Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin by Mariana Zapata
Just as soon as I opened my mouth to tell the TCC guys I had implants and that they should shut the hell up, two people beat me to it. Two totally unexpected people.
My brother.
And Sacha.
They spoke at the same time, making it was hard to figure out what exactly was said, but it sounded like a mix of “Would you shut the fuck up?”
I blinked. Then I blinked some more, totally caught off-guard by the ugly, unyielding tone in both of their voices. A knot formed in my throat, and I swear, for one long minute I just sat there absorbing the fact that they’d said something. Finally, quickly, the moment clicked and I remembered what was going on.
“Why?” That might have been Mateo asking.
It was Sacha that leaned across the table to glare at his bandmate, a no-nonsense expression on his face that made the corners of his mouth go tight. “Because you sound like ignorant assholes. My mom had surgery done. Are you calling her a slut?”
The silence that came over the table was deafening.
And so, so, so fucking awkward. Holy shit.
But it was the anger and loyalty radiating off the TCC singer and how it made me feel that shocked me the most. Did he know he was standing up for me? Of course not, but I took the victory to heart anyway, like he was my champion too.
I tipped my head to glance in Eli’s direction only to find him already looking at me. He gave me a wide-eyed and more than slightly impressed look that said, “what was that?”
I told him with my eyes, “I have no idea.”
His gaze said, “that was bad-ass.”
Mine replied, “I know.”
No one said much for the rest of dinner. Whether it was because we were all tired, too busy eating or if someone was feeling crabby because of how Sacha had reacted, I had no clue. I fell into the first two categories; I was also busy thinking about what he’d said about his mom. The curiosity was killing me, even though I knew full well it wasn’t any of my business whether it was true or not. Everyone finished eating and we all lined up to pay for our meals individually, with me paying for Eli’s when he happened to disappear. I waited by the doors for Sacha.
One of the last few people to pay, he was busy stuffing Aussie currency into his wallet when I said “Boo.”
He smiled faintly as he stuffed his wallet into the pocket of his jeans.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Sacha rolled his eyes and raised a shoulder. “Nothing that matters.” He reached up to tug the hood over my head again. “I’m glad you’re at least talking to me.”
I smiled at him, hoping the pleasure and pride I was feeling over what he’d done radiated onto my face. “I think you’re pretty wonderful right now.”
He had a funny expression on his face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I bumped my shoulder with his. “That was really nice of you, you know. Saying something to them,” I explained just in case he didn’t know what I was referring to.
Sacha glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, getting to the door first to hold it open before waving me forward. “Let’s go before everyone else finishes paying. I don’t want to deal them right now.”
Nodding, I went into the cool night with him following behind.
We walked in silence for a little bit before he suddenly said, “They’re real assholes sometimes.”
I shrugged my shoulders so that I wouldn’t outright say, yeah they are. “Well, you’ve known them for a long time and you’re together constantly. It happens.”
He nodded, his attention on the sidewalk as we made our way toward the hotel a few blocks down. “You know from experience?”
Another flashback of the incident so many years back flashed through my brain, and I had to fight the urge to snort. “You have no idea how mad those three have made me. I can feel a headache coming on just thinking about it.”
Sacha let out a soft little snicker.
Sensing he was still frustrated, I kept going. “Once, I went five months without talking to any of them. Before that I’d never gone more than a week without seeing them since kindergarten.”
“What happened?” he asked, and why wouldn’t he? If he’d mentioned the same thing to me, I would have asked too because I’m nosey.
“Well…” Damn it, what the hell could I say? I wasn’t exactly ready then—or possibly ever—to tell him about my boobs. I’d told Brandon about my operation the night I decided that I was ready to sleep with him for the first time. The three idiots knew because we’d been friends forever. There were no secrets between us. I’d been talking about getting the surgery done for years, but they knew mainly because it was them: my twin and the two guys who were pretty much skin tags I couldn’t get rid of.
But Sacha wasn’t a lifelong friend, and we weren’t about to strip down or make him my third boyfriend, so he was only going to get a small part of the story.
“They all got pretty drunk one night a few years ago and said some really mean stuff about me behind my back to the other guys on the tour.” I blew out a breath and bit the inside of my cheek. “I didn’t take it too well.”
He visibly winced. “Is that why you stopped touring with them?” he asked, obviously remembering our conversation from a month back.
I nodded. “They really hurt my feelings.”
“And that’s why you don’t like being around your brother when he’s been drinking?”
Damn, he was perceptive. “Bingo.”
“But you forgave them.”
“Of course. Besides my friend Laila that you met, they’re my best friends. Eli’s my twin. I’m kind of obligated to forgive him for all the stupid shit he’s ever done, but I told him before coming on this tour that I wasn’t going to do it unless he promised he wouldn’t drink around me like that again. It’s fine now. They’ll always get on my nerves and drive me a little nuts. It’s normal. I’m sure you know that.”
