Foolish Games Read online

  His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

  “The other bodyguard,” I explained.

  Riley suddenly bugged his eyes out at me. “Girl, what have you been doing?”

  “I’m not Lizzie.” I smirked as the elevator doors flew open at the next floor.

  I popped my head out, but the hallway was empty. “Next floor.”

  By the fifth floor, I saw Harrison with his back to us down the hallway. He whirled around when he heard us coming out of the elevator. I was giving him my, I’m with the band wave, when loud laughter erupted in the room across from the elevator. I sensed that Harrison wasn’t buying an ounce of my bullshit when I saw that he had his radio out as well.

  “I got them,” Harrison boomed.

  Frantically, I grabbed Riley’s hand and stormed across the hallway towards the room where I heard the laughter coming from. I prayed that we would find Lizzie soon since I didn’t want my first phone call home to be from jail. Harrison yelled loudly behind us as I barged through the door.

  Blinking a few times, I took in the scene in front of me. Along the far wall was a beige couch that faced the door. Warren, who looked more than content and pleased, was seated on the couch with an arm wrapped around Lizzie. He certainly wasn’t acting like someone who didn’t want her there. I saw Hawkins seated in a brown lounge chair next to the couch.

  I noticed he was busily texting away on his BlackBerry. The light gray t-shirt he wore clung to his broad chest making him look like he could be Vin Diesel’s body double. I may not particularly like him, but like Riley, he was nice to look at even if it was absolutely pointless. Hawkins tossed his BlackBerry to a side table when his eyes gazed over to meet mine. I diverted my eyes quickly away from him while feeling suddenly embarrassed for barging into the room.

  Suddenly “interested” in the king-sized bed behind him, I studied the embroidered comforter and dozen white pillows laid across the headboard. Hawkins followed my gaze to the bed and I realized that this wasn’t just anyone’s room, this was his room. I felt like a raving lunatic for barging into his hotel room of all people!

  Warren and Lizzie were too immersed in their own little conversation to notice us at first. Until Lizzie did a double take across the room at us and said, “Joie? Riley? What are you doing here?”

  I was shaking my head in response when Harrison, who had finally caught up to us, went to personally escort us out of the room. Riley yelped when Harrison rammed him up against the side of the door on our way out of the room.

  “Those are my friends!” Lizzie exclaimed. “Wait, Joie!”

  Kind of out of my hands right now, Lizzie, I thought.

  “Are these guys with you?” Harrison turned us around to face Lizzie who was now standing beside Warren on the couch.

  “Joie?” I heard someone call out in a neighboring room. Recognizing the voice instantly, I couldn’t believe it. What was my brother Kyle’s best friend from high school doing here?

  “Kosic?” I called out.

  Hawkins rolled his eyes and gave Harrison a dismissive wave. Well, finally, right back at ya! I thought, rolling my eyes. Riley got one last shove as he stumbled forward and I was released from the bodyguard’s firm grasp as well. I approached the arched doorway to the left of the room because I had to see Kosic for myself. A group of guys were situated around a wide circular table playing poker with the addition of a full bar laid out behind them.

  One person in particular was smiling with a gleam in his eyes. Always the picture of coolness, he leaned back in his chair against the bar behind him. He might as well have been leaning against his red Camaro as I had seen him do so many times outside of my house. His dark hair was short and tousled, but it was those green eyes that drove the girls crazy. “Mr. Preston High” was my brother’s wing man which meant I got the perk of seeing him much more than the other girls at school. Sometimes when he visited I’d get the occasional wink or pat on my head, but that was about it. I was only twelve after all.

  “Well, if it isn’t Josephine Hall.” He lit up those emerald green eyes like a switch.

  “Nathan Kosic, what the hell are you doing here?” I tried very hard to drop the lopsided grin across my face.

  “I’m the manager for these fools.” He pointed to the guys around the table.

  Ryan, Lizzie’s ex-boyfriend, looked the same since the last time I had seen him. The only difference was the pissed off expression across his face, probably because he had a direct view of Warren and Lizzie on the couch. He quickly grimaced up at me before looking back down at his cards again. With Ryan being here, I realized that Kosic meant he was the manager of the local band, turned famous overnight, and the opening act for the tour: The Larks.

