His Assurance (Assured Distraction Book 3) (17 page)

“Oh, hell no. I’m not climbing that thing again. It almost killed me between the spike trying to ram me in the butt and then hitting the ground and knocking the breath out of me. There has to be another way out.”

The two police looked at each other and smiled. “Miss, you are going to have to climb over. This gate is locked, and you don’t have the key.”

“How do you propose I do this officer? I used the hose box to climb up, and it’s on your side.”

“I’ll stick my hands through, link them, and boost you up to the rail. Then you can climb over, and I’ll catch you.”

“Have you lost your damn mind? I am not having you boost me up and then jump into your waiting arms. You’ll drop me or we’ll fall, and one of us is going to end up needing an ambulance.” The younger officer laughed, which got him a look he had obviously received before because it shut him up.

“Do you have a better suggestion, miss?”

“Yes, I’ll wait here until my sister comes home.”

“No, that won’t work. We have other calls to answer and can’t be here with you all night. Just climb the fence.” He stuck two hands through the fence and locked his fingers together like he was going to give me a leg up on a horse or something.

“I cannot fucking believe this is happening to me,” I whispered to myself. I knew they both heard me, but neither said a word. Officer Comedian shined the light on Officer Leg Up’s hands, and I put my foot in his hands and grabbed the bars.

“On three, jump and grab the top. One, Two, Three.” With that, he pushed hard causing my hands to slip from the bars. He practically threw me over backward from all the force he used. When my hands left the bars, I flew over backward, landing on my head.

“Son-of-a-bitch. That hurt,” I yelled as I rubbed my head. “What were you thinking? I don’t weigh five hundred pounds, dude.”

“Miss, I am not a dude, so please do not refer to me that way.” Officer Comedian bent over laughing this time. We must have looked like the three stooges doing a scene for a new short film.

My phone made a noise, and I realized it was powering down. “You have got to be shitting me. Now I have no phone.”

“Okay, get up we are going to do this again. I won’t throw you so hard this time so you can grab above the cross-rail.”

“I can’t. I’m not tall enough. This is never going to work.”

“Then I’ll come over there and help you.” In one smooth move, he hoisted himself up and jumped over the top of the fence. “Now, let’s get you over this thing and to the jail.”

“No.”

Officer Comedian shined the light in my face, and Mr. Fitness looked down at me. “What do you mean, NO?”

“I ripped my shorts, and you can see my ass. With you over here, you’ll have to put your hands on my ass to get me over, and that’s not happening.”

Mr. Fitness smirked. “Guess you should have thought about that before you climbed the fence.”

“I’m not doing it, and you can’t make me.” I knew it sounded childish before it left my mouth.

“Look, you probably weigh all of 105 and are barely over five foot tall. I weigh 205, and I am six, three. I think I can make you do this. Now let’s go.”

“I weigh 130 for your information, and I’m five feet, five inches, for your information, and no, I’m not.”

“So on top of B and E, we are going to get you for resisting arrest because you don’t want me to see your ass cheek? The B and E will go away. The resisting will not. Now let’s do this.”

“Shit. I guess you got me there. You’ll have to close your eyes then, and you, Officer Flashlight, turn that off me, please.” He shined it down to the ground this time.

Tall, dark, and fitness grabbed me around the waist and lifted me up to put my hands above the cross-rail this time. I grabbed on, and he put my ass in his hands and pushed me up. Mr. Flashlight grabbed my arms and pulled me onto him, lowering me to the ground.

“Wait,” I spun around to Mr. Fitness. “Did you close your eyes?”

“Uh, yeah. I sure did.” He looked at Flashlight and smiled.

Damn him, I knew he was going to get a good look at my ass, but thank God I was outside the fence again.

Tall, dark, and bossy jumped the fence again and was back on the outside and grabbed my upper arm. “That hurts. You don’t have to be so rough. I said I would go, didn’t I?”

“Yes, after you were a pain in my ass, though.”

“Hey, at least you got to feel up a great ass.” I gave him my best smile, and he loosened his grip some.

“Helllllloooo, Austin Fucking Texas! Are y’all ready to rock this fucking stage tonight?” KeeMac yelled into the mic because he knew how to get the crowd excited from the minute he walked on the floor of a venue.

“We are Assured Distraction, and we abso-fucking-lutely love being back home to play for our city.” The crowd responded with loud roars of cheers, claps, and whistles. When he looked back at me, I raised my sticks above my head and counted off the first song.

“One, two, three, four…” and the opening riff Ryan led into was from a song the audience recognized. We liked to pump them up with familiar songs before we moved to the new sounds. To watch and hear them sing our songs, gave us the fuel we needed to send us into our own brand of adrenaline high.

