Surprised By You (The By You Series) (4 page)

“Awesome,” he said, handing it over to the older cop.

The older one gave him a look like he was the biggest idiot in the world.

“You must be some kind of special, huh?” he said. The younger one frowned at him. “You don’t see what’s going on here? We get these all the time…”

The older one holstered his gun and pulled out his cuffs. He grabbed me by my still-raised arms and spun me around. The metal was hard and cold as the cuffs clinked shut around my wrists.

“Ow, that’s tight. What are you doing? Why are you cuffing me?”

My heart raced a million miles a minute. Were they really going to arrest me for sneaking through a fence?

The older cop talked like I wasn’t even there.

“These girls get all obsessed with these boy band guys. They make up these delusions about how they’re in love, and they’re meant to be, and crap like that. They’re so crazy you never know what they’re gonna do.”

“I’m not crazy, it’s the truth,” I argued.

The officer didn’t respond, he just gave me a shove toward the front entrance. I stumbled along, trying to keep my balance.

“Where are you taking me? Why are you doing this?”

“Calm down, honey, it’s for your own protection. We can’t have any stalkers running around here. You’ll probably be out in 24 hours, your
boyfriend
should be long gone by then.”

“I’m not a
stalker
! You have to believe me, this is just a big mistake.”

“Yeah, yeah… There’ll be plenty of people down at the station that will be happy to hear all about your rock star boyfriend.” He let out another sinister laugh. “Hell, there might even be a few of his other girlfriends there, too. You all should get right along.”

As they pushed me through the front gate I saw Sarah standing off to the side. Her eyes widened when she saw the two officers escorting me towards a squad car.

“Maggie, what’s going on?” she yelled, racing towards me. The younger officer held his hand up, stopping her before she got too close.

“Sarah, go call someone. Tell them what happened, they have to come get me out.”

Her eyes were panicked as she gave me a confused look. The last thing I saw before they shoved me into the squad car was her frantically mashing buttons on her cell phone.

Dear Universe,

You suck.

That is all,

Maggie

PS, I hate you.

So that about catches us up to where I am now: sitting in a lockup cell, still trying to avoid all the drunken people cooped up with me. I’m not quite sure how long I’ve been here, but judging by the dark sky outside, it’s getting pretty late.

I’m sure there’s some kind of lesson to be learned from all of this. I’m trying hard to convince myself that it isn’t that I should just stay in bed more often, but it’s not going so well. Right now, even the cramped confines of the tour bus sound like a five star suite compared to this holding cell.

I’ve already given up hope on the whole surprise thing working out. Who was I kidding, anyways? I just hope Sarah is able to track someone down. I don’t even care who, at this point, so long as they can come get me out of here. I’m not looking forward to explaining everything that happened to Haden, but I’m ready to face the music if it means getting away from the smell of B.O. that’s clinging to the cement walls all around me.

I’m slowly losing my desperate struggle to keep my composure when someone finally shows up. Sarah carves her way through the police station, walking quickly, making a beeline for the holding cell. When she sees me, there’s relief on her face, but it’s still tinged with concern. I give her a perplexed look until my mind pieces together what’s bothering her.

As it turns out, I’m not going to have to explain things to Haden. Not yet, anyways. But that doesn’t make the situation any better. In fact, the situation is a whole lot worse. Because the person that I finally see slithering his way behind Sarah is the last person I want to see there.

Kyle Landers. Asshole. Vermin. My only hope.

Even his footsteps are pretentious as he saunters up to the cell. The cocky, little sneer on his face me makes me consider taking my chances in lockup all night. Sarah is standing next to him, looking thoroughly deflated.

“Well, lookie what we have here.” He scrapes a finger along one of the bars. “Little Miss Goodie Two-Shoes has gone and gotten herself in trouble.”

“Cut the shit, Kyle. Just tell them who I am so I can get out of here.”

His lips pull together in a tiny circle as he blows a low whistle through them.

“Is that any way to treat your savior?”

