Bad Nymph (2 page)

“Yeah, I guess...” I said,
feeling all the hopes I had for this summer crumble up inside of me. “Ugh, I’ll
think about it later. Can you help me get the
merch
and some water from the van?”

“Sure,” she said, following
me out to the parking lot, past the line of early birds waiting for a good
view.

And that’s when I saw him.
Six-feet of delicious brown skin and a smile that could kill, leaning against
the back of the van.

“Who is
that
,” Sierra said with that voice she used on hot boys at clubs.

“That’s
Aamir
,”
I croaked. “The other guy I hooked up with.”
She let out a low whistle.
“You already called him up?” she said. He caught sight of me and lifted a hand,
his lips widening in a full-fledged goofball grin.

“No.” I could feel the wind
leaving my body as I brought my hand up to return the gesture. “I’ve been
ignoring him completely.”

“Well if you told me he
looked like
that
my advice might have
been a little different,” Sierra teased.

“I just don’t know what he
wants,” I said, even though I had a number of guesses. One being he wasn’t used
to girls ignoring him.

“Well, don’t let me stop
you. Go figure out what he wants! I’ll be inside,” she said with a wicked
smile, turning to go backstage.

“Sierra wait—” I
called back to her, but she just waved her hand up to the air and called out, “
sayonara
!” without giving me a second
glance.

“Fuck,” I muttered, feeling
the sharp burst of nerves inside of me. I planted a smile on my face and walked
up to him casually, as if men waited around vehicles hoping I would show up all
the time.

“Hey,” he said, his smile so
adorably vibrant that I thought I would melt. He was wearing a sleeveless black
shirt and a pair of leather pants. It wasn’t his usual get-up, but boy was it a
look I could get used to. The line of his strong thigh sent a shiver down my
spine.

‘
His face is up there
,’ I reminded myself. But I could tell from the
look on his face I was too late. He had already caught me being a creep, and it
seemed like he liked it.

“Hey,” I said back, trying
to sound nonchalant. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, considering you never
returned my texts or calls, I guess I’m just stalking you,” he laughed. The
bright sheen in his chocolate eyes shot through my body and down into my core,
he was
that
delicious.

“Oh, yeah,” I started,
trying to figure out how to explain myself. I could feel the familiar creeping
blush come over the tips of my ears and I cursed myself internally. “Um, some
stuff came up with our van and the band and stuff...sorry, I meant to call you
back.”

‘
You’re a liar and he knows it.
’

“Oh, I’m so sorry,”
Aamir
said, a look of genuine concern crossing his face.
“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” I started, but when
I saw the touch of sympathy in his eyes, I couldn’t help but relent. “No,
actually, not really. The tour’s being canceled. So much for my summer
adventure,” I joked, trying to sound as unaffected as possible, even though my
heart was breaking as I said it.

“I’m so sorry,”
Aamir
said, his lips falling into a frown. “That’s
terrible. And Bad Moon is so terrific too.”

“Thanks,” I said. His voice
had a strangely magnetic quality, like his sympathetic words could lull me
closer to him if I weren’t so terrified he’d make me and all my friends kill
each other.

‘
That’s right
,’ I reminded myself. ‘
Don’t fall for him so easy.
’ He was, after all, the ex-boyfriend of
that crazy nymph/fairy/freak girl that somehow got Martin to put his hands
around Trent’s neck.

“Don’t you have a show
tonight?” I asked him, trying to change the conversation.

“No,”
Aamir
shook his head. “We have a show tomorrow in Athens, but we thought we could
spend the day in Atlanta for fun.”

“Oh,” I said. “So you
decided to see the concert?”

“Yes and no,”
Aamir
said, taking in a deep breath as if he were nervous.
“ I mean, don’t get me wrong, I totally want to see Bad Moon and Time Warp
play, but I really came here to try to convince you to that you should hang out
with me.”

“So you stalked our tour
schedule online?” I said, folding my arms over my chest as a smirk spread
across my lips. It was hard not to be flattered, even if he was potentially
evil.

“Stalk is a strong word,” he
hesitated, “especially if the information is online and available to the
public. I’d rather call it ‘checking in.’”
He did have me there. “Well,
whatever you want to call it, it’s a waste of your time now. I’m going back to
South Florida,” I said, reminding myself of the hard truth.

“Come with us, Bailey,
please,”
Aamir
grabbed my hand, and I stifled a gasp
at the warm touch of his skin against mine. A sharp sting of eager nerves
consumed me, pulsing against my veins, like I had had too much coffee to drink.
It was shocking and surreal. I wanted to chalk it up to my intense attraction
to him, but I knew it was more than that. He quickly pulled his hand away and
the heat left me as soon as it had entered me. I felt strangely exhausted by
the feeling.

‘
What the hell is he doing to me?
’ I wondered as my arms felt
strangely leaden.

“You can be our manager and
have the adventure you wanted.”

“I can’t,” I said. “Bad Moon
isn’t over and besides...I, I don’t trust you,
Aamir
,”
I said, finally getting the words in a rush. They were heavy, but they were
there, hanging in the air between us.

“Why not?”
Aamir
asked, giving me a puzzled look. He looked so sincere
that I almost believed he had no idea what I was talking about for a moment.
Almost.

“Look,
Aamir
,
I don’t know what your deal is, but sending us to the Arkansas House was
really, really messed up of you. I don’t think I can forgive you for that, and
I think any reasonable person would feel the same way.”

“Wait, what are you talking
about?” he said.

“Are you kidding me?” I
could feel the anger burning behind my eyes. It was one thing to put my
friends’ lives in danger. It was another thing to play dumb. “I don’t have time
for this,” I spat, turning on my heel to walk back towards the stage door. I’d
get the
merch
another time.

