Strings of the Heart (26 page)

As we made our way through the crowd, multicolored strobe lights lit up the darkened dance floor. Couples, of different sexes and different arrays of dress, gyrated to the beat. “This place is amazing!” Allison called over the thumping bass of the music.

When Eli’s hand came to rest on the small of her back, I momentarily saw red. Quickly I tried getting a hold of my raging testosterone-fueled emotions before I went into full-on Hulk mode and ripped Eli’s arm from its socket. “Come on. We’ve got a table reserved in the VIP section,” Eli said.

I snorted. “You mean this place actually has a VIP section?”

Ignoring my comment, Allison tilted her head up at Eli. “Oh, so am I a VIP tonight since I’m hanging out with you?”

He flashed her a cocky grin that made me want to punch him. “Maybe.”

After we took the stairs to the second floor, the hostess motioned to our table. From our seats, we could see all the action on the dance floor, but at the same time, we were hidden from view. Considering how dark and foggy it was from the smoke machine, I hoped we wouldn’t be recognized.

“What can I get you all to drink?” a waitress in tight, black spandex shorts, and a halter top asked.

Rubbing his hands together, Eli said, “Mmm, I’m in the mood for shots tonight. Who else is in for a bottle of 1800 Silver?”

“Me,” Allison replied, which caused Eli to grin. He then glanced from her over to me.

“What about you, man?”

With my eyes fixed on Allison’s, I replied, “No thanks. Tequila really isn’t my thing.”

She sucked in a harsh breath as she took in my words. I knew it was a real fucking asshole thing to say considering our history with tequila. But I had to keep pushing her away and get her to forget about me. Once Allison had recovered, she gave me a sickeningly sweet smile. “I’ll take Rhys’s shot then. I
adore
tequila.”

Eli chuckled. “Ooh, I like your way of thinking tonight.”

“So a bottle of 1800 and what else?” the waitress asked.

“A Bud on tap,” Gabe replied, while giving the waitress his best sexy grin.

“Bud in a bottle,” I replied.

The waitress bobbed her head. “Be right back.” As she walked away, she gave Gabe a lingering look over her shoulder to which he winked at her.

“Dude, out of all the chicks here, you’re macking on the waitress?” Eli questioned.

Gabe shrugged. “She’s hot.”

It was then that a drunken brunette, with cinched-up cleavage and her ass hanging out of her skirt, staggered up to our table. Her gaze honed straight on me. “Hey baby, wanna dance?”

Ordinarily, I might’ve been tempted, but there was no way in hell that I was going to hook-up with a chick tonight. I’d promised Jake to keep an eye on Allison, and it would be pretty hard to do if I was banging some chick in the bathroom. Besides, regardless of how I was trying to push Allison away, I refused to be a douchebag and dance with the chick to get at her. The tequila line had been shitty enough. “No thanks.”

Her glassy-eyed stare fixed on Gabe next. “What about you?”

He shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

“What about the waitress?” Eli asked.

Gabe winked. “The night is still young.”

“Ugh, you’re disgusting,” Allison said, wrinkling her nose.

I got up so Gabe could slide out of the booth. With one hand on the chick’s ass, Gabe led her off to the dance floor.

When I sat back down, Eli was eyeing me with a curious expression. “Why did you pass that one up, man? She looked like a sure thing.”

“Brunettes aren’t my type,” I lied.

Allison’s eyes bulged at my low dig. Cocking her head at me, she demanded, “And just what
is
your type?”

“I like petite blondes with big tits.” The moment the words left my lips, I felt like a total bastard.

Eli chuckled. “Whatever floats your boat, man. I would think after you hadn’t been getting any action for a while, you’d jump on the chick, regardless of her positives or negatives.”

Once again, I wanted to punch Eli. The last thing I wanted Allison to know was that since Savannah, I hadn’t been able to seal the deal with another girl. Desire for anyone else had been completely obliterated by her. Since we’d been on tour, I hadn’t once taken one of the girls on Jacob’s Ladder’s bus to bed. Now it had been so obvious that Eli had noticed.