I let out a groan. He is going to make me beg, isn’t he? He’s enjoying this moment
way
too much. Seeing me locked up probably excites him as much as the idea of a three-way with two bikini models. That’s how repulsive he is.

“Can we do this some other time? I just want to get back to the bus.”

(And take a long hot shower while downing an entire bottle of wine by myself. But he doesn’t need to know that.)

He taps a finger to his jaw and considers me.

“You remember earlier when I said you would owe me?” That smirk of his turns into a grin faster than I thought possible. It makes me sick to my stomach. “Looks like it’s time to pay up.”

“I’m not really in a position to give you anything.”

He leans against the bars, eyeing me from the corner of his eye.
 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got time. I’m sure you can come up with something.”

I see red.

There are times when I can tolerate his antics, and then there are the times I want to rip his eyeballs out so I can turn them around and show him just how big of an asshole he really is.

“Seriously? You’re just going to stand there and do nothing? You’re unbelievable.”

He holds up an open palm in an annoyingly innocent way.

“
Quid pro quo
, sugar. I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.”

“You don’t have any rules,” I say, viciously. “I’d rather rot in here all night than do a single thing for you.”

He gives me a tilt of his head and a tiny shrug.

“Suit yourself.”

He straightens himself and turns to walk away. Sarah gives me a wide-eyed, desperate look. I shrug my shoulders. What am I supposed to do?

“I know what you want,” she calls out. I give her a hard look.

Kyle freezes in place, his head giving a slight tilt.

“Ah, yes. Short stuff to the rescue, again.” He turns to face her. “I suppose I’ll play along…”

She looks him straight in the eye and takes a step closer. His gaze falls until he’s openly staring at her cleavage, that leering smirk tugs at his cheeks.

“I’m sure I’ve got
something
you want to see,” she says, softly. “Two somethings, actually.”

My jaw drops open.

“Sarah! You don’t have to—”

“It’s fine,” she cuts me off, sharply.

He gives me a triumphant smirk.

“I told you they always come around.” He grins down at her, letting his gaze fall to her breasts, again. “How about a little preview to kick things off?”

She fixes him with a stare and shakes her head.

“You get her out of there first, then we can settle up.”

His eyes are hungry for her as he considers the offer. Finally, he nods his agreement. He pivots around on one foot and heads off to talk to one of the booking officers.
 

I fix Sarah with a disbelieving stare.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I know I don’t
have
to, but we’ve got to get you out of there.”

“Why did you bring Kyle in the first place? You should have got Haden.”

“That would have ruined the surprise…”

“Who are we kidding? It’s already ruined. Sometimes you just have to face facts.”

Her lips spread into a soft smile.

“Have some faith, Maggie. Everything is going to be just fine.”

It takes Kyle all of two minutes to get me released. My stomach lurches as he openly lusts after Sarah while we leave the police station. I’m disgusted for her. I’ve seen Kyle at his best, and even then I wouldn’t wish him upon anyone. Especially not my little cousin.

“Alright, short stuff. Time to show me what you’ve got going on.” He grins at her. “Who knows? If you’re lucky maybe you can come back to my bus tonight…”

I’m going to retch.

She gazes up at him in a surprisingly intimate way. I’m caught off guard by her sensual movements. She’s my little cousin, she isn’t supposed to be able to look at a guy like that. Especially not one who just wants to get in her pants.

“I suppose you upheld your end of the bargain…” Her voice is soft.

Slowly, her hands snake up the sides of her body until they’re perched near the top of her low-cut blouse. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. My little cousin is really going to expose herself to this bastard of a man because I was stupid enough to get myself locked away?

This is all my fault.

“You’ve wanted this for so long,” she says. “Since you first met me, right?” Kyle nods. Quickly. Eagerly. Her fingers trace a tiny line near her collarbone and he looks excited enough to burst. “And now you’re finally going to get what you deserve…”

Her hands sink lower on her body and I cringe. I can’t take this anymore. I have to do something. I have to stop her.

