Everything You Are (Jukebox Heroes 3) Page 6

  Chris proved his wisdom by changing the subject. “So what are your plans for the weekend, I mean now that your plans got changed.”

  “The plan all along was to go out with my brother and his boyfriend. And London, of course. Blas had some suggestions for where to go, but we haven’t really decided yet.”

  “You should come to Haven. Michael’s band’s playing. It’s going to be a great night.”

  “I’ll see what the others think,” I said, but I knew I’d make my way to Haven if only for a little while. I figured most of my new friends would be working that night, and I wanted to see them.

  We chatted for a few more minutes, and then I had to go to start getting ready for work. I thanked Chris for taking care of me and for checking up on me.

  “That’s what friends are for,” he told me.

  Somehow I knew that he wasn’t just saying that to brush off my ‘thank you’ but also to remind me that he was there if - when - I needed someone to lean on.

  Chapter Eleven

  A few texts and phone calls, and my Halloween plans were set. Everyone was okay with going to Haven, which was a plus. Having to explain to Alex that London wasn’t coming to Austin was a lot less pleasant. I wasn’t in the mood to defend London, but I couldn’t let Alex bitch too much about him, even on my behalf. It put me in a horrible mood, just in time to go deal with the day from hell at work.

  The next few days dragged by, but I somehow made it through to Saturday. I spent my whole shift that day watching the clock and worrying that my relief would be late. She showed up a little early, and I was on my way home right on schedule.

  I emerged after my shower to find Alex and Blas hard at work in my kitchen. We’d planned to have dinner together, but I’d been expecting pizza or burgers. Instead the boys were cooking something that smelled amazing.

  When I stepped into my tiny kitchen for a closer look, Blas paused what he was doing to wrap me in a big, warm hug and press a kiss to my temple.

  “What smells so....” My words trailed off as I caught a glimpse of a casserole dish filled with cheesy goodness. Blas had brought a pan of his sinful four cheese mac-and-cheese – one of my favorite foods in the entire world.

  Blas laughed as I hugged him harder. “What smells so good is pecan-crusted chicken.”

  I turned to look at my brother. “Okay, that’s it. The final straw. I’m stealing your boyfriend.”

  “I love you and all, but no,” Alex said.

  I gave a dramatic sigh. “You never let me have any fun.”

  I hugged my brother and chatted with the boys for a few minutes while Blas finished up dinner. I was glad he’d done most of the prep work at home, because I was starving. If I’d had to wait much longer, with the smell of the chicken taunting me, I’d have gone Donner party on the guys.

  After dinner we started getting ready to head to the club. I’d been smart enough to avoid anything with elaborate make-up, so all I had to do was change into my costume and tuck my hair under a wig. The boys were similarly efficient, and we were ready to go a little early. I took advantage of the extra time to set up my tripod and take a few pictures of us together. We snapped some more shots of each other, and I took a moment to email a couple of pictures to Seth and London. The rest would have to wait until I had time to crop them and do a few touch-ups.

  When we got to Haven, Amy was in the foyer, but she wasn’t behind the counter. Instead she was leaning there, talking to the twenty-something-year-old guy working the door. She let out a squeal when she saw me and gave me a hug.

  “Sailor Mars? That’s so freakin’ awesome!”

  She’d dyed her hair again – back to purple – and added some clip-on extensions. She was wearing a short, pink kimono and had a giant pink bow on her head along with what looked like Christmas ornaments. I was kind of glad I wasn’t the only anime character at Haven.

  “Cherry, right?” I asked.

  She nodded, setting the bow and ornaments swinging. “I have to stop doing that,” she said as she reached up to settle things back into place.

  She introduced me to the door guy, Adam, who was working because she had the night off. I introduced her to Blas and Alex and she sighed.

  “Why are all the hot ones gay?”

  “To make all the pretty little girls jealous,” Blas said.

  She grinned at him. “Nice fangs. And I love the jacket.”

  More people came in and Amy gestured for us to follow. “They’re on the guest list,” she said. “Later, Adam.”

