Tattoo Thief (BOOK 1) (31 page)

And totally awesome.

The driver takes us to a restaurant to meet up with Gavin’s band mates. I’m nervous that they’ll hate me for being the source of the stolen video, even though I wasn’t the leak.

We duck into a private dining room at the restaurant and I immediately recognize Jayce and Dave from Tattoo Thief. The lead guitarist and drummer welcome me like family. I’m floored.

“I don’t know you, but I already like you,” Jayce says, patting my arm. “Thank you for bringing him back.”

I shake my head, ready to protest, but Jayce cuts me off. “Stop. You don’t know how hard I tried—how hard all of us did—to get him out of his funk and to come back home.”

“It’s the truth,” Dave grimaces at the memory of the past few months. His girlfriend Kristina confirms the strain.

“I tried sweet-talking, I tried guilt, I tried pulling rank, and when all of that didn’t work, I threatened him,” Dave adds. “I thought we were going to have to replace him or build a new band. But I never wanted to.”

“You can’t just quit on your family,” a tall guy pops up behind Jayce and Dave, throwing his tattooed arms around their necks in a playful stranglehold. “When Dave threatened Gavin with that, I told him, ‘No way. I got this band together and I’m going to keep it together.’”

“But you couldn’t,” Jayce accuses Tyler.

“But here we are,” Tyler shoots back. “I just didn’t know my magic bullet was a pretty lady named Beryl. Nice to meet you.”

Tyler reaches for my hand and shakes it slowly, throwing in a deep, formal bow for good measure. I laugh and Gavin snorts, coming up behind me and pulling my hand from Tyler’s grasp.

“Don’t be a pain, Ty. Go find your own girl.”

“You know I’ve tried.”

“Try harder.” Gavin pulls me hard against him in a mock-possessive gesture that electrifies me. “Once Tyler is housebroken it will be way easier to get some poor girl to take him in.”

Dave and Jayce hoot with laughter at Tyler’s expense and I hear Kristina snicker, “not likely.” The good-natured ribbing is the sort that can only come from a close-knit family.

I realize this friendly get-together means more to Gavin than a casual night out. This is
his
equivalent of bringing me home to Mom—letting me into his inner circle and the people who matter most in his life.

I squeeze his hand to tell him thanks.

Gavin squeezes back.

He hands me a metal cup the size and shape of a coffee mug, but inside there’s an icy concoction of ginger beer, lime and vodka. “It’s a Moscow Mule. But go easy on ’em.”

I promise to reign myself in if he will. It’s a deal.

Just as we’re about to sit down for a first course, Stella arrives. It’s so unexpected, and such a slap in the face after what she did to me and to Gavin, that my anger transforms into rage.

I’m ready to sprint across the room and knock her flat but Gavin catches my arm and I struggle against him.

“What the hell is
she
doing here?” I hiss.

“Beryl. Take a breath. I invited her.” Gavin’s calm as he pushes me gently into my chair. “I know you’re angry at her. And you can be angry at me because I didn’t talk to you about inviting her first. But listen to what I’m going say, OK?”

I nod slightly and he releases his grip on my arm. I’m not sure how the band feels about Stella posting the video, but nobody else here looks as murderous as I feel.

I look up at Gavin. His eyes plead with me to trust him, and I do. I don’t trust Stella further than I can throw her skinny ass, but I trust
him
. So I bite my lip and knock back my drink and fume while everyone else sits, Stella included.

Gavin motions with his glass as he stands at the head of the table.

“This is a toast to great friends,” he begins, raising his drink. “Without you guys—all of you—I’d probably still be lost. I wanted us to get together tonight to celebrate the beginning of our next album. We’re going to do the best we can do with it, and take it in any direction that feels right, but we’re
not
going to do it at the expense of each other. You have my word on that.”

I see Gavin’s band mates nodding, the somber reality of what happened to Lulu still a fresh scar.

“It’s also a toast in sincere thanks for friends who forgive. We screw up. We do stupid things. We can be selfish and hurtful and just plain wrong.”

“Speak for yourself!” Tyler pipes in, spurring laughter to lighten the mood.

“I’m speaking from experience,” Gavin says. “I was an unbelievable jerk and I am so grateful you stuck by me. You’re the kind of friends worth having, and the kind of friend I want to be.”

