Evelyn Vine Be Mine (3 page)

“Hi Evie,” Briar smiled at me, pulling me away from Donny’s tight hold and shooting him a censoring look, “My name’s Briar-Rose, but just call me Briar or Bri.”

I studied her face for a moment. She looked sincere and welcoming; her emerald green eyes were warm and lit with mischief. She had tied her messy, wild blonde curls in a ponytail and was dressed from head to toe in expensive designer clothing. Her slim figure was tall (5’7” like me) and barely covered by her small denim shorts and tight black singlet. I seriously hoped the rich city girl had packed something warm for tonight.

“Bri’s not in the band,” Donny told me with a smirk, “She’s a groupie.”

“I am not!” she protested, giving him the finger. She pulled me down to share the log she’d been sitting on and smiled. “I’m Stone’s best friend,” she told me, pointing to where he sat on the other side of the circle they had formed, “Stone plays the drums.”

I swallowed nervously and nodded in his direction, without quite meeting his eyes. He pulled a packet of Smarties from his pocket and some of my tension fell away as I fought to stifle a giggle. Thankfully, Briar quickly moved on.

“This is Alec Carmichael,” she said, indicating the man sitting on the other side of me, “He’s the base player, but he also does back up vocals.”

He smiled softly at me and inclined his head. He seemed the kindest of the group and had warm hazel eyes that contrasted with the short, sharp spikes of his black Mohawk. He slid his arm around me in a comforting way and nodded his head toward the girl sitting next to him.

“That’s Fredi,” he said softly, “She plays the keyboard and sometimes sings.”

“Fredi?” I asked curiously, looking over at the interesting girl. Her hair was long, the top layer bleached blonde, whilst the layer beneath was died black. Her eyes were two different colours too; the left one green, and the right one blue. She was an average height and dressed in ripped jeans and a tight, red Slipknot shirt that stopped above her belly button. She’d obviously hacked the bottom of it off with blunt scissors, because the ends were ratty and uneven.

“Winifred Lennox,” she said, holding out her hand and then shaking mine firmly, “But don’t call me that if you want to live.”

She looked me over, very much like the way Donny had done so in the car. Her eyes lit up and her lips quirked cheekily. “You’re cute,” she said, giving me a small wink. I paled nervously, unsure if she was cracking on to me and what to do if she was.

Donny laughed and picked Fredi up out of her chair. “I saw her first, woman,” he said with a laugh, then slid her down his body, “When are you going to stop pretending and give me a ride, honey?”

“Never,” she said, pushing him away, “I’m not into meat.”

I snuggled closer into Alec’s embrace, hoping to hide from anymore attention. No such luck. Candy and Mason’s arrival brought the attention back to me. Candy pulled me away from Alec and handed me a fold out chair.

“You meet everyone?” she asked brightly, passing me a can of diet coke. I nodded briskly; nervously aware that everyone’s eyes had once again moved back to me.

“Where’s Jamie?” she asked Donny with a frown.

“He’s racing. On his dirt bike,” he supplied and then turned to me to explain.

“Jamie is our lead guitarist,” he said with a grin, “James Frederick William Van Os the third!”

I giggled at the name like I was supposed to, knowing that pretty much all of these people came from rich families, and that some of those families gave their children horribly embarrassing names. That was probably the reason everyone called Stone by his last name. I chuckled at the possibility his first name was something horrible like Bernard or something ridiculous like a fruit.

Ha ha, Banana Stone?

I glanced over at him and tried the name out with the visual. His head turned and he stared back at me in some sort of challenge. I burst out laughing at the thought of calling this man ‘Banana’. Then immediately clamped my mouth shut and reddened in humiliation as everyone stared at me curiously.

“Nothing,” I muttered, praying that something, anything, would come along and distract them.

“Hey guys!” a sultry voice called out and everyone but Stone turned to look at the big-breasted blonde that was approaching.

Chloe, I thought with relief, she should distract Stone for me.

Stone’s eyes still hadn’t moved from me though. Briar groaned and I glanced over at her curiously. She caught my look and rolled her eyes, sticking a finger in her mouth and pretending to gag.

“I thought you got rid of her,” she whispered to Stone. His eyes left my face to look down at her (She’d moved to sit next to him). He gave her leg a gentle pat, as if mockingly pretending to soothe her annoyance. She scowled at him, but couldn’t stop the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. I studied the friends curiously, fascinated by how two very different people could be so close. According to Candy though, Briar and Stone had grown up together; their fathers were close friends.

Candy was a useful friend to have. She knew everything there was to know about everyone at our university. She, unlike me, had gone to school with most of them. That was one of the major set backs I had. I came to the campus knowing no one, while everyone else already knew each other and didn’t bother trying to make new friends.

“Stone, honey,” Chloe purred, “Are you going to vote for me?”

I glanced at her tight, white polo shirt and realised she was one of the rig girls (girls that posed in skimpy clothing and ‘promoted’ the event). He spared her a fleeting glance and raised one eyebrow. His expression barely changed, but it was clear to everyone what he was saying: Do I look like I give a shit about who wins the Miss Rig Girl competition?

Chloe pouted, her full pink lips plumping as she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind. “Aren’t we still friends?” she murmured, giving his cheek a fleeting kiss, “You aren’t sore that I left you are you?”

I hid my smile in Candy’s shoulder. Stone looked completely unaffected. I suspected from the way she was hanging all over him that she’d only broken off with him for attention. It looked as though her plan had backfired. Stone carefully removed her arms from his body and gave the seat next to him a pat, sending a glance at Briar to tell her to make room. She glared at him, but obeyed, letting Chloe sit down on the long log. As soon as she sat down though, Stone shoved earphones into his ears and turned the sound up on his iPod, effectively dismissing her.

