Time Out (Foolish Games Series) Read online

  “A glitter brush?” I held it up skeptically.

  “If you want to look good in the bright LED lights we use every night, then you’re going to need some glitter,” Riley answered for her.

  “Thank you, Riley,” Lizzie congratulated him. “At least someone understands.”

  “We should call ourselves ‘Team Joie’,” Riley replied without missing a beat.

  “Yes!” Lizzie exclaimed. “We should get t-shirts made with the logo!”

  “I want my t-shirt to say kidnapped and makeup raped!” I interjected but they were in their own world where my opinion didn’t matter.

  “It would drive Gwyneth berserk!” Lizzie continued excitedly. “I think I’m going to get a pink one.”

  “No, you know what would be even better?” Riley offered animatedly. “We should get them made in the same neon yellow color of the crew with the words ‘Team Joie’ in black.”

  “That’s hot. Where can we find a t-shirt vendor?”

  “Ahh, guys, I appreciate the thought but—

  “You don’t get a vote,” Lizzie informed me. “Now get dressed. We’re almost at the amphitheater.”

  Honestly, I didn’t know what I thought of the whole t-shirt idea, but if it made them both happy I guess I could put up with it. Though the thought of being beside them dressed in shirts claiming to be for ‘my team’ sounded exactly like the kind of thing I was trying to avoid when it came to Gwyneth. Still, I knew a lost cause when I saw one, so I decided to put my energy into something I could actually control - like getting dressed.

  After living in my dad’s vintage van for several weeks, I got used to doing things normal people wouldn’t, like changing clothes in a vehicle as easily as if it was my bedroom. We were already late for the show I realized as I slipped into a pair of dark denim jeans with a Fleur-de-lis symbol sewn in silver along the back pockets. Using the back of the seat for a little leverage, I hiked the jeans over the top of another lacy boy short number we bought at Victoria’s Secret (a little surprise for Hawkins’ eyes only.) I then matched the look with a hot pink strapless top that had a ripple of material sewn along the top. Lizzie went to town with the glitter brush; applying it along my back and down my arms as I bent over to adjust my silver gladiator sandals. Lizzie added a spritz of perfume as I finished the look with a pair of small silver rectangular earrings that fell to my jawline.

  “Perfection,” Lizzie gave her seal of approval as Riley maneuvered the van around the concert traffic by flashing his ‘crew pass’ (something Rob Harlow must have had made for him) all the way up to the opening of the band’s parking lot.

  After by-passing the paparazzi on our way in, Lizzie offered, “Why don’t we take a walk Joie?”

  “Umm…right now?” The scaredy cat inside of me baulked.

  “How else are they going to see you?” she hissed.

  “Riley, save me,” I squeaked as Lizzie got out with my hand firmly in hers. I was amazed that I actually made it out of the van without tripping onto my face. I felt silly walking down the gravel parking lot since we were obviously trying to catch the attention of the men behind the cameras.

  “Isn’t this a bit obvious?” I muttered under my breath as we continued to walk nonchalantly like we couldn’t see the flashes of lights going off behind the neighboring barbed wire fence, so much so that a lesser person would have had a seizure by now.

  “Not to America, it isn’t,” she quipped.

  “Well—as long as our priorities are in the right place,” I sighed sarcastically.

  “Do you want the world to believe you’re a viable contender when it comes to Gwyneth or not?”

  Honestly, the mention of this did put a little strut in my stride. Though I couldn’t have been gladder to leave behind the memory of the flashing lights and screaming voices as I made my way backstage. When I found Riley sitting in the seat next to mine in the front row, I couldn’t help but laugh as I dropped into the seat and buried my face into the side of his chest at the absurdity of it all.

  “It went that well, huh?” He chuckled.

  “I don’t know what I was thinking when I decided to do this,” I laughed.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” he pretended to think about it. “Could it be that his ex-fiancé seems to be making an indefinite stop on the tour?”

  “God—you don’t think she’ll stay for the rest of the entire tour, do you?” I practically pleaded for him to say no.