“Wait, Bailey!”
Aamir
grabbed my wrist, pulling me so that I turned around
to face him. There was that shocking spike of feeling again. I pulled my wrist
away, quickly, fearfully.

“Look, if you don’t like me,
fine. Say so. But don’t go making wild accusations that I don’t even
understand. Just tell me you don’t like me and I’ll go.” His voice wasn’t
angry, but firm. Even his look told me he was near wit’s end.

“You really don’t know what
I’m talking about,” I murmured, searching his face for an answer. He just shook
his head. I suddenly wondered how much he knew about any of it, if he even did
know anything about all the werewolves and demons and the so called “Other
Realm.” But his touch told me otherwise.

He shook his head, his eyes
filled with hurt and concern. Whether he was lying or not, he had me in the
palm of his hand.

“They...attacked us,” I
said, trying to be careful not to mention anything about Marie’s freakish
powers. It wasn’t the time or place, and there was always the chance that I was
wrong and he knew nothing about his ex’s magical weirdness. “There was a riot
and everything.”

His brows furrowed, and for
the first time I thought I saw a hint of anger in his face. “Are you serious?”
he said. “Dammit, I’m so sorry Bailey.”

“Yeah, well...” I said,
shrugging and turning my head.

“Why did they do that to
you?”

“I don’t know, no reason
really. I don’t think Marie liked me.” It was the truth. I had no clue on earth
as to why that happened. 
‘
And if
it didn’t, this tour might’ve stood a chance
,’ I thought bitterly.

“I can’t believe this...I
mean, I knew they were punks and everything but I didn’t think they took it that
seriously...” He looked away and sighed. “I understand why you don’t want to
talk to me. Honestly, you’re too good for me. I’m going to call those punks up
and give them a piece of my mind...” he said between gritted teeth. He looked
different angry, but I liked it—it was rough. I couldn’t fight my
attraction to him—every new expression burned a raw desire in my stomach.

“But please, just think
about it, okay? I’m not asking you to run away with me to a foreign country,
I’m asking you to be our band manager. We’ll pay you and everything,” he
smiled. “And if Bad Moon ends up touring again, you’ll just have that much more
experience to help them out.”

I bit my lip, remembering
the plush hardness of his mouth against mine. It was ridiculous. He was
offering me a job, but all I could think about was making out with him. My
priorities had definitely gone down the toilet since this tour started.

“I’ll think about it,” I
said, too touched by his offer (and his hotness) to outright deny him. Maybe he
really didn’t know anything about Marie’s powers. Besides, it would be awesome
if I could tour the country, even if it wasn’t the way I originally planned...

“Thank you,” he said, bowing
his head as he reached for my hand and brought to his lips like a goddamn
prince.

“You can’t just go around
doing things like that,” I murmured.

“Pardon?”
Aamir
asked, lifting his face. I shook my head.

“Nothing. I…I have to go and
take care of some stuff inside,” I said, turning to indicate to the stage door
behind me. The waters could wait. I needed to know how
soundcheck
went...and needed to squeal and moan to Sierra. It was too bad that I couldn’t
share the extent of my dilemma, but at least I could get
some
advice.

“Right, of course,” he said,
stepping away from me with a sheepish smile. “I’ll see you after the show?”

“Yeah,” I said, letting out
a deep breath. “Definitely.” I walked back towards the metal door, doing my
best not to look back at the masterpiece of a man behind me. I only failed in
this mission once, which was a hell of a lot better than I expected.

But as soon as I got
backstage, I was swept up in all the little details—Martin was back but
he needed the spare strings I carried in my backpack. The stage manager needed
me to sign a release. Brandon kept sneezing thanks to the damn cat.

By the time everything was
ready to go, I was ready to collapse. While part of me wanted to corral them
into a big group like in Orlando, I felt too defeated to do anything to raise
their morale. The stage manager, a guy about our age with gauge piercings, went
over a tedious checklist that I was sure the guys retained none of. I could see
the dread on their faces. This was it, and the journey had hardly even begun.

I opened my mouth to say
something vaguely positive once the stage manager left, but Martin cut me off,
surprising everyone.

“Hey guys,” he started,
shuffling his feet for a moment. Then he looked up and took in each of our
faces, as if expecting us to protest. I could tell by the way he sucked in his
lips for a moment that he was on edge.

“I just wanted to say...well
I’ve been a total ass these last few days, and I’m sorry. But no matter what, I
think you all are awesome, and I just can’t believe this is over before it even
started. If you want to go on tour again...well, you know where to find me,” he
said, letting out a long exhale. Brandon beamed at him, and I couldn’t help but
suspect that he was the one behind this sudden show of affection.

“Hey man,” Nick said, his
lips curling up in a sweet smile. “This isn’t the end. Just an unexpected
detour.”

“Group hug!” Brandon called
out, throwing his arm around me and Sierra, pulling our bodies forward. I
laughed, throwing an arm around Nick, and we all formed a tight circle of
bittersweet hugs until we were broken up by the stage manager, warning us that
the house was open and that the guys would be on in five.

“Break a leg,” I said as the
guys threw their guitars around their necks, kicking their cases to a dark
corner.

“Or just kick major ass,”
Sierra winked. “You know, whichever.”

Brandon laughed and I tossed
him two water bottles from my backpack to take with them onstage. “Make sure
you have a set list!” I called after them. Martin turned and waved me off with
a smile, like the nagger that I am.

“You’re like their mother,”
Sierra laughed.

“Trust me, you’re not the
first one to say that. Now let’s go set up the
merch
table early. I kind of want to watch the set from the back.”

By the time we got the table
set up and all the shirts and CDs laid out, I realized with a nervous flutter
that
Aamir
was somewhere in the crowd. I scanned the
sea of tight pants, colorful hair and band shirts, but he was nowhere in sight.