finishing touches on Jake's eyes and then moved onto Brandon. He was the easiest because he talked the least. Though I was fairly certain, he could've done without the makeup and only resigned himself to my attentions because of Captain. Actually, that was why all of the guys allowed me to enhance their looks. Liam, however, never let me go near his face. He was the one exception. I'd already done Knight and intentionally saved my best friend for last.
"Hey," Captain said when I stepped in front of him. "You okay? I know the guys can be annoying, but they're alright."
"I'm fine," I assured. "Now, close your eyes, so I can do my thing."
"You got it."
I was just about to put the liner to his eyes when I felt someone watching us. Looking to the right, I noticed Knight standing there with this look on his face that spelled trouble. The others had already exited the room.
"Need something?" I asked.
"Oh no," he said. "I was waiting to see if there'd be a repeat performance. In case you forget to record this one, Anne, you little minx."
The joke made heat rise from my chest to my cheeks. I knew exactly what he meant.
"Dude," Captain said and threw his pick at him. "Get out of here!"
Knight dodged it with a laugh. "Okay, okay, I'm going," he said. "Sheesh. You used to be more fun."
"If you're not gone in two seconds," Captain warned, "I'll show you how much fun my fist can have with your face."
It was an empty threat. Knight and I both knew that, but with an eyeroll he left, and Captain looked back up at me.
"Sorry about him" he said and closed his eyes. "Please. Finish what you were doing."
I had the incredible urge to kiss him right then. Captain was sitting there, his face open, eyes shut, just like he'd been when I'd kissed him the first time. Seeing him like that again… It gave me a lot of thoughts—none of which I should've been having about my best friend.
But I was able to control myself.
Finishing his makeup in under a minute, I said, "Okay, you're all set."
"Thanks, Anne," he said, staring up at me.
"Don't you want to check and make sure I did a good job?"
Captain shook his head. "No. I trust you."
Well, that's good, I thought as he left to join the others onstage. I wished I could trust myself more around him. But with that kiss still so fresh in my mind, yeah, I needed to watch myself.
And definitely stop thinking of Captain in more than friendly terms.
#
I was failing.
Miserably.
It would've been much easier to think of Cap as just a friend if he wasn't up there, playing that guitar like he owned it, looking tempting as heck in front of a rowdy crowd. Hero complex had drawn a lot of people out tonight. I estimated at least half of the attendants were female.
"They are so freaking hot." A girl to my right had a soda in her hand and her eyes glued to the stage. "I'm so glad you convinced me to come tonight, Dorothy."
"Me, too!" Her friend laughed. "Though it was like pulling teeth! I know you really wanted to go to that party at Roman's. But then you would've missed all this male beauty!"
The pretty blonde nodded. "So hot."
And they sound wonderful, too, I thought. Couldn't deny it. They were absolutely correct. Every member of Hero Complex was gorgeous. But in addition to that, they were having a great night up there.
"Hey, do you know if the guitar guy is single?" she asked.
"Which one?"
"Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome over there. The one playing the solo right now."
That made me sit up straighter. She was talking about Captain.
"Eep! I don't. But he is so your type, Gwen."
"I know." Gwen, the blonde, nodded. "If he's single, I'm going for it."
"Over Roman already?" Dorothy asked.
"I think I could be with a little help from guitar guy."
The two laughed while I internally cringed. Hero Complex was nearly done with their last song. I wasn't sure why, but her words made my chest feel tight.
Captain and the others finished their set to raucous applause. When they stepped down from the stage, they came straight to my table. Which was also unfortunately right in line with the girl who'd been checking out my best friend.
He walked over to me and grinned.
"So?" he said. "Did you like it?"
I rolled my eyes. "Of course! Me and like every other person in