Chapter 29
29
JORDAN
W e don’t make it back to the hotel until long after midnight.
Since Christian took the stage tonight, I’ve felt my phone vibrating constantly in my pocket. Journalists. Bloggers. Talk show hosts. If they talk about music all day, then they want to talk to me about… whatever the hell is happening with Criminal Records and Christian Myers.
The truth is far less interesting than whatever they’re dreaming up, and silence is sometimes the greatest hype-generator of all time, so I don’t answer. I let the social media engine do its thing, occasionally looking over Addison’s shoulder as she shows off the latest viral fan posts and videos of the concert.
We trend so highly, as Knox points out, that the world nearly forgets that The Electrics had a show in New York City tonight as well.
“Yeah,” he mutters smugly on the bus, his feet propped up, with one arm flung over Harmony’s shoulders. “Get fucked, Shock.”
We laugh. Christian does, too.
Bronson, however...
He sits quietly. Not unusual, of course. That’s his natural state, after all, but there’s something else in his eyes; something other than his usual pensive stare.
When I know he’s watching, I discreetly shift my planner from one hand to the other and...
“Whoops!” I say as my pen slips from my fingers.
Have fun, I said.
Enjoy it, I said.
And I will.
Before I can bend down to pick it up, a shape moves in front of me. Christian takes a knee and grabs it, spinning it twice in his fingers before offering it back to me.
“Oh,” I say. “Thanks.”
He looks at me, his eyes playful. “Clumsy girl,” he says.
“Yeah, that’s me.” I take the pen. “Thanks again.”
I straighten up in my seat, giving Bronson another quick glance. We make eye contact, the feel of it sending a jolt down my spine.
When we arrive back at the hotel, the others insist on heading straight to the executive suite instead of to the bar. I happily oblige, swiping my special key to unlock that floor, and we ascend.
“Holy shit,” Christian says as we all pile off the elevator into the suite. “What’s the occasion?”
Rather than get into the details of Paul Monroe’s stupid schemes, Jonah answers, “Why not?”
Christian snorts. “Botsfords gonna Botsford, huh?”
“Damn right,” Knox says as he yanks a bottle of champagne out of an ice bucket that... kinda keeps re-appearing every time I come up here. “Now, what say you we pop this thing open and piss the night away?”
“Knox,” Harmony says, her eyes flicking toward Christian.
“Oh.” He sets it back down apologetically. “Sorry, Chris. I keep forgetting.”
“Nah, it’s all right,” Christian says, uncaring. “In fact..” He takes the bottle by the neck. “There’s more than one thing a group of sexy people such as ourselves can do with a bottle like this.”
Chrissy sighs. “Oh, boy.”
“Uh-huh,” he says, giving her a wink.
“What?” August asks.
“We’re way too old for that now, Christian,” Chrissy says.
“No one is too old for Spin the Bottle!” Christian says.
The group reacts with a mix of groans, but wide smiles take hold as the idea settles in.
“Come on, guys,” Christian says, already on his way to move the glass coffee table in the center of the room out of the way. “Tonight was the most fun I’ve had in years. Let’s keep it going. Let’s celebrate! To old friends and new beginnings. Most of you have already made out with each other anyway by now, right?”
To that, no one says a word.
By the time he’s finished his pep talk, the others are already making their way down to the floor. Meanwhile, I pick up my planner and walk around them toward the bedroom with my ever-vibrating phone clenched in one hand.
“Uh, where are you going, Jordan?” Christian asks. He taps the empty spot on the floor beside him. “You’re playing, too.”
“Oh, no,” I say, chuckling. “You guys play your game. I have to?—”
“Sit your pretty ass down and spin,” he jokes, giving the floor another tap as the others join him. “Come on. We’re all getting kissed tonight.”
I blush once again, my gaze shifting on its own toward Bronson. He’s the last to sit down, taking the empty place between Jonah and Katrina. He looks blankly at me, his eyes filled with let’s just get this over with energy.
“All right,” I say, reluctantly dropping my things onto a table by the bedroom door.
A round of applause greets me as I sit down next to Christian with August and Chrissy on my other side. The rest of the circle is made up of couples wanting to keep a close eye on their honeys to be sure no one goes slipping a little too much friendly tongue.
Once I’m settled by his side, Christian grins. “All right. I’ll go first!” He leans forward, reaching for the bottle in the center of our wide circle.
He gives it a spin and there it goes, around and around. Anticipation flutters throughout the circle, the tip of the bottle sparking waves of laughter as it slows.
Finally, it stops.
On Knox.
We all burst out laughing as the two of them deflate in disappointment. Still, Knox sits forward, making a show of wiping off his lips and puckering up as he moves toward Christian while the rest of us shout words of encouragement at them.
Just when it seems like they’ll pull away at the last second, Christian and Knox kiss each other on the lips. More of a peck, really. But it counts.
We give them a respectful round of applause. Knox waves it off and gives the bottle a spin, wanting to move on from it as soon as possible.
Round and round, the bottle goes.
“Come on, come on,” Knox says, his eyes moving with it.
When it stops on his sister, he groans.
And we laugh even harder as Katrina recoils.
“I’m just gonna re-spin it,” Knox decides, his hand already on the bottle.
“Yeah, mulligan!” Christian says.
We all nod in agreement, our bellies full of laughter.
Knox glares at the bottle the entire time, willing it not to make the same mistake twice.
It obeys, landing straight on Harmony beside him.
“There it is!” He smiles, triumphantly taking the pop star in his arms and smothering her with kisses.
We clap. Another round of this silly game in the bag.
“All right,” Christian says. “Harmony, you’re up.”
Harmony wipes her mouth and spins the bottle. She doesn’t spin it nearly as hard as the others did, but it performs a few solid revolutions before stopping again.
On Katrina.
“Okay, hold on,” Knox says.
But Harmony grins. “Rules are rules, babe,” she says as she crosses the circle.
Katrina leans forward and the two girls meet in the middle with a sweet kiss of friendship on the corner of their mouths.
Still, Knox pouts. “That was weird. I don’t like this game anymore. Monopoly, anyone?”
Harmony slaps his arm as she sits back down. “Don’t be such a killjoy. Spin it, Kat!”
Katrina does so with a smile while her brother grimaces, but Harmony soothes him quickly and he’s over it by the time the bottle stops once again.
On Jonah.
“Ooo-la-la,” Addison coos.
“We don’t have to,” Katrina says to Jonah. “You’re getting married soon.”
“Oh, shit!” Christian says, his eyes widening. “That’s right! Congrats, my dude.”
Jonah smiles as he silently pushes off the floor and tilts toward Katrina. Only needing to reach over Bronson to do it, he leaves a soft kiss on Katrina’s cheek before sitting back down in his spot.
“No worries,” Jonah says. “A kiss is just a kiss.”
Katrina’s face turns bright red. The ladies in the circle swoon a bit, Jonah’s gentlemanly nature always welcome among us.
“Okay, okay,” Knox says, ready to move on from his best friend smooching on his little sister. “Let’s keep this going.”
Jonah lazily spins the bottle. It makes a single turn before quickly stopping, the tip pointed straight at me.
Before I can insist he save his lips for Marla, Jonah leans over and offers me the same friendly kiss on the cheek. I accept it gladly, every eye in the room now on me.
“Okay,” I say, exhaling hard as I reach toward the bottle.
“Yeah, girl!” Christian says beside me. “Spin that shit.”
I give it a whirl and sit back, pinching my eyes closed as it goes round and round, playfully nervous to find out where it’ll land. I hear it come to a stop on the floor, and the others react with various teasing sounds.
I open my eyes to look.
It’s pointing at Bronson.