Chapter 18
“Sorry I’m late,” I called, scrambling out of my car. “I hope you guys haven’t been here for too long.”
It was Saturday night, and I’d just pulled up to a fancy house in the hills.
The Heartbreakers were spread out around a now familiar Range Rover, which was parked on the side of the street—JJ and Oliver were lounging in the grass, while Alec perched on the rear bumper, headphones in.
Xander was nowhere to be seen. After our phone conversation yesterday, he’d texted me the address for Violet’s party and promised to wait for me out front so we could go in together.
What I hadn’t expected was for the rest of the band to wait as well, but I was starting to realize the four of them came as a package deal.
We’d agreed to meet at four—well after the party would be in full swing, so Violet wouldn’t notice me until it was time—but I hadn’t anticipated my dad being so strict.
“Absolutely not,” he’d said when I told him I was leaving for Sofia’s and would be home in a few hours. “I understand this is a relatively new concept for you, Indie, but being grounded means you’re not allowed to engage in social or recreational activities.”
I blinked at him. Engage in social or recreational activities? Who the hell was this man?
“Yes, but this is an academic activity.” Unzipping the main pocket, I showed him the inside of my backpack, which was loaded with textbooks. “I missed a really difficult lab in physics, and I’m struggling with the practice packet. Sofia offered to help me.”
“Why don’t you have her come over here?” he asked. “I’m sure she’d understand.”
“I did, but she’s babysitting her siblings.
Please, Dad? We have a test on Monday, and if I don’t figure these concepts out, I’m going to fail big time.
” Which wasn’t exactly a lie—Sofia was babysitting, we did have a test, and I most definitely would fail if I didn’t get help—but I also had no intention of going to Sofia’s.
Twisting the truth churned my stomach, but it was the only way I could get out of the house and explain my absence at the same time.
My only consolation was that I didn’t have to feel guilty about roping Sofia into my scheme.
She was on board with any plan that involved me spending more time with Xander, because what were best friends for?
“No worries,” JJ said, slowly smiling at me. “Gave me time to work on my tan.” He was wearing another one of those sleeveless muscle shirts he seemed to love so much, and I rolled my eyes when he flexed his biceps at me.
“Indie?” Xander said, poking his head out the driver’s side window.
His cell was pressed to his ear. When I waved at him, he said something to whoever he was talking with and ended the call.
Then he was out of the car, his long legs covering the distance between us in three quick strides, and pulling me into a hug.
“Everything all right?” he asked after pressing his lips against my brow.
I loved that he was the perfect height to give me forehead kisses.
“I was worried about you. I called Sofia to see if she knew where you were, but she had no clue.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, waving off his concern. “Ran into some trouble with my dad, but I managed to talk my way out of it. Who were you talking to?”
“My brother,” he said, frowning slightly. “What kind of trouble?”
“Technically speaking? I’m grounded.”
“Still?”
I grimaced. “Ah, no…again.”
“Oooh! Looks like we have a rebel on our hands, folks,” JJ announced as if he was giving a play-by-play.
Oliver, whose hands were tucked behind his head as he soaked up the dwindling sunlight, snorted.
Xander and I both turned to shoot his bandmates a flat, unimpressed stare.
Heaving a sigh, JJ flopped back against the lawn. “Fine, I’ll just be over here, not listening to the conversation taking place five feet away from me, minding my own business, and being bored out of my mind.”
Neither of us bothered responding.
“What happened?” Xander said, returning his gaze to me.
“You know the day I blew up on Violet?” I asked, my voice a whisper.
It was more of a rhetorical question than a serious one, because despite the fact that we’d made up, I would always harbor a small amount of guilt for how I’d treated Xander.
I doubted he’d forget that day anytime soon either.
“Let’s just say it went downhill from there.
I’ll give you the details later, but right now, all I want to do is apologize to my sister and get home before my dad realizes I’m not at Sofia’s. ”
“Okay,” he said with a decisive nod. “We can do that.”
My heart soared at the word we, like this was our problem, not just mine, and the two of us would tackle it together.
I took Xander’s hand and turned toward the house, a boxy, contemporary home with clean lines and a sleek facade made of steel and gray stone.
As if sensing our departure, Alec pulled out his headphones and carefully tucked them into his pocket, while Oliver and JJ picked themselves off the ground, brushing grass from their pants as they stood.
Xander clicked the lock button on his key fob, the SUV beeped, and then the five of us started our climb up the long driveway.
