Annabella's Oblivion (Hard World Tour #1) (42 page)

“
I’m in. Who knows? Maybe there are some hot guys here I can have fun with.” Sam gave us a fake smile and, shit, she was in the mood for trouble. Jeremy might have ignored her, but she was truly delusional if she thought he would allow her such shit.

“
Well, I need to ask Nate, but I don’t see why not. Although I’m not that excited to go into this town.” I had no good feelings about it, but maybe it was time to put the past behind me and move on.

“
We’re going tonight, so ask your lover boy now!”

Yeah, I hoped he was in a good mood.

Somehow, the evening made me excited.

Wait a minute.

“
Don’t call him my lover boy!”

My demand was met with laughter and eye rolling.

Some things never change, and thank God for that.

Ryan

After the phone call with Megan, I couldn’t focus on work anymore and went for a ride on a horse, but that didn’t help me much either. Dean gave me an odd look but said nothing, and thank God for that. I wasn’t in the mood for his words of wisdom or advice.

I needed to be fucking alone and figure out how to deal with all the mess and lies I created, and how it was best to let her know the truth.

I wore my workout clothes, put on music, and decided to workout until the epiphany came to me. It was good to finally exhaust my body. It was always a way of escaping for me when I was young, and the habit stayed with me.

It just wasn’t fucking helping.

It made me more agitated, and as a result, I pushed myself more. My muscles hurt, but my body still continued working out until the speakers were shut down and I felt someone else in the room with me. I turned around and saw Bella standing there, her hands on her hips, and her eyes had disproval in them.

Fuck, she was beautiful.

Would there ever be a time when I wouldn’t be moved by her that much? I seriously doubted it.

After all, I’d wanted her almost my whole life, and I realized it was pathetic.

Or romantic.

It all depended on how one looked at it.

“
Hey, babe, what are you doing here? I thought you had a busy schedule today.” With Drake, Jeremy, and the practice, I thought I wouldn’t see her before dinner or bedtime, like yesterday.

It would have given me enough time to think up my excuses, too.

“
You know, for a guy who made a huge issue because I was overdoing it, you’re doing the same shit to yourself.” She tapped her foot on the carpeted floor. “I don’t like it either.” That made me chuckle.

“
Really? What happened to trust, babe?”

“
Whatever. I still don’t like it. You can gloat all you want.” I came closer to her and raised her chin in my hand. She pointed those striking violet eyes at me and once again I was utterly lost in their beauty. They had worry in them though, for me, and fuck if it didn’t make me feel warm inside.

“
Why would I gloat about it? My girl is worried about me. I feel honored and good that you care about me enough to worry.” Her eyes softened and her hands circled my neck. She hugged me closer until our chests were pressed hard against each other.

“
I do, you know? Care I mean.” She said it quietly, but her words held so much emotion that I couldn’t help myself. I leaned down to give her a soft, gentle kiss on the lips. She opened her mouth and our tongues tangled in a duel. The taste of her calmed some of my nerves. Her hand moved to my hair and the situation slowly started to get out of control. I let go of her mouth, rested my forehead against hers, and felt her soft breath of bubble gum and orange juice on my lips.

“
I didn’t come here for a quickie,” she let me know, and I smiled.

“
Honey, I didn’t think you did; but you know I wouldn’t mind, right? The idea of fucking you against the wall in my gym makes me all kinds of hard.” She whimpered and her nails bit into my shoulders, making me hiss in response.

“
Don’t put those kind of images in my head,” she complained, but made no move to get away from my hold. “I came here to ask you something.”

“
What?”

“
The girls want to have a night out tonight. Just go to a bar, dance, and unwind. Can we go?”

Well shit, she was asking for my permission? I knew she was confident, but it felt good to know she cared about my opinion as well.

“
Are you ready for that?”

She was quiet for a moment. “I think so. I mean, I won’t drink, obviously, but I don’t mind having some fun. I think I need it. You will come along, right?”

“
You want me there with you? I thought it was about you girls.”

“
Well, it is, but it’s not like you guys can’t join us. I would prefer if you were there with me.”

It wasn’t exactly my scene; in fact, I still didn’t have the skills to feel comfortable in clubs with loud music. But for her, I would do everything in my power to make this day unforgettable. I gave her a loud peck on the cheek and moved back.

“
Okay. Let’s leave at nine then?” She nodded, but still stood in place. “Honey, you need to go so I won’t attack you right now. We’ll have plenty of time tonight, okay?”

“
It seems like so many hours away.”

“
There is some beauty in anticipation, isn’t there?” I said with my voice low, and she blushed.

“
Yeah.” A soft whisper, and she was out of the room in a second.

I needed a shower and to think through the speech again. Since I was going out and probably would have to dance, I couldn’t exhaust myself, although it was probably too late for that.

It would be interesting to watch the guys go all crazy about their girls.

Now that promised to entertain me tonight.

Annabella

“
I have to say, I meant something else by going out tonight. But it seems like we’re out of options here.” Ariel didn’t sound happy at all and pouted her lips.

“
It’s a small town, and I told you, it’s pretty much dead. You didn’t listen.” I had the need to point that out.

“
Well, come on, babe. We’ve been to small cities, but it never looked like this.” Sam grumbled. We were in the middle of the bar, actually the only place in town where we could drink and dance, and it was pretty much dead. There were a few folks who either had a beer or played pool. They were around our age, but they all seemed to be here with their significant others, and the ones who weren’t, looked like shit and gave us perverted stares. The bartender raised his brows when he saw us. There was something oddly familiar about him, but I couldn’t catch it. There was soft music playing, some old country hit, and the smell of cigarettes was all over the place.