Sacha made a little humming noise in the back of his throat. “I go months without seeing them when we’re not on tour. Mat and Isaiah are roommates. Julian lives a couple blocks away from where they do, so they see each other often. I start to miss them sometimes when it’s been a while, but after a few weeks on tour, I remember why I don’t hang out with them when we’re home.”
He shook his head with an exasperated sigh. “There’s only so much you can take, being around the same people all the time.”
Well. Okay. That hurt a little.
I nodded, lowering my gaze to the ground. “Yeah, I get it,” I replied as the burn of what he’d said sizzled along my skin. I mean, he’d asked me to sit with him on the flight to Australia, hadn’t he? And he’d invited me to the soccer game, right? It wasn’t like I’d been chasing him around. No one had ever accused me of being terribly clingy or needy before.
But still. His words stung. A lot.
“Ah shit.” He sighed. “Gaby.”
“Huh?” I crouched to fiddle with my shoelace, trying to blink the rejection coursing through me away. Really, I hadn’t been trying to be a leech.
“Hey.” His voice was soft.
“Hmm?” I untied my shoelace and retied it, oblivious to the fact he was lowering himself to ground in front of me until his knees bumped mine. I could smell the spicy, clean scent of his shampoo and body wash. Why did I do this to myself? Why couldn’t I be attracted to someone that saw me as more than a friend?
More than anything, what I wanted in that instant was to not care that he’d just said he was tired of being around the same people all the time.
People like me.
I wished I could just walk off, give him the space he wanted, and not have it hurt my feelings. Because if it was Mason saying he was tired of having me around, I’d tell him to screw off and eat shit. Then an hour later, he’d probably give me a hug and ask me when we were going to have kids together.
But it was different with Sacha. Of course it was different with him, and that sucked.
“Hey.”
“Gaby, baby,” he said in that same soft voice that was so different from the one he used onstage every night to sing to his fans. Those big palms curved over my shoulders unexpectedly, and I made sure to keep my chin down. “I didn’t mean you.”
Fighting the urge to clear my throat, I nodded and forced myself to glance up, a tight smile framing my mouth. “I know,” I said, but the words sounded as forced as they felt.
The smile that came over him said he knew exactly how full of shit I was. Those harsh features that made his face so attractive, softened instantly. “Hey, I’m serious. I put my foot in my mouth. I didn’t mean you.”
“I know.” My chest… my chest felt weird. “Have you seen Eli?” I blurted out, anxious to get away.
“Fight Club,” he sighed. “Don’t look at me like that and make up some shit about your brother. He left when everyone got in line to pay anyway.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted. “I know what you meant, Sacha.”
“Sacha?” His thumbs drummed over my collarbones as he tipped his head down. “Now I know I really fucked up.”
“I’m fine. Really.” He shook his head, his expression an agitated one, and I forced a smile on my face. “Come on. Make sure no one kidnaps me on the walk back,” I said.
“You look like I just kicked you in your invisible nuts, and I feel like shit for saying something so stupid.” He slid his hands down my shoulders to my upper arms and finally to grip my hands, which were on my knees. He wrapped them in his before standing up, pulling me to my feet. He slid his hold until he had his fingers around my wrists, giving them a light squeeze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you. Pinky swear.” He squeezed again. His tone was gentle and low. “I would never mean you, honey. ”
I didn’t say anything, settling for a nod, and he sighed again. His thumb stroked over the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist, over a long vein that stretched on forever. Then he released me. “Let’s go.”
Keeping my eyes on the cement directly in front of each of my steps, I called myself an idiot for letting his words bother me and also for letting him know that they did. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why was I being so dumb about this? About him?
We had only walked a few feet in silence before he suddenly stopped. “How could you think I’d get tired of you? I’m the one always following you around. And—you’re so fucking cute, I can’t stand it half the time.”
Yeah, I was so distracted I didn’t see the curb.
I busted my fucking ass and almost ate concrete.
My knees thought they were competing in the figure skating national championships for first place, and my hands tried to win second.
Sacha shouted something, but I was too busy laughing at what happened—and telling myself to ignore the fact that he’d called me cute—to hear exactly what came out of his mouth. There were tears in my eyes as his hands went to arms to help me. Rolling onto my butt and then plopping it on the curb so that I wouldn’t get hit by a car—because that would be my luck—my chest shook.
“Are you okay?” he asked even as he sat next to me and flipped my palms up to take a look at them. “Oh, Princess,” Sacha hissed as the side of his thigh pressed against mine. Red scrapes with the barest hint of pooling blood marked the meaty parts of my hands.
“I’m okay,” I said on a shaky laugh as I peeked at the hands he was still holding in his. It was my knees that really stung. Pulling my leg close to my chest, I squinted and took in the two tears on my jeans between my shins and knees.
Honestly, I could have cried from the holes alone, damn it.
“Oh my God, these were my favorite,” I moaned.
“What happened?”
“My jeans are torn.”
Still holding my hands, his light gray eyes met mine. His mouth twitched. “You just fell on your face—”
“Not on my face—”
“—I thought you might have broken a wrist, and you’re worried about your jeans?”
