MADversary (7 page)

Megan raised her eyebrows.  “I find that hard to believe.”

Tyler pushed his tongue against his teeth.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just never thought I’d know a guy who would say he didn’t like having sex constantly.”

He scowled.  “Think what you want.  It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
  It’s nice to make a connection once in a while.
”

She’d forgotten her ex-boyfriend had a sensitive side and she’d touched a sore spot.  So she lifted her glass and poured the
remaining
liquid down her throat.  She could see the appeal and knew why women would just want to have sex with Tyler Green to say they had.  There was something about rock stars, and most women Megan knew had a rock star fantasy of some kind. 
Rock stars, especially ones like Tyler who wrote songs about their emotions, had the bad boy appeal but a softer side where they bared their soul
s
.
  It made them human.
  And there was something that felt dangerous about most rock stars, making them quite a conquest.  More than that, though, for good girls like Megan, rock stars were forbidden fruit, to
be looked at and never touched.  But sometimes forbidden fruit was impossible to refuse.

So she could understand why women found him irresistible.
  But she was continu
ing to remember what she’d felt for him long ago.  It was more a “what if” kind of feeling, a feeling of unfinished business.  Sitting here now, though, and thinking about the women Tyler had likely encountered, she was seeing him in an all-new light.  And that
gave her
an even more important reason for her to leave as soon as possible.  Because if she gave in to the way she felt, she’d sleep with Tyler again and give him her heart and soul…and then he’d be out of her life again for another decade, and she didn’t believe she could take that.

Chapter Eight

AH, BUT THE
best-laid schemes…
.
  Instead of
letting Megan
leave
once her drink was finished, Tyler kept ‘
em
coming
,
and by the time midnight rolled around, she was feeling too relaxed, too content, and not guarded enough.

He’d spent the evening regaling her with tales of the last few years of his life since fame had taken over.  He told her about recordin
g sessions, filming videos, visit
ing cities she’d likely never see.  He told her about tours and his encounters with some of her favorite bands.  He made her smile and laugh, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much fun.
  But he kept her talking about herself too, so she didn’t once feel like a captive audience.
  He asked her too if she had anyone in her life, and she admitted that there was no one.  She didn’t want to elaborate.

She hadn’t seen Lisa since they’d first arrived, and she knew she’d have to call a cab.  She
could
call her friend’s cell phone, but she didn’t want to potentially interrupt anything her friend had going on.  Considering she hadn’t seen her friend all night long, she assumed Lisa was having the time of her life.

“So who
are some of your favorite artists nowadays?” Tyler asked.

“I could go on and on, but I’ll narrow it down.  My top three favorites are…”  Megan paused, trying to narrow her
picks
down to just a few.  “That’s hard. 
Hmmm.
  I still really like Metallica, but…”  She smiled.  “Well, I think I’d have to pick
Lacuna Coil,
Seether
, and, um…System of a Down.”

“What?  No
Madversary
?”

She laughed.  “Well, wasn’t that a given?”

He smiled and waved his hand.  “No. 
Just kidding.
  You said you have my CDs.  What more could I ask for?”

“My undying love and adoration.”
  He chortled.  She said, “Seriously, what I like about you guys is how different you are.  You don’t sound like everybody else, and that’s big in my book.  And you’re always trying new things.  It’s cool.”

“Thanks.  I mean that.”  He
leaned over the table.  “So, get this. 
Penny…that’s her name, right?”

“The organizer?”

“Yeah.”
  Megan n
odded
.  “She asked if
we
could play a few songs at th
e
dance they’re doing tomorrow night.”

“Who?
 
Madversary
?”  Tyler nodded. 
“Can you blame her?”

He grinned
and shrugged
.  “Well, we
are
.”

Megan felt her jaw slacken.  “You
are
?  Are you kidding me?”

He shook his head.  “No.  The
guys’ll
be here tomorrow afternoon.
  We’re not on tour right now, and the guys didn’t mind committing to something small, so w
e’re
gonna
do a little set.”

“What all are you going to play
?”

“I’m not sure yet.  We haven’t decided. 
Probably just three or
four of our most popular song
s.
  That way people who don’t know our music very well might still recognize a song or two.”

She nodded and smiled, resting her
chin on the palm of
her hand.  “So that means you’ll be singing ‘Wake the Dead’ then, right?”

He finished the beer in his hand. 
“Probably.”

Megan noticed the noise had died down and she looked around.  There weren’t many people left. 
She stretched. 
“Guess we’ve overstayed our welcome.”

Tyler shrugged.  “Guess so.”

Megan kept looking around.  “Do you remember Lisa French?”

“Your best friend
in high school
, right?
  How could I forget?”

“Well, she
’s still my best friend, and she
doesn’t look much different today.
  You’d recognize her.
  Have you seen her tonight?”

“No.  Is she here?”

“Yeah.
  She’s my ride, but I haven’t seen her since we got here.”  She stretched her back and then her neck, rolling it around.  “Guess I’ll have to call a cab.”

