4. Amber
AMBER
Music pulsed through my body, and I swung my hips in time with the beat. The vibe was high, everyone here for the same thing, everyone feeding off each other’s excitement.
Was a shame the cramps low in my belly were trying to ruin it for me.
I loved concerts. I loved this festival. Every year I looked forward to dressing up, drinking, getting away from the clubhouse and just hanging out with friends. It never disappointed.
“Jealousy, turning snakes into the sea!” Herb shouted from beside me.
I looked over at the man and felt that prickle of annoyance I’d had all day.
First he’d dropped the canopy on my toe when we’d been setting up the campsite.
That still throbbed like a motherfucker, even after I’d done several shots of tequila to try to numb it.
Then our friends had all ditched us, and he’d spilled his beer all over me.
Singing the wrong lyrics to one of my favorite songs was just about the last nail in the coffin for me. “I’m going to go over there now.”
Herb nodded eagerly. “Coming!”
I put my hand up in a stop motion. “Nope. I’m just going to go over there and dance by myself. You stay here and dance by yourself. Deal?”
He frowned at that, confusion creasing the space between his red-rimmed eyes.
I didn’t think I’d ever seen the man sober. There was a good reason the club had given him the road name Herb. It definitely had nothing to do with him being green.
He followed me to the new spot I’d picked, despite my protests, and I sighed heavily.
He leaned in, his mouth close to my ear so I could hear him over the music. “War said we need to watch out for you and Kiki while we’re away.”
I pulled my mouth into a tight line, cursing the club prez and his pathological need to take care of everyone. “No need. I’m a big girl. You can tell War I don’t need a man watching over me.”
Especially not one as annoying as Herb. He could have been cute if he cut his hair and trimmed his beard. And bought some clothes that actually fit him properly. Eased up on the pot. And, basically, changed his whole personality so he wasn’t the most hopeless, irritating man on the planet.
I blinked at the thought, realizing how utterly bitchy that was. Even for me, which was saying something since I wasn’t exactly well known for being warm and fuzzy. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, checked my period tracker app, and realized I was due any day now.
That explained some things.
Poor Herb, having to put up with my PMS.
But if he wasn’t so freaking annoying…
A massive gust of wind kicked up, taking the loose dirt beneath our feet with it. It swirled through the air, and I instinctively covered my face with my arms, trying to keep it out of my eyes.
It was a losing battle. The wind didn’t stop, and around me, people started shouting about dust storms and getting to shelter.
I was too busy trying to wipe dirt out of my eyes to really listen. It stung like a motherfucker and only added to the irrational irritation that had been sitting on my shoulders most of the day.
Just fucking great. The one week a year I was really looking forward to was being ruined by dirt and wind and a man who reeked of pot.
Good times. I was going to kill Kiki for ditching me.
“Amber! We should go!” Herb shouted.
I shook my head stubbornly. “It’s fine! It’ll settle! I don’t want to lose our spot!”
The music cut out with a crackle of static. The dirt was so thick in the air I couldn’t even open my eyes to see why. There was no announcement, but people around us pushed into me as they tried to leave the area and escape the dust.
I sucked in a breath, and then coughed up a lung full of dust.
Herb grabbed my arm. “We’re leaving, Amber! This is fucking dangerous!”
Annoyance prickled up my spine, and even though I knew it was the PMS talking and I was being ridiculous, I dug my heels in. “I’m not leaving until they say the band isn’t coming back out!”
I managed to open my eyes just enough to see Herb staring at me like I’d grown a second head.
I tried to glare at him, but it was hard to do when you could barely see or breathe through the dust. I coughed and squeezed my eyes shut, holding my ground.
Herb picked me right up off it.
He slung me over his shoulder like I was a sack of potatoes, wrapping one thick arm across the backs of my thighs, stopping me from slipping the whole way down his back.
I pummeled my fist against him. “Herb! Put me down!”
“Not until I find somewhere safe for us to ride this thing out.”
“You’re stoned! You’re going to drop me!”
His grip tightened across the backs of my legs. “No, Amber. I won’t.”
There was something in his voice I hadn’t heard before. A deep, possessive, in-control tone that instantly had me quieting.
Who knew Herb could sound like that?
By that point, with my lungs full of dust, I unfortunately realized he was right. The low visibility made it hard to see, but Herb seemed to know exactly where he was going. I eventually gave in, and let him carry me away, caveman-style.
