One More Time - Ali Parker Page 0,25

hooking up with Alicia was the biggest event to impact the band in a long time, the fans are dying to know who’s next.”

Matt, Nick, and Dom had agreed to a sit-down so I could get a different story angle, but so far, all I was getting was frustrated. Nick and Matt had a way of turning everything into a joke and not taking anything seriously, insisting on talking about partying and just about nothing else.

I wasn’t actually interested in their love lives, but I was curious about their personal approaches to romance. Nick smirked, sliding his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose. He’d been wearing them despite being indoors, claiming that the late morning sunlight filtering in through the windows was hurting his eyes. Again, on account of his partying the night before.

“Romance? I can do romance, as long as it’s limited to one night only. I don’t do repeat performances.” He winked, though it was more playful than lascivious, then pushed the dark lenses back over his beautiful eyes. Even red-rimmed, his greenish brand of hazel made you want to lean in closer and closer to distinguish where the differing colors originated.

“You’re a one-night-stand man, then?” I asked, getting back on track. At least I’d gotten a real answer from him this time.

Nick mimed a drum roll and nodded. “You got it. There’s only so much of this to go around. Wouldn’t be fair to deprive anyone. We’re one man down as it is.”

“Jared?” I hadn’t thought that they would feel like they’d lost a man to monogamy. It turned out I was wrong as Nick pouted and nodded again.

“Right again. Someone has to pick up the torch. Might as well be me.” He sounded cheerful again. “I should remember to thank Alicia for that actually.”

“Really? Why is that, though? I mean, don’t you want someone to come home to and to settle down with? Or have you been hurt before? Is that it?”

A low shout of laughter erupted from Matt, while Dom rolled his eyes and Nick grunted back a chuckle. “Nope, nothing like that. I’m a rock star, baby. Don’t you agree that I deserve as many women as possible?”

Not really. “I guess. That’s an interesting perspective at the very least. What about the two of you?”

Turning my attention to Matt and Dom, I resisted the urge to gape at Nick. Or maybe to slap some sense into him. He deserved as many women as possible? What an ass. Rockstar or not, gorgeous and playful and talented or not, it was a pretty arrogant outlook to have on life as far as I was concerned.

Matt grinned at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he turned a heavy silver ring around his index finger. “Ignore Nick. He has a lot of growing up to do.”

He dodged Nick’s elbow, which came jabbing at him, chuckled, and met my eyes. Where green was the dominant color in Nick’s eyes, today anyway, blue was the color of the day for Matt. Turquoise really, like the ocean under a glittering sunrise on a beautiful, sunny, tropical day at the Indian Ocean.

“I’m all grown, wanna see?” Nick joked, but when he started reaching for his zipper, I was hoping that he was actually joking. Dom shot him a glare, and while Nick flipped him off, he settled back into his chair and let go of his zipper.

“So, where were we?” I asked Matt, writing his name at the top corner of my tablet screen and drawing a block around the other notes I’d scribbled from Nick’s answer.

“You were ignoring Nick, and I was about to answer your question about romance,” he said. I tapped my nose and waited for his answer. He took a second to think about his answer before giving it. “I’ve been labeled as a playboy or a player.”

I laughed, appreciating his frank acknowledgment of the rumors surrounding him, but I didn’t interrupt.

“I’m not though,” he said. “At least, I don’t think I am.”

“You don’t?”

A tiny crease appeared between his eyebrows as he considered my question, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. “I don’t. I’m not adverse to settling down like Masters here is. I just like to party, and women usually don’t like that about me. So for now, I’m just doing my thing.”

“Just doing your thing,” I repeated, knowing that his quote was going to get a lot of women vying to show him that she could be the one