  Amy led us through the club, which was already starting to fill up. The focal point tonight wasn’t the stage, despite the fact that Michael’s band, Zero Sum Game, would be playing, but the dance floor – or floors. The pool tables had disappeared somewhere to create a large open area for dancing, and the tables and chairs had been moved out from in front of the stage, creating a second dance floor within the confines of the narrow railing.

  I paused to look at the dancers out on the floor and then let my eyes rove over the rest of the patrons. There were all manner of costumes, elaborate and lame, and everyone seemed to be in high spirits. It was a promising start to the night.

  We followed Amy to the bar where Joseph was busy slinging drinks. He looked like he’d stepped off the set of Velvet Goldmine: platform boots, eyeliner, skin-tight purple leather pants, and a deep blue brocade jacket worn over a black, sequined tank top. The 70s glam rock look really worked for him.

  When he noticed Amy and me standing at the bar, Joseph flashed us a smile. His gaze slid past us, and he froze for just a moment, staring, before giving himself a shake and going back to work. I had been expecting the reaction, or maybe more of one. My boys were in fine form tonight.

  Alex had dressed as the Mad Hatter, which meant that he was wearing dress clothes for once instead of baggy jeans and an old t-shirt. The word that came to mind was ‘dashing,’ as old-fashioned as that might sound. He looked dashing in his tall hat and tailed coat, and the deep aqua of his vest brought out the color of his eyes.

  Blas, on the other hand, was just plain hot. Or maybe hot as hell. Or dead sexy. Blas turned heads on a regular basis, with his exotic good-looks, boyish charm, and male model physique. Tonight he had turned it up to eleven; his tip-tilted eyes were lined with kohl, he was wearing close-fitting pants and a white shirt with froths of fabric spilling down the front and past the cuffs of his frock coat, and he was baring his custom fangs in a way that made him look as if he were promising a kiss – or asking for one.

  Next to them, I felt like the ugly duckling.

  That feeling didn’t last long, though. While we were waiting for Joseph to take our drink orders, Chris appeared at the bar next to me.

  “Wow” was his opinion of my costume. “Definitely hot. Seth’ll be happy. Or pissed he wasn’t here.”

  “Thanks,” I said. My face felt hot.

  Chris looked pretty ‘wow’ himself. He was a pirate; not the most original costume, but one that suited him well. The billowing white shirt contrasted beautifully with his dark hair and tanned skin, and the snug-fitting pants hugged his powerful thighs just right. I made myself look away, pretending to see if Joseph was still busy.

  Alex elbowed me, and I remembered my manners.

  “Oh. Chris, this is my brother Alex. And his better half, Blas. Guys, this is Chris.”

  They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, and then Joseph popped up to say ‘hi’. He avoided looking at Blas or Alex, much the same way I was now avoiding looking at Chris. I saw it in his eyes when he realized we were in similar straits. We shared a smile of commiseration as he mixed my cocktail.

  As it turned out, keeping our eyes off the guys wasn’t too hard to do. Alex and Blas managed to find a tiny bit of leaning space on the railing, and they stayed rooted there, drinking, talking, and waiting for the band to hit the stage. Amy dragged me to the dance floor, and I didn’t see anyone again until I made my way back to Joseph’s bar just as the band went on stag
e.

  I stopped to talk to Alex and Blas on the way, and asked if they needed fresh drinks. They’d gotten a second round from one of the servers, though, so I wandered off alone in search of a refill.

  Just like earlier, Joseph’s bar was packed. Some of the people lined up along the bar were just talking or standing around in the way, but many more were ordering or waiting to order. I turned my attention to the band while I waited my turn.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of white. When I turned to look, I saw that Chris had joined Joseph behind the bar. Watching them, it was obvious to me that they’d been working together for a long time; they didn’t even need to speak to communicate. The drink orders went out double-time, and then Joseph was leaning across the bar to talk to me.

  “Your usual?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “Just water, for now.”

  Chris, who’d come close enough to overhear our conversation, fetched a bottle of water and passed it across the bar to me.