  “How is she so different than the rest of the young groupies vying for Hawkins’ attention?” he turned to ask me. “Because honestly, Joie, he doesn’t seem that interested in her.”

  “I don’t know why I’m so jealous. I mean, you’re right, the groupies never seem to faze me. Maybe because they seem so desperate and she seems so sure.” I shrugged. “Though you wouldn’t believe the type of shit she’s been trying to pull on me. It’s like she wants me to be jealous and freak out on Hawkins.”

  “What’s she been doing?” he asked.

  “While you and Harlow were having a secret rendezvous - which by the way, I want to hear all about - Gwyneth’s been busy trying to get Hawkins to leave me behind literally. She’s the reason I got left behind in Alpine, or at least one of the reasons,” I shot Riley a look.

  “About that—I’m so sorry.” He grimaced.

  “Well, I’m glad someone is,” I half laughed. “Because apparently Gwyneth’s never seen my face before in her life, or at least that’s what she told Keisel last night at the Alpine venue.”

  “She told a security guard that?” Riley, who knew my naming system all too well, didn’t even blink twice at the code name.

  “Yeah, and Keisel just so happened to be working the backstage door at the time.” I stressed, knowing Riley would understand the importance of this.

  “That’s crazy.”

  “Oh it gets better,” I informed him. “She then went and told Hawkins, who was of course looking for me, that last time she saw me I was with you and Harlow. When he didn’t hear from me because I lost my cell, he just assumed I was,” I grinned over at him and waggled my eyebrows. “Watching,” I added causing Riley’s tan face to slightly flush.

  Clearing his throat, Riley nodded in agreement. “That is crazy.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know which one is more disturbing, the fact that my boyfriend thought I was date crashing because I’m secretly in love with you or the fact that Hawkins ex-fiancé will do just about anything to get rid of me.”

  “Did you tell Hawkins yet?”

  “No, because that’s exactly what she would want me to do. She’d deny it anyway,” I added. “Besides, he said that his hands were tied when it came to Warren.”

  “Hawkins would believe you, Joie,” he stated it like come on now. “He also wouldn’t put up with someone treating you badly either. And I know you think she has everyone fooled, but I don’t think Rob’s a fan.”

  “What did you hear?” I suddenly perked up in my seat; hoping that it was something juicy and good.

  “Harlow’s been around just as long as the band, and I guess he was there for the years they were together. I just get the impression from him, that she’s kind of a bitch.”

  I suddenly beamed, because at least someone else wasn’t fooled by her act.

  “Did I ever tell you what good taste you have when it comes to boyfriends?” I boasted, knowing that I hadn’t seen Riley look this happy in a long time.

  Things hadn’t gone exactly as he expected when he ‘came out’ to his parents. I think it was half the allure of coming on the trip for him in the first place, so he could get away from them. Though in the beginning, he was the only one who had a real reason to stalk the band because of his job of writing show reviews for the band’s website. The same job he quit to pursue his dream of being on the band’s lighting crew.

  Riley was always explaining things to me, like how the crew worked and what their equipment was called. So when a guy decided that my seat was the seat to rig a tall
looking microphone to the back of it I huffed, “And what does this contraption do?”

  “Oh, that’s not a guy from the crew. He’s just a fan like us,” he explained. “He’s what they call a ‘trader.’ ”

  “A what?”

  “He’s recording the sound part of the show to download it onto YouTube or to make a copy of the show for other fans to hear. He ‘trades’ the shows for other shows that he doesn’t have. The band lets them do it because it’s basically free PR.”

  “Does he have to hook the damn thing to my chair?” I looked up at the microphone again, which looked like something a person on a movie set would hang over the actors heads to hear them better except this thing came with a type of recording system no larger than the size of an old cassette player in a kind of black carrying case which laid on the floor behind me.

  “You are in the first row,” Riley smiled. “Best seat in the house for recording a show.”

  “Can they hear us?” I was beginning to feel a little paranoid.

  “Not once the music starts,” he sighed brightly. “But if you want to scream ‘Hawkins I love you, and want to have your children’ then yeah—they’ll catch that too.” He snorted.