KeeMac played his guitar, too, but he only added to Ryan’s sound because he was at best at firing up the crowd. He ran around dancing on the stage, slung his long blond hair, and played to the fans. The screaming response let us all know the women loved it. Now we also had Chandler to get the men in the audience in on the insane volume because she had come out of her shell thanks to KeeMac.

Where she used to stay behind her keyboard, now she pranced around in those hot as hell leather boots playing to the men just like KeeMac did the women. Peri and Camille, the make-up artist, helped build her confidence on stage, too. They dressed her up and styled her to make her look like a smokin’ hot rocker chick. It helped that she was beautiful, and I was not only talking about her face and body. She was one of the sweetest and kindest people I knew, except for maybe Peri.

From behind my kit, it’s hard to see too many people because of the lights, and the faceless audience illuminated only when the stage lighting spun around and caught their faces. I fucking loved that our stage designer, Jordan, elevated my kit about five foot above the main stage floor. It gave me an outstanding view when those thousand watts of strobes and colored spots captured faces for an instant. He had worked with us on a few stages when I approached him about finding a way to get it so I could see the audience a little more. I had the perfect opportunity now.

We moved into the next song, another favorite, and I’ve played so many times, I could do it in my sleep and never miss a beat. It gave me a chance to look out, so I was happy with the line-up of songs. I could easily see the VIP area where those lucky SOBs were standing. Not too many people paid that kind of money for tickets, so the area wasn’t packed as it was behind the barricade.

The first person I saw was Ivy, who had apparently shaken herself loose from the new friend she made. She was the tallest of the group, and easy to spot. The other girls flanked both sides of her. I didn’t see Lola, though. I looked to both sides expecting to find her there, but no such luck. Guess she decided she didn’t want to see AD perform. I wanted her to be here. As much as I was over the whole situation with her, it would have been awesome to see her standing in the audience. I liked the idea that she would want to watch our show.

Who was she with then if she was not here? Had she found someone else to go home with already? Damn, she worked fast. Part of me knew Lola wouldn’t hook up with someone this quickly, especially knowing we might see each other here. I wondered if she would show at the party tonight with him. No, he shouldn’t be on the guest list unless she found another band member. My mind wandered through all of the scenarios that could happen as the music played.

I finally stopped myself from heading down that road. I was such a dumbass. I didn’t care who she was with as long as it wasn’t me. She could pick up all the dicks she wanted to find out here, and there were plenty to go around. As I ran my eyes across the area when the spotlight scanned the sea of faces, I found myself still looking for her. Fuck that shit. I got my mind back on my drums and started pounding out the fucking beats like there was no tomorrow.

My eyes eventually drifted back to Journey during one of our slower, new pieces. She was rocking from side to side in time to the music with her friends. When their bodies swayed, the appearance of dancing drifted across my mind. It wasn’t so long ago I was swaying with a beautiful woman on a dance floor in Paris. With Lola pressed against me, we moved in time to the music. The scene rolling through my mind was seductive and erotic. Even with a hundred other dancers on the floor, we were only intoxicated on each other.

I let the image go when I locked eyes with Journey, a face so like the one I had danced with. Her stare was chocked full of anger and disappointment. The loyalty to her sister was admirable, but considering I had done nothing wrong, the anger was misplaced.

Dammit, I didn’t want things to end that way with Lola. Maybe I judged her too harshly. She didn’t owe me anything after our only night together. She probably thought just as I did, we would never connect again, but she was special from all of the others I picked up along the tour. I thought we both felt that way. She was certainly more of a realist than I was by understanding the meaning of our night together and accepting it. I guessed I was the one who carried other feelings away from that night.

As AD’s set continued through the playlist, I watched the girls hoping Lola would show up eventually, but when the last song started, I knew she was long gone. I couldn’t understand, though, because that meant she left alone. That was a bad idea. Austin was a great place, and people walked everywhere at night, but the thought she navigated the streets outside the festival area alone had me on the edge of my stool before I hit the last beat. Why would she put herself in that kind of situation? Lots of strangers were in town for ACL.

When the stage went to black, I launched myself off the platform and made my way to Journey’s group.

“Journey!” I yelled across the grassy area as they were leaving the barricaded section.

The five turned and looked at me. “What do you want, Gunner?”

“Where’s Lola?” I finally caught them, so I could keep my voice controlled.

“She went home. Why would she want to watch AD play?” I suppose I deserved the glare I received since I was the one who spoiled Journey’s birthday.

“She could have stayed and listened to the other band playing across the way.” Two different headliners played the last time slot.

