Bound Together (5 page)

“No Amy. No way. Not in a
million years are you getting me on that stage. You’re crazy! I
can’t play an instrument and I am not singing.” I hadn’t sung on
stage since high school when I was the lead vocalist for a small
band. But that was years ago and I was extremely out of
practice.

Amy pulled my arm so hard
I thought it might dislocate. Instead, I was flying out of my chair
and onto my feet.

“Oh nonsense. I’ve heard
you singing to your iPod and in the shower. You rock! And I play
the piano
and
sing. Come on, we’ll be like our very own girl band! This is
college and we’re supposed to be having fun remember, so play the
game Layla.”

I wasn’t getting out of
this because before I knew it, she was pulling me to the stage. I
glared back at Oliver
pleading with my
eyes for help but he just shrugged at
me,
shaking his head and grinning from ear to ear.

“Thanks a lot,” I mouthed,
feeling a little pissed that my new
friend
was taking delight in my
predicament. But that just made him laugh. Giving Nick a nod, he
gestured for him to join us on stage. Rolling his eyes, Nick got to
his feet, followed us up and sat behind the huge, red drum kit that
was on stage. One of the guys from our table had also climbed up
and was hooking up a gorgeous metallic blue guitar to an amp.
Feeling like a proper band, I smiled to myself as anticipation and
adrenaline began to bubble beneath the surface of my skin. Nervous
butterflies swarmed inside my stomach and I fought the urge to bolt
as Amy sat at the piano.

“Let’s sing this one!” Amy
shoved a sheet of paper at me that had the music to the song
‘Fading Like A Flower’ by Roxette. I did love the song and I knew
it well, but singing in the shower was one thing; singing it up on
stage, in front of a herd of strangers, was another. But there was
no time to chicken out now. Amy was already playing the intro with
Nick and the blonde stranger not far behind. Giving them a quick
nervous smile I took a deep breath, walked up to the mic, closed my
eyes and sang. It actually sounded good. Really good. I snuck a
peek over my shoulder at Amy and she was beaming at me so brightly
I thought she might explode. This
was
fun. My lungs were belting out
notes that I never even knew I could reach. I felt amazing. I
grabbed the mic stand and caressed it with my free hand as I sang.
The bar was buzzing as people began to walk over to the stage area
to watch. People were rocking and singing along to the chorus with
me. The adrenaline rush I felt made my confidence soar, leaving me
breathless as I sang every note pitch perfect and loud. My ears
were ringing as the sound from the large speakers boomed through
the bar. I was making people rock, dance and sing to the beat. I’d
never felt so exhilarated.

When the song ended, the
whole bar cheered and Oliver was on his feet whistling at us. I
grinned and bit my lip, suddenly feeling a little e self-conscious.
As I came down from the stage, Amy wrapped her arms around me
giggling. “Oh my god that was great! I told you that you’d
rock.”

Turning her attention to
the guys, she hugged them both equally as grateful. “You guys
totally rock too! Awesome!” The blonde guitarist blushed as she
pressed her lips against his cheek, leaving her shocking pink
lipstick on his pale flesh.

I could still feel
adrenaline pumping through my body when I got back to our table.
Oliver was still applauding me when I approached.
I gave him a small smile, bowed gracefully in
jest and sat back in my seat, exhaling loudly
. I didn’t realize I was even holding my breath.

“Well, well, well. Who knew that the
musically named Layla would also be a rocking pop star too?”

Feeling a little shy, I
gave him another quick smile and took a big gulp of my drink. I
needed it.

My heart
was pounding so hard in my chest that I thought
it was trying to escape my ribcage
. I
could feel his eyes on me as I tried desperately to concentrate on
the glass in my hand. But they were penetrating my thoughts. I
glanced sideways at him and the corners of his mouth curled up as
he bit his lip. Then almost simultaneously we were diverting our
attention, me at my glass and he at a group of guys now setting up
on stage. A jolt of exhilaration ran through me. He was flirting
with his eyes. Or did I imagine it? If I did then Amy had too. Our
exchange had
not
gone unnoticed. She was giving me a goofy grin as her
eyebrows bounced up and down. I rolled my eyes at her as she gave
me a knowing look. I was sure we’d be talking about this
later.

The rest of the evening
was spent talking about our performance on stage and discussing
classes. They would be starting on Monday and everyone was taking
something different. Nick and the blonde guitarist, who turned out
to be named Eric, were taking sports and music and their other
friend Henry was taking Media and Journalism. I turned to Oliver
and arched an eyebrow. “So what are you taking?”

Sipping his drink he smiled. “Psych and
music. So I guess we’ll be in some classes together this semester.
And there I was thinking it would be boring.”

Ok he was definitely flirting and I was
enjoying every last moment of it. This college thing was going to
be more fun than I thought.

Chapter
5

Money, Money,
Money

It was finally Saturday
morning and I was working. I’d promised dad I’d be home for the
weekend so when I called to tell him I was doing the morning shift
at the shop, he insisted on picking me up in the afternoon and
driving me home himself. I got the feeling he was desperate for me
to come home.

It was quieter in the shop
today. I assumed that was because people weren’t at work on
weekends so therefore wouldn’t need to grab a coffee on their way
in. The majority of customers were students from Cali State. I
recognized a few from my dorm but didn’t know them well enough to
make conversation.

No one had come in for
nearly half an hour, so I pulled up a stool and sat by the counter.
Grabbing a caramel latte, I opened up one of the magazines sitting
in the rack next to the register. I rested my elbows on the
countertop and blew on my hot coffee. I was just reading an article
on how shoes can cure depression when I was distracted by someone
clearing their throat.

