Assure Her (Assured Distraction Book 1) (6 page)

She was smiling at Chandler and then stuck her hand out. “Hey, I’m Krissy Thompson, Ryan’s girlfriend. You must be Chandler.” She didn’t say it with any kind of territorial tone. Happy to hear it, Chandler shook Krissy’s hand and was immediately at ease with the breathtaking creature at Ryan’s side. “Don’t let these guys talk to you like that. They can be a bunch of pricks most of the time so you have to set them straight from the beginning. After they’ve been drinking, it only gets worse.”

Chandler couldn’t see that happening anytime soon. By looks alone she already knew was out of their league. Their status as up-and-coming-Rock-God on the stage intimidated Chandler into utter silence. The thought of tossing around snarky jibes and insults with this group made her feel like she was on the cusp of hyperventilating. She breathed a little easier a minute later when Peri returned with a glass of wine and a bottle of light beer.

“See, Peri there knows how to drink in a bar. She’s a shark at pool too, so don’t let her sucker you into playing for money. She’s beat all of us out of hundreds!” Ryan lined up a shot on the table that looked like it should have been impossible to make then took the shot hitting his target into the corner pocket. After missing the next one, he pointed the cue across the table, “Now Carter, over there, he can’t play for shit. Anyone can win money off that fucker.”

Carter laughed as he skirted the table and took the next shot, sinking the striped ball in the side pocket. “Yeah, just keep telling yourself that you dumb son of a bitch. We’ll see who walks away with the most cash at the end of the night.”

The banter between the guys, Krissy, and Peri flowed easily. They all seemed like such close friends. Chandler wondered if she would ever have this kind of ease and camaraderie in her life. She hadn’t in her first twenty-one years, but not because she didn’t want it. Her parents had never allowed her the kinds of opportunities for casual interactions with kids she could relate to while she lived at home, and never had time while in college. Her life had been a series of events constantly planned by others, and she never had the space to just live her life. She felt the sudden sense of loss, and she wanted it now, craved it, but was unsure about how to do this. All she knew was that she was glad she made the decision to join AD. She could do anything for eight weeks, right?

After losing a few games of pool, and a few dollars they refused to take from her, she was happy when they suggested sitting outside on the patio. The bar was dark, old and smelled of years of beer and left over cigarette smoke when it used to be allowed.

“Let’s hit the ladies’ room before we head outside, girls.” Peri and Krissy headed off in the opposite direction of the patio.

When Peri came out of the stall, Chandler was washing her hands. “So, Chan, what do you think about the guys now that you’ve been around them in a different situation? Pretty hot, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Chandler didn’t want to say what she truly thought out loud yet.

“Girl, you ‘
guess
’? These guys are the epitome of hot rockers.” Peri laughed at Chandler’s face when she said it.

“Yeah, I suppose they are. I’m not really used to hanging out with guys, so my knowledge base isn’t overflowing with anyone to compare them to.”

“Well, if they stared at you anymore tonight, I think they would all have every freckle on your skin memorized! They obviously have noticed you.”

“No, I really don’t think so, Peri. They are just being polite.”

“Polite, really? That’s what you think they are doing? That’s more commonly called
eye-fucking
, Chan. If you only knew the way their minds’ worked, you would be blushing right now.” Krissy laughed a little and pulled open the door. “You’ll figure it out, sooner or later.”

When the girls returned to the table, Peri told the group, “Hey, we should order some food. With all this beer I’ll have to take a cab home, so we might as well eat something before I pay for my ride home.”

“Why can’t that douche you call ‘a boyfriend’ come get you?” Gunner questioned her. The band members had never thought much of Sawyer because of the way he treated Peri. He was never around, even when she needed him.

“Yeah, he should want to be here with you. Who lets a gorgeous girl like you hang out alone at a bar on Friday night, anyway?” Ryan added as he wrapped his arms around Krissy again.

“That douche has a name, and you know it.” Peri tempered flared, and Chandler decided right then she did not want to get on her bad side. “Sawyer’s actually helping Cash with some things tonight for your dumb asses!” Peri stood up and flounced off angrily to the bar to order appetizers for them.

“Do y’all say those kinds of thing to her to make her mad, or do you really not like her boyfriend?” Chandler asked them all.

Everyone looked at her as though they still didn’t know if they could trust her with private family information.