  “I could ask the same of you,” Kosic said with genuine surprise. “Does Kyle know you’re here?”

  “No, why should he?” I smirked.

  I leaned against the side of the arch doorway so I could look in on Kosic because I didn’t feel comfortable sitting at a place where I was not invited. Still, it had been way too long since I had last seen Kosic that I decided Hawkins could spare a few minutes of his time to have unexpected guests, especially after his rude tweets.

  “The only reason I’m asking,” Kosic smiled, “is because someone needs to keep all these boys away from you.” Giving me the once over, he blatantly checked me out. Holy crap. I beamed over at him. God, I had prayed for the day when Nathan Kosic would look at me like that! I just didn’t know that it would come at such an awkward time. Looking over at Hawkins, I realized he had noticed the exchange between Kosic and me.

  Interrupting my thoughts about Kosic, Lizzie—always wanting to be the center of attention—picked this moment to ask, “What are you guys doing here again?”

  I turned to Lizzie and explained, “We came because we were, umm, worried for you.”

  “Worried for me?” she asked as a smitten Warren lovingly twirled a strand of her blonde hair in between his fingers.

  “Not worried for you,” Riley interjected. “Because why would we be worried for you?” He forced a laugh. “It’s just that you left your fake I.D. behind in the van.”

  Errr!

  That was never going to be a good enough excuse to crash Hawkins’ party. Plus, I wanted Hawkins to know the real reason we were there because his tweet was obviously bullshit. So I added, “In case someone questioned why you were here.”

  “Huh?” Lizzie looked at me like I had gone mental.

  Hawkins stopped mid-text to look up at me. I glared over at him as the realization took effect. He sighed before tossing his BlackBerry to the side again. His eyes flickered right back up to mine, matching the intensity of my glare.

  “By the way, what happened to the purple shirt I bought you?” Lizzie asked.

  “Funny story,” I said as Hawkins took a sip of his drink. “A hooker stole it right off my back.”

  Hawkins sprayed his drink in laughter. He coughed and hacked, clearly pleased with himself. Lizzie and Warren turned to look at him questionably from the couch.

  “Oh, umm, I’m sorry.” Hawkins leaned back in his seat. “Who knew our guests would be so entertaining?” He glared back up at me with those deep blue eyes, but a glint of amusement replaced the previous death stare. More “entertaining” things were about to come out of my mouth when I suddenly heard the uproar of shouts at the nearby table. Turning back around, I watched Kosic lay out his cards. “A straight flush,” he sang, “pay up.”

  “Kosic, are you counting the cards again? You lousy prick,” another guy said as they all took a shot of alcohol around the table.

  “I don’t have to count the cards when you’re just going to give them to me, Daniels.” Kosic flashed a devious grin. He pulled the stack of chips over to his side of the table and smiled up at me. “Joie, why don’t you sit down and play a game with us?”

  “It’s a drinking game,” Lizzie piped up. “Joie won’t play.”

  “Another one of your rules?�
� Hawkins said under his breath, but still loud enough for me to hear as we eyed each other once more.

  Before walking to the table, I turned to Riley who was still by the door where Harrison had roughed him up. It was easy to see that he didn’t know what to do with himself so I nodded to the open space by Lizzie on the couch. “Why don’t you sit down?”

  “But watch that one,” I pointed to Hawkins, “he actually bites.”

  The crooked smile disappeared from Hawkins’ face as Warren started to laugh, but before Hawkins could retaliate I said to Kosic, “Deal me in.”

  Kosic stood up half way as I came around the table to give him a long overdue hug. He wrapped his arms around me and unexpectedly pulled me up off the ground. He groaned happily before releasing me again. My face turned as red as a tomato as I searched for an open seat around the table, but Kosic quickly pulled me down onto his lap with one quick tug of his arm.

  “First, I’m going teach you how to play,” he explained to me like I didn’t already know how. My face flushed all over again as his body pressed up against mine. Mentally I tried to switch gears but the twelve-year-old girl in me was screaming yes, yes, yes!

