Once on top, it was as though we were transported to a fantasy world in India. A small central garden was surrounded by a rectangular cranberry couch that wrapped around its exterior. In various corners of the roof were elevated platforms with large overstuffed pillows in brilliant hues of turquoise, silver, and grays that were nestled next to twinkle-lighted trees. Those less adventurous could choose one of the groupings of dark wicker chairs that were placed near a fully stocked bar. Small lanterns reflected a golden sheen across the darkened tiles below as sitar music played in the background.
“This is the life,” Lizzie gushed.
It took me a few minutes until I saw Hawkins settled on a crimson couch in the middle of what looked like western Eden. He was surrounded by an adoring group of girls that seemed to be hanging on his every word. There, beside him, was one brunette and one blonde who were both wearing white t-shirts that hugged their humungous fake boobs. Hard as it was for me to believe, one said, “Jack,” and the other said, “Coke.”
“Nice.” I smiled.
Just then the girls laughed at something Hawkins had said as his eyes glanced across the crowd in my direction. Looking away before he could catch me spying on him, I faked a yawn and pretended to be interested in Lizzie who was hitting on some guy at the bar. Feeling annoyed, but acting bored, I heard Hawkins say as he approached me, “So you actually showed up?”
“I didn’t realize that any of this was optional?”
“Just making small talk.” A devious smile crossed his face.
Just then a girl with blonde hair and a silver, skimpy dress that barely covered the essentials approached him. “J.T. Hawkins!”
He gave her a curt nod, but the girl was beyond herself. “Can I get your autograph?!”
Hawkins flashed a smile before he signed his name on a napkin. After the blonde was ushered away, another girl approached. He exchanged a tense look with Harrison, the nearby bodyguard, before quickly signing another autograph and turning away from the girl.
“Let’s see if we can’t find somewhere more private to talk.” He led me over to a vacant platform with large turquoise pillows. Harrison, a professional, blocked any unwanted company in front of us. Hawkins bent down and sat on a pillow pulling his legs towards his chest. I looked down at the small space beside him and hesitated.
“What, do I have cooties?” A glint of amusement lit up his eyes.
“Actually, that is exactly what I was thinking,” I said, rolling mine. I sat down and due to the tight space was instantly pressed up against him.
“Well, this is cozy.” He smirked before taking a sip of his drink. His striped red and gray button down shirt was flattering next to his dark hair. Now that I was sitting beside him, I realized that he was as tall as Riley, but just a fraction leaner.
“So you were saying?” He tilted his head my way.
“Umm, I don’t even remember,” I mumbled while watching Harrison who continued to block off anyone who attempted to approach us.
“You asked if this was optional,” Hawkins reminded me.
Exhaling loudly, I asked, “Why are we here, exactly?”
“So you can write something accurate about me for once.” He aimed a smile at me and then instantly dropped it.
“Oh, I doubt anyone who knows you thinks what I’ve written wasn’t true.” I shot back.
“See, that’s what I don’t understand. Where do you get off thinking you know me well enough to say anything about me?”
“Because of the way you treated me in the elevator,” I explained. “It’s not exactly rocket science to come to the conclusion that you’re full of yourself.”
“Arrogant…you said arrogant,” he corrected me. “And what was the other descriptive adjective that makes me assume you must have the extensive vocabulary of a fourth grader?” He paused before continuing, “Oh, that’s right,
smug
. You said I was smug.”
“Exactly, thanks for proving my point.”
“I’m
smug
because I wasn’t interested in hooking up with you?” he asked skeptically.
“First of all, it was the way you handled the situation, like I wasn’t standing there right beside you, but most of all it was the way you assumed that I would want to hook up with you in the first place.”
“And I’m smug…you’re not exactly hard to figure out either, you know.”
“Oh, really,” I said with an edge, thinking, this ought to be good.
“You and those precious rules of yours,” he said.
“What about them?” I chose to humor him.
“You see, I have my own set of rules, too, I guess you could say.” He shrugged. “They may not be as extreme, or as self-indulgent, as yours, but I understand them. And yours…well, yours are about not losing control.”