KeeMac finally spoke up. “He’s OK. He just doesn’t treat her with much respect. He doesn’t take care of her like he should. Peri’s great. She does everything for everyone, and we love her for helping us out all the time. He shouldn’t leave her alone so much to fend for herself like he does.”

“Maybe that’s what she’s used to, though, and she likes it that way.” Chandler tried to defend Peri’s situation.

“Yeah, maybe, but I don’t think so.” He pulled the chair beside him out, gesturing for Chandler to sit down next to him. Chandler looked at it, and then at him, not knowing what to make of the action when he didn’t take his hands off the back of the chair. “You can sit down, Chandler. I’m not going to bite you or anything.”

“Give him time, Chandler,” Carter said with a wink. “His biting teeth only come out on a full moon.” Then he howled like a wolf. Everyone around the table, Chandler included, laughed.

While waiting on the appetizers to arrive, the group talked like any other bunch of friends on a Friday night. This was a foreign concept for Chandler but she liked the way they all seemed to enjoy each other’s company, and that they included her in the banter. After a short time, though, she started thinking of all the things she needed to do at home and stood looking for her purse.

KeeMac looked up from his beer. “You’re leaving already? Sounds like everyone else is just getting started. Why don’t you hang out here awhile longer? You really shouldn’t go by yourself.” He seemed like he was eager for her to stay but her exhaustion kept her from contributing to the conversation. She was looking forward to going home to her quiet house, and finally having some time alone to process everything that had happened today.

“It’s OK. Since I’m leaving on short notice I have a lot of things to deal with before I can leave.” She said it with such a heavy sigh that KeeMac was sure whatever she had to “deal with” wasn’t something she was looking forward to. The demands of this sort of lifestyle were hard on people, and not everyone could handle it. He suddenly realized he didn’t know anything about her except that she had mad skills on the keyboard.
This girl intrigued him.
He wasn’t sure that had ever happened before.

“Yeah, sorry. We didn’t mean to monopolize your time. Of course you have stuff to do. It’s easy to forget that you had your own life before we met you this morning. I’m sure you want to spend time with your boyfriend. How’s he going to handle your being gone for the next few months?”

“Yeah, boyfriend. Sure. Ha!” she half-snorted at his comment. KeeMac paused mid-drink, and looked at her over the top of his beer bottle her reassessing how much she’d had to drink.

“What, problems with the boyfriend? That’s no good right before you hit the road.”

Chandler just smirked at him, and shook her head at his question. He seemed so certain she had a boyfriend, and she couldn’t help wondering what made him so sure that she did.
Or was that his way of asking if she was seeing anyone?
She suddenly felt awkward just admitting that wasn’t the case, afraid they would all realize just how pathetic she was.

“Dude, quit grilling the girl and just drink your beer. She’s none of your business. Give her a break, dickhead,” Ryan chimed in from the other end of the table, drawing the attention and some smirks from the rest of the group. “Just tell him to fuck off, Chan.”

“It’s OK, Ryan. Thanks, though. I was just saying that it’s been a long day for me but I suppose I can stay a little longer.”

“That’s great because you can’t leave yet, baby girl! The party is just getting started! You’re our guest of honor! And I haven’t even had my dance yet,” Gunner said as he stood up unsteadily and wrapped his arms around her like they were going to ballroom dance.

“Yeah, right. She wants none of that. Only dancing that pervert does is the horizontal mambo,” Carter mumbles loud enough for everyone else at the table to hear except Chandler and her would-be dance partner, and everyone erupted in laughter. Peri jumped up and stumbled to rescue her from Gunner’s roving clutches just as he started to slowly lean forward into Chandler’s personal space with his eyes closed, lips pursed in an exaggerated pucker.

“Get your filthy paws off her, Drummer Boy. We can’t have you freaking her out before we get her on the bus!” Peri play-kicked at him as he reached for Chandler and Peri both, zombie-like arms outstretched, eyes half-open and twinkling with a glimmer of mischief as he stuck his tongue out at them both and flicked it up and down in a lusty, perverse fashion. Both girls clutched at one another like they were in a B-movie horror flick and squealed in mock-terror at the sight of Gunner, the zombie-pervert, stalked toward them.