The sound startled me,
causing me to almost spill my coffee. I jumped off my stool trying
to look professional. I put the magazine aside along with my coffee
and looked up from the counter.

Oh what new hell was this?

Standing in front of me
with a wry grin on his face was Jared. He was wearing jeans and a
white t-shirt that showed off his impressive arms. I plastered my
most genuine looking smile on my face and looked up at him. “Hi.
What can I get you?”

He regarded me almost
amused for a moment before scanning the board behind me. All of the
day’s special brewed concoctions were listed on it and every day
they were changed. At the moment, Lorraine had a “Coffees of the
World” theme going.

I drummed my fingers on
the counter impatiently and stared at him, waiting for him to make
a choice. I was sure I saw the corners of his mouth curl upwards.
Not quite a smile but he was certainly amused by my
irritation.

“So many to choose from.
What is one to do?” He had his head angled to the right and was
biting his lip. My eyes were fixed to his mouth as I watched his
teeth sink into his flesh, wishing I could be doing the same. He
may be a douche but my god he was hot. I was only human after all.
Continuing to um and ah over the menu I realized he was now trying
to provoke my irritation deliberately. Happy to oblige, I folded my
arms across my chest and tapped my foot loudly. His eyes darted to
me. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize that your service came with a side
of attitude.”

I couldn’t believe how
utterly rude he was. Just when I thought he couldn’t become any
more discourteous or irritating, he did. I’d had enough of this
game. He was seriously pissing me off and I was going to make damn
sure he knew it.

I leaned across the counter
with my hands tightly gripping the edge. “Look, I don’t know what
your problem is. I apologized for the coffee. I offered to pay for
the shirt and I even apologized for your stupid nose
even
though the fact
remains that if it had been pointing in the right direction you
would have seen me through the glass. It’s
you
strolling in here with your laid
back, make her wait while I dick around attitude that really grinds
my gears.”

Oh. My. God. Did that just
come out of
my
mouth?!

He took a step back from
the counter and stared back at me. His eyebrows were raised and his
mouth was pulled into a tight line. I stood back and crossed my
arms again, staring right back at him. He cleared his throat and
smirked wickedly at me. Urgh!

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t
realize you were busy. I’d hate to tear you away from your very
important task of sitting on your ass and reading articles about
how chocolate is better than sex.” He glanced over at my magazine
which was still sitting on the counter. Ah crap. “By the way, I can
assure you that it’s not.”

I could feel my cheeks
warming. This was getting tiresome. I had a job to do and he was a
customer. We couldn’t go on like this. I decided to take the moral
high ground, which itself was very difficult for me. I
always
had to have the
last word.

“You’re right. I apologize
for my rude behavior. What do you say we start over?” I shook my
head back a little and tried to regain my serene and impassive
disposition. I walked up to the counter and smiled at him. “Good
morning sir. What can I get you?” He eyed me cautiously and then
tipped his head back and laughed so loudly, I thought he might
shatter the windows. His heavy shoulders bounced up and down as a
deep laugh rumbled through him. Wiping his eyes, he shook his head
at me and grinned. “First of all, call me Jared. Secondly, that was
by far the best performance I have ever seen. I recommend a dentist
though, because you were gritting your teeth so hard the whole time
I think you might need a root canal. You should probably work on
your fake smile too because
that
was hilarious.” He stifled another laugh with his
fist.

My mouth opened wide in
irritation and pure shock. How dare he! Here I was, trying to be
nice, trying to be polite and he had the sheer audacity to insult
me! I was just about to let him have it when he held up his hand to
silence me. “That being said. I appreciate the effort. I’ll have
whatever it is you’re drinking there.” He pointed to my cup which
was sitting on the counter.

I rolled my eyes and
walked over to the coffee machine. It was only then that I had
thought to look around the shop. I glanced up and my eyes took in
the room. There were a handful of people sitting at their tables
staring at me. A few had begun to speak softly to each other and
were nodding in my direction. I felt the embarrassment creeping up
my skin all the way to my cheeks. Just like that, I was back in the
high school cafeteria. I cursed myself for allowing this man to get
under my skin. Causing a scene at work was just one more thing to
add to my list of horrible experiences this week. This one was
certainly up there with laying spread eagle at Oliver’s
feet.

I put it to the back of my
mind and served Jared his coffee to go. Placing it on the counter I
gave him my most genuine smile. Well, as much as I could force
myself to give to this man. He gave me a cautious look as he
grabbed the cup off the counter. “That’s $1.96 please,” I reminded
him.

He gave me a quizzical
look. “I said that’s $1.96. You know? Cash? Around here people
generally pay for coffee.”

The corners of his mouth
curled up and he took a sip of his latte which he had
yet
to pay for. Who the
hell did this guy think he was? Glowering at him, I placed my hands
on my hips, gripping them firmly; mostly to stop myself from
slapping him hard on the face.

“Well I don’t usually, but
since it’s you I’m only too happy to oblige.” He reached into his
pocket and produced a $10 bill. I held out my hand and he pressed
the bill between our palms. I felt like a bolt of lightning hit me.
What was that? Gripping my hand he leaned in to the counter and I
could smell his aftershave. It was deep, sensual, musky and yet
sweet at the same time. Or maybe that was just him, his natural
scent. It inflamed my nostrils and I felt my blood beginning to
boil. What on earth was he doing to me? He was a rude, insensitive
dick and yet his touch had left me stripped of my
senses.

“And because it’s you I’ll
even let you keep the change. Call it a tip for your warm customer
service.” He gave me a wink and turned on his heel. He pulled the
door open and then shot me the sexiest smile I had ever
seen.