Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(105)

Pretending that I didn’t hear her, and also pretending that I couldn’t clearly see the top of her bra under her deeply cut v-neck, I grabbed Denny’s drink and headed to the band’s table, well, what used to be the band’s table.





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The front doors squeaked open as I passed by and I halfheartedly glanced over. Seeing someone that usually didn’t come into the bar, I stopped. Rachel locked eyes with me immediately. Her tanned skin seemed to glow and her almond eyes sparkled. Lifting a laptop tucked under her arm, her long sheet of dark hair almost obscuring it, her wide smile got even wider. “Oh, hey, Kiera. I’m glad you’re here tonight. I wanted to show you and Jenny something.”

Seeing her roommate enter, Jenny walked over to us, curious. “Did you get it up and running?” she asked, pointing her finger to the machine Rachel was disentangling from her hair.

Nodding, she started walking back to Denny’s table. Natural, I supposed, since her boyfriend generally sat in the same seat that Denny was currently plopped in. Wondering what they were talking about, I watched with bunched brows as Rachel set up the laptop across from Denny.

As Sam and the regulars left Denny and returned to their own even-ings, Denny tilted his head at the newcomer at his table. “Hello,” he said politely, not knowing who Rachel was.

She nervously tucked her hair behind her ears. Barely making eye contact with him, she turned on the computer. “Hi,” she squeaked out.

“Hope you don’t mind if I borrow your table for a second.” Denny laughed at her shyness, glancing up at me with a small, knowing smile, like Rachel reminded him of me. “Not at all.” Lowering my eyes, I flicked my hand between Rachel and Denny.

“Denny, Rachel…Rachel Denny.” They both made brief contact and Rachel nodded her head a little at him. Wanting to laugh that Denny sort of had a point, I added, “Rachel is Jenny’s roommate and Matt’s girlfriend.” Looking back at Denny, I bunched my brows. “Denny’s…my ex.” I shrugged.

Rachel’s eyes flew up to Denny’s. “You’re the ex? The ex?” She immediately flushed and looked down at her computer. Denny flushed as well, looking away. I bit my lip…I guess either Matt or Jenny 294



had filled Rachel in on all the drama that was Kellan and I having an affair behind Denny’s back. Great. I guess I’d have to have the “don’t tell Matt so he doesn’t tell Kellan” speech with her, too.

More because I needed something to do with my hands than anything else, I handed Denny his beer. He immediately took a sip. Because we were supposed to, and, because I felt bad, I gave him an apple lollipop.

He twisted his lips and shook his head, laughing as he took it. I wondered why until I considered what I’d given him…a sucker. And just when he was probably feeling like a giant sucker.

Sighing a little, I considered asking him what he wanted to eat, but Rachel spoke again before I could. Logging onto the internet, she typed in a phrase. “Matt asked me to set this up, so I thought I’d do it while the boys were gone.” She shook her head, her smile returning. “We just went live an hour ago, and people have already sent me stuff to post.” As the page she’d typed in loaded, my jaw dropped open. It was a D-Bag website. I shook my head as she scrolled around through some of the different pages. Everything seemed to be on there—photos of the guys, a playlist of all their songs, their tour schedule, a short biography on each of the members, feedback from the fans.

I frowned when she clicked over Kellan’s bio. At the bottom of his description there was a photo of him on stage…without a shirt. It was an older photo and I couldn’t see any trace of his tattoo, just lean, toned, etched muscle. It was an incredibly hot shot. Whoever had taken it had gotten him running a hand back through his hair as he twisted towards the camera. His head was down, but his eyes were up, looking right at the photographer. With eyes that promised satisfaction, a soft, seductive smile played across his lips. I was fairly certain that the person who’d captured this moment, had gotten a very private performance later.

Wondering if these were Rachel’s personal pictures, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why’s Kellan the only one half naked?” Glancing over the photos of the other boys, all of them dressed normally, I frowned a little deeper.

Rachel looked back at me, her cheeks flushing. “Matt gave me these pictures. He’s been collecting them from fans over the years.” She 295



pointed at Kellan’s body, then clicked back to the homepage, where I finally noticed that his mostly bare image had also been seamlessly blended into a good chunk of the wallpaper. Shaking her head as she shifted her gaze from the screen back to me, she quietly said, “Matt told me to work with what they’ve got…to play up their best features.” Shrinking away from my gaze, she muttered, “Kellan’s body is…one of their best features, even I’ll admit that.” Sighing, I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Denny stood up and walked over to look at the screen. Chuckling a little, he nodded. “She has a point.” Glancing over at me, he raised an eyebrow. “Marketing-wise, it’s a solid strategy…sex sells.”

Hating that the “sex” being sold revolved around my boyfriend, and sort of hating that my ex was the one defending it, I blurted to Rachel,