The Devil's Tattoo (11 page)

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

ZOE

"What did he say?"

Simone was standing beside me, an anxious look plastered on her
face. Her usual slick ponytail was haphazardly bunched on top of her head. A
few days had passed since I had
;
one, yelled at Will
and two, spoken with Chris. And what an eventful few days it had been. We
played an extra show in Newcastle, did some interviews and another messy, but
fun photo shoot on the beach. I was glad it was just The Devil's Tattoo for the
latter. I hadn't spoken to Will since, you know, his crap attempt at
apologising
, and he hadn't tried either.

We were packing up the bus for another days drive. This time we
were going down to Sydney and I wasn't looking forward to it at all.

"He hasn't spoken to you?" I asked, surprised. I'd told
Chris it was a done deal.
Him and Simone.

"No," she sighed. "He's been really awkward around
me."

"I don't know why." On the photo shoot yesterday he'd
been quieter than usual.

"What did you tell him?"

"Simone," I scolded her. "He likes you. He told me.
I told him you felt the same."

"You didn't!"

"Of course I did."

"Zoe…"

"Done deal, Simone. Someone has to be the first one to make a
move. May as well be you. Obviously Chris is still scared stiff."

"Why would he be scared?" she asked with a frown.

I looked at her over my
sunnies
.
"Why would you?"

She looked up then and caught sight of Chris lugging his bag
across the car park. With a small squeak, she scurried off towards her rental
and opened the back.

As Chris passed me I said, "Asked her yet?" Knowing full
well that he hadn't.

He paled and kept walking.

"Playing matchmaker?" I stiffened at the sound of Will's
voice in my ear.

"What's it to you?" I asked flatly, not bothering to
turn around.

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"For what?"

Silence. I looked up at him and he was smiling at me with that
lopsided grin, the stubble on his chin infuriatingly sexy.

Anger and desire flared up inside of me and I snapped, "Still
an a-hole I see," and stalked off into the bus.

Unfortunately, we were a seat down and I'd waited too long to get
on. Will was last and he could have sat next to anyone, but as if he wanted to
irritate the hell out of me, he slid into the seat next to mine. "I
said I was sorry."

"Yeah," I glared at him over the top of my
sunnies
, "I got it."

"Can we start again?"

"You
gotta
be straight with
me," I said. "I don't do games. I don't do cryptic."

"Okay."

I didn't want to talk about it anymore, so I put my earphones in
and turned on some Queens of the Stone Age to drown him out. To my annoyance,
he pulled an ear bud out and I snatched it back off him. My breath caught as my
hand ran over his and his eyes snapped up to mine. I never once believed that
zap of electricity shit, but right then that's exactly what I felt and by the
look on Will's face, he just might have as well.

"Zoe…"

I scowled at him and put the ear bud back in with a small shake of
my head. I'd just gotten my life back on
track,
I
didn't need this emotional roller coaster. I was stuck sitting next to him for
the next god knows how long. I just had to focus and get through it.

I hated that I was so attracted to him. I hated how I
fantasised
about his hands, his fingers and his lips. I
hated that he crept into my thoughts with
ease,
the
thought of him near me overwhelmed everything else. I was thinking these things
right now and he was sitting right next to me. Five
centimetres
separated us. I was so hyper aware, I squirmed at the tingling between my legs
and sunk down into my seat. Pulling my hoodie over my head, I hoped he couldn't
tell how amped up I was.

Thankfully, he decided not to push it any further, but he didn't
move from the seat next to me either. I'd been bitchy enough and asking him to
move would be the bitchiest thing I could do. We all had to get along for the
next five-
ish
weeks, so I looked out of the window
and did my best to ignore him.

With the combination of late nights and a smooth ride, it wasn't
long before I fell asleep, despite all my best efforts to keep my eyes open. It
was only two hours, but two hours extra sleep was better than none at all.

"Zoe."

Opening my eyes, I wasn't sure where I was for a moment. My leg
was pressed up against someone else's and for a moment I thought it was Dee,
but when he said my name again, I
realised
I was
still sitting next to Will and it was him I was pressed up against. It was
so unexpected, I jerked away like a scared animal.
Like a
lamb who'd been cornered by a fox.

"Sorry," I mumbled, thoroughly embarrassed.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he frowned at me.
"We're here."

I looked out the window and we were in the lot behind the hotel we
were booked in for the next couple of nights. The boys were already half
outside stretching. 

Will slid out of the seat and held out his hand. I eyed him
suspiciously and stood on my own.

"I don't bite you know," he said.

When he didn't move out of the way, I scowled. "What?"

"I don't get you, Zoe."

"What's there to get?" I asked, silently praying that
he'd move and I wouldn't have to push him. If I had to, I'd touch him and where
would that take me?
Straight into the danger zone.

"You just seem uncomfortable."

I shrugged.

"Why?"

I looked at him for a moment, blinking, put on the spot. "I
guess… I don't know what to talk about."