“Don’t you have promotional stuff to be doing?” Briar asked sweetly.

Chloe smiled back and flipped her long, blonde hair. “I’m on break.”

“Wow, it must be so tiring for you,” Fredi said with a wink, “Looking as hot as you do must be exhausting.”

Chloe studied her a moment, presumably trying to decide whether Fredi had been coming onto her or making a snide remark.

Donny stole her chance to respond though, by slapping Fredi’s ass and laughing loudly. “Not everyone is as effortlessly sexy as you, Pooh-bear,” he said with a wink.

Fredi punched his arm. “Don’t call me that Donovan,” she snarled.

He just laughed and pulled her flush against his body, “Mmmm and you can call me whatever you like, Winnie-Pooh.”

She pushed and kicked at him, trying to get out of his grasp.

“Quit it you two,” Alec said with a laugh, thumping Donny on the back, “Let her go, Don.”

Donny huffed, but obeyed, quickly jumping out of the way when Fredi took a heated swing at him. Stone reached out and grabbed her, pulling her down to sit on his lap, before closing his eyes and zoning out to his music again. Chloe glared at her and tugged on Stone’s shirt sleeve.

“Stone, I’ve got to go now,” she said, leaning into his body. He nodded once to show he heard, but didn’t open his eyes. She frowned ever so slightly and leaned forward to remove an earpiece. Stone frowned and opened his eyes, his annoyance clearly written on his face. She hesitated, but eventually leaned forward and whispered something in his ear. He shook his head slightly and then replaced the earpiece, closing his eyes again and bouncing Fredi gently with one knee. Chloe stormed off without saying goodbye and Fredi moved to take her seat.

“Thank god that bitch is gone,” Briar laughed, reaching around Fredi to poke Stone in the side, “I can’t believe she dumped you and then expected you to fawn all over her.”

Stone made a non-committal grunt, but didn’t open his eyes.

Fredi laughed, “She’s hot when she’s angry though.”

Briar rolled her eyes. “Let’s put up the tents!” she said, jumping up from her seat enthusiastically.

Stone opened his eyes at this and made a small cough that I took for laughter. Briar spun in a circle.

“Where is the tent stuff?” she asked, looking at Alec.

He grinned and scratched the back of his neck, “We didn’t bring tents Bri.”

She gaped at him. “But, it’s sandy and it’s the bush and there are animals everywhere!”

He pulled her into a hug and looked down at her with a soft expression, “I’ll protect you Briar. It’ll be fine.”

“No it won’t,” she said angrily, turning toward Stone, “GG, why didn’t you bring tents?!”

It was my turn to gape. I’d never heard anyone dare talk to Stone like that.

He snorted in amusement, but didn’t answer her.

“GG!” she whined, reaching out and shaking his long legs by the knees. He continued to ignore her, his face blank, his eyes closing once more.

What does GG stand for? I wondered. His first name? The initials of his first and middle names? I made a note to ask Candy later.

The sky had grown dark and the temperature had started to drop. I shivered slightly, my teeth starting to chatter as I rubbed at the goose bumps on my bare arms. I’d better find what clothes Candy brought, I thought, looking around for her, but discovering she must have gone off somewhere to make out with Mason.

“Are you cold, Evie-baby?” Donny asked me, his hands taking over and rubbing my arms briskly. I noticed he’d already pulled his jacket on.

Stone’s eyes opened and he looked over at me, still ignoring Briar’s rant. He bent and pulled a large, bulky bomber jacket from the bag by his feet and made his way over to us, sending Donny a message with his eyes.

“I’ll start the fire,” Donny said as Stone thrust his jacket at me and pulled me over to his log, close to where the firewood was being stacked. The jacket swallowed me, but it was warm and carried a sexy, uniquely male scent. Briar giggled at how silly I looked and I pulled my hair from its ponytail to hide my blush. Stone sat down beside me and I trembled as a fresh wave of nerves washed over me. He frowned at my shiver and pulled a sleeping bag out of its ‘bag’, spreading it over my bare legs.

The fire roared to life and I wiggled my toes inside my shoes, grateful for the extra heat. I relaxed a little, feeling slightly safer since Stone hadn’t tried to say or do anything else to me. I eagerly accepted the stick of marsh-mellows Alec handed me and stretched forward to push them into the fire. I frowned when the top mellow burnt more than I liked, but Stone reached out and stole it off the end. I looked up at him in surprise and his eyes twinkled a little with what I assumed was amusement. I smiled hesitantly and ducked my head in another blush, slowly sliding the next mellow off the stick and plopping it in my mouth.

Mmmm, I hummed to myself, closing my eyes and savouring the warm, gooey goodness. When I opened them again, I found Stone staring at me, an intense expression on his face. I swallowed anxiously and tried to think of something to say to break the awkward silence. Failing to find words, I extended the stick of mellows toward him, offering him another. He shook his head slightly and I slowly withdrew it.

Then, with a smile, I stuck the stick back in the fire and blackened the outside of the remaining two mellows, blowing the flame from them quickly when I pulled it out. I slid both mellows off the stick, making faces when the heat stung my fingertips. A small smile was growing at the corner of Stone’s mouth and I quickly extended my sticky fingers, hoping he’d take it before they burned too badly.

Thankfully, he leaned forward and pulled them into his mouth, licking my tender fingertips, before moving away. My stomach clenched and my skin tingled from the contact. His eyes held mine as he chewed and I found myself unable to tear away from their, cold, grey depths.

“Evie!” Candy called out, jogging towards us. My head snapped in her direction and I breathed deep in an attempt to calm down. I frowned at Candy’s dopey grin. She was obviously drunk already. She held out my phone as she drew near.