The Rush (26 page)

             
Three coffees were set down in between us and I felt the presence of Ryder’s overwhelming body looming over me. He pushed the hot cups around the table, sorting out the different orders to their owners and then returned the smiles that Exie and Sloane were drowning him in.

             
“Ivy, scoot over. I’m taking my break with you guys,” Ryder commanded and this time I didn’t argue.

             
Well, I didn’t argue until I scooted over. “You’re so demanding,” I accused.

             
“What?” Ryder shrugged. “Isn’t that why you’re here tonight? To introduce me to your friends?”

             
I choked on a sip of hot macchiato and then set it down hard enough so that it splashed over the sides of the red ceramic cup. “Geez, cocky.”

             
He returned my snide comment with a proud smile and his eyebrows rose as if challenging me to contradict him. “Well,
isn’t
that why you’re here?”

             
“Psht. No,” I denied adamantly. I turned my focus to cleaning up the coffee spill with the thin napkins that sat on the table. “We were just thirsty. Don’t be so full of yourself.”

             
“I’m not full of myself,” he argued.

             
“Oh really? Then why assume we came here just for you?” I chanced a look at him, hiding half my face with my lifted shoulder. He stared met me straight on, his gunmetal gray eyes lit with amusement.

             
“Because you’re friends
said
that’s why you were here,” he answered as seriously as he could.

             
“My friends? What?” I gasped. “I don’t have any friends. At least not anymore….”

             
“Ives, we so did not say that’s why we were here,” Exie shook her head, blonde curls swinging wildly around her shoulders.

             
“Sloane?” I raised my eyebrow at her. She was more of a straight shooter and the moment her shoulders sagged I knew they outed me. Wenches.

             
“I think it was more like, we might have said…. um, how excited we were to finally meet him is all,” Sloane answered in a small voice.

             
“Finally?” I squeaked.

             
“What they said was that they had been waiting a very long time to meet me and couldn’t believe how much better looking I was in person,” Ryder corrected in a smug tone.

             
I shrunk into my seat, praying for an earthquake that would open the ground beneath my feet and swallow me whole. That was possible right? A freak earthquake and quick demise? Ugh.

             
“So how long have they been waiting to meet me,
Ives
?” Ryder asked in a softer tone, but none the less dangerous.

             
“Since yesterday morning,” I winced as the confession came out of my mouth. “Exie saw you yesterday when she dropped me off at school. So, obviously enough time for her to get worked up about meeting you.” I shoved sarcasm into each syllable as I spoke, but it was only a weak attempt to salvage what was left of my pride.

             
“Wow, yesterday morning, huh?” Ryder pressed, addressing me only. “You must have given her a pretty nice impression of me to get Exie so worked up.”

             
I peeked up at him, hating how he was lording this over me, but he was looking at Exie and sharing some kind of secret smile with her. Instead of mortification, jealously bloomed bright and fast inside my chest and soon my cheeks were painted red with the emotion. There was no end to how this boy affected me.

             
“I told her you had a girlfriend,” I snapped before I could stop myself.

             
Great now I sounded jealous too.

             
Ryder’s smile only grew. “I do have a girlfriend.” He turned his attention back to me and held my gaze this time. “So why are you and your friends here?”

             
I took a breath and tried to come up with an appropriate response, er… excuse, but the gray of his eyes had melted to silver and I couldn’t think straight. He tilted forward a little, closing some distance between us and waited for me to speak.

             
“For coffee,” I finally whispered after what felt like an eternity of silence.

             
“For coffee,” he echoed in a velvety voice.

             
More silence stretched out between us while we continued to stare each other down. We were bordering on inappropriate by now, but there was something about him that drew me in. He stared at me like an equal, like he could look away if he wanted. Like it was his choice to fall into this tractor beam between us.

             
And that terrified me. And then I felt like the worst person ever.

             
“I really like Kenna,” I announced and then sat up straighter.

             
“Good,” Ryder snapped out of his daze and cleared his throat trying to come back to himself. “I like her too.”

             
I barely heard him. “I’ve never really had like a
girl
friend before….”

             
“Hey!” Exie and Sloane interrupted together.

             
So I amended my statement, “at school. I’ve never really had a girl friend at school before. But Kenna has been really, really nice.”

             
Ryder stared at me for another thirty seconds, his expression turning to quizzically annoyed. And then he swung around to look at my two friends who were also giving me the evil eye. “Exie, Sloane, it’s been…. fun. But I have to get back to work now. You ladies should come with Ivy Wednesday night. I’m in a band and we play the Slowdown for their smaller house shows. You’ll get a chance to meet Kenna, my girlfriend. You already know Ivy likes her, so I’m sure you both will too. Have a great night.”

             
He stood up and stalked around the corner and to the back room, ignoring his coworker as she tried to welcome him back from his shift. I shivered against the completely unnecessary words that still hung in the air over us. What was that all about? He had seemed polite to my friends, but there was a hardness to his tone that even I couldn’t ignore.

             
I took a quick breath and met the curious stares of my friends. “I don’t know what that was about,” I admitted before they could start the twenty questions. He was going to be back out here in second and I didn’t want to get caught in the middle of a discussion about him.

