Colt smirks. “Yeah, Hux is my little bro. We started the band together, which is why we’re called12GAUGE-Slayed, or Slayed for short. It’s a take on our surname and the guns we grew up with when Dad would take us hunting. It’s probably the only good memory we have of the old bastard. We named our band when we were young, and it’s just kind of stuck. It’s funny how something amazing like our band and its name came from something as shitty as a memory and a name from an asshole. Swings and roundabouts, I guess.”
I weakly smile back at him. “Thank you for telling me that. I’m sorry your father was…not nice… but Iamglad you and your brother were able to make something of yourselves despite him.” Someone calls Colt’s name in the distance, and he rolls his eyes, letting out a small groan. “Guess you’d better get going. Don’t want to keep thoseevil minionfans out there waiting too long,” I joke.
“Wewillcontinue this later, yeah?” Colt states, and my heart rate spikes as he leans in.
I’m disappointed when he diverts and kisses my cheek. His soft, warm lips on my skin send tingles throughout my entire body, and that ache between my legs is a full-blown raging inferno that I know only Colt can extinguish. He smiles, and I shyly nod, then he shakes his head as he walks toward the stage, leaving me standing here.
Holy heck. What was that?
My head is spinning.
The man is a contradiction.
An enigma.
After his bizarre behavior and the way he left me in their changing room, I can’t believe we nearly kissed. The emotions flowing through me are overwhelming. Elation, fear, and guilt that I’m moving on too soon, and how Joseph might feel.
But he said heneverloved me.
So why should I feel guilty?
Why should I care about Joseph’s feelings?
He broke it off with me.
And leftmea right royal mess.
Taking another sip of Jack, I head to the Slayette’s room. It’s the one place I don’t want to be, but I know it’s where I’ll find out what’s next on the agenda.
“What the hell happened to you?” Jessi asks as I walk in, looking disheveled with my now ripped clothing and messy hair. At her question, everyone turns to look at me.
“Mobbed by theevil minionswhen I went outside,” I reply as I move to sit on one of the red couches.
“Seriously?” Sia asks, and I nod once. “What the fuck were you thinking! Are you a complete idiot? Younevergo outside without security. And… what did you just call them?”
“Evil minions,” I reply, and the room cracks up in hysterical laughter.
“That’s the perfect name for those complete lunatics. Maybe youcanbe one of us after all,” another girl states.
Jessi scoffs and rolls her eyes in clear disgust.
“Well, you have the ripped jeans. Now all we need is to do something about that tank top,” Sia remarks as she walks across to me. I look at her and grimace as she grabs the hem of my tank top, then rips it to just above my belly button.
“What the?” I yell out as she proceeds to rip it completely, so my top is nowreallyshort and showing off my midriff. I’m afraid that if I lift my arms, it might showwaymore than I want.
“There… now with a bit of dark makeup around the eyes, and we get rid of that yellow monstrosity you’re wearing, add a few chains, you will look just like us. C’mon, girls, it’s a mission. Let’s liven up Dee and give her our rock chick vibe,” Sia chimes as they rush over and start fixing me up in one way or another—all except for Jessi, who’s too busy applying her lip gloss to care.
When the Slayettes finish making me over, I move to check myself out in the mirror. I don’t look like my usual self, but I don’t look half bad either. It makes me wonder,What will Colt think when he sees me?
They accented my green eyes with dark purple and black, making my irises pop. My long hair is curled and messy, but in a good way, and the blush is a darker pink than I would normally use. The lip gloss they applied is also darker than my typical shade, almost a deep red, but I like it. The transformation from Daddy’s sweet, high-society lady to rock chick is spot-on.
“Wow,” I say, staring at myself.
“I know, we create masterpieces, don’t we, girls?” Sia states. She takes my arm in hers, and we all walk out of the room and down to the stage. The crowd hasn’t been allowed in yet, so we’re right in front. I’m standing in the middle, directly in line with the microphone for Colt. It makes me wonder if Sia positioned me here on purpose.
I pull out my cell phone to take some pictures, but then realize there are way too many messages when it buzzes out of control, so I do what any sensible girl would do, I turn the darn thing off.
An announcement echoes around the room, not long later, “The doors will be opening in ten minutes…” A pause. “Ten minutes, everyone.”