"There's plenty of things to talk about," he smiled at
me.

"Well, I have no idea what to say. The idea bank is
empty."

He stood there for a moment too long, the awkward silence
stretching into infinity. "Are you going to let me make it up to
you?"

"Are you going to let me off?" I retorted.

He laughed wryly and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it away
from his eyes. Standing aside he held out a hand, gesturing down the aisle.
"After you."

Not wasting a second more, I hightailed it off the bus and into the
safety of the hotel foyer.

I'd really come to enjoy sound check. It was my quiet time. I know
that sounded silly, considering the noise level, but it allowed me to sit back
and observe. I didn't have to perform, I didn't have to talk to anyone, and I
didn't have to put on a face. I could just watch. Sometimes all of that wore me
down. Typically, I was a shy person. Talking took it out of me emotionally, so
I relished these small moments.

I was watching the support band set up their gear from a step out
in the venue. The house lights were up, which gave the place a whole different
feel.

The support was a local indie outfit called Damages. Apparently
they had a song that had just been picked up by Absolute, the radio station
that was first to pick up ours. I hadn't had a chance to hear it yet, so I was
looking forward to them playing it in their set tonight.

When they finished, I noticed two of the guys talking to each
other furiously and then they looked over at me. A moment later, one of them
jumped down from the stage and began to walk over. He looked younger than I
was, maybe about twenty, tall and wiry with dark shaggy hair. He looked a bit
nervous, looking at the ground, rather than look where he was going. It was a
move I was we'll aquatinted with.

"Hey," he said as he stopped by me and I knew he was
nervous.

"Hi," I said with a smile, knowing exactly how he felt,
"
I'm Zoe."

"Yeah, I know," he said with a laugh. "I'm Max. I
play guitar and do vocals in Damages."

"I saw you guys sound check. You're pretty good."

"Wow, really? Thanks."

"No problem."

"I don't know if you do this, but we'd be stoked if you would
sing a song with us."

"Oh," I said, blinking in surprise. "What song? I
guess it depends if I know it."

He
smiled,
obviously pleased I was considering
it. "
Future Starts Slow
by The Kills. We've done it a couple of
times and people seem to like it, but I reckon it would sound better with a
female vocal. Man, and if you sang it with us..." He stopped mid-sentence,
realising
he'd been babbling.

Really, I was taken aback by how much he seemed to respect me. I
mean,
he wasn't trying to crack onto me in the slightest
,
he was into my band
.

"Sure," I laughed, instantly liking him. "It'll be
great."

"Yeah?" he exclaimed, eyes bright.

"Yeah. When do you do it in your set?"

"Second to last," he said. "We had a single picked
up on the radio that's doing well, so we play that last."

"Good call," I agreed.

"We don't do anything to change the tempo or key, it's pretty
faithful to the original. Will you be okay without rehearsing, I mean, it's
different with another band... I mean, shit on it."

I let out a loud laugh and shook my head. "I'm not offended,
Max. I don't know how long you've been playing together, but we're new at this
too. I love the song and if you stick to it pretty faithfully as you said, then
it'll be fine."

"God, I'm such an idiot," he laughed, smacking a palm
into his forehead. "I just really admire the way you play."

"Wow, no really, wow. Thanks. I'm going to watch
your
set anyway, so just
gimme
a
cue."

"Now you're just flattering me."

A loud booming voice echoed over the sound system then, making us
look around. "
Zoooooeeeeee
."

I smiled and looked up at Dee who was on stage, waving me over.
"Better go," I said to Max.

"Sure and thanks again. It's going to be amazing."

Giving him a small smile, I made my way to the stage where Dee
gave me a look.

"What?" I asked.

"Flirting with the support,
Zo
? Are
you on operation
drive
indie bass players bananas,
still?"

"Shut up, Dee," I rolled my eyes. "I'm not trying
to piss off anyone. They asked me to do a song with them tonight and I
agreed."

He let out a slow whistle. "Zoe Granger, branching out. Never
thought I'd see the day."

"I'm the product of your creation. Deal with it."

"What song?"

"
Future Starts Slow
by The Kills."

"Sex-y."

"Oh, tune your guitar, Dee or we'll be here all night and I
won't get the chance."

"You're a hard task master."

"All I need is a whip."

"Zoe, you're making me think dirty thoughts," Frank said
as he wandered over to the drum kit. "Especially after leading me on the
other night. No wonder everyone is hot for you."

Groaning, I went to retrieve my guitar and pedals, hoping by the
time I'd set up, Dee would have tuned his guitar and forgotten about his smart
comments.

By the time the doors opened and Damages were getting ready to
start their set, I was getting nervous. Every time I went out on stage I had a
guitar to hide behind. Going out there on my own made me feel naked. I hadn't
thought of that when Max had asked me earlier and now I wish I had.

As if he could read the blind terror that plagued my thoughts from
whatever expression was plastered on my face, Dee said, "Nothing to worry
about,
Zo
. You're
gunna
be
fabulous."