Aimee arrived at the estate early to pick Addy up. She frowned when she looked at the black knee length dress Addy was wearing and insisted on taking a trip through her closet. Aimee went right for the strapless fuchsia mini dress Addy had worn for Halloween a couple of years earlier. It was similar to what the Trisha girl was wearing when Addy met her. Her outfit for the evening ended up being the Halloween dress with the black and fuchsia platform open toe heels she had that matched it. Her hair was down and wavy, and she had on much heavier eye make-up than usual. If her grandfather was still alive, she would’ve only gotten out of the estate over his dead body.
Twisted Memories was playing at a different club than the first time she saw them play. Addy was relieved not to be going to the same place she’d spent her last night out with Gage. The club was jammed, and the band didn’t even start for another hour. People were crowded onto the dance floor, making it impossible to move.
An L-shaped section of tables had been reserved for their group and the girls took a seat and ordered a bunch of different drinks to try. Just like before, she wasn’t carded and the drinks were just dropped off in front of them. Addy settled for a pink one with a bunch of cherries floating in it.
The Akori didn’t observe the drinking ages humans set for themselves, so even though she was human, Addy had always been allowed to try alcohol. She usually passed on the hard liquor, and only drank beer with her friends occasionally.
Unlike the other club that looked like a warehouse, this one had a trendier style. There were two floors and the stage was upstairs in a loft style area, with a railing overlooking the lower floor. Packed tables were placed around the outer edge of an already crowded dance floor. Bunches of multi-colored lights hung low from the ceiling—bent into all types of funky designs. The lower level had a large winding bar made of glass with some type of distressed metal framing around the perimeter.
Trisha glanced from Aimee to Addy. “So Addy, whatever happened with you and that guy? You seemed pretty into each other.”
She took another long sip of her drink, deciding what to say. “It just didn’t work out.” The words caused a shooting pain to radiate through her chest.
Kim was the first real girl friend she’d ever had, not counting Renee because she and Addy didn’t really hit it off, and Kim was nothing like Trisha and Aimee. The directness of the things they said and asked made her uncomfortable—like she was always under a microscope.
“That’s too bad, he was a cutie,” Aimee said, standing up. “Does that mean you’re back to Tanner?”
Addy choked on the cherry she was eating. “What? No, I was never, we were never—not ever.” The girls exchanged doubtful looks and Addy felt under the microscope again. “He has a girlfriend.”
“Tanner has lots of girls who think they’re his friends,” Aimee said, smiling over at Trisha, “but an actual girlfriend—not likely.”
Trisha laughed and exchanged glances with Aimee. “We were betting you’d be the one who finally caught him.”
Addy pressed her hand to her chest and felt the cat charm from Gage under her palm. “Me?” The conversation was getting even more bizarre by the second. “We’re friends—that’s all we’ve ever been.”
Aimee raised her eyebrows. “Well something happened after he started hanging out with you. He used to be a total dick.”
“Complete dick.” Trisha nodded.
They went on to say he was moody and basically uncaring. At times they said he’d say things that were pretty hurtful, like he had no feelings. Addy doubted Tanner could ever be anything other than wonderful and was surprised by the way the girls were talking about him.
Gossip was something Addy really hated. She quickly waved them off and stood up, placing her empty glass on the table. Trisha and Aimee grabbed her hands and dragged her out to the floor. It was hot and the lights flashed to the rhythm of the music. The girls may not have been her kind of friends, but they were fun. She actually felt normal for a change.
They were dancing with a group of guys when Tanner came up, grabbing her and spinning her around. He didn’t say anything right away and looked at her strangely.
She leaned over to his ear. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ask me when I’m drunk enough to answer honestly,” he said, shouting over the music.
Addy looked down at her dress and grabbed the top, pulling it up to cover more of her skin. She was beginning to regret letting Aimee be her fashion advisor.
A smile spread across his face as he continued talking loudly. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
She threw her head back dramatically, turning her palms up. “And why’s that?”
“I hardly see you anymore.” He spun her around so he was behind her, talking in her ear. “You avoiding me?”
“Maybe you’re avoiding me,” she said, tipping her head and smiling, “and you’re just trying to make it look like it’s me since I turned up here unexpectedly.”
