Finding Orion (17 page)

Finally,
after more than a dozen songs and well over an hour and a half of music, the
band took a bow and collapsed in a set of chairs at a nearby table. And like
before, I gathered water from behind the bar and went to join them. Compared to
the
Jace
who worked for some internet provider, the
singer was even more attractive.

After passing
out bottles of water, I sat down next to
Jace
,
hugging my arms around him despite how sweaty he was.

"Where
did that come from?" I asked once I was sure he'd caught his breath.

"Where
did what come from?"

"That
last song..." I shook my head.
"The one before it.
It wasn't anything like the other ones."

"It's
some of our newer material.
More of an experiment really.
Why? You prefer it over the older stuff?"

"I
wouldn't say I prefer it, but it is different—in a good way. You should keep
using it. Besides, David called you a siren, and that has to be good."

Jace
furrowed his
brow. "And David is?"

"Simon's
boyfriend."
I gestured at the bar, and I could've sworn
both men blushed just then. "But don't mind
them,
they're just a little giddy. We all kind of are. The last time this bar saw
some action...let's just say the band sucked in every way imaginable."

Amy pulled
the
scrunchie
out of her hair before pulling it back
again. "I'm familiar with that. We weren't always good you know."

"I find
that hard to believe."

"It's
true," Kyle said
,
tossing his bottle at a
trashcan that was a few tables away from ours. His arms went up when the bottle
dropped in the can. "Ask me to do that again, I dare you!"

"Show
off." Derek slapped him upside the head.

Kyle shrugged
and turned back toward me. "
Jace
didn't sing.
Not at first. Amy was our main vocalist, but one year, she got some serious
strep throat. This was back when we were just starting to get gigs, so missing
out on one wasn't really an option."

"So they
all auditioned for my spot," Amy said with a smile. "They covered me
in blankets, plopped me down on a Lazy-boy, and tried to sing my lyrics. You'd
be surprised how many of them sounded good, even when they were drunk halfway
through the night."

"In the
end," Derek began, "it was
Jace
who was the
best out of the rest of us. And when Amy got better, they started singing
together. It's been that way ever since."

Jace
leaned over
to rest his head on my shoulder. "I seriously didn't put them up to this.
But I did warn you."

"And you
were right." I laughed. "They do like to talk. But that just raises
even more questions now. How long have you all known one another? How did this
all start?”"

"The
same way most bands do. It just sort of happened over time. It started off with
Kyle and
I
, then Kyle started dating Amy and well...we
still needed a drummer and Derek came in after that. And if you couldn't tell,
they're sort of related."

"Siblings?"

"Yup."

"I hope
for your sake they never get in to any fights."

"Oh,
they have, but one of us usually holds Derek down and he's okay after that."

Derek waved
at Simon for another drink and spoke as he took a sip from his fresh glass.
"As if you could hold me down, you beanpole."

Jace
stretched
out with a yawn. "We should probably start cleaning this all up. I need to
be in work at seven tomorrow, and I really don't think the boss would like it
if I was late." He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Have work tomorrow?"

"Always."
I stood from
my chair and checked the time on the clock behind the bar. "Jesus, it's
only eleven? Why does it feel so much later?"

"That
isn't late for you?" Kyle asked. "I've been up since four. I
should've been home half an hour ago."

"Yeah,
like you ever pay attention to your own curfew,"
Jace
teased as he stepped over to pack up some of the equipment.

"
Jace
, man," Derek said, stopping
Jace
before he could hurt himself. "I got this. Go on and have some fun. We'll be
at the loft if you need us."

Probably not
wanting to argue with a man that was almost double his size,
Jace
waved goodbye to Derek and the others before stepping
over to the bar for
another water
.

"Hey,
Simon,"
Jace
said, holding up his water bottle. "Hit
me up, will you?"

Simon tossed
him another bottle and started his usual process of cleaning up the bar between
waves of drinks.

"Thanks
again for this,"
Jace
said when Simon came to
wash off our side of the counter. "The guys really needed the boost."

"So did
you by the looks of it," I added, sticking my tongue out when he glared at
me. "What? You did. You were all set to perform, so I gave you a place to go.
And think of it this way, at least you got drinks out of it. Not to mention a
new audience that probably never would've seen you, seeing as they're here
almost every night."

"She's
right, you know," Simon said, nodding at me.
"Can't
argue with a woman."

"Boy,
don't I know it."
Jace
groaned. "I tried
doing that once.
Ended up getting myself kicked out."

I furrowed my
brow and wondered if he was referring to his mystery ex or someone else
entirely. I decided it was better not to ask and let the subject slide.

Simon glanced
at something behind me,
then
said, "Looks like
Karie
got up the nerve after all."

I looked back
just in time to see her leaving with the rest of the band. "Shit." I
turned back to Simon. "Think I should go and get her before she
embarrasses herself?"

"
Naw
,
let
her go. Besides, it isn't like Derek, is it? It's not like he'd jump right into
bed with her. Would he?" This time Simon was looking right at
Jace
. "Come on, man, help me out here."