“Maybe she didn’t like the other band. I don’t know. She didn’t clear her schedule with me.” She turned to walk away, but I grabbed her arm.

“Wait.” They all spun to look at me this time. “I’m sorry, Journey.” She didn’t react as if she expected me to go on. “I’m sorry for ruining your birthday week. I know you planned to enjoy it together, and I caused a problem.”

“Yes, you did. Thanks anyway, the damage is done. Thank you though for getting us the tickets and all. She’s leaving tomorrow to go back to Houston to apply for jobs, and we are staying through next weekend. No use in everyone not taking advantage of the house and the festival since you bought armbands for both weekends.”

“No, you’re right. You should stay and enjoy yourselves. The home your parents rented is a perfect place, and next weekend will be outstanding with the scheduled line-up.” At least some people would enjoy the festival.

“You could call her, you know. Ask her to stay,” Ivy threw out there. “I doubt she’ll listen to you, but you have nothing to lose.”

I pushed my fingers back through my long hair which fell to the side. “I don’t know. She probably wouldn’t accept my call.”

“You won’t know unless you try, Gunner.” Addie must have been the peacemaker of the group.

“Yeah, we’ll see. I’ll catch y’all later at the party?” The girls all looked at each other.

“Yes, we planned to go at least for a little while. Will we stick out not being the part of the band?”

“No, lots of people were invited, and the doors are opening about now. I’m sure the five of you will be the hit of the dance floor. Have a good time.”

“Okay see ya later then.”

I moved back onstage to talk to the tech guys who tore down the set. Carter and Ryan sat backstage drinking a beer.

“Hey, Gun, I thought you’d be with that cute little French babe by now.” Ryan slapped me on the back.

“Uh, no. She didn’t come to the show. She’s leaving in the morning for Houston.” I knocked back the beer bottle and guzzled about half.

“Already? I thought the whole entourage of babes in front of the stage were going to entertain you for the week. Wasn’t she with them?” Carter smirked at the thought of the fresh faces for him to choose from.

“No, she left before our show started.”

Ryan looked over the top of his bottle. “You dumb shit. What did you do?”

“Hey, asshat, it wasn’t completely my fault. She was a little less than honest with me when we were in Paris. She’s not even from France. She’s from Houston; only she failed to mention that to me while I was fucking her all night long.”

“Oh, really? And you think that’s the first hump ‘em and dump ‘em that’s been less than honest with you when we’re out on the road?” Carter’s smirk turned into a full-blown laugh.

“Shut the fuck up, Carter. You know nothing about her. She’s not like that.” I’m not exactly sure why I defended the very person I was furious with.

“Yeah, you say that now, but she dumped your sorry ass, so you can’t make the choice to have her again.”

“Whatever.” Now he’d pissed me off. “I’m out.” I walked away from them both before I said anything else. I didn’t fight with my family over women, ever. She was not going to be the first.

I didn’t want to go to this party, but I was obligated to do so. When I got in my truck, I pulled out my phone and threw it on the seat. I saw there were some missed messages and calls, so I grabbed it and scrolled over the list. I didn’t recognize the number, but whoever it was had been blowing up my phone for the last fifteen minutes, so I decided I better call back.

Journey answered on the first ring. “Hello, oh Gunner. Thank God it’s you. Lola’s been arrested and is in the county jail. I don’t even know where that is. I’ve never bailed someone out of jail before here in Austin. What do I do, and where do I go?” She spoke so fast I hadn’t gotten a word in yet.

“Wait a second, Journey. Lola’s in county jail?” What the fuck happened?

“Yes, that’s what the message said she left on my phone. I didn’t get to talk to her.”

“Google the address. I’m on my way. It’s downtown, so you’re not too far.”

“Okay. We’ll see you in a second.” She ended the call.

I couldn’t escape the backed up traffic, and I was tempted to ditch my truck and run. It was less than the six miles I ran every day, but I would need my truck once I got there. Rolling into a parking spot forty-five minutes later, I found a place to park in the throngs of festival goers partying downtown. I prayed she was still here.

The officer behind the front desk gave me a once-over. With all my tattoos and long hair, I didn’t look much different than most of the people who hung out in County. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, my girl…” I stopped. Hell, was she still my girl? “The police arrested earlier this evening, and I want to bail her out.”

“Name?”

“Lola Reitzell.” He typed her name into the computer.

“Yes, she was picked up, but she’s not here. She’s over at the jail and central booking location on 10th Street.” He read from his screen. “You gotta go there for more information.”

I headed back for the doors and ran into the girls looking like they were ready to bust her out. “Whoa, James Gang. Slow down, she’s not here.”