Page 128 of Hard Rock Tease

“I don’t have to actually dance, do I?”

“Nah. We’re mostly going to be sitting and drinking and possibly flirting with groupies.”

It was a new experience for me to walk right through a red velvet rope without waiting in line. In fact, it was a new experience for me to walk into a dance club at all. I preferred listening to my music live, not through tinny speakers with DJs spinning terrible remixes that ruined the original songs.

Our private booth was on the second-floor balcony, so we could look over the dance floor and take in the sight of gyrating hips and wandering hands. Jayce made sure to sit on the opposite end of the booth, as far away from me as he could manage. We tried to avoid each other’s eyes as best as we could.

“Here.”

Ren put a glass of something neon pink in my hand. The condensation felt wet and cool against my already heated skin. For all the fancy trappings and high-tech decor, the club didn’t have the best air conditioning.

“Thanks.” I took a sip and was pleasantly surprised. The drink wasn’t sickly sweet like its color made it seem. I might have looked like the kind of girl who only drank candy-flavored cocktails, but I had an appreciation for harder liquors as well. “What is it?”

Ren shrugged. “No idea. I just saw another girl drinking it. How is it?”

“Great. Keep ‘em coming.”

My phone pinged, and I snuck a quick glance at the screen. I was supposed to be relaxing, not working, but I couldn’t help it. I guessed people were right when they called me internet-addicted.

must be nice, getting to follow the band around like a stray dog

do you blow them all backstage after concerts?

Another jealous fan? Or the same one? This was getting old. Just because I ran the social media accounts for a rock band, didn’t mean I was sleeping with all of them.

I fought back a blush as I thought about Jayce and dismissed the message.

I was happy to continue drinking my neon cocktails. The rest of the band mostly drank plain beer, but Morris stuck to a glass of something lightly amber colored, whiskey perhaps. I thought he’d get more wasted than the rest of the band, but, surprisingly, he was the soberest. Kell, on the other hand, was gone after only a handful of beers. He got louder and more obnoxious as the night went on, but the rest of us were pleasantly buzzed enough to find him hilarious and not annoying.

“Okay, okay, guys, seriously now, we’ve got to play a drinking game.”

Morris groaned into his glass. “Kell, man, remember the last time that happened?”

“No.”

“Exactly.”

“Our little Ailey here has been working so hard lately, let’s all let loose and have a little fun.”

“I’m in,” Ren said, raising his beer in a cheer.

“Sure, fine,” Jayce chimed in. He stared down the neck of his beer as if contemplating the mysteries it held.

“What kind of drinking game?” I asked, feeling a bit nervous.

“Never have I ever!” Kell crowed.

“What’s that?”

“We go around in a circle, and each person says something they’ve never done,” Ren explained. “If you have, you take a drink.”

“Or a shot,” Kell chimed in.

“Let’s not get too crazy tonight,” Ren said. “We have another show tomorrow.”

“You’re no fun,” Kell grumbled, but quickly cheered up. “All right, Ailey, you go first.”

I was put on the spot, so I blurted out the first thing that came into my head. “I’ve never gone skydiving.”