Jealous God 5

Jax

“Why don’t you like her?”

Dion’s words took me by surprise, and I almost dropped the cards in my hand. Playing poker was one of the ways we always unwound after a gig if there were no parties for us to attend, and especially if we had to get straight on the road. It was a small way to blow off the adrenaline generated by playing live in front of thousands. Fucking and partying were better, but none of us would get any of that tonight since we were already on the road. By the time the sun came up we would be well on the way to our next gig. 

It was always this way on tour. A mad rush. I had travelled the word several times over, and yet I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually explored a city. There was never any time to do that. The schedule was always brutal, and it was always the same.

“Who are you talking about?” Even as I said the words, my eyes travelled to the back of the bus. To the one bedroom that Dion had given up for Elodie so she could have some semblance of privacy. Turning slightly, he stared back at the door as well before turning back to me.

“You know exactly who.” Shaking his head, he made a show of studying the cards in his hands. “Eli.”

Tearing my eyes away from her closed door, I met my best friend’s eyes. “I don’t hate Elodie. I don’t feel anything about her at all,” I lied easily. 

Dion’s tongue played across his lip ring. One look at his face and I knew he didn’t believe a word that was coming out of my mouth. “You know,” he drawled, “you are the only person who calls her Elodie. Even the security guys call her Eli.”

“Goldilocks,” I mumbled without meaning to and instantly regretted it.

One of Dion’s dark eyebrows arched up, and his movements stilled. “Yeah, I’ve noticed you call her that as well. Mostly under your breath when you think no one is listening.”

I made a mental note to be more careful.

“Her hair is dark brown, not gold, so why Goldilocks?” 

It was my turn to shrug. “No idea.” Except that was a lie. I knew exactly why I had fallen into the habit of calling her that. Because it had been the first thing I had called her when I found her asleep in the wrong bed. I wasn’t about to tell him that, though. “And I know what colour her hair is.” Laying my cards face down on the small table, I sighed. “And I don’t hate her. I don’t even know her.”

“Well, you either hate her or you want to fuck her.”

Fuck her? My cock jumped to attention in my jeans, more than down with that idea. But then again, it had always had a mind of its own. Damn thing got me into trouble more than I liked to admit. 

“I don’t know her.”

“Since when has that stopped you?”

Dion had a point there, but it was one I was going to ignore. Erik had been pretty clear that Elodie was off limits to all of us. So it didn’t really matter whether I wanted to bed her or not. I couldn’t do it. Not without some serious repercussions. Anyway, I didn’t much fancy the awkwardness between us the morning after. Especially when she was going to be Dion’s shadow for the next few weeks, and I would have to see her face day in and day out. 

“Just give her a chance, ok?” Dion placed his cards down next to mine. Our game was over before it had even really started. “She’s a...”

I didn’t want to hear from him what she was because I already knew what she was: stuffy, uptight. Even the way she dressed and held herself put her apart from us. I mean, who wore a damn suit jacket to one of our concerts? Not even Erik was that stuck up. 

“I'll give her a chance because she’s here for you,” I answered slowly. “And because you seem to like her.”

“Everyone likes her, Jax, everyone but you.” Dion’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Maybe you do need to fuck her out of your system.” 

He meant it as a joke. But it didn’t feel like a joke. It felt like a bloody brilliant idea.

Brilliant and utterly stupid.

Just one look at the mess Dion was in over a girl who didn’t really belong in our circle told me that. Good girls shouldn’t come anywhere near us.

“I would have to pull the stick out of her ass first though,” I countered, draining the last of my beer. I let the dregs of the cold liquid hit my tongue and tossed the bottle back onto the table. I would tidy it all up in the morning. All I wanted to do at that moment was crawl into my bunk and draw the curtain across. I needed time to think. Dion had given me a lot to think about in a few short sentences. Because the lead singer of Dionysus Rising had a point. My outward animosity towards Elodie was weird. And people were beginning to notice. 

“I’m going to get some sleep,” I said when he didn’t speak. It was a pointless statement, but I felt like I needed to say it, anyway. 

“Just give her a chance, ok? For me?”

I stared at him for several seconds before I slid out from the bench with a nod. I would give her a chance for him. I would even dial down the bubbling dislike for her, but only because he needed her help. “Fine, for you, brother. But keep her away from me, ok?”

***

It was late when I woke up the next morning. The bus was quiet, and it took me a few seconds to realise that we were no longer moving. Rolling over onto my side, I almost tumbled from the high bunk and onto the floor. 

Just how long had I been asleep? Fumbling for my phone, I found it dead and tossed it like the useless piece of crap it was back onto the bunk. If we had stopped, it was either early, and the driver had made a pit stop, or it was late, and we had already reached our destination. 

It was just a shame I couldn’t remember what destination it was. After a while, all the cities began to blur together. 

Swinging my legs down onto the floor, I went in search of Dion, and as much as I hated to admit it to myself, I was looking for Elodie as well. Her door was shut, but that didn’t mean anything. She kept that door shut, whether she was in there or not. 

“Huh?” Rubbing at my eyes, I squinted at the sight that met my eyes. Dion was awake, dressed and looking bright-eyed and bushy tailed. There was a mug of steaming coffee in front of him and what looked and smelt like a tantalising bacon sandwich. 

“Morning, handsome,” Dion chirped cheerfully. He almost sounded like his old self. Almost. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t hungover that put that lightness back in his voice. “Breakfast?”

“You went out and got breakfast?” Thankfully, I accepted the steaming mug he handed to me. 

He shook his head. “No, Eli cooked. It was all ready when I got up.” His eyes closed as he took a sip. “I have to admit touring with a girl isn’t too bad at all. I could get used to it.”

I didn’t say anything about the fact that we had been touring with a girl for as long as we had been touring. The last thing Dion needed was a reminder of his ex-girlfriend, Isla. And anyway, there was never a time that Isla got out of bed early to cook for us. She would have punched us straight in the face just for hinting that she should. 

“Where is she?” I was talking about Elodie and not our absent, pregnant, original drummer.

“Out.” He took another sip, eyeing me over the rim of his coffee. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious. Is there another sarnie going?” Without waiting for him to answer, I snatched one from him instead. 

“Help yourself, why don’t you? But to answer your question, she went out pretty much as soon as she finished up here. Told me she needed to go shopping.”

Shopping? I felt my eyebrows rise as I flicked my eyes outside. The windows were heavily tinted, which gave us our privacy, but I could see we were parked up, that was for sure. However, from my angle, I couldn’t see where the hell we were. Another parking lot, in another nameless city that I wouldn’t get to see. “Where are we?”

“Chicago,” Dion said around a mouthful of food.

“She went out on her own?” I didn’t know why it bothered me, but it did. She was a grown woman, after all, but still. “Did Erik give her a car or…?”

“Look at you being all protective and shit, Jax, but to answer your question, she isn’t alone, no. I think Erik sent one of the security guys with her. All I know is that she said she would be back before the show tonight.”

“Ok, well, that’s good. Chicago is a big city. I would hate for her to get lost, so it's good that one of the guys is with her.” Although if I was truthful, I didn’t know how I felt about her being with the crew. Even the security. If she was too stuck up for us, then she sure as hell didn’t belong anywhere near the bikers we employed to run our security. The very thought of her on the back of a Harley was enough to make me crack a grin. 

“What’s the smile for?”

“Just trying to imagine her on the back of one of the Sons' bikes.” I chuckled. “It’s a funny image.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Dion’s lips quirked up in the corner. “It looked pretty hot to me.”