Tyler slid his hand across the table and covered Megan’s hand with his. 
Oh, shit
.  She’d managed to keep
most strong
feeling
s
for Tyler at bay all night and had, in fact, enjoyed how sweet he was.  She’d started feeling that
friends only
was
just fine, but feeling
the
heat
radiating from
his hand…

She looked up from his hand to his eyes.  She thought he was feeling the same way now too, that there was
a chemistry
between them they’d forgotten about, and all it took was one touch.  She looked in his eyes and forgot about him as an old high school boyfriend or even as a friend.  She felt her pulse quicken and she was surprised he couldn’t feel it through her wrist.  Her beating heart felt loud in her ears.  She parted her lips to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. 
He asked,
“Do you want me to call
one
for you?”

Or
not
.
  Yep, she was now in the friend zone. 
Fuck it
. 
“No, thanks.
  I got it.”  She stood and felt the effects of the alcohol.  “It was nice seeing you again, Tyler.”
  She did a small wave and turned around.

Wobbly legs or not, Megan took a deep breath and forced her eyes open wide.  She walked toward the doorway that would lead to a hallway.  She only hoped she could find her way to the front entrance.  It didn’t matter, though.  She just had to get out of there…and fast.

“Hey,” she heard Tyler’s voice behind her as she felt his hand on her shoulder.  “Are you all right?”

“Yeah.
  Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, you just got up all of a sudden.  Why are you in a hurry now?  Will your cab turn into a pumpkin or something?”

She forced a smile.  She didn’t realize her emotions had been that close to the surface.  She didn’t want to be that obvious.  “No.  I just need to get home.  Feeling tired.
  It’s been a long day.
”

“Well, let me at least walk you outside.”

No need to be a bitch.  S
he said, “You can catch a ride with me to your hotel if you want.”
  She used her phone to find the number of the cab company in town.

“I’m staying here, so no need.  But thanks.”

She nodded as they got close to the revolving door.  She dialed the number and told the woman on the line where she was and
said
she needed a ride.  The woman said, “We’ll have someone there in about fifteen minutes.”

Megan hung up the phone and walked farther out toward the pavement where
a well-dressed man
stood at a podium.  “
Do you need your car
?”

She smiled. 
“Nope.
 
Just waiting
on
a cab.”

She saw the attendant star
ing at Tyler
as he walked up behind her
.  She
thought maybe
the attendant
recognized him.  She looked over to
Tyler
and said, “Look, you don’t need to wait with me.  I’m okay.”

“I
want
to, Meg.  I don’t know the next time we’ll get to hang together, and I’d
kinda
like to maximize our time
alone
.
  The next two days…we’ll probably be bombarded with people.  Tonight, though, everyone had certain people they were looking for and we weren’t on their radar.
”
 
He
.
  He meant
he
wasn’t on their radar.  Megan didn’t know that there would be lots of people searching for
her
.

She looked at the ground and kept walking.  She didn’t want to be close to the attendant, have him scrutinizing their every move.  She saw a park bench a few feet away and started walking toward it.
  She didn’t know what to say to Tyler.  She only knew that he harbored no feelings for her, while she still had hidden feelings she’d forgotten about.  She just wanted to go home and be alone.  She might cry in her pillow
or lie awake for hours
, but that didn’t matter.  She just needed to be by herself
, whether she cried or not
.  Finally, reaching the bench, she said, “Suit
yourself
.  I’m afraid I won’t be much company, though.”

She caught his eyes and his were searching hers, looking for something.  She felt her lips part slightly as though she wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out.  There was a dull, throbbing ache in her core, and she felt like she’d starve the rest of her life without tasting him
again
.  She took a deep breath of the cool night air and closed her eyes.  It would be okay.  Tyler Green would leave and her life would go back to normal.

But when she opened her eyes, Tyler’s nose was close to touching hers.  He was leaning over, his body close, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her at the back.  “That’s too bad,” he said, “because I was hoping to spend a little more time with you.”

All air escaped her lungs as Tyler’s lips met hers, enveloping them in a kiss.  He was warm and electric, and she felt adrenaline rush through her veins, making her fingertips go numb and causing her to wake right back up.  This was not the kiss she remembered, though.  It was slow and sensual and, like the music he wrote today, more mature.  His tongue explored her mouth, and she felt her nipples grow rock hard in response.  But if she’d read Tyler right earlier, a kiss would be all she’d get.

So she planned to enjoy kissing him until her cab got there.  Her hands finally responded to her brain’s demands and she wrapped her arms around his neck.  He pulled her body right up to his, and Megan realized the Tyler Green of today was not the boy she’d dated back in high school.  There was nothing sweet about his kiss; it was ravenous and greedy.

She was nearly breathless when the cab arrived and she didn’t know how she managed to become aware that it was there.  She couldn’t bring herself to pull her body away from his, but she had to.

Tyler unlatched his lips from hers and whispered in her ear, “Should we tell the cab to beat it?”