             
“Ivy are you still doing that concert thing?” Sloane gasped instead. Her eyes were pained and her mouth set in a grim line. “I thought you quit.”

             
“I quit because I was out of state,” I reminded her softly. “I’ve only been back once.”

             
“Because you’ve only been here for one Wednesday,” Exie lectured in a snippy voice.

             
“It’s not like that,” I said weakly. “I’m not like that.” When they both continued to stare hard at me I mashed my lips together, wetting them quickly and then launched into an explanation. “It’s my only thing. It’s the only thing that’s mine. And they won’t find out, I swear. I couldn’t…. I wouldn’t let them send me back,
I swear
.”

             
They were both oppressively quiet as they took in my explanation. Exie refused to meet my eyes, staring down at the napkin she was shredding apart in her delicate fingers. And Sloane was regarding me with her shrew eyes. She was hot in like the Sexy Secretary way and right now I could feel every ounce of her brain power as she tried to pick me apart.

             
“We’re not worried about them sending you back to Arizona, ok?” She reached out her hand and laid it gently on mine for just a brief moment before retracting it immediately.

             
“I know.” And I did know. If I was still a problem there was only one place I would go. And I was afraid I was already on my way. “I won’t get caught. I promise.”
              “You won’t get caught because we’re coming with you,” Sloane decided with a smile.

             
“We are?” Exie’s face lit up and she was back to her bubbly self again. “Yay! A concert!”

Chapter Twenty

              We stepped into the Slowdown just as the first band took the stage. The lead singer threw out a welcome and they launched into an amateur version of soulful blues. I smiled. This was perfection every single time. And even though I dressed to impress instead of my usual unimpressive emo digs, I felt great to be back here.

             
This place was like home base for me, safe, familiar, and so ear-spitting-loud. The far side of the room, where the main stage and pit were, remained blocked off with a thick curtain and the stage lights that lit the smaller stage were bright and blinding, hitting us as soon as we walked through the door. The bar area was packed but the rest of the floor stayed less filled out and felt a bit empty. I could feel Exie and Sloane assess the concert hall with skeptical eyes and almost laughed at their stiff posture.

             
The music was subpar, and the audience completely teenage grunge meets hipster chic. But that’s what I expected, hoped for. To put it simply, this was so not their scene. It probably shouldn’t have been mine either, except the anonymity of the place held that mysterious freedom I longed for.

             
“This is the place you’re always sneaking off to?” Exie asked in a horrified whisper.

             
“Hey, it could be so much worse. Have you ever been to the Sokol Underground?” I shuddered at the thought. While above ground, the Sokol had this old school twenties steampunk vibe to it, the Underground had devolved into something absolutely gross. Decades of spilled beer, sweat, blood and decay had worked the opposite of miracles on the below ground concert hall.

             
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Sloane drawled.

             
I didn’t get it. This was a relatively new building and completely classy. Granted the clientele was different than we usually hung out with, but it wasn’t like creepsville or anything. I glanced at the bar and noticed Neck Tattoos from last time and took a breath of relief. At least I wouldn’t have to explain my addiction to water.

             
“Ivy!” a muffled voice called out from across the room. My eyes zoned in on the voice and saw Phoenix waving wildly at us. He stood above everyone else in the room and surrounded by his fellow band members and Kenna. Ryder wasn’t with them though and I couldn’t stop my eyes from roaming around the small space searching him out. 

             
I quickly shook my head and waved back, I didn’t really have any right to try to find him here. He wasn’t mine and I was with somebody else. Ok, I was a cruel witch, but not a cheater. I took another quick breath and then grabbed Exie and Sloane’s arms. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Scoob and the gang.”

             
“What?” Sloane asked.

             
I didn’t repeat myself, just kept dragging them through the thin crowd. They so did not fit in here, with their four inch stilettos and designer outfits. They were gorgeous, and drew every eye. But they were uncomfortable which threw off their curse a bit. Thankfully. Although Sloane would be more than welcome in a place like this tonight.

             
“Sloane, Exie, these are Chase’s friends,” I introduced by a general wave of my arm. “Guys, this is Sloane and Exie, um, my friends.” I laughed a little at my solid introduction. Everyone was looking at each other, sizing the respective strangers up and that only built on the levels of awkward stretching between the two groups.

             
Kenna especially had the bitch look going on. She was the only girl in the group though, so that could be understood. I smiled at her, trying to reassure her that they were as cool as me…. which let’s face it, was not all that reassuring.

             
“You made it,” Ryder swooped in from around the corner wearing a huge grin for my friends. Immediately tension started to melt between everyone. “Red, did you introduce everyone?”

             
“Yes,” I smiled back at him, happy with the attention he gave me.

             
“No,” Exie cut in, equally happy to see someone she knew. “She said these are Chase’s friends. We don’t even know which one is Chase.”

             
I flushed bright pink while Ryder laughed at me. “Ok, let me do a better job then. Exie, Sloane, this is my beautiful girlfriend Kenna. This giant over here is Phoenix, this is Hayden, Hudson and Cole. We’re all in the band together.”

             
“Sugar Skulls,” Phoenix piped up giving Exie an extra-long look.