When I dared to look at Allison, she was staring at me with wide eyes. It was almost as if she was daring herself to believe that I hadn’t been with any other girls because of her. With the wheels turning in her head, I could tell I was screwed on many levels.

With a shrug, I replied, “Call me picky in my old age.”

Eli laughed. “Whatever, man. We’re the same age, and I don’t think I could have gone as long as you have without getting any.” At Allison’s little squeak, Eli’s face reddened. “Sorry, I keep forgetting that I’m not just out with the guys, and I need to be more of a gentleman.”

Allison gave him a shy smile. “It’s okay.”

The waitress then returned with our drinks. An ache reverberated through my chest as she sat down the bottle of tequila along with the salt and limes. Instantly, I was transported back to that night in Savannah—the night everything had gone so wrong…or in some ways so right.

Eli poured two shot glasses full for him and Allison. After handing a glass to Allison, he held his up. “To us,” he said, with a grin. At Allison’s hesitation, Eli quickly added, “To all of us Runaway Train and Jacob’s Ladder family.”

At his correction, Allison lifted her glass. “To us,” she replied, before clinking it against Eli’s. She then took the glass and tipped it back, sucking down the contents in one gulp. As she grabbed the lime and hastily brought it to her lips, I remembered almost too painfully what her lips had tasted like after she did her shots in Savannah. The way the salt from my neck had clung to them—the way she tasted. Quickly, I looked away and tried to erase the memories from my mind, but they continued to flash in front of my eyes just like the changing strobe lights.

“Another?” Eli asked.

When Allison nodded, I snorted. “What?” she demanded.

“I was just thinking that maybe multiple tequila shots aren’t such a good idea for you.” My gaze left hers and went to Eli’s. “She’s not one for holding her liquor well.”

Allison seethed at me from across the table. I’m pretty sure if given the chance, she would have thrown herself across the table to beat the shit out of me for my smart-ass comment. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she got her composure back. Her eyes narrowed in on mine. “As much as I hate to admit it, Rhys is right. Although I love tequila, I usually make stupid as hell decisions that fuck up my life when I drink it.”

Once again, this was a side of Allison I wasn’t used to seeing—the bitch with claws. But at the same time, I knew I deserved it. I’d pushed her into making the comments.

After glancing between us, Eli slid the bottle of tequila away from Allison, which caused her to giggle. “Does that mean I don’t get another shot?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

“Um, I think it’s a pretty good idea for you not to do something that fucks up your life when you’re out with me. I have a feeling it would be like a domino effect where Jake would then fuck up my life,” Eli replied, with a grin.

“Just one more,” Allison pleaded.

Eli rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. I can never tell beautiful girls no.”

“And here I thought it was beautiful girls who couldn’t tell you no,” I countered, as he poured Allison’s shot glass to the brim.

He wagged his eyebrows. “Oh yeah, man, that too.”

Allison shot me a disgusted look before she took her shot glass and downed it. Once again, a shudder went over her fabulous body from the alcohol. She then slammed the glass down onto the table. “Let’s dance,” she suggested to Eli.

“Sounds good to me.”

Watching Allison head off to the dance floor with Eli was like a punch in the gut. It took a few seconds to catch my breath. I reached over and grabbed the tequila bottle. Taking Allison’s glass, I poured it full before downing it in one fiery gulp. I repeated the process twice to try to numb myself better.

Gabe arrived back at the table sans the girl he had been dancing with earlier. “What happened to your sure thing?”

He chuckled. “My sure thing ended up passing out on the dance floor. I got her to a table and then came back here.”

I laughed. “That’s classy.”

“Tell me about it.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, just drinking our beers. It was a good thing Gabe wasn’t feeling talkative because I don’t think I could have focused on a fucking thing he was saying. My gaze remained firmly on Eli and Allison dancing. Each time his hands started to wander on her body, I tensed. It took everything within me not to get up and go drag her back to the booth.

After ordering another round of beers, Gabe nudged me. “Why don’t you go cut in on the happy couple?”

“Why the hell would I want to do that?” I questioned lamely. I refused to meet Gabe’s eyes for fear that they would betray the emotions I was feeling. There was nothing in the world I wanted to do more than go break up Allison and Eli.