  Although I joined the game in spite of Hawkins’ comments, I was a little worried about the drinking part. A smile was plastered on my face so Hawkins wouldn’t know he was right. It wasn’t exactly one of my rules, but I didn’t really drink. Besides a glass of champagne at a couple of weddings, and a sip of my mom’s piña coladas at the beach, that was it. Still, I couldn’t let Hawkins be right, ever. To my relief, I noticed that everyone else’s pile of chips looked small in comparison to our pile which made me feel pretty good about my chances of not actually having to drink. That was until we lost the third game in a row.

  Hawkins’ distant, soft laughter could be heard as I downed every god awful shot of alcohol. Maybe I needed to work on my brave face since Hawkins seemed to know exactly how I felt about taking the shots. I couldn’t hide the displeasure in my facial features as I slapped down another shot glass on the table. I ran the back of my hand across my mouth. Ugh! My body shivered with the nastiness of the taste. Why would anyone want to drink what smelled like nail polish remover? Ryan called it a night when Warren started to make out with Lizzie on the couch and Hawkins moved in to take the now open seat across from Kosic and me.

  “I’m in,” Hawkins said coolly.

  “Good,” the drunk in me said to him. “We got to keep those fingers busy doing something besides tweeting on that BlackBerry.”

  Hawkins seemed to savor the moment, realizing that his comments had clearly gotten underneath my skin. For a moment he smirked at me before he looked down at his cards. Leaning my head back on Kosic’s shoulder, I gave Hawkins the stink eye since he looked way too happy with himself. Kosic slid our cards off the table like a professional. I felt pretty good with our full house as everyone started to fold around the table but Hawkins. He casually looked across the table at the sight of Kosic and I together.

  “We’re going to ante up,” Kosic said as he tossed two chips in the middle of the table.

  “Man,” Kosic whispered in my ear, unaware that we had Hawkins’ undivided attention. “Wow, you’ve grown up! I’m so glad Kyle isn’t here to see you like this with me,” he added suggestively. Flushing a tomato red again, I beamed from ear to ear.

  “Are you blushing?” he taunted and the twelve-year-old in me giggled.

  “I fold,” Hawkins said as he leaned back in his chair. Turning to look over at him, I noticed the delight was gone from his eyes.

  “Why?” Kosic asked, seemingly surprised by the decision.

  “We won!” I was thrilled since it is one less shot for me.

  “Let me see your cards.” Kosic reached for Hawkins’ cards, but Hawkins slammed his hand down on them.

  “You know the rules, I folded therefore I don’t have to show you.” Hawkins picked up his cards and tossed them onto the discarded pile.

  Kosic, who had also had too many, flipped the cards over and exclaimed, “Who folds when they have four of a kind?”

  Hawkins shrugged indifferently as I continued to pull the chips in.

  “I’m done,” Hawkins sighed. “It’s getting late.”

  “Me too,” Daniels agreed and got up from the table.

  I started to get up, too, but stumbled over the leg of the table (who put that there) and sat back down.

  “Did you have a good time?” Kosic asked me when Hawkins’ eyes flashed to mine.

  “God, it didn’t take much to get you drunk, did it?” Hawkins snarled at me before he got up as well.

  I was speechless for a second. What did that mean to get me drunk? What the hell was his problem?

  “Don’t worry about him, he’s just arrogant and smug.” Kosic laughed. “And a shadow of the man that he is on stage, isn’t that what the review said?” Kosic could barely contain his laughter.

  Without even looking, I knew that Hawkins had turned around. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask your girlfriend?”

  “What are you talking about?” Kosic truly sounded confused.

  “Yeah, that’s my cue to go,” I announced.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” Hawkins added.

  “You’re not going to drive anywhere, you’re drunk,” Kosic replied. He threw an exasperated look at Hawkins.

  “Don’t worry about it, Kosic,” Hawkins reassured him. “I’m sure she’s parked just right outside.”

  Standing up abruptly, I was infuriated, but also thoroughly embarrassed when I stumbled in front of Hawkins, again. Kosic jumped up to help me, but I gently pushed him away.

