Rock All Night(39)

I stared at him.

“Hair o’ the dog,” Killian said, like whiskey was the most natural thing in the world for breakfast.

Without a word, Riley unscrewed the cap and took a drink straight from the bottle. A looooong drink.

“Ew,” I whispered.

Without looking at me, Riley flipped me a bird with her free hand – and kept guzzling.

“It’s like her morning coffee,” Ryan explained.

When she finally stopped drinking, she let the bottle dangle from her hand and leaned her head back against the top of her chair. “UGH I hate straight bitches. They never want to go down on you.”

EW.

I put my forkful of eggs back on my plate, uneaten.

“Good morning to you, too, sunshine,” Ryan teased.

“Fuck off.” Riley tilted her head up, opened one eye halfway, and looked at me. “What’re you doin’ here, Blondie? I thought you and D woulda been poundin’ it out all mornin’.”

“Well, you’d be wrong,” I said icily.

She leaned her head back against the chair. “Guess he’s poundin’ somebody else,” she murmured.

I wanted to jump across the table and smash the f*cking bottle of whiskey over her head.

But a deep, rumbling voice stopped me.

“Well, you’d be wrong again,” Derek said as he closed the penthouse door behind him.





27




He was dressed in jeans, boots, a black t-shirt that hugged his chest, and his customary sunglasses.

My heart leapt. I was so happy to see him that my whole body buzzed with anticipation –

But a second after my heart jumped in my chest, it seized with fear.

Our previous encounter last night in my room – temporarily forgotten because of Riley’s antics – reared up in my memory like some monstrous shadow.

Derek seemed to have no such qualms, though. He just ambled over to the table, sat down between Riley and Ryan, and reached for a plate.

He didn’t even look at me.

It was like a punch to the gut.

“I’m assuming that chick out in the hallway was yours, Riley,” he said as he piled on eggs and bacon.

“Whose else would it be?” she snorted. “Nobody else in here gets any *.”

“Jesus, Riley,” Ryan groaned, “I’m eating.”

“See? He’s too much of a * to even talk about *. And don’t even get me started on Mary Jane over there.”

She was obviously referring to Killian. He ignored her and kept strumming his chords with one hand and eating toast with the other.

Riley flopped her head towards Derek and grinned. “Broke another one in last night.”

“Just a second ago you were groaning about her being straight,” Ryan reminded her.

She just flipped him off. Apparently that was her preferred method of communication.

“Stick with the lesbians, Riley,” Derek said in a bored voice, like this was an all-too-common topic of conversation. “Or real switch hitters. Bi-curious does not equal bisexual.”

“Don’t I know it,” she groaned. “But straight girls are so… I dunno. Guess I like the challenge.”

“You must not like getting reciprocation.”

“Fuck off,” Riley grinned again – and then the grin turned evil as she looked at me. “Hey, what’s this I hear about you and Blondie not doin’ it?”

Derek looked up at me for the first time, though I couldn’t tell anything because the sunglasses shielded his eyes.

“You heard right,” he said neutrally, and gave me a half-smile before returning to his breakfast.

“Why do you keep hittin’ on her if she doesn’t put out?” Riley taunted.

“I dunno. Guess I like the challenge.”

That wasn’t what you said last night, I thought.

But I had sense enough not to say it out loud.

“Guess you must not like reciprocation,” Riley joked.

“Mm,” he said, bobbing his head like You got me as he chewed a mouthful of eggs.

At that point, Miles strode into the room.

“Alright, gents and rabid animals,” he said with a pointed look at Riley. She flipped him off, as usual. “The bus will be here at 3 o’clock. You will be ready by 3 o’clock, or I will kick your ass all the way from here down to the lobby. Show’s in Irvine. With the abominable state of Los Angeles traffic, that’s two hours at least. Do whatever you want before 3 o’clock, and do whatever you want on the bus, but you will be on the bus at 3:05 or you will NOT enjoy the consequences.”


“Are we staying in Irvine?” Ryan asked.

“No, we’re continuing on down to San Diego for tomorrow night’s show.”

“After-party on the bus,” Derek grinned, and looked at me as he said it.

I glowered at him, then looked at Miles and raised my hand.

“This isn’t primary school,” Miles said tersely. “What?”

“I’m going on the bus, right?”

“If you’re on it by 3:05, yes. If not, sod off.”

Riley raised her hand, obviously mocking me.

“What,” Miles snapped.

Riley slowly folded down all her fingers except the middle one, grinning as she did it.