In Her Sights (The Thousand Words Series Book 2) (19 page)

“What?
I
did?”

“The girls thought you were cute and sweet. Rene’s beautiful, you saw her. She’s smart too, a real overachiever. She could give Cassie a run if she put her mind to it, but she isn’t interested in academics. She wants social standing. And it just so happened there was a band with talent in her very high school. How handy.

“She has the necessary equipment, I mean look at Kenny and Paige. She just chose wrong. She looked at Kenny and shrugged him off. He wasn’t in high school anymore –”

“Neither were you.”

“I was still accessible, but I also bounced around. I wasn’t ready to settle down. Bryan was already hooked, whereas you – you were the perfect target.”

Dev swallowed. “What?”

“Oh, come on. Smart but naïve, cute, talented, sweet, a year younger and ripe for the picking. So she tried to become friends with Cassie and Tiffany. They didn’t really have anything in common with Rene; they tolerated her, but just barely. Not enough to invite her home or let her get close enough to you.

“Dev, you met Rene repeatedly and never actually
saw
her. She was beautiful then too, but you were just that uncomfortable with girls. She never got close enough to figure out to ditch the makeup and pick up a book.

“When Cass and Tiff didn’t get her close enough to have regular conversations with you, she tried getting close to Brenda. Bryan tipped off me and he introduced us. I took her out, spelled it out, we had some fun.”

“So problem solved?”

“Problem
escalated
. I thought she’d just trade her focus on you for me, then I’d let her down and she’d go her own way. That wasn’t it at all. We dated for a week, but she was only dating me to get to you.”

“No.” Dev shook his head. That was insane.

“Yes. Rene knew better than to ask me about you. She asked about the band as a whole because that was safe. She didn’t even ask to come watch us practice, I think she was waiting for me to offer. Brenda caught her listening outside once. She said she was waiting for me, although she shouldn’t have been. I started to get a feeling about her.”

“You know he’s good about sensing the crazies,” Kenny said.

“I know,” Dev answered.

“It’s too bad I didn’t catch it earlier. I think,” Jess said. “Of course if I had, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten involved at all and she’d still be stalking you.”

“So you broke up with her, but she didn’t go back to chasing me,” Dev confirmed.

“I
confronted
her,” Jess said, “but I did it in front of her father. He was a little upset his little angel was trying to sleep her way through the band to get to a specific player. I might have dramatized it a bit. I was pissed. I’m not accustomed to being used. Well, not like that.”

“I get what you mean.” Dev nodded. “Thanks. Rene’s off limits, no doubt about it.”

Dev turned to sit down then stopped. “Wait, she didn’t come near me at the pageant.”

“Her coach was there, and he’d probably report it to her father,” Jess shrugged. “Her dad knew who she was obsessed with. Sorry, but I gave him your name. It seemed the best way to keep her away from you. In theory he was going to put her in therapy. We thought about telling you, but you were freaked about the girls that were just
glancing
at you. Kenny and I couldn’t imagine what knowing about Rene would have done.”

“Right.” Dev nodded again. “I would have been catatonic.”

“Yeah, well, stay away from her. I don’t think therapy will hold if you approach her again,” Jess said.

“
Dev
approached
Rene
?” Kenny asked.

“Yeah,” Jess answered. “I had girls hanging on me or I would have gotten there faster.”

“That explains the one you still had,” Dev said, laughing. “She looked like she was ready to kill whoever tried to dislodge her.”

“And you owe me for that one. I couldn’t shake her, so I just put my arm around her waist, pulled her close and dragged her along with me. She must have thought we were going to have some fun. Instead I went to rescue you, and ended up spending the next fifteen minutes tactfully trying to tell Rene it’d be best if she avoided our venues from now on. That’s not easy to do when there are witnesses.”

“Did you manage it?” Kenny asked.

“I’m not sure. I hate to say it, but I think I might have to drop in on her father when we get back.”