  Hawkins turned towards Riley and warned, “Don’t let her drive tonight.”

  “Why the hell do you care?” I asked, coming out a little louder than I meant it to.

  “I supplied you with the alcohol,” he said indifferently.

  “Wow, you really are a piece of work, aren’t you?” I glared up at him as the room came to a standstill around us.

  “And you’re a lousy drunk,” Hawkins retaliated.

  “And you’re just plain lousy,” I retorted while passing him to head out into the hallway with Riley not far behind me.

  I realized when I turned around in the hallway that Kosic had followed after me, too. “I don’t think that either of you should be on the road this late. I’m sure the hotel can manage to find you a room.”

  Not knowing how to justify my behavior I just confessed, “I’m so sorry, Kosic.”

  “It’s fine.” He waved it off. “The truth is the review was right, he is an arrogant prick. I’m just glad that someone had the guts to finally let him know. Usually everyone just kisses his ass.”

  Riley was about to confess that it was me, but stopped when I shook my head at him. I wasn’t proud that I had put Hawkins in his place even if my veins were still boiling over with anger and resentment. Thank goodness for Kosic though, because he managed to get us a room at the already sold out hotel. We were just one floor beneath Hawkins I realized, though I wondered why it mattered to think about such things?

  If it wasn’t for my promise to Riley that I would drive him to each concert, I would have walked away from all this drama days ago. It would have been easy to hand Riley the thick stack of cash that my father left for me in his will because it only reminded me that he was gone, forever. The family van that I still remembered so vividly from my childhood, however, still held some meaning which made it virtually impossible to pass the keys over to my crazy, but well-intentioned friends. Still, what enjoyment could I possibly get out of watching Hawkins from the front of the stage night after night while knowing what a miserable person he really was? I tossed back and forth in the bed wondering about this before I fell asleep.

  3. PROMISES

  I woke up with a splitting headache from a hangover that only got worse when I attempted to sit up. Determined to get a much needed shower, I forced myself to slip out of the extremely comfortable six hundre
d thread count, white Egyptian cotton sheets that were on top of a plush double-sized bed. Riley was sprawled out on the next bed with his face down in a pillow. I didn’t want to wake him up so I quietly made my way over to the bathroom, closed the door gently and turned the faucets on for a long, hot shower. I imagined every crummy concert washing off me as the water went down the drain. Needless to say I was in there for a while before finally turning the water off.

  My empty stomach was the only thing that could tempt me into leaving the hotel room since I didn’t want another encounter with Hawkins. I decided to chance it by making a trip by the hotel buffet. I found yesterday’s clothes, freshly cleaned, hanging outside the door. It was probably the first pair of sweat pants they ever had to wash and press. Riley must have thought to put our clothes out to be cleaned while we stayed at such an expensive hotel. After I got dressed, I left my damp hair down, snatched up Riley’s aviators to block out any kind of light, and grabbed the extra key pass before exiting our hotel room.

  I reached the silver elevator doorway and hit the down button. I mentally went over my attack strategy: skip the fruit and go straight for the carbs. Then race back to the elevator while avoiding anyone who might recognize me, mainly one person in particular.

  So wouldn’t you know it when the elevator doors slid back open, I shook my head at the sight in front of me. There leaning against the right side of the elevator wall, looking cooler than James Dean, was Hawkins. Behind him was Harrison, his bodyguard. Hawkins’ eyes casually looked up from the ground to my pink rolled up sweats, then shamelessly at the tug of my tank top across my chest, until his eyes peeked for a second at the comical sight of me in Riley’s aviators. He licked his lips, trying not to smile when he asked, “Going down?”

  Not that he could see me, but I rolled my eyes and stepped onto the opposite side of the elevator from him. Who knows? Maybe hangovers made you fearless—yeah, right. I rubbed my right temple now that my headache had just gotten worse. We were quiet for the ride of eternity down to the lobby, but just when I thought I was about to make a break for the door unscathed, Hawkins asked, “If I don’t like brunettes, red heads, and blondes than who does that leave?”