Losing Traction: Westbeach #1

  Aside from the heartbreaking situation that this was, my cock thought it was play time with his favorite play buddy. Shit.

  Think grandmas, think grandmas.

  The door creaked open, revealing Ryker with his head popping around the door. I threw my finger up to my lip, “Shhh.” His eyes went straight to Phoebe, his features softening at the sight of her peaceful form. I’d never in my life, ever seen the side Phoebe brought out in Ryker. They had a love-hate relationship, I think. I got the feeling that she wanted to rip him a new one—but God forbid anyone else who tried to rip him a new one—and the feeling was mutual with him as well. He nodded his head, leaving the door ajar a little. Wrapping my hand around her arm, I slowly pulled it off me. When it came to letting her arm go, I couldn’t. I realized something—I was never going to see this girl again. My heart sunk deeper into my chest, the air began to tighten around me, sucking out all oxygen. I quickly dropped her arm, got out of the bed and threw my jeans back on before walking toward the door without so much as a second glance.

  Present Day

  We’re all walking through the airport, with Belinda and I, hanging behind Twisted Transistor and Alyx Munroe, who looks like she’s doing her best to try to keep up with the band. To see such a stuck on herself fruitcake desperately try to keep up with someone other than herself is amusing.

  Once we hit the doors, Belinda moves her mouth to my ear. “Pull your shades on, darling. Keep your head down and follow my lead.”

  I look to her, pulling my glasses down in confusion. When the electronic doors slide open, I suddenly see her reasoning.

  “Holy fuck!” I whisper to Belinda, knowing that she can’t hear me over all the screaming for Ryder and the boys. There’re metal gates that line all the way down, leading to a large stretch hummer limo. And on the other side of those gates, it’s packed with hundreds of fans and paparazzi screaming like I just walked out with Jesus himself. Ryder stops for a second, signing some girl’s private parts and smirking at her with a wink. Interesting. I’ve never seen that side to Ryder before, he was always the reserved brother. This, right here, looks like Ryker. He continues down, signing body parts that I did not want to see and smiling, posing with some of the girls. He’s an entirely different person out there, and again, I find myself thinking that that wasn’t the Ryder he showed me. I didn’t know him at all, he merely showed me and told me what I wanted to hear. I hate him. I can’t wait to get to my hotel so I can call Melissa and Meadow.

  They all get into the limo and take off while Belinda, me, and three others—two men and one young girl wait for another car. An Escalade limo pulls up, we all jump into the back seat and I shut the door behind me being the last one in.

  “That was intense,” I mutter under my breath, tying my hair into a high ponytail and removing my sunglasses.

  One of the girls opposite me laughs, shaking her turquoise hair. “That’s not even the worse of it. You’re Phoebe I take it?”

  I nod my head, looking at her up and down. She reminds me of an ‘Alice’ all her punky clothes, bright turquoise hair, and piercings.

  “That’s me.” I smile.

  She puts her hand out. “I’m Ginette, but you can call me Nettie. This is Dolton and Elijah.” She points to the men on either side of her. They smile and shake my hand. “We’re Alyx’s make-up and hair crew.”

  Understanding sets in. “Oh right, pleased to meet you all. So it’s usually worse than that, huh?” I ask, taking my water bottle out of my handbag.

  Nettie nods her head, brushing her hair back with her fingers, making her bangles clink together. “Yeah, have you been to one of Twisted Transistor concerts?” she asks.

  I shake my head and humph. “Nope, never.” Glancing out the window, I feel Belinda’s eyes on me. She has a mama bear feel about her, but I can’t trust these people. After all, I’ve only just met them.

  We pull into the hotel, and once I get out of the car I see the limo sitting in front of us. My tummy flips and I swallow past the lump that has formed in my throat. I’m beginning to think this was a bad idea. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a pussy and I don’t run. I empty my feelings into a bucket and push back my shoulders. Please, my dad raised me better than this. I didn’t get through my years by being soft. Walking to the back of the SUV, I begin pulling out my suitcase when the driver comes around quickly, his suit crisp and his dark brown hair standing styled on top of his head. His eyes are dark and his teeth pearly white. I recognize him from back in LA.

  “I’ll get that,” he says with a broad smile.

  “Thank you.”

  His eyes pull away from mine as he reaches for my bag. Pulling my sunglasses down, I follow behind the driver with the rest of our crew behind me. My guard slips an inch the second I see Alyx Munroe getting out of the car with Ryder and the rest of the boys. She’s smiling up at him and he smiling down at her though it’s not the smile I’ve seen come from his mouth, I feel a pang of jealousy overtake me. I didn’t realize that I’d stopped in my tracks, my mouth dropping instinctively causing Nettie to bump into me.

  “Shit, sorry Phoebe.” She rubs my back.

  I stop staring and look behind myself to them, smiling a fake smile. “It’s okay, I should have watched where I was going.” I carry on, trying my hardest to not give a flying fuck, but the truth of the matter is, I’m human. As much as I attempt to act as if some things don’t affect me, they do. I have become a pro at hiding my feelings. I had to because if my brother ever found out that a guy broke my heart, he’d kill them. Right now, I feel like locking myself in a bathroom with my two best friends and a box of ice-cream. I have no idea why he’s gotten to me so much. What I felt for those two weeks was obviously one sided.

  We carry on walking through the huge entrance of the hotel and I follow behind the driver until we reach one of the elevators. I purposely don’t turn around, ignoring the band and Alyx, who are waiting for their cart opposite ours.

  I look up to the driver. “Thanks for bringing my bags. You didn’t have to do that.”

  Hurry up, stupid elevator. Fuck!