“Ladies, there’s plenty of Gunner for both of you! Come here and let me show you what you’re missin’!” The girls were trapped, arms wrapped around each other, heads thrown back in a fit of hysterics, their hips pressed to the edge of the table in between KeeMac and Gunner’s chair, effectively blocking their escape route on either side. When the zombie-drummer reached them he began dry-humping them both and they slid along the edge of the table trying to escape his grasp as the mass of bodies suddenly slumped into KeeMac’s lap, Chandler underneath, in what had become a humping zombie dogpile.

Chandler twisted trying to pull herself to safety and turned a glorious shade of red when she looked up to discover that she was in KeeMac’s lap. She was still in the midst of a riotous laugh when he grabbed her arms and she saw his mouth was moving but she can’t figure out what he’s saying until she followed his eyes when they shifted down into his lap where her ass was pressed up tightly against him. Gunner’s gyrations kept thrusting her into him repeatedly, and she suddenly realized something beneath her ass was twitching. When she looked back up at KeeMac, his eyes had dilated and he let out a low groan as he grabbed her hip and pulled her further into him.

Chandler’s breathing caught in her throat at the feeling of his powerful grasp on her and her heart lurched into overdrive. Her eyes went wide as she stared back at him. A second later, Chandler was pulled to her feet, Gunner and Peri having extracted themselves from the heap. Stunned, she looked to the others as the residual laughs faded and she tried to re-orient herself. When she turned back to casually play-off a glance at KeeMac, he had turned in his chair, legs tucked back under the table and he was playing on his phone. He didn’t look at her or acknowledge that he just had a pile of people pressed down on him, though he did seem to be breathing a bit heavily.

Chandler was puzzled, and her head was definitely spinning. Did she imagine what just happened: the feel of that virile man grabbing her and breathing her in? Did she imagine that hungry look in his eyes? She must have been. It must have been the alcohol. She never drinks this much on an empty stomach or after such a long, stressful day. Her imagination must have been playing lustful tricks on her.
What would a man like Keeton MacDonald want with me anyway?

She excused herself to the restroom and found a flushed face confronting her in the mirror.
You’re acting like an idiot tween fangirl, Chandler. It was nothing. Calm down.

She exited the restroom a few minutes later, feeling refreshed and a bit calmer to find everyone at the table filled with food and fresh drinks. “Chan! Come get something to eat. These nachos are killer.” She accepted Peri’s invitation and took a seat between her and Carter, thankful that all signs of the zombie-humper vanquished. This group was definitely not afraid to cut loose and have a good time, as was further evidenced by the new glass of Pinot waiting for her. She eyed it warily then reached for a quesadilla wedge. The food went down smoothly and filled her belly.

After she downed a few nachos and some other greasy bar grub she felt much more stable and clear-headed, and so utterly drained. She did sip at her last glass of wine and listened quietly to the conversation going on around the table. Occasionally, someone would come into the bar that knew one of the guys and stopped by to say ‘hi’. One was a girl that knew Carter, and Chandler was pretty sure he only introduced the girl to her to try and make the girl jealous, or to let her know she was probably one of many. Chandler realized it for the sober look into what lay ahead for life on tour with these guys. She’d heard other girls say it before, “Guys will be guys.” But seeing it firsthand? Chandler wasn’t sure how to feel about it. This was virgin territory for her, in more ways than one.

By the time eleven o’clock rolled around Chandler was yawning despite her best efforts to fight it. She pulled herself up from the table, her buzz now a mere hum, and went to the bar to ask the bartender to call a cab. When she got back to the table, she decided she better stay standing or she might fall asleep before the cab arrived. The guys had gone back to playing pool with some other patrons. It seemed the novelty of her presence had worn off, which was fine with her because that meant she could just quietly slip out the door, get in her cab and go home to her now sorely missed bed.

She gathered her purse and guitar case, looked around to wave goodnight to Peri, and found Keeton watching her closely from the far corner of the room. She smiled lightly to him and gave a slight wave goodbye, and was shocked when he held up a finger, asking her to wait. She actually turned and looked around the place.
Did he really mean
her
?
She turned back to the pool table and watched the tall, well-muscled frontman shake hands and laugh with the others around the table.
Was he saying goodbye to everyone? Why? Did he need help getting a cab?
She watched as he talked easily with a few of the guys she didn’t know, nodding a few times and gesturing toward where she stood waiting. She watched as they glanced up at her and nodded, continued briefly with their conversations and fist bumps and light-hearted chuckles, before KeeMac turned and walked to where she was standing.