More Than Exes (Chasing The Dream, #0.5)

Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

If there was one thing I’d learned, it was that good guys never got the girl. Even if the good guy was covered in tattoos and piercings and wore an old Joy Division shirt with the sleeves cut off. Nope, the ladies would still recognize him (or in this case, me) for what he was and ditch him for the guy who practically screamed, I’ll break your heart. Usually that guy was my brother, Jared.

My Saturday night had just begun, and I’d already had the lesson drilled into my head. We’d unloaded all our gear and stashed it backstage but had hours to spare before we were scheduled to go on. It seemed pointless to arrive at the club so early, but the organizers of the UCLA vs. USC Battle of the Bands had told us to show up at 6:30 PM, and Jared would sooner slit his wrists than be late.

With so much downtime before our 10:30 PM set, I headed for the bar to grab us a couple of beers. On the Rocks was a small club in Hollywood that held a few hundred people. The place was almost empty now, but we were the last band to perform and I figured it would fill up by then. The few who’d arrived early stood around in the big, dark room either at the bar along the back wall or in front of the small stage where the first band was setting up. I didn’t recognize them, so they must have been from USC.

At the bar, a girl with a red plastic cup in each hand nearly crashed into me. She took a quick step back, but one of the drinks slipped from her grasp. I managed to catch it without even a spill. Not bad, if I said so myself.

“Wow, great save,” she said, taking the drink from me. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Sorry I almost knocked you over.”

“Totally my fault.” She looked me up and down, checking out the ink on my arms. “Hey, you look familiar.”

The girl was hot, with bleached hair and a low-cut, black dress showing off a small butterfly tattoo between her breasts. Definitely my type. I didn’t want to get too excited, but damn, it had been way too long since I’d gotten laid. Or gone out with anyone. Tonight might finally be my lucky night.

“Do you go to UCLA?” I asked. I didn’t recognize her, but it was a pretty safe bet most people at the show either went to my school or to our rival. “Maybe we have a class together.”

“I do.” She cocked her head and studied me again. “Are you in Villain Complex?”

A fan of the band? This was getting better and better. “Yeah. I play keyboard.”

“That’s how I know you!” She laughed a little, and her chest bounced, making it look like the butterfly was flapping its wings. Must not stare, must not stare. “I saw you play last week at that parking lot show. You guys were amazing! I went home and bought all your songs from your website.”

“Thanks.” I offered her my hand and smiled. “My name’s Kyle, by the way.”

She juggled the drinks into one hand and slipped the other into mine. “Tiffany.”

She liked our band, she seemed interested in me, but now what? I couldn’t offer to buy her a drink since she had two already. Why did she have two? Was she going to meet someone? No, she was giving off that single vibe so probably here with a friend. I needed to make a move but had to keep it cool, too. Think, think, think. Man, I sucked at this pick-up-line stuff. Oh, I could ask her about her major. That was always a pretty safe bet.

Before I got the chance, she asked, “So I guess you know Jared Cross?”

And just like that, any hope I had of getting some action suffered a swift and violent death. Womp womp. “Yeah. He’s my brother.”