“Take Dev with you,” Kenny said.

“What?” Jess looked at him in shock.

“He deserves it.”

○ ○ ○

As the tour progressed, Dev noticed a slow change happening backstage after the shows. After Seattle, he came off stage, and immediately shadowed Bryan until he could slip away. Dev didn’t leave Bryan’s side for any reason.

The fourth stop in, something unusual happened. Instead of Bryan and Dev being surrounded by musicians trying to talk shop with Bryan and girls trying to coax a conversation out of Dev, Kenny had all the musicians. Jess’s group was slightly larger, leaving Bryan and Dev with a handful of girls – but they weren’t the type Dev was used to seeing. To begin with, the girls were quieter. After an awkward moment of silence, Bryan started the conversation. They also wore slightly more clothes and less makeup than most of the other girls in the room.

Dev wasn’t sure what to think. The same thing happened at the fifth stop, and the sixth. The difference on the sixth was a couple of girls kept glancing over to where other girls were hanging on Jess. The pieces fell into place.

“Wait a second,” Dev said when Bryan seemed done telling them about some prank Dev and Jess played on Kenny years ago. “Did Kenny interview you and pull you ladies aside?”

“No, an older guy,” a dyed redhead said. It wasn’t until that moment Dev noticed there hadn’t been any goths in the group. Nothing even close. Interesting.

“Alec? Shorter than me with gray streaks?”

“That’s him,” a brunette agreed.

“Uh-huh.” Dev looked at Bryan.

“Don’t look at me. It’s not worth it to get involved in this.” Bryan shook his head.

“Who would you bet on?” Dev asked.

Bryan surveyed the girls. “You’d have to ask Alec. He wouldn’t do this on his own.”

The brunette looked back over her shoulder at Jess, or at someone in the group surrounding him. Both her and a blond had done that a couple of times, Dev realized. They may be interested in Jess, or possibly they were here with friends.

Bryan told them about the first prank Dev played on Jess, when they played for Zane. Dev had been tuning it out but blushed when he realized they were talking about him and watching him in awe now.

“Dev, you never told anyone how you did that,” Bryan prompted.

“I told Flynn.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Dev glanced at Jess and then back at the girls. He felt sorry for them now. They were being used. “Listen, don’t tell Jess. It was all radio controlled. The truck, the mini robots, everything. They all were homing in on a beacon in Jess’s shoes. Then I put shock plates in there too, so when he stepped on the mini-bots, it shocked him.”

Bryan laughed. “You really need to do that again sometime. He’ll remember it, of course. It’ll freak him out.”

“The stage is a lot bigger. He has somewhere to run now.” Dev shook his head. Then he stopped and thought about it. “I could make it work. I’ll file that away.” He nodded.

“Listen,” Dev continued, “another thought: how many of you are college students?”

All except one raised her hand. Dev pointed to her.

“Not until next year. I want to major in mechanical engineering though so he said okay. I thought it was a weird question.”

Dev smiled and nodded. “Yes and no. Good for you. It explains why you’re over here.”

“Why?” the future engineering student asked.

“Jess wouldn’t be able to keep up,” Bryan answered.

One of the blonds got bold and stepped closer to Dev. “You’re young, cute, rich, and from Seattle, just like in
Fifty Shades of Grey,”
she said, chewing artfully on her bottom lip.

Dev tried to back away, but ran into the wall.

“What’s your major?” he croaked.

“English Literature.”

“Oh. Well, I’ve never read it,” Dev said, shaking his head.

“I could show you the high points,” she offered and edged forward a little more. The girls behind her watched with interest and Dev nudged Bryan to remind him he was supposed to be helping him fend off the predators in pink.

“I’m fine, thanks,” Dev answered.

The blond opened her mouth to respond, but Bryan took her upper arm and pulled her away from Dev and to his side, using himself as a barrier between them. Dev breathed a sigh of relief. His stomach turned as he saw the amused smiles on the faces of the other girls. He was going to kill someone if this didn’t stop.