Basically, it looked like something from the old Western movies, and to me that made it hilarious.

“
What are we supposed to do here? There is no music!” Ariel couldn’t let go of her disappointment.

“
Look, there’s a juke box. Let’s put on a song.” Jane grabbed her hand and Ariel huffed after her in high heels that made her legs go on for miles.

Actually, all the girls outdid themselves tonight. Sam and Ariel dressed in tight dresses showing off their goods, and had made some big plans that now went down the drain. Jane wore tight black jeans, a red t-shirt, and boots, while I had on skinny jeans, a purple t-shirt, and heels. And if the looks Nate was giving me were anything to judge by, I chose well.

I still could feel the sexual tension we had in the gym and how hard it was for me to move away, but I knew I had to.

But tonight, all bets were off.

Now that made me excited. I looked back to see Drake was beyond amused with the bar, as was Jeremy, but there was also relief in his eyes. The girls were sending me daggers for inviting the guys with us, and I had a lot of apologizing to do, not that I was sorry for it.

There was a huge war over who sat where in the car. Jane and Sam didn’t want to be near their guys, not that it was such a hardship for Jeremy. He was fine with staying away.

Finally, it ended up with me sitting shotgun next to Nate since he was driving his seven-seated Jeep. Then the girls took the second row and the guys the third. No one was touching anyone and, at least, no one bitched along the way.

On our way there, it gave me a clear view of the town, and I realized nothing had changed in those ten years. The same buildings, school, shops, and, I suspected, people. We passed by my old neighborhood and I noticed that someone occupied our old house now. It looked like it was in better condition than it used to be. Good for those folks, I thought, although the house was anything but a happy place. I knew I should feel some nostalgic feelings, or I didn’t know, something, because I grew up here after all. But the only feeling I had about it was that I was fucking glad I’d moved away.

Enough said.

I went to the bartender, who gave me weird looks, and I had a thought that maybe he recognized us, but it was highly unlikely. I smiled and he smiled back and raised his brow.

“
Yeah?”

“
Can I have five beers and two sodas delivered to this table?” I gestured to the table the guys occupied and he just smirked.

“
Honey, we have self-service here.”

“
No waitresses?” He shook his head, and there was still laughter in his eyes.

“
No.” Well, okay then, it looked like the service here was really to tend to yourself, on your own. Not surprising, but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. “No people willing to help out?”

“
Not today,” was his only answer, and I shrugged. I suddenly felt heat behind me and was pulled back to a strong chest.

“
What’s taking so long?” Nate’s voice was anything but warm, and I could bet he was giving the bartender a hard stare.

My caveman.

I almost chuckled.

“
I have to wait for our drinks because there is no one to serve us.”

“
You shouldn’t have ordered them in the first place.” I spun around in his arms and raised my chin stubbornly.

“
Oh yeah?”

He just gave me a cocky smile, and said, “Yeah.”

Damn! How was I supposed to argue with that?

“
Go have fun with the girls. I’ll take care of it.” He gently nipped my lower lip and sent me to them with a gentle slap on my butt, which was only for me; I was sure no one was able to see that. Ariel and Jane were still arguing over music, and I really wondered what the hell would be their choice. Sometimes they could be unpredictable, and I had no idea how to dance to some of the songs they listened to. Sam was eyeing the pool table but gave a hard stare to the guys who eyed her.

I snorted and she snapped at me. “What?”

“
Well, here is your golden opportunity to get laid!” She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

“
Yeah, right. I meant someone else when I said that. Look at those guys!” They were fairly decent, and not that far a cry away from what she usually went for, so I just shrugged.

“
Just admit that the only guy you want to sleep with is Jer, and that would be it.” She was all red from anger, or embarrassment, I wasn’t sure. She was about to say something when the familiar music of Elvis Presley filled the bar.

“
Blue Suede Shoes” started to play, and Sam was the first to jump on the dance floor. For her, he was always the king, and she could watch him with the guitar forever. It was love at first sight, as she called it.

Ariel grabbed me and we all ended up in the middle of the bar. We rocked the dance of rock and roll, swaying our legs and adding our hands. Ariel and I were both wearing heels, and we were pretty good with using our feet to dance around. We couldn’t help but swirl our hips too, and even Jane, who was always shy, couldn’t help herself at this song. We forgot about everything else around us. When the song ended, we finished off our dance moves with a pose, and out of the blue, Ariel grabbed her phone and took a selfie of us.

“
Everyone freaking smile!” We put our best smiles on and she snapped a few pictures and then ran to put on more music. I was hot and needed a drink badly. Glancing at our table, I saw the bartender had all of our drinks ready and grabbed Jane to pick them up. She reluctantly accompanied me, and Drake gave us a hard stare, which also held desire. While I winked at my guy, Jane completely ignored hers and picked up two beers, I took my soda and another beer and leaned down to give Nate a soft kiss on the cheek. He was apparently surprised. Ariel was involved in a talk with the owner and ended up holding a wire, which she plugged into her phone and to the big stereo that was in the corner.

Now the loud music of Fly Project’s “Musica,” the remix version was on and, shit, was this a club jam or what? The girls picked up their beers and took deep swallows while I had to deal with a straw, and we danced as much as was possible with our drinks in our hands.