  “On your tab?” Joseph asked.

  I nodded, but Chris shook his head.

  “On the house,” he said. “On one condition. You drag Joey out to the dance floor for a while.”

  I grinned. “You got yourself a deal.”

  Joseph and Chris exchanged a few words that I couldn’t overhear. It looked like Joseph was trying to argue, insisting that he man the bar. In the end, Chris won. He playfully pushed Joseph out from behind the bar, and I took over from there, latching on to Joseph’s hand and leading him through the crowded bar.

  We found a spot not too far from the stage and kind of bounced around to the music. I wasn’t too surprised when Blas joined us a little while later. I left them dancing and went to take Alex’s spot at the railing so he could go flirt with Joseph, too.

  I pulled out my phone to check messages. Though I wasn’t surprised that London hadn’t texted me, I had expected to hear something from Dylan by now. She knew the boys and I were going out for Halloween, and she and Brian were celebrating tonight, too.

  I was still staring at my phone, wondering what was going on with Dylan, when Alex and Blas rejoined me. Joseph had gone back to work, but Amy had found the boys and followed them over. She was just starting to tell me some story about a guy when my phone vibrated in my hand, scaring the hell out of me. I managed not to drop it, but it was a near thing.

  Once my heart rate had slowed a little, I tapped the phone’s screen to see what had set it off. Finally, a message from Dylan. I opened the message to find a picture. Of Brian. In a kilt. I didn’t say a word, just handed the phone to Alex, who showed it to Blas and Amy.

  A lot of guys just can’t wear a kilt, even on Halloween. Or rather, they can’t wear a kilt well. Brian wore his very well. I tended to forget most of the time that my best friend’s boyfriend was smoking hot. She’d chosen to remind me.

  I got the phone back from Amy and sent a one word reply to Dylan: ‘Jealous!’ And I kind of was jealous. Not because she had Brian, but because they were together. I missed London. I’d managed to push him out of my mind for the most part, and I was enjoying the night with my friends, but I still missed him and wished he was with me. I just hoped that the lead he was chasing down panned out; finding that little girl would make his absence worthwhile, even if it didn’t make me miss him any less.

  Chapter Twelve

  After Dylan pushed London back into the forefront of my mind, I couldn’t seem to recapture the high I’d been riding all night. I did my best to hide it, but Alex could tell I wasn’t having as much fun. He asked if I wanted to leave, but I didn’t. I wanted to stay and listen to Michael’s band, because they were really good.

  Blas, Alex, and I did decide to leave kind of early, though. We didn’t want to get caught up in the mass exodus. So while Blas paid off our tab, I tracked down Amy and Chris to tell them both good night. We all hung around the bar talking to Joseph a little longer than was probably necessary, but we still got out way ahead of the crowd.

  Since it was late, Blas and Alex stayed at my place. I grabbed a pillow and blankets to make up the sofa, brushed my teeth and pulled on some jammies, then grabbed Benny and headed for my makeshift bed. I was tired, and my secondhand sofa was comfy, but it was still a long time before I managed to fall asleep.

  The best part of having Blas and Alex stay over was waking to find coffee made and breakfast on the way. It was nice having someone to share breakfast with, too, even if I didn’t want to be awake yet.

  While we ate breakfast, the boys talked nonstop, mostly about the people and the costumes from the night before. They were far too awake for this early in the day, and I found myself wondering how Blas had managed to turn my brother into a morning person.

  After breakfast, the boys took over my TV, and I curled up in my battered recliner with my laptop. I had emails from Seth and Dylan, sent the night before, with pictures of them in costume.

  I clicked on Dylan’s email first. Dylan was decked out as a biker chick, all in leather and denim. I recognized her helmet as belonging to Brian; it was a badass custom number. I knew he missed riding his bike almost as much as he missed playing with the band, but he’d promised to stay off of it until he’d gotten a clean bill of health. There were more pictures of him in the kilt. As fabulous as his legs looked in the kilt, it was his face I found myself drawn to. He looked happy. I could see it in his eyes as well as his smile. I knew it was Dylan who’d put that look on his face. As glad as I was to see my friends happy, it made me feel a little melancholy, both because I wasn’t there with them and because I wasn’t sure if what London and I had between us would ever shine as brightly as what I saw in Brian and Dylan’s eyes.

