The Devil's Tattoo (9 page)

"He'd be stupid not to go for
you."

"I don't want a fling," I
said, annoyed.

"Hmm," Simone said, in
thought. "He does have that reputation doesn't he?"

"Which is why it will never
happen."

"That was awkward as hell back
there."

"One of the more stupid reactions
I've had."

"Don't be so hard on yourself,
Zoe," Simone said kindly. "I've seen him looking at you."

"People do that when I'm on
stage."

"No, not then."

I frowned. When would he look at me?

"The other night at the
Hi-Fi 
back
in Melbourne," she continued as if she'd read my thoughts.

"He was all over that girl."

"He was hardly paying attention to
her. He was too busy seeing how it pissed you off."

I felt myself going red and thought
about the death glares I'd shot at him.

"Will's into you."

"Too bad," I shot back with a
little too much anger in my voice. "I don't want a fling. I don't want
anything."

It was silent for a while after that
and it seemed like Simone had got the hint. I did not want to talk about Will
Strickland or any reference to my love life. Ever. Simone's next question caught
me off
guard,
I almost didn't know what to say.

"Did something happen to
you?" she asked carefully, breaking the silence with a resounding crash.

"Yeah," I heard myself saying
from somewhere very far away. Simone had that effect on me.
The
one where she was easy to talk to.

"Do you want to talk about
it?"

I sighed, looking out the window at the
countryside as it passed. "I went through a bad break up," I began.
"Everyone believed him and not one of them believed me. I ended up with a
broken arm and a broken life. If it wasn't for Dee, I don't know where I'd be
now."

"Fuck, Zoe."

"It's much better now."

"Your arm…"

"Dee started the band to help
me," I said, ignoring her. "I owe him everything."

"Well I'm glad," she said.
"Cos, I got to be friends with you."

I looked over at her then and she
glanced back to the road with a smile.

"We're
besties
,
right?" she asked.

I let out a small laugh, the tension
easing from my shoulders. "
Besties
."

CHAPTER TEN

Will

The early morning sun shone across the car park and it was all I
could do to keep one foot in front of the other. We'd had a late one last night
and I couldn't sleep at all, wondering where
Zoe'd
got to.
After we'd finished playing, she'd disappeared and I
didn't see her again after that.

Remembering her standing side of stage watching us, a shiver
surged through me. The thought of her eyes on me set me on fire. I'd had this
harmless crush on her for months and months, but the moment she was around in
the flesh, it had turned me into this insatiable monster. I wanted every part
of her.

It was such a sudden
shift,
I couldn't
fathom how it had happened. Maybe with some people it just clicked.

Dee and Frank, two of the guys from The Devil's Tattoo were
wresting with each other in front of the bus and Zoe and Chris were watching
them, looking like I felt. I clutched onto both of the takeout coffees I'd
wrangled from the cafe inside and kept walking. It was way too early for that
kind of energy. It made me tired just looking at them.

Coming up behind them I said, "Got an extra coffee. Anyone
want it?"

"Zoe wants it," Dee said and I looked at her and I swore
she was annoyed.

She went to take it, but her hand shook so much, it slipped from
her fingers and fell to the concrete and splashed over her boots.

"Shit," she cursed, her face flaming red.

"Aw, damn it," I hissed, jumping back a step.

She sunk into her hair again as she picked up the now empty cup
and walked over to the bin. To my surprise, she stopped and talked to Simone,
gesturing towards the 4WD that they'd rented.

"Zoe?" Dee called out to her and she looked up with a
shrug as they walked towards the car.

"I'm riding with Simone today," she called back.
"I'll entertain you tomorrow."

Disappointment flared and I knew she was trying to avoid me. For
what reason, I wasn't sure, but I could only think about the fact that she
didn't want to be near me and I felt like a hunk of crap.

Climbing onto the bus with the remainder of my coffee, I slumped
into a seat towards the back. This hunk of junk was going to be our mode of
transport for the next five-
ish
weeks and it was my
least
favourite
part of touring. Long drives between
cities cooped up in awkward seats. We were popular, but not popular enough to
have a fancy bus with beds.

Bob was our driver again. We'd had him on our last cross-country
tour and he was a good laugh. Dry as anything, but he could drive and knew how
to tone us down when we got too rowdy.

Without any distractions, my thoughts soon shifted to Zoe. I was
tanking, big time. All I seemed to do was piss her off and I had no idea how to
turn it around.

God, and the day before in the hotel
lobby.
What the hell was that? She was
awkward. I was awkward. I knew I was because I had a hard on for her big time, but
what was her excuse? Was she trying to shoot me down? Did I make her feel
uncomfortable? I'd never had so much trouble trying to convince a woman to go
out with me in my whole entire life. Before I made a bigger ass of myself, I
high tailed it out of there the moment Dee had come over with her room key.

The whole night and this morning she'd avoided me like the plague.
When I offered her that coffee just now, shit. Her hand shook so bad, she'd
dropped it on the ground. I didn't care, but she seemed to be embarrassed as
hell.

