slow to grow, but when it was done, his teeth were showing. “The kid can do it. Convinced now, Drez?”
Placing the microphone aside, he cracked another bottle of water and chugged all of it. Wiping his mouth with his arm, he shrugged. “Guess it was nerves after all.”
Squirming, I gripped the neck of my guitar. The squint Drezden shot my way said he wasn't as convinced as he claimed.
“Break time. I need some air,” Colt said, shoving out from behind the drum set. He smiled at me as he passed. "You hungry, Lola?"
Clutching my stomach, I stood. “Yeah, actually I—oh!” Saliva and blood slid from my mouth. Clasping a palm over my jaw, I swallowed. I wanted to hide the evidence of my brutal tongue gnawing.
Lifting my eyes, my paranoia revealed only Drez looking my way. Porter and Colt were both brushing past the curtain, laughing together about something else.
Did he see? He wasn't moving, just standing there with his arms folded. Fuck. How bad did I bite my tongue? But I needed to, it worked! I played the song perfectly. My heart was hammering in my throat.
“How bad is it?” he asked me.
I shook my head, voice muffled on my own hand.
Lowering his eyebrows, Drez leaned in close. That froze me on the spot. I didn't fight when he grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand away. He looked me over, but not like a doctor would. It was more like a coroner examining a corpse. He studied me, but there wasn't a level of caring anywhere. “Open up,” he said flatly.
To my amazement, I hesitated. Drez was stunned too, his eyes glimmering as they went wide. That was replaced by a grim set of teeth. “I said open up, kid.” Without waiting, he squeezed my cheeks, thumb digging in one side and fingers the others. It hurt, my lips parting with my gasp of pain.
“Back off!” I said, pulling away, flushing with too many sensations at once. My tongue burned, but my cheeks rivaled it. What was Drez thinking, touching me like that? He had no right to get so close to me. It made me angry...
And it made me dizzy.
“You bit the hell out of your tongue.” It was a casual observation, his hands releasing me and squeezing his hips. “What were you thinking?”
Wiping at my lips, I saw the smear of pink on my arm. “I was thinking I would finish a song, that's all.”
Snorting, Drez gave me a once over. “There are better ways than chewing yourself up.”
His eyes said he wanted to chew me up, himself. I didn't comment on it, but my wavering stare must have hinted at what I suspected; I saw it reflected in his eyes.
He smoothed his hair back, looking away and breaking the moment. There was no fake flattery in his voice when he spoke. “You're good on the guitar, but your decisions are insane. That injury has to hurt.”
It throbbed, in fact. I kept rubbing it on my teeth like it was an itch to scratch and making it worse. The bleeding is slowing, I think. “It hurts a little, but I've had worse.”
That got him to arch an eyebrow at me. “What the hell is acting tough supposed to do? Impress me?”
The wind vanished from my sails. I was trying to impress him. More so, I was trying to get him to leave me alone. I was embarrassed about the decision to hurt myself. It wasn't anything to be proud of, but I couldn't explain that.
Not to him. Not to anyone.
“Come on,” he said, digging something from his pocket. His phone was black, glossy like a beetle. “I'll call Brenda, she can take a look at you.”
Now I was humiliated. “No!” Drez paused, looking at me expectantly. “Don't... just don't call her. This isn't a big deal.”
He held the phone like a gun. “You don't want me to call her? Fine. Let me take a look at how bad you bit yourself, and I won't.”
"That's blackmail," I spat. Drezden ignored me, stalking my way and erasing the gap between us. Our chests were a breath from rubbing together, I could see the flecks of gold in his smoky green eyes.
“Open,” he whispered.
I didn't think about it; I just did it.
Drezden cupped my chin, keeping me still. Hilariously, I began worrying if my breath reeked. What a stupid thing to think about, I chided myself. I had more things to concern me. Things like how his fingers felt so