We clink glasses to toast all around the table. I make a half-hearted motion with my cup toward the far end of the table but avoid Stella’s gaze. Gavin gives me a pointed look.

I understand him. He wants me to forgive Stella. But her betrayal is still so raw.

“The good news is, thanks to Stella, we’ve got some major demand for our first single,” Gavin adds. “The bad news is we’ve got to quit screwing around and get to work on Monday. Cheers to that!”

That comment inspires more drinking and a few groans, but Gavin’s enthusiasm is contagious. As he sits, Stella stands and walks to my chair, worry lining her face.

“Beryl, I owe you more than an apology. I know what I did was selfish and wrong, and I can’t believe Gavin asked me to be here tonight.”

She looks genuinely miserable, more shattered than I’ve ever seen her over a guy or anything we went through together in college. She shifts uncomfortably as she stands but I remain seated, my mouth pressed in a hard line. If I speak, I know I’ll regret what I
really
want to say.

“Do you forgive me, Beryl? I’m so sorry I did that to you, making your video public. I was just—it was just so perfect, so much better than every crappy show I’ve been sitting through—I just had to write about it. And the only way I could get the chance was if I had an exclusive. The video.”

I peek at Gavin and he’s listening, but I don’t want to let this go without a fight. “You could have ruined everything.”

“Beryl, if you don’t forgive me, I
have
ruined everything.”

I snort. “No. You just established yourself as the next up-and-coming music journalist. Lucky you. I guess using a friend is a small price to pay for getting what you really want.”

“It was selfish. I didn’t think—I didn’t think I’d lose your friendship.”

“You were wrong.” I push myself up from my chair and point toward the door. “You’d better leave before you steal something else.”

“Beryl.” I hear Gavin growl my name in warning. “You forgave me. I used Lulu to get what I wanted and you still forgave me. Is what Stella did really unforgiveable?”

I hesitate, my heart pounding, feeling adrenaline surge because I want to punish her so badly. But Gavin’s words refocus me. I’m angry about the video and the rift she almost tore in my relationship with Gavin. But mostly, I’m angry that she ruined the trust in our friendship.

“How can I be your friend if I can’t trust you?” I say, feeling tears rim my eyes. I blink to keep them from spilling. “I let you in on the secrets I wasn’t supposed to share with anyone, and you just
sold
them.”

Stella’s face pulls taut with anguish. “You’re right. I don’t deserve your trust right now, but I’m going to try like hell to earn it back. Here.” She thrusts a sealed envelope at me and I take it, not sure what I’m supposed to do with it.

“I didn’t know how else to show you how sorry I am, so I brought you this. Even if you don’t trust me right now, I want to show you that
I
trust
you
.”

I turn and walk a few steps away from her, giving myself breathing room as I open the envelope. The private dining room is subdued as the members of Tattoo Thief watch and wait. Gavin keeps his seat and I read the two pieces of paper Stella gave me.

It takes me a minute to process what I’m reading. It’s Stella’s secret. Two legal documents that completely change the way I see her.

My mouth falls open and I turn, seeing her head bent in shame. “I didn’t know.”

“Now you do,” she whispers.

“How could you—?”

“Can we please not talk about it tonight?” She looks pained and I quickly tuck the documents back into the envelope and hand them back to her. What she’s just shared with me is too much, like punishing a pickpocket with a life sentence, and I’m embarrassed. The depth of her apology finally reaches me.

“I just wanted to show you that I’m sorry. Truly.”

I grab Stella in a rough hug. “Stop it. I forgive you. And we’re going to talk about this later.” I finally release her and our eyes lock. “But don’t you do that to me again or I’ll kick your ass and never tell you another secret. Besides, I’ll bet these guys would give you an exclusive if you’d just ask.”

“We would,” Tyler confirms, poking his head between us, “but you have to ask pretty-please.” His mouth curls up in a teasing grin. Tyler the Peacemaker.

“OK,” Stella regroups. “Pretty please?”

“With a cherry on top,” Tyler prompts.

“Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

“And sprinkles? And whipped cream?” Tyler’s eyes dance. He’s torturing her but I love watching Stella squirm.

“Yes, and nuts and hot fudge and anything else you want.”