"What the hell are you doing, man?" Pete asked over the
top of the seat.

Eyeing the guys from The Devil's Tattoo, I grimaced.

"You're bloody clueless."

"She hates me."

"I
dunno
about that," he said
with a shrug. "But, whatever
you
think you're doing is
mental."

I glared at him and he knew me well enough to let it go and slid
back into his own seat.

Bloody hell, I was well and truly pussy whipped.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

ZOE

"Sorry."

I turned around and found Dee behind me, scuffing his toe against
the carpet. I know he's talking about the coffee incident and seriously, it's
such a small thing to be upset about, I've already let it go.

"It's okay," I said.

We were backstage at the venue hanging out until it was time to go
on. The Gold Coast was actually pretty nice if you could get past the whole
'Hollywood on the Gold Coast' slogan. It's packed with theme parks and wildlife
sanctuaries, casinos and
kilometres
of beaches. We
had a photo shoot scheduled for the next day down by the surf and I was
actually looking forward to it for once.

"It was a stupid thing to do," Dee said.

"It's a stupid thing for me to get worked up about."

He smiled then, and it reminded me of when we were kids and he had
something devious planned. "I've got a present for you."

"Really? What's the occasion? I mean, other than you being a
doofus
."

He chose to ignore me. "It's eight months today since we
started the band."

"Really?" Went to show how fast things had turned
around.

He put his hand into the back pocket of his battered jeans and
pulled out a copy of our album,
Do Me a
Favour
.

"Uh, thanks Dee, but I've already got one of those."

"Not this one," he declared, shoving it into my hands.

I opened it up, but it was exactly the same. "What am I meant
to be doing with it?"

"Open the booklet up,
Zo
Zo
." He looked extremely pleased with himself and I
knew he'd done something while I was in the car with Simone.

I took it out of the cardboard cover and opened it up. It was full
of black and white photos of us on stage, promo photos and candid’s. All the
lyrics were written out in long
hand which gave it that
photocopied punk
zine
look. Towards the back there
were a few pages of bright photos that were mostly white. In the spaces there
were little messages written.
One each from Dee, Frank and
Chris.

To Zoe, The
raddest
chick and guitar
player I know. Without you we wouldn't be here today. You are The Devil's
Tattoo, babe. Love Frank.

Zoe,
Honoured
to have met you and count
you as a best mate. Never change.
xx
Chris.

And below, was Dee's:
To my best friend, Zoe Granger, aka Hot
Legs. The day I met you was the day my life began. You're my sister and my
family and I love you more than you'll ever know.
To quote
Bryan Adams, Everything I Do I Do It For You.
Thank you for making my
dream
come
true. And to quote Chris, NEVER CHANGE.
xxxx
Dee

I felt a tear slide down my cheek and suddenly Dee had me in his
arms.

"Stop it," I said. "You're ruining my makeup."

"Love you,
Zo
Zo
."

"Love you, Dee."

Thankfully the gig that night was one of our best to date. Seemed
that making me angry made for a better show, you know, more raw emotion to
filter into our songs. Didn't help that they were all about love and sex, but
I'm sure the audience got their monies worth. I wondered what the review was
going to be like. Dee was so exited about the photos he was running around like
a
two year old
high on sugar, refreshing our Facebook
page on his phone a million times.

For the first time, I didn't stick around to watch The Stabs,
instead disappearing into the crowd where
I was accosted by
people telling me how awesome I was
. I spent the rest of the night with
Simone at the
merch
table and was even asked by a few
people to sign their albums. If someone had asked me a year ago if I could have
seen myself here as I was right now, I would have told
them
they were mad. No, scratch that. I would have turned red and run away. The
Devil's Tattoo was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Period.

After the gig, the venue turned into a quasi-club that didn't
close until three am, so we all decided to hang round and have a dance and a
few drinks. We were all riding high after our performance and for the first
time, I didn't care one iota about Will Strickland.

We were all gathered around a table, Dee, Frank, Chris and I,
laughing and talking up a storm when I looked up and saw Dee's eyes darken in
annoyance.

"What?" I elbowed him.

"It really pisses me off, the way he does that," he
scowled and one look confirmed what I knew he was on about. Will's up to his
old tricks again, taking advantage of the string of female fans that have hung
around for the club.

It's no use hiding my ill-advised crush from the guys anymore.
"I need to get over that like last century."

"You should get one up on him."

"Why?" I asked with a grimace. "It's not like he's
got a crush on me."

"Totally does," Frank said. "How are you the only
one that hasn't noticed?"

"Probably because I'm firmly planted in reality," I said
with a roll of my eyes.

The Naked and Famous'
Young Blood
came on and Frank's eyes
lit up with a wicked sparkle. "Come and dance with me, Zoe." He
grabbed my hand and began to tug me towards the dance floor. "I know you
like this song."

"And you can show one up on man-whore," Dee said,
nodding towards the one place I didn't want to look.