I’m about to throw myself between them when Sarah does something that catches me completely by surprise.

Her tiny hands clench into tight little balls, and she sticks her middle fingers straight into the air. She thrusts her hands directly at Kyle, flipping him off with a menacing look on her face.

“There you go, asshole,” she says, harshly. “Those two little things I promised.”

There are times in your life when you know things have just changed. When something happens and you know that you’ll never be the same again. This is one of those times.

I burst into laughter as I see the shocked look on Kyle’s face. His eyes widen, furiously, as he looms over Sarah, staring her straight in the eye.

“You’re such a little bitch,” he spits. “You girls are all the same, not worth more than a few easy thrills.”

A ferocious smile appears on her face.
 

“Maybe if you weren’t such a douchebag you could find yourself a real woman instead of all those sluts you hookup with.” She leans in closer, still holding her fingers up. “But don’t think for a second that I’ll
ever
be one of them.”

Kyle looks like he’s about to have a melt down right then and there. He’d been so arrogant and cocky that he’d never even considered the fact that Sarah is a girl who would never, ever, stoop to his level.

She played him. Hard. Heck, she even had me fooled.

He takes a few deep breaths, finally composing himself. He stands tall again, raising his chin up high as he runs a hand through his mass of blond hair. He looks like himself again, the king of his own little world.

“Sooner or later I always get what I want.”

Sarah rolls her eyes, turning back to me.

“Let’s go. It’s getting late and the creeps are starting to show their true colors.”

I grin at her and can’t agree more.
 

“Thanks for your help, Kyle,” I say, as we flag down a cab. “You’re a peach.”

The annoyed look he shoots me is worth every single second I had to stay in that smelly lockup. Maybe the Universe has a sense of humor, after all.

The cab ride back to the Festival is a lot faster than before. With the Festival finished for the night, the traffic has mostly disappeared. I can’t even begin to imagine how crazy Bourbon Street is at that very minute.

Sarah made sure she brought a security pass along with her this time, and we have no trouble getting into the backstage area. When we push our way into the band’s tent we’re greeted by a sour looking chef and her two employees.

I look between them and the oven they are about to wheel away. I can’t even muster the energy to be upset.

“I told you I needed it back early.” She levels that crooked finger at me.

I shrug.

“Go ahead, take it. It doesn’t even matter, anymore.”

Her eyes narrow, suspiciously.

“Have you ever even used an oven before? With the way you burned that cake I’m willing to bet your mother never taught you a single thing, did she?”

My eyes pinch shut at the mention of my mom. Sarah steps forward, ready to come to my defense, but I hold out a hand to stop her.

“You’re right,” I say, returning my gaze to the old croon. “I was just trying to do something nice, but I got in over my head. Thanks for letting me use it, even if I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.”

Her face pinches together, sourly, but she doesn’t say anything else. I’m thankful for that, because I’m just too worn out to put up a fight. The only thing I want to do is curl up in bed and wait for Haden to come back to me.

The croon and her workers finish packing everything up and head out. They leave the remnants of the burned cake sitting on the table, and I inspect them, casually.

“It really does look pathetic, doesn’t it?” I say, giving Sarah a soft smile.
 

She beams up at me and rubs my shoulder. “You had the right intentions. Sometimes things don’t work out the way you expect them to.”

I nod my agreement. “I think the best part of the day was the look on Kyle’s face when you flipped him off.” We both erupt in laughter. “I still can’t believe you did that. I totally thought you were going to go through with it.”

She tilts her head and gives me an, “
Are you serious?
” look.

“Please. That guy is a jerk. He deserves much worse than what he got. Does he even know how much of a creep he can be?”

I shrug. “He’s been like that since we first met him. He doesn’t date girls, he just hooks up with them. I’m too scared to even try to count the number of girls I’ve seen him with.”

“Disgusting,” Sarah says, her face twisting. “What happened that made him like that? Someone must have really screwed him up.”

“Maybe. All I know is that you got him pretty good. His ego is going to be bruised for a long time.”