“Like what? Please enlighten me—”
“You don’t drink, well, not unless Kosic encourages it.” He smirked, clearly knowing how this would get underneath my skin.
“What if I’m just waiting for Lizzie to bring me over one?”
“You’d be waiting here till hell freezes over.” He nodded over at Lizzie, who was working the same man for drink after drink at the bar. “She only cares what she can get for herself, if you hadn’t noticed?”
“Wow, you figured out that I don’t drink. I’m just an open book to you, aren’t I?”
“No, actually, you’re not,” he admitted.
“Really, what haven’t you figured out yet?”
“Why are you following us around on this tour?” He looked over at me intently.
“I had the money, the means, and the vehicle.” I kept it vague on purpose.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m here, too,” he stated. “Okay, if you don’t want to answer that one, how about telling me why are you hanging out with that one?” He gestured towards the bar where Lizzie was still getting her fill.
“What do you mean? We’ve been best friends for…forever.”
“Ah, huh,” he hummed. “If you say so.”
“I could ask you, why you’re hanging out with girls like that?” I stared over at Jack and Coke.
“It’s purely physical.” He winked.
I scrutinized the girls. “That just doesn’t seem like enough to do it for you.”
“And you would know what does it for me?” he asked suggestively as his eyes twinkled with mischief.
My face suddenly flushed.
“At least they’re not going to kiss and blog.” He grinned.
“That’s because they’re illiterate and probably can’t even spell. I bet you even had to arrange them around you so that it would read,” I waved my hand over at the girls, “Jack and Coke.”
“Damn it, how did you know?”
“They just went back to Coke and Jack.” I nodded towards the girls.
He followed my gaze and sure enough they were arranged the wrong way. Hawkins had a good laugh at that. These girls weren’t his type and we both knew it.
“So what else do you want to know?” He looked amused with our twenty/twenty questions.
“Why do you look so miserable all the time?” I genuinely wanted to know.
“I look miserable to you?” The smile quickly faded from his face.
“It’s just…I don’t think you got into the music business for the same reasons as Warren.”
“Careful what you say,” he warned. “Warren is my friend.”
“What I mean is, you don’t come across as the typical rock star that’s only in it for the girls and the drugs,” I ventured a guess.
“Maybe not, but you’re wrong about Warren. He’s a decent, good guy who makes pitiful choices. I don’t know how your friend managed to claw her way in,” I caught him glaring up at Lizzie at the bar, “but he’s in love with her and she is—”
“Not,” I finished his thought.
“Yep.” His jaw tensed as he stared down at the ground. We were quiet for a moment. Both of us seemingly surprised that we shared the same view point on the matter. “Well, this went better than I thought it would,” he admitted. “I didn’t think you’d be able to handle it. I’m pretty direct and usually make most girls cry.”
“There’s always tomorrow.”
“There is.” He patted my knee. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
“With that said, let the games begin.” He sighed. The amusement in his expression returned in full force again as he gently knocked his shoulder into mine.
“I completely agree, how else are you going to get paid?”
He bit his lip while shaking his head and then turned to lock eyes with mine. “Wow, I can honestly say that I have never met a girl like you before.”
“Am I supposed to be offended?”
“Very, I have met
a lot
of people.” He flashed a megawatt smile. “Well, I really have to get back to my Jack and Coke. Why don’t you just kick back with a beer and enjoy the rest of your night? Hell, I’ll even buy you your first drink.” He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket. “Anything to help you
unwind
.”
“And the second hit goes to Hawkins,” I said under my breath while watching him head over to the bar. He only had to flick two of his fingers to get the bartender’s attention. Soon he was back with two bottles of beer in his hands. After I stood up and took the bottle out of courtesy, we said cheers, but he watched my reaction as we both took a swig of beer. With my poker face perfectly in place I revealed nothing of the utter disgust that was foaming in my mouth. Yet, his eyes still looked humored with me somehow.
