Reckless Retribution (West Warriors Book 1) (6 page)

Taylor shrugged and carried on drinking her beer.

The presenter welcomed Unscripted onto the stage. The band was one of Taylor’s favorites; she would play their music on her iPhone during lunch and break times. I was looking forward to seeing them too. They were a new indie rock band, and their music was very heavy on the bass and fast paced. They had produced some of the best music in the charts, hitting top ten with every song they released recently.

The band came walking on, the drummer first, followed by the two guitarists, and then the sex god of a singer who was dressed in black jeans, black heavy boots, and a simple white T-shirt, with thick silver chains hanging around his neck. He swiped a hand through his long, shaggy brown hair and held his hand up to the crowd. Taylor and I looked at each other and swooned. He asked the crowd how everyone was doing, and we both held our beers up and whooped in response with the rest of the crowd.

They started playing their set and things got crazy, fast. Everyone started bouncing up and down and jostling each other again. We danced along to the music, but we were becoming more and more wary of the fact that the crowd was getting a bit too intense for our liking. Our beers got knocked to the ground and our personal space was nearly nonexistent. We looked at each other again and decided to huddle together.

“Maybe Cam was right,” I shouted into her ear, clutching her arm tightly.

“What?” she screamed back.

The music was so loud we couldn’t hear each other, and when we started getting knocked about, Taylor began pushing people back. Panic rose up in my chest, and I thought we were going to get crushed to death. I turned to her, ready to suggest we make our way back to Jake, when I was suddenly scooped up and hauled over somebody’s shoulder.

From his black tank top and shorts, I recognized him immediately.

Oh, holy mother of Jesus, I was draped over Jamie’s body.

I clung on tightly to his back, and the heavenly scent of his cologne filled my nostrils. As he trudged back through the crowd, I realized I had a very short skirt on. “Jamie, my panties are showing,” I yelped, wanting him to set me down so I could save what little dignity I had left. Instead, one of his hands flew to my behind, covering my modesty. I instantly silenced at his touch. The feeling of his hand on my partially bare skin felt a little too intimate. If it weren’t for the fact that blood was rushing to my head from being carried upside down, it would be rushing straight to other areas. He set me down on my feet at the bar and I stood before him, open-mouthed in shock at what had just happened. I was too stunned and too hot and bothered to say anything to him, so I just stood there staring at him.

“You’re welcome.” He leaned in, raising an eyebrow at me. He had a glint in his eye and what I thought was the tiniest grin tugging up one corner of his mouth. My breath faltered at the way he was looking at me, and I quickly turned away from him. What met me was a sight that made me want to die inside. Taylor was slung over Cam’s shoulder as he carried her away from the crowd behind them that now resembled a mosh pit. Mortified, I cupped my hands over my face. We must have looked ridiculous having to be rescued.

Taylor came rushing over to me, with an equally mortified look on her face, mouthing,
Oh, my God.

I couldn’t help but let out a nervous laugh, but it soon stopped as I glanced past her and saw trouble coming in from the right. Jake was stomping over in our direction, and he looked pissed off.

“What the fuck are you doing with my girlfriend?” he shouted at Cam above the music, fists balled by his side and ready for action. This was the most alive I’d ever seen him.

Taylor shrieked as she ran toward him, pressing her hands into his chest. “Jake, stop! I’m fine. He was just helping.”

He scowled at her then looked back to Cam.

“Hey, I just saved her from getting fucking squashed,” Cam spat. He was pissed too.

This could not be happening. Was I about to witness a mass brawl? Jake was livid and looked like he was about to kill him. Cam would squash him like a bug! Jamie left my side and stood right in front of Jake. He was a good few inches taller and wider than him. I felt the blood drain from my face. This was all my fault. I should have listened to Cam when he told me I would get crushed. He had only done the right thing by getting us out of there, but getting Jake to see that would be a different matter.

“You got a fucking problem?” Jamie asked him. The way he said it was deathly, and I was feeling more anxious with every passing second. The band had finished their set, and people started to walk by, glancing over at us. I quickly walked over to him, because I felt like I needed to defuse the situation before somebody called security.

“Jamie, it’s fine.” I curled my hand on his upper arm, which was solid, and tried to pull him back slightly. He didn’t budge or respond to me.