“It’s amazing how you see right through me.” Tanner laughed and dropped his chin on her shoulder. “Now it’s all awkward, huh?”
“No way,” she said, turning her head slightly so she was nose to nose with him. “Nothing’s ever awkward with you.”
They hadn’t talked in over a week and she realized just how much she missed him. She was dying to tell him about the scroll she saw Jax with in the library and how Matt tricked Gage into healing Kim to get her help.
Addy turned around and laced her fingers together behind his neck. She tugged Tanner over to her so she could talk without shouting. “Tomorrow morning I’ll be over at your place for breakfast—tell Oliver I want raisin toast.”
She watched the sweet way he smiled and nodded back at her. There was absolutely no way he was ever cruel and uncaring like the girls described him—it just wasn’t possible.
Once the music changed, they headed back to the table. Another pretty pink beverage was dropped off in front of Addy and she quickly picked it up.
Tanner pointed at her. “Slow your roll there, girlie.”
“Sure.” She crinkled her nose at him and took a big drink.
He shook his head and smiled as he backed away. “I gotta go finish setting up.”
Several people the others knew came over and started trying to talk to them, but the music was so loud it just all blended together. When the band came on stage, it got even louder. She was finishing her drinks much faster than usual and beginning to feel it.
Even after seeing him for the second time, she still found it difficult to wrap her head around what Tanner was like on stage. He was such a contrast from the guy she met on the beach. She’d pegged him as some struggling wannabe, who’d never be able to handle the mess he was getting himself into. That turned out to be completely wrong.
The lights went down and Tanner sat on a stool by himself with an acoustic guitar. He started singing the song she heard him playing on the beach with the girl. Addy glanced at the sea of people, wondering if she was somewhere in the club watching him too.
Aimee tapped her on the shoulder and pointed into the crowd. “I didn’t know your brother was coming.”
Addy turned around to see Jax walking through the mass of people toward her.
“I didn’t either,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Jax gave a head nod to the group and put his arm around Addy’s shoulders. “Having fun?”
“I didn’t know you were coming.” She wasn’t all that thrilled to see him and hoped if she just ignored him he’d go away.
“It was a last minute thing.” He pointed at her drink. “How many of those have you had?”
“Not enough.” She smiled sweetly, turning her back to him.
Jax began making his way around the table talking to people and she lost sight of him, which was fine with her. She was happy to enjoy some time away from him and the estate.
The server placed another drink down in front of Addy, and then pointed over to a
tall thin guy a few tables over—apparently he’d sent it over. Aimee and Stan laughed as Addy politely smiled at him.
The first thing Matt told her when he started taking her out to clubs was never to accept drinks from strange guys. Addy didn’t want to yell over the music for the server to take it back, so she pushed the drink to the side and went back to watching Tanner.
Between the talking, dancing, and drinking, the night was becoming a blur. By the time Tanner was done on stage and joined the group by the tables, she was seeing double.
“Never seen you around before,” the guy she recognized as Tanner’s drummer said.
Addy noted that he still felt wearing a shirt was optional.
“I’m Addy,” she said, “Tanner’s friend.”
“Spencer,” he said as he looked her up and down, “also Tanner’s friend.”
They chatted about the band and his tattoos and then his piercings. He said he’d known Tanner since they were in elementary school.
As the conversation progressed, he started inching his way into her personal space. Addy decided he was too close and started getting creeped out by his bare chest and oddly placed piercings. She began glancing around for someone to rescue her.
Tanner was just a few feet away. She was about to reach over to get his attention, but he turned toward Spencer before she could even lift her arm. Tanner casually leaned over and said something to him. Spencer nodded his head to her and moved on.
“He’s harmless,” Tanner said. He started turning toward her, but one of the girls he was talking to grabbed his arm. He smiled quickly at Addy and they turned back to the group he was standing with.
After several more drinks, Addy found herself back on the dance floor whirling around. She lost sight of Aimee and was pulled into a pair of unfamiliar arms. The blue symbols on his hands told her they belonged to an Akori and Addy spotted a ring like the one Gage wore on the ring finger of the right hand. It had a gold W over a silver Akori symbol.
Addy remembered seeing those hands before at the last club she’d watched Tanner play at. She didn’t recognize him, but he knew who she was.