  “Note to self,” I said dryly.

  Once Hawkins finally took the stage, I was pretty sure the only thing anyone could hear was the loud sound of people screaming. When those baby blues scanned the crowd, I saw him do a double take in my direction. I suddenly felt self-conscious, like what if he didn’t like tan, manicured, dressed to impress girls?

  I may not have planned to shout anything up at him, but Hawkins had something to boom overtop of the crowd to me. “Damnnnnnnn.”

  The crowd roared to life again, but there were no other words as his eyes looked me up and down like for a second he had suddenly become star struck.

  “Can I get a spotlight over here?” the words finally came back to Hawkins. “Rob, aim that light over here.” He pointed in my direction, and I would have buried my face in humiliation if Riley hadn’t instinctively yanked my arm back.

  “I didn’t sit around all day to watch you hide,” Riley smirked.

  It didn’t take long for Harlow to find me when I was sitting next to his boyfriend of all people. In seconds, the bright light washed over my shoulders as I quietly shook my head and laughed.

  “I just wanted to let you ‘all know,” Hawkins addressed the crowd again. “That’s who I’m going home with tonight.”

  The crowd pealed into laughter at his quickness, and whistled approvingly. I was just thankful for the bright light for once because it hid my blushing face as I shook my head and laughed again.

  “I don’t know about the rest of you unlucky bastards. I guess you’ll have to fight it out to see, but that one’s mine,” he emphasized, causing another surge of roaring laughter and shameless hooting.

  The spotlight finally zinged off of me and zeroed back onto Hawkins as he looked me up and down one more time and mouthed “damn”, causing me to break out into another smile. When Hawkins turned around to grab up his black Gibson guitar, Riley took the opportunity to waggle his eyebrows at me now.

  I couldn’t help but feel as light as a feather and a little high off of Hawkins’ reaction; it might have had something to do with the fact that I had stopped breathing there for a second, but who knows. Whatever the reason, the light airy feeling stayed with me throughout the rest of the concert and into Hawkins’ arms at the end of the show. Hawkins laced his fingers into mine as we headed out the door to his tour bus.

  The paparazzi went crazy, probably because it was the first time they had ever caught us together and Hawkins gave them a show they would never forget by wrapping an arm over my shoulder and pulling me in for a sexy kiss on the cheek. I say ‘sexy’ because it seemed like everything Hawkins did came across as sexy; I guess that’s the plus side of being handsome and confident.

  Lord knows, I thought he looked sexy as he leisurely laid back on his king sized bed and looked me up and down again like he was slowly taking in the view.

  “Come here,” he commanded as his sizzling blue eyes locked with mine.

  “Do you have something you’d like to say to me?” I played it coy as I moved in over top of him.

  “Oh, I have plenty.” He wrapped an arm around my lower back and flipped me over onto my back so fast that I barely had time to register the change of position. A laugh escaped my lips from the sudden thrilling toss.

  Hawkins proceeded to pull off my jeans like I was a present he was unwrapping, until my tan bare legs raised with goose bumps. I made quick work of flinging off my top until we were locked in another passionate embrace.

  It felt like with every look and touch that Hawkins was slowly taking me in. As if his eyes were telling me that everything about my body was beautiful from the tips of my hot pink toenails, up to my tanned thighs, and glittery shoulders and chest.

  “You look stunning,” he whispered huskily as if reading my thoughts. The feel of his calloused fingertips moving up the back of my thighs left me breathless.

  A piece of me couldn’t believe that out of all of the girls in the crowd that I got to be the one to love him in this way. If it wasn’t for Hawkins hungry eyes, I wasn’t sure that I would have felt this comfortable being with someone as handsome and sexy as he was.

  Hawkins ripped off his t-shirt so my fingers could do their own exploring down his broad shoulders to the sides of his tight torso. I couldn’t get enough of the touch of his silky soft skin along my fingertips, and I felt like no matter how much I pulled him near me that it was never enough.

