We both glanced up to the stage, where Lexie and Nina were belting their hearts out. It took me longer than it should’ve to decipher the lyrics to the Led Zeppelin song they were singing so poorly.
“Yeah…this is why Lexie’s not allowed to do many of the backup vocals.” Liam scrunched his face.
Nina danced and swayed to the beat alongside Lexie. My best friend couldn’t sing to save her life, but what she lacked in vocal talent, she made up for in her dancing. Every time she rolled her hips, the crowd cheered. The fact that she could do this in front of a packed bar, almost completely sober, was courageous in my book. Her fearlessness was something I envied. Then again, she’d had her own little army of four older brothers and two loving parents cheering her on with every move and every victory she made, big or small, throughout her life. No judgment or unattainable expectations. No one to tell her she couldn’t do anything. That kind of freedom could make anyone feel invincible. Powerful even. She deserved it though. Every bit of it. Nina was a ball of light in a dark room, and I was lucky to have her on my cloudy days.
“Let her stay,” Liam said, noticing my smile morphing into a yawn. “I’ll make sure one of the guys gets her home safe. Scout’s honor.” He held one hand up and made a sign with his fingers that was anything but innocent. I frowned, unconvinced, and he dropped his hand. “She’s in good hands, Av. You know that.”
There he went with the nickname again.
I pulled my keys out as the crowd began shouting for an encore the moment they finished. “Fine. Tell her I got another one of my headaches. She’ll believe that.”
I was halfway to my car when I heard footsteps coming up behind me. Before I could react, Liam snatched my keys out of my hand and pointed across the lot.
“My truck is this way.”
6
Avery
Liam was a solid ten paces away when I realized he wasn’t turning back around.
“What in the hell are you doing?” I asked, scurrying after him.
“You’re riding with me,” Liam threw over his shoulder as he tossed my keys up and down. “Don’t worry; I’ll let you ride shotgun.”
As if there was another choice unless he thought I’d ride in the bed of his truck, but I wasn’t about to give him any ideas.
I caught up to him as he reached his old single-cab Chevy. It reminded me of the one I had seen his dad driving when we were younger, only much nicer and matte black instead of the ugly forest-green color that had faded from the sun.
“This isn’t funny. You wanted me to go, so I’m going.”
“Not in your car, you’re not.”
“What are you talking about?”
I reached for the keys when I was close enough, but he stretched his arm above his head. I jumped up and down, regretting it as soon as I saw amusement warm his eyes.
“Did you get shorter?” His eyebrows pinched.
“No.” I huffed, surprised he’d noticed the height difference too. “You’re just…taller.” I had made it a point to keep as far away from him as possible when we were younger, so I’d never noticed his massive stature…or that his eyes were more of a warm chocolate brown than the two black abyss holes I’d once thought they were. I took a step back and let out an exasperated breath.
“Look, the rules haven’t changed. No one drives home if they’ve been drinking. Even you.”
I knew their band rules. There were only three from what I could remember.
Theno drinking and drivingrule.
One of the band members had to remain sober any night they went out together. That rule had come after Danny was pulled over on his way home from one of Liam’s infamous parties back in high school. Mom had had to drive him to school the remainder of his senior year because of his suspended license—something neither one of them was happy about.
Theno hard drugsrule.
I was pretty sure Liam was responsible for that one. After his dad had been sent to prison for drug trafficking, it hadn’t been a surprise.
Theanytime, anywhererule.
This was an unspoken rule I imagined most families had in place. And that was basically what the band was. A family. If one of them called and needed another member, it didn’t matter what they were doing or where they were, they had to come. No questions asked. If one of them killed somebody, they would all help hide the body. They’d probably get away with it too.
I was sure they had added a few other rules since their years of practicing in garages and performing in bars, but the ones involving the safety and care of another member were paramount. That was why it had been so easy for me to leave Nina with them. My brother and his friends were idiots, but they weren’t stupid.
