turning to him. He was paler than Lottie, as if he spent all day in his basement, but he had deep brown eyes and the cheekbones of a model under a mop of dishwater blond hair.
“No, I wouldn’t say that it sucks. It’s just really common. So is Christopher, which is my real name.”
“Nice save, Per,” Stryker said, giving him a thumbs up. “So you want a drink before we do another?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said.
“Okay, take five,” Stryker said in a mock serious voice. Everyone broke up, and some went outside to smoke while Stryker took me into the kitchen and handed me a beer from the fridge. I felt Ric’s eyes following my every move.
“So what do you think?” he said as I popped the top and took a swig. Beer wasn’t really my drink of choice, but I wasn’t going to turn it down.
“You guys are amazing. I feel intimidated by your talent.”
He grabbed another drink and leaned against the counter.
“Are they what you expected?” That was a loaded question.
“Honestly, I was expecting more tattoos, scary guys with motorcycles and girls who looked like they could rip my spleen out with one hand.”
He raised his pierced eyebrow. “So you thought my friends would be scary?”
I leaned next to him on the counter, our shoulders touching, and sighed.
“I don’t know. Are you mad at me?” I swirled the bottle in my hand.
“Hey,” he said, bumping my shoulder lightly. “Do you think I’m scary?”
“Well, the first time I met you, you did have fake fangs on, sooo…” I bumped him back.
“Haha,” he said. “That is true.”
“I’m not scared of you,” I said, lying through my teeth. I was terrified of him, but not in the way he thought. I was scared of how I felt around him.
“I’m not scared of you, either.” Our eyes met and I thought he was going to kiss me, but a voice invaded our moment.
“Hey, Stryk, do you think you could give my engine a look? It started making this noise on the way over, and you know that Baxter wouldn’t know a spark plug if it bit him on the ass,” Ric said with a little grin, appearing out of absolutely nowhere.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll be right back.” He touched my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “Don’t get scared while I’m gone.”
“I won’t,” I whispered back. Ric saw the exchange, and gave me the briefest of glares before turning on the charm with Stryker again.
“Soooo, Pinky. Where the hell did you come from?” Allan said, coming back in with the smoking group.
“Just ignore him,” Zoey said, going to the fridge. Out of all the girls, she was the least ‘modified,’ and just had a nose ring and had her light brown hair chopped into a messy bob. “That’s what I do.”
“Oh, come on Zo. You know you want me,” he said, coming up behind her and pretending to kiss her neck. She jammed her elbow back, getting him in the gut, and he doubled over falling to the floor, groaning while everyone else laughed.
Zoey put her foot on his chest, as if she was going to stomp on it. “For the millionth time, Allan, it’s never going to happen.”
“Because I have a penis,” he moaned, still on the floor.
“Yes, because you have a penis and you’re also a dick.” She ground her foot back and forth and then lifted it off him. He grinned up at her.
“Not always.”
She rolled her eyes and stepped over him, going back to the couch.
“Are you okay?” I said. No one else seemed concerned about Allan, who was still writhing on the floor.
“Yeah, I’m good.” He pushed himself up, using the counter to get fully vertical again. “She just shuts me down every time. I’m not a dick. Well, at least not most of the time.”
“I’m reserving judgment,” I said, crossing my arms.
He laughed, pointing at me. “I like you. I hope you stick around. Do you sing or play or anything?”
“Ah, no. I’m just here as a groupie, I guess.” Stryker came back in, and it wasn’t my imagination that his eyes searched the room until he found me.
“You have any sisters? Friends?” He winked and that made me laugh.
“They’re taken. But nice try,” I said, walking past him and patting him on the shoulder. “There is a lid for every pot.”
I sat down next to Stryker again.
“How was the engine problem?” I said, resisting putting sarcastic emphasis on “engine problem.”