Hotbox (55 page)

“Look at Shawn,” Jayden said at one point. I glanced down below us
until I
found
him
. “He’s had his eye on those four girls to the right. Guess
which one he’s gonna go for
?”

I scoffed. “Well, I’m sure he’ll try his luck on all four
eventually
, but I’m guessing…that one on the end. The blonde.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Just a guess.”

She smiled just as Shawn began to make his move. Two of the girls had turned away to other frien
ds, but the blonde and her dark-
haired friend were left for the taking. He approached them casually and started talking to them.

“So what does his pick up line usually consist of?” I asked.

Jayden snorted. “Oh, you wouldn’t even believe it.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure I would.” Right now the two girls were laughing at something he said. “With as many girls as he flirts with, does he usually get their numbers?”

“I have no idea. According to him, yeah, they practically beg him to take their number,” she
smiled
. “But I have no clue how ma
ny girls he dates. And t
o be honest, a
fter you get past all the cockiness and love of attention
as a musician
, he’s actually a little insecure.
”

Five minutes later Shawn was the proud victor of the blonde. They walked off together, most likely so he could buy her a drink.

“You called that one,” Jayden said. “How’d you guess?”

I shrugged. “She’s the one I would have picked.” She smacked me on the chest. “Ow!” I laughed. “You’re the one that asked.
”

Shortly after, Shawn joined us with his new friend. The balcony was reserved for twenty-one and older and was the only place alcohol was allowed. They each had drinks in their hands as Shawn sat down next to Jayden and introduced Jenna.

“And this is Jayden,” he was telling her, “my partner in musical genius, and Ty, her ball-and-chain.”

She laughed and said,
“Hi, Jayden. Hi, Ty.”

We conversed with them now and then as the show continued. Jayden teased that I could go sit by Jenna if I wanted to, but I admitted she wasn’t really as pretty up close. She nudged me and said I was rude.

“What, first I get in trouble for guessing Shawn would choose her, and now I’m rude because I don’t think she’s that pretty?
She has hair similar to yours. That was
my
focus
.
”

She was laughing
,
but a few seconds later she pointed and said, “What about that group of girls? Which one would you pick?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, come on.”

“Ty,
I’m just
playing around
. Which one?”

To humor her, I quickly looked over the group of girls. “The one in the red shirt.”

“Really?” she asked, seeming completely surprised.
“Why?”

I shrugged. “She’s wearing red
with half her
chest
showing
. She must be screaming for attention.”

With a laugh she said, “Be serious.”

“Fine,” I relented
. “Probably the one right next to her, in the green.”

“How come?”

“Mmm, she seems to be a little more reserved, yet confident.”

She nodded her agreement but didn’t say anything.

“Now it’s your turn. Those guys over there,” I pointed. There were six of them, quite the selection.

She smiled. “I get a good variety, huh?” She studied them for a least a minute. I took turns looking at them and watching her, wondering what was going through her mind. Finally she turned to me and said, “Okay, I made my choice. Now you have to guess what it is. And if you’re wrong…” She was shaking her head, like the consequences would be immense.

“If I’m wrong, what?” I challenged her.
“
That’s not fair;
I didn’t threaten
you
.”

She laughed again. “Okay, I’ll use
positive
motivations. If you’re right, I’ll let you give m
e a massage later on.
”

I raised my eye
brow
s. “Deal.” I looked over
the group of guys again and
thought I had the right one pegged. But I wanted to be
sure
, so I took another minute to put myself in Jayden’s
head
. When I did that, I came up with a different guy altogether.

“We don’t have all night,” Jayden smiled impatiently.

“I
’m working on it. Just one more minute; t
he stakes are really high.”

She laughed and let me deliberate a little while longer. I was pretty sure I was done, so I sat back in my seat and announced my decision.

“The guy in the black t-shirt.”

She only raised her eyebrows and peered down at the guys again. She di
dn’t reveal anything right away
, so I wasn’t sure if I
chose
correctly or not
.

“Well? Am I right or wrong?”

She looked at me carefully. “First tell me why you chose him.”

“Well, first I picked the guy in the gray. He seemed like the most obvious choice based on his looks. But then I tried getting inside
your strange and unusual mind.
So…
I made the choice by deduction. That guy’s obnoxious, that one’s too short,
that guy doesn’t even match—”

S
he laughed
.

“—A
nd that guy kind of looks like a perv. So…
the guy in the black shirt seemed to be what you would choose because
he reminds you of Matt.”

She gave me a surprised look and then looked at the group of guys again.

“So? How long are you goin
g to make me wait for an answer?
Am I right or wrong?”

“You’re both,” she replied with a smile.

“That’s not possible.”

“Sure it is. The truth is… I wouldn’t choose any of them. I’m engaged,” she smiled.

