Page 63 of Animal Beats

“Thanks. I don’t think I could stop him tonight.”

I turn to find the drummer in order to give him the ground rules when Bennett’s hand shoots out to me. “You’re good with him. I really appreciate what you’re doing. I couldn’t bear to lose him the way we did Darren.” He kisses my cheek.

“Hey,” Río barrels over to us. “You got your own woman!” He manhandles me so I’m standing with his arm around me.

Bennett’s green eyes round for a split second. He raises his hands. “I’m one hundred percent Jenna’s, dude. I have to say, though, I didn’t see this coming.”

Río pulls me in tighter to his body. “A babysitter can have several duties.”

“I can see that.” Bennett offers me a wink. “Good luck with this one,” he hooks his thumb toward the drummer, who’s still attached to my side. With an appraising look, he adds, “My money’s on you.”

In more ways than one.

Bennett saunters into The Closet to get his tea from Jenna. I pull away from Río. “The purple shirt looks great on you.”

“Thanks.” He plays with the cuffs. “Feels weird to be wearing one, but I suppose the club would prefer me to wear it.”

I smile. “Good call.” Glancing around, all the other band members are still getting dressed. Might as well rip off this bandage. “I want to talk with you about when we’re at the club.”

“Hayden, I love you, but I’m not going to drink Shirley Temples all night.” He punctuates his sentence with a kiss on my lips.

Love? I mentally smack myself. He doesn’t mean anything by it. I can’t afford to get caught up in him, no matter how right our connection feels at this moment.

Stepping back, I say, “I wasn’t going to tell you to drink mocktails. How about we strike a deal?”

His head tilts. “What sort of deal?”

I raise two fingers. “For every drink you have, you need to drink two glasses of something non-alcoholic. Your pick. Water, soda, zero percent beer.”

“Two to one?”

I nod. Better be clear. Don’t want him drinking a hundred glasses of water. “Limit is two.”

“Let me get this straight. I can drink two Gold Rushes and four glasses of pussywater? All night? That’s it?”

I scrunch up my face at his descriptor. “No. You can have two Gold Rushes throughout the evening. You must have four glasses of water or a soft drink as well, but you can have as many of those as you’d like.”

“But I can drink two Gold Rushes?”

“Yes,” I nod. “You may have two.”

Río whoops and picks me up. “Alright! I got my babysitter to bend her rules. I’m counting that as a win!”

My feet touch the floor as Coop approaches us, elbowing Río in the ribs. “Ready to hit it?”

“Damn straight. Especially since my babysitter gave me a free pass!”

I rear back. “That’s not what I said.”

Coop laughs. “I bet it isn’t. What say you, Hayden?”

I give the guitarist my ground rules. “They seem reasonable to me.” He turns to the drummer. “How about this. I’ll drink with you, one for one. So you won’t be alone.”

Wow. To have a best friend like that with you on tour is something. Río has to understand even though he didn’t start out life with love, he’s surrounded by it now.

My musings are interrupted by Luke, who ushers everyone to the waiting SUV’s. Please let this be the right call. When we arrive, we’re greeted by who I guess are the club’s owners. Seems as if they put the word out that UC was coming, since the streets are lined with people shouting for the guys. Like the pros they are, each band member shakes hands and pauses for selfies. Doesn’t seem to matter that Bennett’s with Jenna, as the women still paw him. I turn my attention to Río, who has his hands filled with Spanish women. I shove jealousy down deep. This is his job.

Río separates from the group, and I follow him over to a guy selling fans on the street. He opens a couple and waves a black and red one toward me. “Think Mila would like this?”