Lizzie came at us with a running start, demonstrating how drunk she was. Hawkins’ jaw clenched at the sight of her. “I’m sure with this one,” he pointed to her, “something will be tweet worthy by the end of the night.”
Lizzie wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Her sequined light blue dress made her look like she had been paid to entertain the crowd, a lot like the other dancers. “If it isn’t the one and only J.T. Hawkins,” Lizzie sang.
“Try to enjoy yourself.” Hawkins forced a smile for me before quickly leaving.
“He’s no fun, is he?” Lizzie sulked.
“I bet those girls would disagree,” I said sarcastically as I watched Hawkins walk back over to them.
“Let’s see if we can get a seat in this place.” I changed the subject when I realized the pillow we had once occupied was now taken by a group of giddy girls.
“He was sitting right here!” one of the girls exclaimed while cheesing really big.
Rolling my eyes, I turned around and began to move through the crowd. I didn’t realize that I had already lost Lizzie to some tall, dark and handsome Italian guy until halfway over to a vacant spot. Feeling out of place, I whispered to myself, “Where’s Riley?”
“I don’t know where Riley is,” a familiar voice said behind me, “but I’m enjoying the view.”
Turning around, I spotted Kosic smiling at me. He was dressed in a white button down shirt and dark jeans. His short, dark hair was stylishly tousled.
“There is a lot to look at.” Laughing, I gestured at the belly dancers around us.
“But yet, my eyes are only on you.” His green eyes twinkled and I beamed up at him.
“Do you want to sit down with me?” He motioned over to a large, silver pillow.
“Gladly.”
We sank into a comfortable side by side position. Strangely, it didn’t feel as intimate as it had with Hawkins. But I didn’t have much time to think about it because now that we were seated, I realized that I had an even closer view of Hawkins with the girls. Hawkins glanced over at us before he downed the rest of his drink. For a fleeting second, I thought that I saw a flash of fury in his eyes when ours locked for just a brief moment before he turned back to the girls and said something that made them laugh. He snuggled in between Jack and Coke while laughing, too.
Looking back at Kosic, I noticed his eyes move from me to Hawkins. “Did Hawkins invite you here tonight?”
“No,” I confessed. “Not in the way that you mean.”
“Really? Could have fooled me.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“What?”
“You two just looked,” he paused, “chummy.”
“Yeah, well, we’re not,” pausing myself, I said, “umm,
chummy
.”
“For a minute there, I thought I wasn’t even going to get a chance to talk to you. If I were him, I wouldn’t have left you alone to go sit with
those
girls.”
“They have
more
to offer,” I added jokingly.
“I like girls who are, umm,
real
.”
“Kosic!”
“What?” He smiled. “I mean girls who are deep, worldly, you know,
real
.”
“Ah, huh.” I smiled.
“Besides, I have to look out for you,” he said. “After all, you’re still my best friend’s little sister.”
“Look out for me from whom? Hawkins?”
“Yeah, you don’t want him to start tweeting about you the way he does about Lizzie, do you?”
Laughing for a moment, I agreed, “That would be,” I nodded, “a travesty.”
“Things might get physical if I ever find out that he has,” Kosic warned.
“Why? I can handle myself,” I stressed. “You know I did grow up, Kosic, since I last saw you.”
“There will always be a side of me that feels,” he looked into my eyes, “protective of you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a fire thrower come dangerously close to us. The flame was closer to Kosic so I pulled him over to me, but somewhere in the confusion he misunderstood my intentions and kissed me. I came up breathless and thoroughly embarrassed by the sudden public display of affection. Kosic just stared with a shocked and slightly hurt expression as I pointed in the direction of the fire thrower behind him. He turned around and saw the man over his shoulder before he recoiled into me again.
My eyes flashed over to Hawkins who mirrored my expression of surprise by the turn of events. Suddenly, the paparazzi moved in, partially blocking our view from each other. They snapped photos of Hawkins with the infamous Jack and Coke girls, but his eyes stayed fixed on me as the cameras flashed around him. A cool, hard expression suddenly crossed his face before he looked away, leaning back and wrapping his arms around the girls for the cameras.