“That’s not even fair,” I protested
, and she began to laugh.

“Okay, fine. But…if I
had
to choose, then yes, you are right.”

“I knew it.”

“
But
,” she said emphatically, “your reasons were wrong.”

I tilted my head
to wait for her explanation.

“The guy in the black just has a nice smile.
He just seems pretty easy going.
”

I paused. “And that’s it?”

“Yep, that’s it. But,” she shrugged,
looking at the guy again, “maybe he does remind me of Matt. Anyways,
the problem with judging people from a distance is that it’s very inaccurate. I bet one minute talking with those guys would tell me a lot more and my choice might be different.”

“Go ahead.”

“Go ahead and what?”

“Go talk to them. I dare you.”

With a scoff she said,
“I’m not gonna go down there and hang out with a bunch of guys.”

“Why not? I want to see what you learn.
Spend five minutes down there and tell m
e which guy would make the best…
I don’t know,
family man.
You’d probably make their entire night just by standing
near
them.”

She
rolled her eyes
. “Whatever.”

Shawn had been tuned into the last part of our
conversation and said,
“Oh, come on, Jay. You’ve never turned down one of
our
challenges before.”

I raised
an
eye
brow
with int
erest. “What kind of challenges?
”

Shawn laughed and was about to start talking, but
Jayden
covered his mouth with her hand.
He pulled away and held her hand down. “Jayden’s hilarious—”

“That’s enough,” she smiled at him. “Just listen to the music.”

“I want to hear his stories,” I told her. “It’s either that, or you go down and talk to those guys.”

“You’re serious?” she asked.

“Totally. Five minutes. Tell me which guy would be the best family man.
And
if you’d actually go out with the guy in the black shirt
if
you were single.
”

“Do it Jay,” Shawn pleaded. “Show him your skills. Jenna will go with you,” he added, and Jenna
smiled her surprise
.

“Well I want something out of it,” she said to me. “What do I get if I do it?”

“I told you. I won’t make Shawn tell me all your crazy stories.”

“
You’ll learn them sooner or later anyway
,” she said knowingly,
narrowing
her eyes at me.

I slowly nodded. “True. Okay, fine.” I whispered something in her ear and she smiled.

“That’s much better.”

“I don’t even want to know,” Shawn said, but he was laughing.

Jayden stood and turned to Jenna. “Wanna come?”

“Sure,” she
replied with a smile
.

“But if you find a guy that’s better than me, break it to me gently,” Shawn told her.

Before Jayden left she smiled and said, “This is ridiculous.”

“This is awesome,” Shawn argued. “I thought these days would be long gone!
When you come back, I’ll ha
ve your next challenge ready for you
.
”

She ro
lled her eyes again.

When the girls left I turned to him and said, “Okay, tell me some stories.”

After two
or three
minutes I saw Jayden carefully making her way through the crowd
below
. Shawn and I were leaned forward in our seats as she and Jenna approached the group of guys. She glanced up at me and smiled, and then looked at her watch. They actually stood behind them for an entire minute, not saying anything. Finally one of the gu
ys—the guy in the gray shirt—n
oticed them first, and he seemed to strike up a conversation with Jayden.
I could tell he was attracted to her—I don’t think there was a guy in the world that wouldn’t be—
and the other guys
quickly
added themselves to the exchange. They looked like they were introducing themselves to the two girls, and the entire group turned their backs to the music just to talk to them. Suddenly they all looked up at once to where Shawn and I were sitting.

“What’s she doing?” I said, basically to myself.

Shawn swore. “She’s probably telling them we’re gay.”

“She wouldn’t,” I argued.

“She would. That or she’s here with her retarded brother, who swears one of them is his favorite movie star.”

Just the thought of it made me
laugh
.

“You have no idea what she
’s
capable of,” he added.

We watched for another minute as the conversation seemed to come to an end and the girls said parting words. Two of the guys turned back to the music, but the other
s
kept watching them as they left.

“Okay, what
happened
?” I asked Shawn, betting that he would know more than I did.

“I told you. One of us is either gay or retarded, and she’s made special plans for us.”

I
chuckled
, but I really hoped it wasn’t true.

The girls arrived a
couple
minute
s
later and Jayden sat down by me with a smile. “No big surprise, but the guy that can’t match his clo
thes is definitely the nice guy.
I’m positive he would make a great family man.
And the guy in the black shirt,
Dave
—” she said his name playfully “—Would definitely be a fun guy to date. Oh, and that one guy really is a perv.
”

“And?” I prodded.

“And what? I did what you asked me to do, and now you owe me.”

Shawn scoffed. “Jayden, I swear if I get propositioned by some dude after the show,
you’ll be sorry
.”

She smiled.
“That’s old stuff.
Besides, you
wouldn’t dare do anything to me,” she contested.