  The bus had its own rocking rhythm which sent us into a dazed state as our bodies moved against each other naturally to the give and pull of the road. His lips moved along my shoulder up to the ticklish part of my neck causing another laugh to escape from my lips.

  “You think this is funny, Joie?” he asked in the same serious tone as before while his hands continued their exploration up the back of my thighs.

  “Not at all,” I confessed breathlessly.

  “Good.”

  His soft lips moved down my neck to soft spot right below my collarbone, leaving behind a trail of heat with every touch. It felt as if butterflies were fluttering inside my chest as he kissed the soft skin in between the crook of my lace bra. Running my fingers through the back of his thick dark hair, I pulled him closer, encouraging him to continue.

  On some distant level I knew that the bus had come to a complete stop, but that didn’t stop us from finding our own rhythm. Just when he began to unzip his jeans, we heard a voice that made both of our eyes snap open wide and go cold.

  “Joshua? Are you here?” Gwyneth called out as I quickly grabbed up a sheet to cover myself and the heat that locked our bodies subsided.

  “What the hell is she doing here?” Hawkins groaned with frustration. I swear he looked more pissed than I was about the situation.

  “I don’t know Joshua,” I grinned up at him. “Maybe she’s cock blocking. It’s just a guess.”

  I looked up into his blue eyes that seemed to smile down at me and puckered my lips so he could give me a little peck before he turned to roll off of me. I had to admit, seeing him pull his black t-shirt back over his broad shoulders was depressing to watch.

  He then cracked the door open to shield me from her view, and snapped, “What?”

  “What do you mean ‘what?’” she hissed like she was his mom or something. “Warren’s been trying to get a hold of you on your cell, so I came looking for you. There’s a situation back at the venue.”

  “Yeah well—I’m busy,” he said with edge.

  “Doing what?”

  With the sheet still wrapped around the goods, I leaned my head against Hawkins’ shoulder and smiled, “Me.”

  The sight of her angelic face twisting up with jealousy was priceless.

  “Like I said, there’s been a situation back at the First Midwest Bank venue. Come find us when you’re decent again,
” her eyes snapped over to mine like he was slumming it with me. Only then did I begin to fully appreciate all of the hell Lizzie had put me through today with the makeover.

  Once I was dressed again, Hawkins took my hand in his to lead the way back down the aisle of the bus again. Hawkins bus driver, Ted, a man in his late fifties with short cropped gray hair and a mustache, threw his arms up in exasperation when we came down the first couple of steps to the landing where he drove the bus. Ted was one of the very few from the old crew who got to stay on with the new crew. It was probably because the man had a heart of gold, and Hawkins trusted him the most out of everyone on the staff.

  “I tried to stop her, but she pushed me out of the way,” Ted explained; sounding a bit taken back by Gwyneth’s behavior.

  “Welcome to my world,” I sighed under my breath as Hawkins assured the bus driver that everything was fine. Grabbing my hand, Hawkins led me off the bus, into the Holiday Inn hotel where the band had reserved most of the rooms.

  The fans waiting in the bar - to the left of hotel lobby – looked disappointed that Hawkins wasn’t alone tonight. The hotel looked like something out of the Roman era with its cream and golden speckled marble pillars that had to be as thick as the base of a redwood tree were positioned one after the other in the rectangular space of the lobby. My eyes gazed up at the large crystal chandeliers which were placed in between each pillar as we made our way to the bronze elevators.

  It was customary for most of the hotels that we visited to let Hawkins sweep in and out without having to check in with the front desk to avoid any unwanted attention. Besides, that’s what Hawkins paid the bodyguard securing our floor to do anyway.

  When we got off the elevator though, I couldn’t help but notice that security had tripled in size. As if Hawkins’ was reading my thoughts, he muttered under his breath, “This can’t be good.”

  We entered the penthouse, which had a hallway that led to a wing on the left and right side of entrance. We walked down a couple of white marble stairs that led to a squared off living room space where most of the band and some of the crew were talking amongst themselves on the white leather couches positioned around the room. Behind the living room was a breathtaking view of the skyline of Chicago.