Well, when he said it like that, it made me sound like an idiot. I coughed. “Yes, but I’m not hurt and these were my favorite pair,” I explained.
Sacha blew out a breath as he closed his eyes and shook his head.
I closed my fingers over his and snorted, taking in his features since he looked like he was praying for patience or something close to it. I guess he wasn’t lying about being worried. I nudged him, ignoring the pain coming from my knees and palms. “It was pretty funny though, wasn’t it?” I used the same words he’d chosen when he’d kicked the ball at my face.
He didn’t reply for so long that I thought he really had been too worried to think that me missing the curb and falling to my hands and knees was hilarious.
Then he finally glanced up and the entire side of his mouth was screwed up high in the cutest expression I’d ever seen, and he shrugged one muscular shoulder. There was also a chance his eyes glittered. “It was pretty damn funny.”
Chapter Sixteen
"Get it off!" Julian howled, shimmying his back in front of Sacha.
Sacha was too busy being doubled over laughing his ass off to give half a shit about the fact that his friend had gotten crapped on by a bird.
For the second time in less than an hour.
We were at King's Park in Perth, the largest inner-city park in the world, the day after we’d arrived in the Land Down Under. Sacha, Julian, my brother, Isaiah and I had all caught a ride to the beautiful location late that morning. What had started with me banging on my brother’s door so he could accompany me somewhere, ended up becoming an extended invitation to the other guys during breakfast.
"Quit laughing and somebody wipe it off!" Julian was practically screeching as he made his stop in front of me, hoping I'd be his savior.
I wanted to help Julian with his issue. Really. I did. The problem was that I couldn't stop cracking up either.
“Gaby! Please! Get it off!”
It seriously took everything inside of me to get it together. I finally cleaned the gooey spot with the last napkin I’d tucked into my pocket earlier, but it took longer than it normally would have. A second later another bird swarmed overhead and made him start cursing in annoyance and probably fear. It was bad enough to get pooped on once, but twice? And in front of Eli and Sacha? There was no way Julian was ever going to be able to live it down.
"I feel like I should take a shit on you too now. What exactly am I missing out on, you know?" Eli cackled, slapping the poor guy on the back before immediately yanking his hand away and checking it with a grimace.
The same bird swooped dangerously over our heads, and I started crying, not imagining the look of pure horror on Julian's face all over again.
"You better run before they come after you again," Sacha teased him through a gulp of air. He stole a glance in my direction, and then lost it once more; this loud, belly-aching laugh that fueled my own.
I'm not sure how it happened, but Sacha and I were suddenly leaning on each other, forehead to shoulder despite the near foot in height difference. Warm breath on warm neck as we cracked up at Julian’s expense. I'm pretty sure he gave us the finger before stomping off to the exit that was on the other side of the park.
Eli and Isaiah followed after him, taunting him with threats about a bird coming for him.
When my chest finally started craving a lungful of breath, I pulled away and plopped down on the nearest bench to wipe my tears off and collect myself. "Would you laugh at me that much if I got crapped on?" I asked him.
He looked at me straight-faced, but it wasn’t serious at all, I could tell by the amusement in his eyes. "What do you think?" When I smirked at him, he winked and laughed. "I'd probably laugh harder, Princess, and take a picture to keep with me forever."
It was a little pathetic how much I enjoyed his teasing. On the other hand if the roles were reversed and it was him that
"I don't know how I feel about you looking at me while you're—," he made a face, "using the bathroom."
I gave him a shrug, which only made him shake his head, and thrust out a hand in my direction.
"Let's go catch up to them," Sacha said, wiggling those long, slim fingers in front of me.
"All right," I only just barely didn’t whine. Before the whole shitting incident, we'd all agreed to take a break and eat something at the café, but from the looks of it, that didn’t seem to be the plan.
We'd been walking around for hours, and I'd brought the wrong shoes. On top of that, my knee was still killing me from falling on it the night before when Sacha had said… well, what he’d said. I wasn’t letting myself think about it too much. Mase was always saying stuff without really meaning any of it; Sacha’s comments didn’t have to be any different.
He raised an eyebrow and moved his fingers faster. "Come on. I'll give you a piggyback ride back, you cripple," he offered.
Piggyback ride? Yes. Piggyback ride on Sacha's back? Double, triple, infinity yes. I slapped my fingers out and took his hand without a second thought, letting him pull me up.
"Hop on before I leave you to the birds," he threatened.
"Yes, sir," I told him while I jumped as high as possible. He grabbed the backs of my thighs and hoisted me up a little more while I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Let's go, my chariot. I've cleaned up enough shit for the day."
He laughed and slapped me high on my thigh before beginning our walk down the path. We were both quiet for all of a minute or two before Sacha turned his head a little so that his cheek was right next to mine. "I like the way you smell. What is that, oranges?"
"Yes. I took a shower this morning," I reminded him while trying not to be shameless and inch my face closer to his.
"Was today your once-a-week shower?" he deadpanned.