BAD REP(109)

Grizzly nodded and jerked his thumb behind him but didn't say anything.  Okay.  I guess that meant they were in the room down the hall.  I tilted the cup in his direction in acknowledgment and followed his less than specific directions.

I came into a large rec room, complete with a pool table and Foosball.  There was a bar to the right that had been built out of the wall.  The room was packed.  Scoping the place out, I finally saw Cole and Mitch.  Cole was manning the bar and was slinging drinks to a large crowd.

Mitch was playing pool with two girls hanging off of his arm.  Not wanting to interrupt that, I opted to approach Cole to find out where Jordan was.  I had to push my way through the group circling the bar to reach one of the stools.  Hopping up, I tucked my feet under the chair.

Cole was talking to a guy with dreads who had a joint tucked behind his ear.  I waited for a lull in their conversation before I jumped in.  “Excuse me,” I called out.

Cole looked down at me and his mouth spread into a grin.  “Hey there, pretty lady.  What can I do for you?”  He leaned over the bar, his dark hair flopping in his eyes.  His smile was flirty as he took me in.

I gave him a sassy smile back.  “Well, you can tell me where Jordan is?” I asked.  Recognition dawned on his face and Cole leaned back from the bar.

“Ahh.  You must be the famous Maysie Ardin,” he said, his grin getting wider.  I laughed.

“Famous, huh?” I asked, wondering what exactly he had heard about me.  It was sad to think that it could be any number of things. Not just the fact that I was his band mate's girlfriend.

Cole reached under the bar and grabbed himself a beer, he inclined his head my way in a question and I nodded.  He popped the top off of second beer and slid it toward me.  “Oh, luv, we've heard nothing but Maysie, Maysie, Maysie since this summer.  Whatever you've done to our boy Piper, you've done it good.”  He chuckled, taking a swig of his beverage.

I swallowed a mouth full of my own drink.  “Piper?” I asked, wondering where the hell that particular nickname came from.  I had heard Cole use it during their performances but had never gotten around to asking Jordan about it.  Cole laughed and the dreaded guy beside me guffawed.  Clearly this was a private joke.

I arched my eyebrow.  Cole shook his head.  “Nathan, why don't you share that little golden nugget of info.  That way when Piper gets pissed, he'll bash your face in and not mine.  I'm a hell of a lot prettier than you,” Cole said, rubbing his hand on his own cheek.

The guy with the dreadlocks, Nathan, shrugged.  “Whatever, it wouldn't be the first time he broke my nose,” he said lightly and my eyes widened.  What?  Cole saw my face and patted my hand.

“Babe, don't worry, Nathan deserved what Jordan gave him.”  Both Cole and Nathan laughed as though the fact that the dude had his nose broken by my boyfriend was a huge freaking joke.  These guys were mental.

Nathan pulled the joint out from behind his ear and lit it up.  He passed it to Cole who took a drag.  Cole then handed it in my direction but I waved my hand, refusing it.  Drugs weren't my thing.  Alcohol, yes.  Other stuff, not so much.  “Okay, so spill about the nickname.  You've piqued my interest,” I queried, drinking more of my beer.

Nathan toked on the joint a few more times before he responded.  “Well, you know the story about the Pied Piper of Hamlin right?  I mean, you're a college chick, you know all that history stuff,”  Nathan commented, his voice tight from holding in the smoke.

“Yeah, I know the story.  The guy was hired to get rid of the rats and then took off with the village's children who followed him while he played the pipe.  What does that have to do with Jordan?”  I was a little shocked that these townie guys were able to place a nickname on someone that didn't have to do with a sport or a body part.  And then I felt crappy for judging them like that.  What a snobby thing to think!  I chastised myself.

Nathan blew out a lungful of smoke.  “Yeah, well Jordan is the pied piper of *.”  My eyes popped out of my head and I knew my mouth gaped open.

“What?  Did I hear that correctly?”  I sputtered.  Cole was cracking up at my response.  Nathan smiled in a stony kind of way.

Cole slammed his hand down on the bar top in his fit of laughter.  “You should see your expression Maysie!”  he said, snorting.  My eyes narrowed.  Nathan put his joint out and dropped the roach in his beer bottle.