"Who,
Derek?"
Jace
perked up a little. "He's
been known to flirt with the few groupies we've had in the past, but it's never
been anything serious. It's kind of a band code."

"
Which is probably for the best.
" Simon sighed. "That
could get ugly pretty damn fast if you don't mind my saying so."

Jace
didn't say
anything after that. And once he finished his drink, we excused ourselves from
the bar and headed upstairs. A part of me wanted to have a repeat of last
night, but looking at
Jace
now, I'd be lucky to get
him undressed and into bed before he fell asleep.
A girl can try...

Chapter Thirteen

Orion and I
were still stuck on bondage and exchanges of power. Anything else I'd read
about hadn't made it into my dreams. As for
Jace
, Friday
came a lot sooner than expected, and started with a text from him before I'd
even woken up.

"So, when do you get off work tonight?"

I checked the
schedule in the front office just to make sure I wasn't getting called in for
some last minute crap and texted him back. I was due off at seven, which was a
lot better than every other day this week. And for once, I had plans, and there
was no way in hell I'd be breaking them to stay late just so
Farrin
could whine and have
us
reface the product again. I swear the man had a serious OCD problem.

My cell
buzzed beside the register and I picked it up, reading the text before setting
it down again.

The text
Jace
sent was different from before. He didn't tell me his
plan for the evening, just where to meet and at what time. Seconds later, he
sent another text.

"Wear that skirt I liked."

I smiled.

"Noted."

The rest of
the morning, things were pretty quiet.
Karie
was off
in her own world, possibly fantasizing about Derek, which meant she wasn't
coming to me for the usual gossip on
Jace
.
Or Orion.
Not that I'd been dreaming lately.

Ever since
that night with
Jace
, my dreams had been empty.
Blank. And the worst part of it was I barely thought of Orion. Anymore, my
thoughts were filled with
Jace
, the band, and how
badly I wanted them to catch a break.
Jace
hadn't
said it, but I could tell that if he were given an option, he'd take music over
work any day.

So would you.
Yeah, but I didn't sing.
I couldn't play, or at least, not as well as I would've liked. And until I won
the lottery, getting a guitar and practicing on my own wasn't a possibility.

A shadow fell
over me when
Karie
stepped behind my register. "Hey."

"Hey,
yourself.
You okay?" I asked, noticing a slight twinge of
something in her voice.

"Yeah."
She glanced
down at her cell. "You know if the band's playing tonight?"

"Not
tonight, no.
Jace
and I have plans."

"Oh.
Okay."

I grabbed her
arm when she went to turn away. "Okay, I know that look. What's up?"

"Derek..."

I sighed. "
Karie
, you can't just expect him to—"

"He
kissed me."

"What?"
I almost shrieked and lowered my voice before I continued." When?
How?"

"Last
night."

"But
they didn't play last night."

"I know.
I kind of...you know."

"You
stalked him?"
What the fuck?
"You
can't just do that." She had a boyfriend!

"It
wasn't like he didn't know me. I've been to most of their gigs."

"
Karie
, most celebrities know their stalkers. Just because
he's seen you a few times, that doesn't mean you can just...God. I don't even
know where to start. What about Alex?"

"More
trips. Besides, Derek hasn't called me back. I keep texting him but..." She
shrugged and her cheeks colored.

I sighed and
shook my head.
Great.
This was one thing I didn't need.
Awkward didn't even begin to describe how it felt to know
Karie
had been following Derek and even kissed him.
With Alex out of town.
Out of town didn't mean out of the
picture. Not to mention Derek was in
Jace's
band—a
brother through music.

I have to tell
Jace
.
And say what?
‘Hey,
Jace
, just thought you should know, my
co-worker is stalking your friend and wants to have sex with him?’ Not really
the best conversation to have over dinner.
Or in bed.

"...anyway,"
Karie
droned. "I just wanted to see if there was
a reason he hadn't called. Maybe he got caught up or something."

Or he knows you're already in a relationship.
For Christ's
sake, I thought things were good between them.

I watched her
as she returned to her register. She
slumped
her
shoulders, but for the most part,
Karie
focused on
work. So long as today went by without some kind of catastrophe at work, I'd be
happy. And by the end of the day, Karie's drama wouldn't matter.
I just have to get there first.

****

Straightening
my skirt under the table for what felt like the hundredth time, I nodded to the
waitress when she lifted a thin glass from the table. I wasn’t normally one for
drinking wine, but after
Jace
suggested we eat here,
I figured a small drink wouldn’t hurt.

It wasn’t a
flashy restaurant per say, but it was a lot better than most of the other
options we had around here. And seeing as I hadn’t eaten out since my horrible
break up almost a year before, treating myself to a nice hunk of meat and a
glass of wine was definitely in order.

Jace
met my gaze
from across the restaurant and mingled with some of the wait staff up front
before finding his way to our table.

"I
ordered drinks," I said, nodding to my wineglass. "I hope you don't
mind."