He stared down at her with a pleased expression. “Well, it’s Addison Sanders, how strange running into you here.”
Addy tried to back away, but the floor was so jammed that she couldn’t put much space between them. She pushed him away only to have him pushed back into her by the dancing masses.
Dressed all in black, he was tall and thin, with neatly cut black hair and dark eyes. In human years he looked like he was about her age, but there was no telling how old he actually was. She realized he was the guy who sent the drink and immediately regretted not sending it back with the server.
“Fate did a great job keeping you hidden away, not to mention that watchdog brother of yours,” he said with a smirk. “You’re a hard girl to get some alone time with.”
“Do we know each other?” Addy took a long look at his face, but her vision wasn’t the best in her current state.
“Ashford Worthington—I believe you’ve met my father Preston.” He took her hand and gently pressed his lips to the top. “You can call me Ash.”
The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place him. All the bodies around them were moving to the music, pressing them together.
“Let’s dance,” he said, slipping his long arms around her waist.
Addy thought it sounded like an alright idea—it was basically what they were already doing. He started running his hands along her shoulders and before she knew it, he was pressed up behind her.
“You want to get out of here,” he whispered in her ear, resting his fingertips on her waist and urging her to move.
The room was closing in on her and she really needed to escape. The loud music, the crazy people, and Ash so close, was all more than she could take—getting out of there sounded like an amazing idea.
Ash brushed his lips along her neck as he moved her hair to the side and ran his fingers along the symbol that led her to Jax. “We went to a lot of trouble to find you.” Ash placed one hand around her waist and the other on the small of her back and began guiding her through the crowd. “By the looks of you, it was—”
Shouting and pushing started around them, snapping Addy out of the fog that swallowed her. Before she could blink, Ash was on the floor holding his stomach and Tanner was scooping her up.
He carried her down the stairs and through the crowd to the door. “I’m pretty sure I told you to slow down with the drinks,” he said in her ear as he carried her outside.
Fresh air made her feel more alert, but she still kept her head on his shoulder and her eyes closed. The drinks were catching up to her and she felt like she was on a spinning ride at a carnival.
“You were so good tonight,” she said, completely forgetting about Ash. “It was even better than last night.”
He sat down sideways on his motorcycle, still holding her. “Last night—you mean last time.”
“No.” Addy put her hand on the back of his neck, touching the symbol. “On the beach last night, I heard you.”
“You were there? You should’ve said something.” He adjusted his grip so her weight was resting on his knee.
“You weren’t alone.” Her head was spinning double time and she was crinkling her nose from loose strands of her hair tickling it. “I didn’t wanna interrupt your date.”
Tanner brushed her hair out of her face. “You’re never an interruption, girlie.”
The back door to the club flew open and Jax came storming out.
“Give her to me,” he said, burning through Tanner with an accusing glare. “She’s not one of chicks you and your buddies pass around.”
Before he could respond, Jax reached over and snatched Addy out of his arms.
“She had a few too many, man. I wasn’t doing anything.” Tanner stood up and took a couple of steps forward. “I didn’t even know she’d be here tonight.”
“Call me when she needs something—I’m responsible for her.” Jax turned and carried her away, leaving Tanner standing alone. He hauled Addy around the outside of the building to the valet. “You’re a lot heavier than you look.” He told her when he was setting her down in Juliette’s car.
She strained to look up at him. “I wanted to tell you something, but I can’t remember.”
“Maybe it was why I’m out at 2am dragging your drunken ass out of some guy’s arms in an alley—I’d really love to get your take on it.”
“Ashford Worthington.”
Jax tossed his wallet down on the seat after tipping the valet driver and turned her head to face him. “What about him?”
She opened her eyes long enough to see worry flash across Jax’s face. “He was dancing with me…” It was a struggle to get her words out.
“Ash was with you?”
“We danced, but then he wanted us to leave.” She wrapped her arms around herself, scooting down in the seat. “He said he’d been looking for me and I was hidden away.”
On the drive home, Jax was talking on the phone to someone. He was telling him or her about Ash being at the club and saying that they needed to push harder for the negotiation with the Mesen. He must have thought she was asleep, because he went on to say he needed a better way to keep her away from Tanner.
Chapter 30