  Sighing, I opened Seth’s email – and burst out laughing, my melancholia gone.

  “What?” Alex asked, looking up from where he was snuggling with Blas.

  “Seth,” I said, as if that explained everything. I knew it didn’t really, so I turned the laptop to where the boys could see it.

  “Wait, is he....”

  The boys moved to where they could see the pictures Seth had sent. Blas just shook his head.

  “That’s just wrong,” Alex said.

  “What?” I teased, “You don’t think he makes a good Madonna?”

  Alex leveled a glare at me and then curled up with Blas again.

  “Not a good Madonna at all,” Blas said. “Your friend Chris made a pretty hot pirate, though.”

  I didn’t say anything, but I agreed. Very much so.

  “I like him,” Blas said.

  “Yeah, so do I,” Alex added. “You know what I like best about him?”

  I sat back in my chair with a sigh. “No, but I bet you’re going to enlighten me.”

  “Damn right I am,” Alex said. He sat up and looked at me. “I like that he’s here.”

  “Don’t start,” I said.

  “I’m beginning to think that London is your imaginary friend.”

  “Yeah, well, join the fucking club,” I snapped.

  I went into my room and kicked the door shut behind me. I didn’t feel like defending London, and I didn’t feel like listening to Alex go off about him, which I knew was where he was headed.

  I didn’t know what I was going to do, why I was in my bedroom of all places. All my electronic gadgets were in the other room, and I didn’t feel like going back to bed. I didn’t even feel like taking a shower, though I would need to get around to that sooner or later. Right now, I just wanted to not be in my bedroom.

  The door opened behind me, and I whirled, ready to fight.

  “It’s just me,” Blas said, holding up his hands in a don’t-shoot-me gesture. When I relaxed a little, he shut the door behind him.

  We stood there for a moment, contemplating each other. Then he opened his arms, and I hugged him.

  “Alex just wants you to be happy. We’re both pretty pissed at London right now.”

  “I know.”

  Alex and Blas had been treated to the
whole story – well, no, they’d been treated to almost the whole story of what was going on with London. They knew about Julia, and Ashe, and the magic, and the search for the little girl in the visions Julia had put into London’s mind. They didn’t know about the part I’d played at the end of the Orlando saga. They didn’t know that I’d seen Quinn shot by an invisible sniper, that I’d tried to administer first aid to him, that I’d been worried for a time that Dylan had been killed when the wall of the house we were in had blown inward and buried half the room – including Dylan and Adrian – in rubble. They didn’t know that I’d watched Julia torture Brian from behind an impenetrable wall of magic. They didn’t know that I’d seen London almost give into her demands. And they didn’t know that I was the one who’d made sure she’d never be a threat to anyone ever again.

  I shuddered, and Blas hugged me tighter.

  “Come on,” he said. “Come watch this shitty movie with us.”

  I let him drag me back into the living room where Alex and I made peace without speaking a single word. Blas pulled me down onto the sofa, tucking me under one arm and wrapping the other around Alex’s shoulders. And for a little while I pushed the past and the future away, snuggled up next to someone who cared about me, and lost myself in a crappy movie.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Blas and Alex headed home just after lunch, leaving me with a couple of hours before I had to get ready to work an overnight shift at the hotel. I contemplated a nap, but before I could do more than think about it, my cell rang. I decided that talking to my best friend was more important than sleep.

  While I told her all about the Halloween party at Haven, I polished up a few more pictures of me and the boys in our costumes and sent them to her. I sent them to London, too, wondering when he’d get a chance to check his email again.

  “We really missed you at Seth’s party,” Dylan told me. “You would have loved it. He’s as crazy about Halloween and costumes as you are.”