"If you can't dirty dance with your band brothers to make
jerk-
off's
jealous, then what are we good for?"
Frank whispered in my ear.

I laughed the first genuine laugh since the tour had started and
squeezed his hand. "Let's go, bro."

We disappeared into the mass of people on the dance floor and Frank
positioned us under a blue spotlight. Grabbing me around the waist, he pulled
me against the length of his muscled body and I didn't care in the slightest. I
wrapped my arms around his neck and we moved to the bouncy song and sang along
to the words, having the time of our lives. When it inevitably slowed down, he
twirled me around and pulled me closer and we were cheek to cheek.

"Death stares at two o'clock on the rocket clock," he
murmured into my ear and I knew he
was loving
it.

"You're such a bad influence,
Frankey
,"
I murmured back and he spun me around again like we were doing some kind of
mashed up ballroom dance.

"I'm all about being used for my body," he wiggled his
eyebrows.

I threw my head back and laughed and he took the opportunity to
dip me low to the floor, before pulling me back up.

"These arms can do more than drum,
Zo
Zo
," he smiled wickedly. When the song came
to an end and melted into another bubbly electro number, Frank pulled me off
the dance floor. "Let me get you another drink."

"You better," I laughed. "After that dance, I think
I might be pregnant."

"Because I'm that good," he smirked. "Seriously, if
you're
preggers
, you better not drink."

Thoroughly disgusted, I pushed him towards the bar. "Get me a
drink, smart ass."

Dee shook his head at me as I stood next to him, my face flushed.
"Mission accomplished," he winked.

"Was I on a mission?"

"You totally were. Don't deny it."

"Okay," I shrugged. "Maybe a little."

"If you were aiming to get one up on the sleaze bag, I think
you just got a hundred up."

"I never knew Frank could dance like that."

"How is that man single?" Dee agreed like we were
girlfriends chatting about cute boys.

I didn't really care about what
Will
thought, he was doing well enough on his own. Dancing with Frank was fun and we
were friends and no matter what they thought, I just wanted to make the most of
this tour with them, because who knew what would happen next. What I didn't
want to acknowledge was that deep down, I actually wanted to make Will fumingly
jealous. I wanted to see steam coming out of his ears. I wanted him to know
what it felt like.

I still didn't believe what everyone was saying, that Will was
into me. Even Simone had noticed. Was he really trying to make me jealous? If
he was, he was going about it the wrong way.

"That guy is shameless." Dee shook his head, reading my
thoughts. "I mean, I'm all for a good time, but that's a new level. I
don't string '
em
on."

Frank had
came
back while I was
daydreaming. "He came up to me just now and I swear he was
gunna
hit me," Frank grimaced. "You've pussy
whipped him,
Zo
."

"What are you on about?"

"I don't think he liked the idea of someone else touching
you."

That made me madder than I thought it would. "He's hardly
spoken to me this entire week and spends his free time flirting with
randoms
. Like it's his business what I do. I can dance with
whoever I want, however I want."

"Calm down, Zoe," Dee threaded his arm through mine.
"You're drunk."

"No, I'm not," I protested.

"If he's trying to make you jealous, looks like it
backfired," Frank said, trying not to look me in the eye.

"Can't say I want to be him right now," Dee agreed.

Abruptly, I jerked away from him and ducked into the crowd before
he could pull me back. Truthfully, I was a little drunk by this stage, so
when I walked up to the bar and saw
Will
waiting to be
served, I scowled at him with such force I even scared myself. When he turned
around and saw the look on my face, he actually looked surprised.

"What the hell is your problem?" I asked, thumping down
my empty bottle on the bar.

"Frank told you."

"Of course Frank told me."

"This is the most animated I've seen you off stage."

"What's your problem?" I asked again and suddenly I felt
incredibly turned on at how riled up he'd made me from this one little thing.
Frank said Will had it bad? I had it worse.

"I don't have a problem."

"Why the hell do you care?" I exclaimed. "On second
thoughts, don't answer that. I could care less."

"I could care a lot."

I was too angry for that to register. "Oh, go do your skank
and leave me the hell alone."

Will stared at me dumbfounded and for once he seemed like he was
lost for words. I didn't stick around. I turned sharply on my heel and elbowed
my way back to where I'd left my next drink with the boys.

"You sure put him in his place," Dee sniggered as I
approached.

"Oh, go jump
Dylan
."

"Your name's Dylan?" Chris asked.

"Now see what you've done?" he exclaimed. "You've
ruined my mystique."

"Is that what you call it?" I asked.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Never mind. I'm taking you
back to the hotel if you're done defending Frank's virtue."

"Hey," Frank exclaimed. "I don't have any virtue to
protect."

I didn't have the strength to protest as Dee slipped an arm around
my waist and guided me from the venue. Going back to the hotel was a good idea.
I was so worked up, who knew what I'd say to Will next. Hell, what would I say
if I saw him with another girl? Yeah, going back to the hotel was a great idea.