“Get your hands off him.” My hand was suddenly yanked from him in a deathlike grip.

“Ouch!” I spun around, holding my wrist where it hurt, to see one of the girls he had been standing with before had appeared from nowhere. Damn girl nearly broke it. She was glaring at me, and I glared right back and took a step toward her.

“Move!” Jamie turned to her harshly, making both of us jump with fright. She did exactly what she was told and retreated sulkily back to where she came from. I couldn’t believe what she had just done. I was only trying to stop them from fighting.

Jake’s friends followed behind him, and they looked like they were ready to fight. Mav’s fists were clenched, ready to defend his friend. I was petrified, and Taylor looked white as a ghost.

“Don’t touch my girlfriend,” Jake shot to Cam, ignoring Jamie right in front of him.

“Do you wanna make something of this, Jake?” Jamie was badgering him, almost like he wanted to fight. “You and your little friends?” He looked to them all invitingly.

What was he doing? Why was he saying that? Jake’s friends didn’t do much once they got closer, and Jake backed up from Jamie a little. His eyes were fleeting from Jamie to Cam as if he didn’t know which one to hit first, but I knew he was smarter than to try to throw a punch at either of them—or at least I hoped he was. Cam stood level with Jamie, and they both looked intimidating in front of Jake, who was still standing before them. Some of the people around us began to stay and watch the drama unfolding. We were causing a scene.

“Take your girl and go,” Cam said gruffly through gritted teeth, his eyes not leaving Jake’s.

“C’mon.” Jake retreated, pulling Taylor, who meekly followed. His friends, whose glares had never faltered, turned and followed him.

I released the breath I’d been holding. I just hoped they kept on walking. I quickly turned to Jamie and Cam. “I am so sorry. That was my fault. I should have listened to you back there.” I winced, feeling mortified.

“It’s not your fault, but he’s a douche.” Cam’s eyes threw daggers at Jake, who was still walking away. He looked like he was having words with Taylor.

I nodded, fully agreeing. Jake could be a douche; there was no two ways about it, but right now, I was stuck with the douche. Jamie walked back to the bar, standing back with the small group of people they were with, including the girl who yanked my wrist. She started fussing over him, but he ignored her, watching Cam and me instead. I turned my attention back to Cam. “It’s her boyfriend.” I shook my head apologetically. “Thanks for doing what you did though.” I couldn’t imagine what would have happened to us if they hadn’t got us out of there when they did. It was a sea of craziness, and certainly something I didn’t want to experience again.

“Don’t sweat it. It’s fine.” He smiled genuinely.

After apologizing yet again, I said goodbye to him and walked back to Taylor, deep in thought about all the drama that had just happened, and what a waste of time it was trying to see the band. We weren’t able to watch them after all. The whole thing had put a dark cloud on what should have been a good day. Although, like the saying ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’, my silver lining was the fact Jamie had just had me over his shoulder, where I got a good eyeful of his pert behind, and he had his hand on my butt. The feeling of his warm hand on my skin was enough to dampen my panties. But judging from the reaction I got from that girl, I knew he was off limits. I snagged Taylor’s hand as I caught up with her. “I knew it was a bad idea coming here.” I let out a loud sigh.

“Why?” she yelled above the music of another band that had now taken to the stage.

“We’ve been here three hours, and already we were nearly crushed to death, had our panties shown to the world, Jake almost caused a fight, Jamie’s girlfriend almost broke my wrist, and now the guys think I’m a moron.” I threw my hands up in the air then put them on my hips.

“First off, he had a right to be pissed. They didn’t need to manhandle us. Secondly, since when have you cared so much about what other people think of you?” She looked tired and upset; the almost fight had taken its toll on her.

There was truth in what she said though. I had never cared about what people thought about me until now. I was so worried the guys wouldn’t like me. All I wanted to do was make a good impression on them because I was a girl in their all-male club and I didn’t want to feel like an outcast. But was I really going to hurt my friendship with Taylor to do that? I knew that answer right away. Not a chance. “Is Jake still annoyed?” I asked anxiously.

She nodded and looked glum. “Are those two still angry?”