On the way back to the hotel, Dev was quiet.

“So what do you think?” Bryan asked.

“I’m betting our nosy leader put Alec up to it,” Dev said quietly so Kenny and Jess wouldn’t overhear.

“Thought so too.” Bryan nodded. Dev could barely see him in the crowd. “Let me handle it.”

“Fine. It’ll be more peaceful that way,” Dev agreed.

○ ○ ○

The crowd was starting to swell backstage at the same rate Dev’s nerves were fraying. What was in store for him tonight? Being on stage wasn’t so bad anymore, at least he’d gotten past that. Flynn said he would, Dev admitted with grudging relief. Of course now backstage after the show was more of a problem. On their first tour everyone was so worried he was going to have a nervous breakdown they shielded him. Occasionally Jess distracted the groupies and let Dev escape to the waiting limo to hide out back at the hotel.

Ever since he and Lindsay broke up, no one would let him slip away anymore. They wanted him to ‘get over it’ which officially meant his near-crippling shyness. In reality they meant his pining over Lindsay. Except their version of ‘get over it’ was ‘pick someone else.’ He should have a breakdown in sheer revenge. He could probably throw a good one.

Dev popped open another Diet Coke as Kenny appeared beside him with a blond in tow. He passed over Kenny and eyed the blond apprehensively. Here we go again, Dev took a deep breath. In theory Bryan handled it.

“Hey, Dev, this is Tamara. You both speak science, I thought maybe you’d be a better fit to teach her about music,” Kenny said casually.

“Sound waves?” Dev asked.

“
Music
numbskull.” Kenny batted Dev lightly on the side of his head. “Leave the romantic tech talk at home. The
poetry
of sound.”

He gave Tamara another look. Her blond hair was in a sloppy ponytail and she had a sweatshirt on that demonstrated proof that the square root of two was an irrational number. She wasn’t wearing mascara. On the surface Kenny’s story was good, but something didn’t sit right with Dev.

“Better than Vogon Poetry, rumor has it that’ll have you chewing your leg off,” Dev said, trying to gauge Tamara’s reaction. He knew the only reaction he’d get from Kenny was confusion; he never read the sci-fi classic Dev referenced – despite whining, cajoling, and bribery on his part. Tamara didn’t catch the reference either. Pity.

“Not familiar with Vogon poetry? Well, don’t panic. Travel much?” Dev tried again.

“Not really,” Tamara shook her head and her ponytail bounced prettily. Dev watched it, momentarily enthralled by the motion. Just physics, he reminded himself.

“Well, when you do, don’t forget your towel. Maybe you can pick one up in Raccoon City. The Umbrella Corporation makes an array of products there.”

Tamara blinked and looked to Kenny for guidance. Dev thought that was an excellent idea. Not knowing Douglas Adams’
The Hitchhikers’ Guide To The Galaxy
was an almost unforgivable offense in Dev’s mind. It certainly meant she wasn’t a serious geek. Not catching a reference to
Resident Evil
was ... Dev wasn’t sure what it was, but it was bad.

Dev turned his attention to Kenny. “Where did you meet her?”

“Science convention of some kind,” Kenny shrugged. “It was in the hotel’s convention center. I’m surprised you didn’t go look yourself.”

He remembered. The convention was winding down as their tour buses pulled in. Dev glanced at it, but it was of minimal interest. He assumed it was something to let the local science teachers make students go visit for extra credit. The participants were most likely college students doing it for extra credit themselves, or garage scientists hoping their idea was innovative enough to be able to sell.

Dev re-examined Tamara as a whole. Her complexion was flawless, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Her teeth were straight but so were his, genetics could go a long way. Her teeth were brilliantly white, like his, and he knew that was a cheat. Now that he was looking, the highlights in her hair were professional, definitely after market. Not that geeks couldn’t get their hair done.