Rolling his eyes, Gabe countered, “Come on, man. You’ve been shooting fucking daggers at my brother the entire time he’s been out there with Allison, not to mention the rest of the night. It’s pretty obvious how you feel about her.”

I shook my head while I played with the label on my beer bottle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Gabe rested his arms on the back of the booth and eyed me with a shit-eating grin. “Don’t try to act like you’re not totally hot for her. It’s written all over your face when you look at her. I can’t say I blame you.” He closed his eyes in exaggerated bliss. “If Jake wouldn’t have my dick, mmm, I’d love to fuck her brains out.”

Slamming my beer bottle down on the table, I thrust my finger in his face. “Watch your fucking mouth!”

Instead of fear, Gabe chuckled. “Oh yeah, you’ve got it bad.”

I ran a hand nervously through my hair. “It doesn’t matter what I may or may not feel about Allison. I’m here tonight because Jake wanted me to keep an eye on Allison with Eli.”

With a wink, Gabe said, “And all the while, the wolf was guarding the chicken coop.”

“Whatever,” I mumbled.

“She’s hot for you, too, you know.”

“Is that right?” I snapped, after taking another long swig of beer.

“Oh yeah, it is. Allison’s too sweet a woman to be using Eli just to get at you. If I had to put money on it, I’d imagine that she’s trying to transfer what she’s feeling for you onto him. Most likely, you were a fucking dick who broke her heart by not being emotionally available to her, so she’s ready to move on.”

Cocking my head at Gabe, I said, “Well, thank you for that lovely psychoanalysis, Dr. Fucking Phil!”

Gabe laughed heartily. “It doesn’t have to end badly, man. Just go out there, ask her to dance, and tell her how you really feel about her.” When I opened my mouth to protest, he shook his head. “Yeah, Jake is going to be pissed. But so fucking what? This is your life and happiness we’re talking about, not to mention hers. Do you think we were all really happy that some man-whore douchebag like Jake was putting the moves on our virginal baby sister?” Gabe snorted contemptuously. “Hell no, we weren’t. But it wasn’t up to us—it was up to Jake and Abby.”

With a ragged sigh, I weighed Gabe’s words. Deep down, I knew he was right. All the reasons I tried to tell myself why Allison and I couldn’t be together were really just bullshit and bogus. I was just too much of a fucking pussy to want to risk getting hurt or having Allison realize that I wasn’t the man she thought I was.

“Oh fuck,” Gabe muttered beside me. I didn’t have to wonder what he was talking about when I glanced back out onto the dance floor. Immediately, red flashed before my eyes, and I gripped the booth until my knuckles turned while. I was precariously close to hulking out.

Not only did Eli have his lips on Allison’s, but his hands were practically on her ass. “Oh, hell fucking no!” I shouted, as I flung myself out of the booth for battle.

“Rhys, don’t!” Gabe shouted behind me, but I ignored him. Instead, I barreled on ahead, straight for Allison and Eli.

W
ith Beyoncé’s
Drunk in Love
playing sultrily in the background, Eli’s head dipped to nuzzle my neck. “Mmm, Allison, you’re really starting to get to me,” he murmured into my ear, his breath singeing the sensitive flesh of my earlobe. Our lower halves were working in perfect sync to the music.

Craning my neck, I tilted my chin up to look into his eyes. “Am I?”

He nodded. “Although I shouldn’t, I’m really starting to like you.”

I grinned. “Aw, I like you, too, Eli.”

With a snort, he replied, “No, I mean, I
really
like you.”

An icy feeling rippled through my veins, causing me to shiver. Having a handsome guy say he liked you romantically should cause your heart to beat faster or a stirring below your waist. But that wasn’t the case for me when Eli said the words. I felt nothing.

Dammit, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. He was not supposed to be a means to make Rhys jealous. He was supposed to be an opportunity for me to have fun and forget about Rhys. But no matter how hard I tried, I didn’t feel the same intensity for Eli as I did for Rhys. It wasn’t even a drop in the bucket to what I felt for Rhys.