I didn’t know how he was managing. I spluttered, my arms covering my face in an attempt to breathe through the dust that whipped around us, little rocks flying up to pummel our skin.
And yet Herb marched on like a soldier going into battle and completely unfazed by the whole thing.
Maybe his lungs were just used to breathing in particle filled air.
Meanwhile, I was being very dramatic and was fairly sure I was dying. It felt like a lifetime before there was the noise of a zipper, and Herb lowered me back down to the ground, pushing me into a tent ahead of him.
I looked around at the small space, and was surprised by a neatly made air mattress and a couple of bottles of water that sat beside it. I pounced on one gratefully, and downed it, before using more of it and a box of tissues to try to wipe the worst of the dirt off my skin.
I didn’t want to think about why Herb had a box of tissues next to his bed. I really hoped he had allergies.
Herb did the same, sitting beside me and wiping the dirt out of his beard and off his cheeks as best he could.
I folded my legs beneath me. “I didn’t expect your tent to be nice on the inside. I can’t believe you actually brought sheets and pillows.”
“Why not?”
I shrugged while the wind howled around outside, and the tent flapped in protest. “You seem more like the type to just sleep in your clothes on the ground, honestly.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know anything about me, Amber.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I do. I know you’re a prospect at the club. And that you really like weed.”
He looked over at me, unimpressed. “Weak. Everyone knows those things.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “It’s not like you know me any better.”
“Don’t I?”
I rolled my eyes. “Go on then, Mr. I-Smoke-so-Much-Pot-I-Probably-Don’t-Even-Remember-My-Own-Name-Half-the-Time. Tell me what you know about me.”
He didn’t miss a beat. “I know your favorite color is orange, even though that is arguably the worst color there is. I know your day job is in accounting, and you don’t talk about it because you don’t like people realizing you’re smart.
Probably because that would give them pause over why you’ve been a club girl so long, and that’s something you haven’t even asked yourself.
I also know your favorite meal is the seafood pasta they do at Sinners, but that you won’t go there and eat alone.
So you just wait for Hayden to put leftovers in the Slayers’ fridge. ”
I stared at him in the dim light, feeling like the man had just splayed me wide open. Because all of that was true, and nobody had ever noticed any of it before.
He stroked his hand over his beard, grinned, and then pointed a finger at me. “And I know you’re currently worried about whether or not you packed pads or tampons because you’re due to get your period any moment now.”
I gaped at him. I’d literally only worked that out myself an hour before. “How the hell did you know that?”
He shrugged. “Just because I’m stoned a lot, doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention. You’re always meaner to me around this time of the month.”
“No, I’m not,” I snapped back on instinct.
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re kind of making my point.”
I scowled at him. My stomach cramped painfully, reminding me he was right. I was definitely going to get my period sometime soon, probably later tonight or tomorrow, and wouldn’t that just be the icing on top of the shit cake?
Because I had definitely not packed any pads or tampons. Hopefully Kiki had.
Herb looked around at the tent as it rattled and bowed beneath the force of the wind. “This thing seems to be keeping the dust out.”
It was. My lungs were still irritated enough to make me think there was still plenty of dust in the air outside, but the nylon walls seemed to be filtering enough of it that we could get by.
I was suddenly exhausted, and eyed the bed longingly, wishing it was mine.
Herb noticed. “You can have the bed. I don’t think we’re going anywhere tonight. I’ll sleep here on the floor.”
I gave him a smile, this time, a genuine one. “Thank you. And thank you for pulling me out of the storm. I probably would still be standing there if you hadn’t.”
He shrugged. “I know.”
I bit my lip, and looked over at the clean, nicely made bed, and then down at my dirt covered clothes.
I’d been prepared for the lack of showers, but a dust storm had not been on my list of possibilities, and I didn’t want to try getting to my own tent while the storm still howled outside.
“Is there a shirt or something I can borrow? I don’t want to put all this dirt in your bed. ”
“Uh, yeah, sure…” Herb peered around the tent’s interior, and then leaned over, rifling through a bag and pulling out a bright pink, Hawaiian flowered T-shirt. He tossed it in my direction.
I caught it and squinted down at the overly bright material. “I didn’t pick you as a Hawaiian shirt sort of man.” I’d never seen him in anything other than oversized black T-shirts and dirty denim jeans.