of her own.

Joshua nudged her knee with his, and he leaned closer. “Hey, I’d love to show you around Hollings Hill. Be a good host like you’ve been for me today.”

I’d just about had enough of that dick.

I stood up straighter, drained my beer, and I eyed Jules like she was about to step on a landmine.I chucked my empty bottle in the nearest bin, very aware that the sound of it hitting the sides did, in fact, sound like a fucking bomb going off.

Storming over to the couches, I dropped down next to Jules, slapped my hand on her thigh and glared at her not-so-secret admirer.

“One thing you should know about our girl, Josh… she doesn’t need her hand holding. Don’t come on too strong. It’ll only scare her. And when this woman bites, she’s dangerous.”

* * *

The drive to Hollings Hill was about an hour, but it may as well have been a day. My knees were jiggling up and down as I struggled to sit still in the back of this fucking beast of a van Uncle Dex was driving. Presley was upfront with him. Julia and Josh were behind them. The middle row was taken up with Big D and Coops, while Hawk sat next to me, eyeing my shaking limbs like he was scared they were about to bite him in the balls. Thankfully, Dicky had decided not to join us.

I couldn’t look away from Jules and Josh.

Their names even sounded good together. A decent bit of alliteration going on. I could imagine their friends saying shit like,Oh, sorry we can’t make it for drinks tonight, we’re heading to Jules and Josh’s house. They’re so amazing together.Or,Did you know Jules and Josh are having a baby? Isn’t it great? They’re going to call it Jessica or James, and then they can be one perfect little household filled with Js.

I was gnawing on my thumbnail like I was fucking craving all of a sudden.

“Dude,” Hawk whispered. “I’m going to ask you this only one more time… what the hell is going on with you? You’re acting fucking crazy.”

“I’ve always been crazy.”

He shook his head. “You’ve always been manic. Fun. Now you’re… well, I don’t know what the hell you are. One minute you’re brighter than any of us have ever seen you. Song lyrics are pouring out of you, and you’re singing like you’ve been injected with some really good shit. The next minute, you’re like this—a nervous wreck, saying and doing things that don’t make sense. You’re flying off the handle at the littlest thing. You’re snapping at people you don’t need to snap at.”

I saw where this was going, and before I could open my mouth and get the denial out, Hawk leaned closer.

“Do you need help? Are you using too much? Do we need to step in?”

“Man, I don’t know whether to feel offended that you think I’m that much of an idiot, or whether to feel relief that you’re so far off the truth, it means I’ve been hiding shit better than I thought I had.” I chuckled lightly, a sense of amusement running through me.

---