“Yeah. They’re like my work friends now, and I didn’t want them thinking I was an idiot that hung around with troublemakers just getting up to no good,” I said honestly.

“Thanks a lot.” She looked offended.

Maybe that was too honest to actually tell her to her face. “You know what I mean,” I softened.

“They didn’t have to pick us up. If they hadn’t done that, Jake would have been fine.”

I nodded. I knew she was right. But if they hadn’t picked us up, we probably would have gotten hurt, and then worst of all, there would have been no way Jamie would have had his hand on my butt. I smiled to myself. Just thinking about the way he smelt and his hard body beneath mine made me wish he was carrying me off to bed, not just to safety.

But he has a girlfriend
, I reminded myself.

Taylor bumped into my arm and raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m saying nothing,” she protested, and I’m glad she didn’t follow through with her train of thought.

“Let’s get another beer,” I suggested. Lord knows we needed one.

We were lined up for what seemed like an eternity and decided to get two beers each rather than have to stand in line again. We stood back with Jake, and I felt uneasy about everything that had just happened.

He wasted no time in getting some answers. “How do you know Jamie O’Shea?” He crossed his arms defensively across his chest, the scowl on his face telling me they had a mutual feeling of distaste for each other. I was also surprised he knew his last name when I didn’t even know it. Maybe he knew him from the fighting scene? The way Jamie had reacted to him made me wonder if they had beef going on between them. He didn’t even mention Cam’s name, who was the person he actually had the problem with.

“Through work, why?”

“Be careful around him.” He shook his head disapprovingly.

“Why?” I couldn’t help but look at him, confused. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Do you know anything about him?” he asked, before swigging from his Coors Light.

I shook my head. I didn’t know anything about him. I had literally worked there a week, and he hadn’t uttered a word to me until today, so I hardly knew his life story. I was beginning to wonder whether I wanted to know.

“He went to school with my older brother. He was always fighting and got himself arrested a ton of times. Got my brother into trouble too, and then all of a sudden he left school and no one saw him for a while. There were rumors he went to juvie.”

That shocked me. Juvie? What could he have possibly done to land himself there?

Jake watched me as his information sank in. “He’s hotheaded, and if someone gets on the wrong side of him, he just goes for ‘em.”

I frowned, remembering how he was with Jake, almost like he wanted a fight. Then something bugged me. “If he’s so hot headed, why would you try to start a fight with him and Cam then?” I asked curiously.

“Because I don’t like him and I’m not scared of him,” he said, slightly shaking his copper hair.

I stifled a laugh at that admittance. He wasn’t scared of him? He could hardly look Jamie in the eye. He was scared, all right. “Well, I only work with him.” I shrugged. Yeah, Jamie was quiet and closed off and might have a bit of a temper, but not everybody is happy-go-lucky all the time. But then again, people always say the quiet ones are the worst, and the way he reacted to Jake earlier kind of made sense. Maybe there was some truth to what he was saying. But I didn’t want to think about that. He was just someone I worked with; that was all. Who was I to judge?

Done with the conversation I walked away from Jake and asked Taylor if she wanted to have another walk around. She nodded, and Jake looked uneasy that we wanted to go off again, but I needed to get away from him. My head was now clouded with unwelcome thoughts. As much as I liked Jamie, the whole bad past thing was something I didn’t need to get involved in. I had enough crap on my plate; I didn’t need more added to it.

He has a girlfriend anyway
, I reminded myself yet again.

We watched a few more of the bands from a safe distance then decided to call it a night at 9 p.m. We were tired, and we’d had enough drama for one day. We headed back to Jake, who parted from his friends, and we hailed a cab. I was quiet the journey home, trying to work out if there was any truth to what Jake had said.

I felt really awkward seeing Cam and Jamie at work after what had happened, and knowing a bit about Jamie's background made feel uneasy around him. If he found out I knew, he would probably kill Jake. I couldn’t see it being something he wanted shared with everyone. I watched him train more than usual today, and I wondered why he was so hot headed if it was true. But I was almost sure he just reacted the way he did because Jake was mouthing off to Cam. Part of me wondered whether Jake was making it up because he didn’t like him and, for whatever reason, felt jealous or intimidated by him. I decided to leave my thoughts there because I had no right to pass judgment on hearsay.