Chapter 6
Chapter Six
ZARA
Tanner will be furious when he finds out I ditched him.
Especially if he found out who I left with.
Edwin isn’t among Tanner’s close friends. He’s always looked down on people in the entertainment industry, even if they came from wealth like Edwin had.
Hollywood is filled with nothing but cheap attention seekers. His words, not mine.
I’m sure he would have a field day knowing I left with the Hendrix Creed. He was popular back in college, which I’m sure annoyed Tanner, and he was a musician from a well-known family in the industry.
I still remember the way he looked all those years ago, with that large guitar case strapped around his chest.
“You gonna be famous one day, Hendrix Creed?”
“You better believe it, Cupid.”
I smile to myself as Hendrix pulls away from the curb. I see him stretching the fingers of his right hand. He rotates his wrist a few times, and I wonder if it’s from pain.
I take my phone out of my purse before it gets awkward, and I start suggesting the stretching exercises I gave my mom last month.
I tend to struggle with separating my work life from my personal life, and I have to remind myself that not everyone is a walking patient.
Me
You’ll never guess what I just did.
Vi
Told your ex to take a hike and then ditched his sorry ass?
Me
YES!
Vi
Wait. Actually?
Me
Well, not the part about telling him to take a hike. But I totally ditched him. I snuck out of the party and left him there, Vi.
Vi
YES! About fucking time. Wait, how? Did you call an Uber? Omg, please tell me you left with someone.
I bite my lip as I glance over at Hendrix.
He tossed his jacket aside the moment we got in the car and rolled up his sleeves.
Either I’m horny as hell or his forearms are so cut, they’re downright pornographic.
The way his muscles flex as he grips the steering wheel, and the tattoos inked across his skin…
I swallow hard.
Me
…
Vi
ZARA HAZEL VALENTINE.
Me
I may have run into a guy I knew from college.
Vi
And…
Me
And we’re on our way to a bar.
Vi
Okay, read these words very carefully. Are you paying attention?
Me
Vi
Don’t make me full-name you again…
Me
Yes, I’m listening.
Vi
You’re single now. Act like it.
Also, I won’t be home tonight. Plan accordingly.
I stare at the screen and blink.
Does she expect me to take him home to…?
My stomach flutters with nerves, or maybe it’s anticipation? He made plenty of jokes about us hooking up in college, but that’s all they were. He never meant anything by it.
Surely, this grown-up version of Hendrix isn’t thinking that we could…
I think back to the way he blatantly checked me out in the hallway, how his eyes lingered on the curve of my hips, my bare legs, and my breasts.
Okay, so maybe it’s crossed his mind. And he did leave the party with me.
“So what bar are we actually headed to?” I ask, realizing we never really discussed specifics. I was just so relieved to leave that party—and Tanner—that I basically leaped into his car. He could be taking me anywhere.
“Only the best bar on the West Coast.”
“And that would be?”
“My family’s bar. Obviously.”
I raise my eyebrows. “You’re taking me to your family’s bar? Trying to show off, Jimi?”
He scoffs. “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t call me that after I earned my first A?”
“You still call me Cupid.”
A wicked smirk spreads across his face. “Told you I was sticking with it. And besides, you like it when I call you that.”
I try to come up with a witty reply, but I come up blank. Because he’s right. I do. I liked it back then, and I like it even more now.
He must notice because his grin widens. “And no, definitely not showing off. Just taking advantage of the family discount. Have you bought a drink in this town lately? It’s ridiculous.”
I laugh. He’s ridiculous, and it’s ridiculous that I find it charming. “I didn’t know your family owned a bar. Doesn’t your dad do something in the music industry?”
He nods. “My dad is a manager for several musicians, which is the primary family business. There’s also the recording studio, our newest venture, and then the bar in Malibu, which is sort of my parents’ pride and joy. Besides me, of course.”
“Of course.” Cars zoom past the window as we drive down the 101 toward the coast. “So will your family be at the family bar?”
“My sister Presley might be bartending, but that’s probably it. We don’t hang out there twenty-four-seven like some weird family sitcom.”
Well, that’s a relief. Not that I’m sure they’re lovely, but I’m not really up for meeting the whole family tonight. “Presley? Hendrix? I’m sensing a theme.”
“Ah, yes. My dad really loves his music legends. And my mom? Well, she loves my dad enough to let him name all of us after them.”
“All of you? How many are there?”
“Five.”
“Five?” I almost gasp. “That’s—”
“A lot? Yes, it is. And that doesn’t even account for all the bonus siblings.”
“What the hell is a bonus sibling?”
“You know, like a best friend or longtime employee that just sort of becomes part of the family. My parents have always been the more, the merrier type. Holidays are nuts in our house.”
“That’s really nice of them,” I say, unsure of what else to add since I haven’t really experienced the big family thing.
My dad is an only child, and his parents passed away when I was young.
My mom’s family is actually quite large, but scattered, from the West Coast all the way to the Greek Isles and everywhere in between.
As for friends, that was always more my sister’s area of expertise.
“So tell me all their names.”
“The bonus siblings? Well, there’s Zan—”
“No.” I chuckle. “Your regular siblings. The ones with the crazy names.”
“Oh.” He chuckles. “Well, there’s the oldest, Cash, then there’s me and Presley. After that is my brother Myles and my youngest sister, Mercury.”
“Wait, Myles as in—” The other ones are easy to identify. But I try to think of a famous musician named Myles. “Miles Davis?”
He just shakes his head. “No, but I’m sure that’s what people think when they hear his name. Myles was adopted, so he got off easy when it came to crazy names. My oldest brother, though, was almost named Halen, which he could not pull off—at all.”
“They didn’t consider naming you Bono or Prince. Oh, how about Zeppelin?”
“I could absolutely rock a name like Zeppelin,” he says with a straight face.
“I don’t think you could. Honestly, I’m not even sure you’re cool enough to pull off Hendrix.”
“What the fuck? You can’t just shit talk a guy’s name, Zara Hazel Valentine.”
My eyes widen. “How—”
“Your phone screen is really bright.” His grin is so damn smug. “So are you going to invite me over?”
Oh my god. My cheeks burn. “You know, reading someone else’s text messages is considered a violation of privacy?”
“I gotta say, I really missed that sassy mouth. You’re always so quick with the comebacks, especially when you’re embarrassed.”
“I’m not embarrassed.”
“No?”
“No.”
“So you weren’t thinking about inviting me over to your empty apartment tonight?” His voice is so smooth, I feel it all the way down to my toes. And so many other places too.
“Yes,” I respond before quickly correcting myself. “No. Wait—” I’m so confused.
He laughs, enjoying my flustered state. “How about this?” he offers. “I’ll give you a choice. I can either continue toward Malibu, and we can go to Creeds for a few drinks, and then I’ll drop you off at your place and say good night. Or—”
“Or?” I swallow, waiting for him to finish.
“Or I can turn around and—”
“Yes.” I don’t even wait for him to finish. My sister told me not to overthink things tonight, so that’s what I’m going to do. For once in my life, I’m going to be spontaneous and wild.
“Yes, what?” He sneaks a glance in my direction, and I shiver. “Be specific, Zara.”
“Yes, I want you to turn around and take me back to my apartment. And then I want you to do all those dirty things you promised you’d do back in college.”
The car practically swerves as he takes the next exit to get us back to LA.
No turning back now.