“Well, that’s an offer I can’t refuse,” Tyler said. “You just promised me
anything.
So my answer is yes, you’ll get your exclusive. Stick with me, little lady.”

Stella tries to look indignant at the little lady comment—and she
is
a pixie, dwarfed by Tyler’s lean, towering frame. But her pique doesn’t last as Tyler sweeps her away from me, introducing her to the rest of the band.

“I’m proud of you,” Gavin whispers. He guides me to a quiet corner while the rest of our friends are immersed in conversation.

“I brought you something.” Gavin holds out a small velvet pouch and I open it, spilling a silver chain into my palm. A rough-cut aquamarine stone the size and shape of a small strawberry hangs from the chain.

“Do you know what this is?” he asks.

I shake my head, turning it over to see the pale blue gradients of color within it. It reminds me of Gavin’s eyes.

“It’s a beryl stone. An aquamarine. I got it in Africa and I knew I wanted to give it to you when the time was right. Now’s right, Beryl. There’s not a lot you can be sure of in life, but I am sure of you.”

I let him pull the chain from my fingers and fasten it around my neck. The stone lies heavy on the hollow of my throat.

“I—thank you.” It’s all I can manage, but it’s enough. He smiles and kisses a tear that escapes down my cheek.

“I also want to ask you a favor, and you don’t have to say yes. But it would mean a lot to me if you could be part of the next album the way Lulu was.”

I balk and he continues quickly, “Not like a muse. I’m not trying to replace her. You’re as different from her as classical is from hip-hop. But she was the model for our album covers and I want you to be the same, on the cover of
Wilderness
.”

My mouth drops open and I gurgle a laugh.
Me.
Right. I feel more beautiful and alive than I’ve ever been, but there’s no way I’m cover model material.

“Beryl. You trust me, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s try.”

Gavin and I ride back to his apartment from the restaurant with our fingers linked, well fed and just a little bit buzzed. He asks me to stay over at his place tonight, and I like him even more for this shy request.

He asks what I’m doing this weekend and when he finds out I’ve got four days off he’s ecstatic, immediately launching into ideas of what we can do in New York over the holiday weekend.

But he sees my hesitation and prods me to admit that I’m torn—I would love to go to Oregon to see my mom, but the last-minute tickets are expensive.

“Have you ever been on a private jet before?”

“Oh, yeah, hundreds of times. It’s, like,
so
boring.”

Gavin laughs and tickles me, forcing me to admit the truth—the only time I’ve flown in an airplane since my dad died was the commercial flight to New York.

“Would you take me to Oregon with you? I could get us a private flight.”

“You really want to go?” Gavin takes my hand to help me out of the town car and leads me to his apartment.

“Are you kidding? After the way you described it, I’m ready to move there.” We hold hands and say goodnight to Charles as we pass him. He returns our smiles with a huge grin.

“Right.” I say.

“OK, not really. Not with the band here in New York. But I’d love to visit. Are you OK with introducing me to your mom?”

I tell him I will, and then ask if we can bring Dan with us on the flight. I explain that he and my mom are rekindling a relationship from long ago.

“If Dan comes, I probably can’t get away with doing naughty things to you on the flight, huh?”

“I think that would be too weird,” I say. “But don’t worry. We’ll go to the beach or the mountains. I promise we’ll get plenty of quality time alone.”

“Then we’re on,” Gavin keys into his apartment and Jasper baroos a greeting. He closes the door and immediately presses me up against it, his mouth hot and hard against mine, his hands tracing every curve of the saucy black dress.

“Oh, we’re most definitely on.”

I wrap my legs around Gavin’s hips and let him carry me to the living room, where he peels my dress off me, inch by inch, planting a kiss on each part of me as my skin is bared to him.

I feel his unhurried hands trace my curves, slower and more reverent this time. I watch as his black-on-black shirt and distressed jeans hit the floor, followed by my bra and panties. Gavin pulls me down on the couch and trails slow kisses across my collarbone where the beryl necklace hangs, then down my breasts and stomach.

I inhale sharply as his stubble tickles me. His kisses move lower and grow more fervent, teasing me and drawing out sensations that make me forget where I am, the sounds of the city below, and how I’m naked and exposed as he explores my body.