When we reached the top of the hill and I spotted the front door, I groaned inwardly.
Darren, the wannabe security guard from the Immortal Nights promotional shoot, was manning the entrance, another clipboard in hand.
I slowed my pace, letting the guys go first so he couldn’t see me.
Maybe if I hid behind Xander and JJ, I could slip inside unnoticed?
“Names?” Darren asked. As each of the Heartbreakers answered, he flipped through the pages clipped to his board, nodding when he found them on the list. “All right, you can head in.”
Crouching down, I tried to make myself as small as possible, but Xander, polite as ever, stepped aside and gestured for me to go first. When Darren met my gaze, his eyes gleamed with recognition, and I instantly knew he was going to make this as difficult as possible for me. I heaved a sigh and straightened up.
“So,” Darren said, looking down his nose at me as if I’d crawled out of the sewers, “we meet again.”
“So we meet again?” JJ repeated, glancing from me to Darren without bothering to mask his snicker. “What is she, your adversary? You sound like a second-rate villain in a bad James Bond movie.”
Oliver scowled. “There’s no such thing as a bad James Bond movie,” he muttered indignantly, but everyone’s attention was focused on Darren.
“She,” he said, pointing his finger at me in accusation, “crashed the set of a very important promotional shoot. I tried to stop her.” He sounded like the foiled bad guy at the end of every Scooby-Doo episode: And I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for Gabe Grant!
“The shoot was for Immortal Nights, so I’d hardly call that important,” I clarified when Xander turned to me, his head cocked in amused confusion. “Plus it was at my house. Pretty sure it doesn’t count as crashing if I live there.”
Darren shrugged. “Your name wasn’t on the list. I was merely doing my job.”
Leaning over to JJ, Oliver put a hand in front of his mouth as if he was trying to be discreet but said in a rather loud whisper, “Something tells me this guy gets his rocks off on being an asshole.”
This didn’t seem to bother Darren. He didn’t even deny what Oliver said. Instead, he aimed a smug smile at me. “Rules are rules. Thankfully, that same rule applies today, and since this isn’t your house, you can’t use that as an excuse to get yourself in the door again.”
My teeth clenched together painfully as I tried not to snap. “It’s my sister’s birthday.”
“Yes, but we both know you weren’t invited to this party, so I suggest you leave before I call the police and report a trespasser.”
JJ crossed his arms, a gesture that was intimidating by itself, but then he stepped forward and leaned into Darren’s personal space. When he wasn’t smiling and cracking jokes, JJ could be menacing. “She’s our plus-one,” he said, his voice cold.
To Darren’s credit, he didn’t back down. “There are no plus-ones.”
“So if I showed up with my girlfriend, you wouldn’t let her in?” Oliver scoffed. “How rude.”
“But Miss James isn’t your girlfriend,” Darren pointed out.
“Of course she’s not his girlfriend,” Xander snapped. “She’s mine.” His eyes were narrowed at Darren, and I’d never seen him look so angry before. “By the way, James is a stage name. Indie’s last name is Mitchell-Jamiolkowski. Get it right.”
Despite the four guys who were now glaring at him, Darren rolled his eyes. “My apologies, Miss Mitchell-Jamiolkowski, but it doesn’t matter who you’re dating. You’re not on the list.”
“For God’s sake, Darren. Give it up already and let them in,” said a familiar voice.
Glancing over Darren’s shoulder, I met the smoldering blue eyes of Gabriel Grant. He stood just inside the entryway, hands casually stuffed in his pockets, and there was a wide grin on his face, as if watching the scene play out had been the most entertaining part of his day.
“Hey, dude,” JJ said, sauntering forward and slapping his hand into Gabe’s. “How’ve you been?”
Darren’s lips flattened into a tight line, but he did as Gabe instructed and stepped aside.
Not bothering to glance in his direction, Alec and Oliver followed JJ, while Xander draped an arm over my shoulder and guided me in after them.
Even though it was childish, I stuck my tongue out at Darren as we passed by.
Ha, I wanted to say, thwarted again!
“So, Indie,” Gabe said once all the guys had clapped each other on the back in greeting. “What are you doing here? Not that it’s a problem, but these parties aren’t usually your thing.”
“I have a surprise planned for Violet,” I explained. “It’s an apology slash birthday gift.”
“Cool, cool,” he said, bobbing his head. “Anything I can do to help?”