  “It’s no problem,” he smiles down at me, “I’ll be driving you around a fair bit, I think.” Silence floats around us, leaving just him and me talking. It’s a habit, I talk too much sometimes when I’m nervous. Before a race, I’d chatter to the voices in my head. It helped and I don’t care if it sounds crazy.

  “Oh, okay. Well, I’ll be sure to pack light then.” The skin around his eyes crinkles and he smiles as both elevator doors ping open. I step into the sound of a soft piano music drifting through the speakers, swallowing down my feelings—again—I turn to face the band and Alyx, who are standing in their elevator facing me. Locking eyes with Ryder, who’s staring at me with such intensity that I almost falter and with Alyx under his arm. I do what any girl who’s hurting would do.

  I smirk at him.

  His face drops along with his arm, just as both our doors slide closed.

  My face drops and I slump against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. Belinda comes to stand next to me, her brown hair sitting like a halo around her neck, her clothes and make-up immaculately applied.

  “Honey, what the hell is going on? And don’t say nothing. That was not nothing.”

  I swallow, keeping my eyes locked on the roof. “I don’t know. I don’t know what that was.” There’s no way I’m going to go and burst everything out to Belinda, I don’t know her well enough yet. I’m sure she’s a lovely person, but they’re all lovely until they shit on you. That’s life, and that’s humans and that’s why I love animals so much.

  The doors ping open, and I breathe out a breath of relief when I see that they must have gone up to the penthouse.

  Nettie takes my hand. “We are sharing rooms! We go in doubles. Except for Belinda.”

  I look at Belinda with a smile. “Okay, cool.”

  Nettie has a lot of energy, always jumping around. I need me some of her energy. She slides the car
d down the door lock, pushing it open. The rooms are nice, with two single beds sitting in an enormous living room area. There’s not much to it, it’s quite small. I secretly hope that Nettie has an energy crash and actually relaxes sometime soon.

  “You can have that bed, and those drawers.”

  I nod. “Okay. So, we’re here for one show? Is that right?”

  She nods her head, unpacking her clothes into the drawers. “That’s right. The show is tomorrow night. We always get to our location a day before the show and leave the day after. It gives them enough time to relax.”

  “Alyx Munroe and Twisted Transistor? Never saw that coming.”

  “None of us did. It was a surprise. They’ve been working on a couple of songs together for about a year now…under the radar. None of us knew until we were told we were going on a world tour.”

  “Alyx is pop? Right? How the hell is that going to mix in with the hard rock of Twisted Transistor? It must be good,” I whisper, pushing my bag off my bed.

  “I have heard one of their songs, and it’s good. More rock than pop, apparently Ryder wanted nothing to do with it. It was all about a smart business decision.”

  “A smart business decision? For who? Twisted Transistor? They don’t need it.”

  She kicks off her shoes and answers, “For Alyx. After her stint in rehab, no one wants to touch her. So who better to kick off her career again than Twisted Transistor, rock legends, and idols.”

  I grunt out a tone of disapproval at her choice of words and flop down onto my bed. “Can I ask you something?”

  She folds her tops slowly. “Sure.”

  I lean onto my side, propping my head on my hand. “Do you enjoy your work?”

  She smiles, pushing her clothes into the drawer. “Of course. Don’t you?”

  I shake my head. “I hate it. I’m leaving after this. I have something else that needs my undivided attention.”

  Her bright eyes gleam. “Sounds interesting.”

  “It is. It’s my life. I’m opening my own race circuit in Westbeach. Where I’m from. I have around twelve of the best and hottest girl racers from around the world that will be flying in once every three months to race on my track. I’m giving these rich bastards something else to splash their money on that isn’t caviar and escorts.”

  She stops what she’s doing, smiling a huge smile at me. “Holy hell! That sounds amazing. I would love to check it out when it’s up and running.”

  I smile back at her, the passion I have for cars shining through my eyes. “I’ll hold you to that.” I get vibes from people sometimes, and mostly they’re pretty accurate.

  When it doesn’t involve a rock star and his power of seduction.

  Nettie seems genuine and nice. I think I could get along with her. I’m undecided on Belinda, and I don’t know Elijah and Dolton well enough yet.

  “So we have all day today and tonight to go check out the scenery. Tomorrow, we’ll be busy on our feet. You will need to go through Alyx’s wardrobe and attempt to put her into the appropriate clothes for her performances,” Nettie says, slipping into some ballerina flats.

  I get off the bed and pull my Vans out of my bag, along with some cutoff shorts and a tight fitting camisole tank top before walking into the bathroom to change. I throw my tank on and yell out to her, “Let’s start with food. I’m starving.” This is good. This will keep my mind off what Ryder and Alyx are probably doing upstairs. I slip my shoes on and walk back out to the living room.

  Nettie stops and eyes my legs. “Holy shit, you have the most amazing set of legs I’ve ever seen.”

  I laugh, looking down to my legs. I’ve been told that a couple times, but if you ask me they’re too skinny and long. “Thanks…I think.”

  She walks over to me, running her hands down my thighs. I laugh, whacking her hand away. “Nettie!” I chuckle and she throws her hand up to her mouth, hiding her laugh.

  “I’m sorry,” her face turning red, “it’s just, they’re so tanned and silky and long. Is that your natural tan?”

  I bring my chocolate brown eyes to her green. “Yes, it is.” I laugh, sweeping my long natural blonde hair into a high ponytail. I had some highlights put through my hair last week, so it’s looking even more blonde lately.

  “You’re so lucky. I’m so pasty white. And I have Irish blood, so I don’t tan, I go red.”

  I laugh, taking my aviators out of my suitcase and placing my other glasses back in into my bag. I swing my bag over my shoulder, taking her elbow in mine. “Let’s eat.”

  We swing open the door and make our way back to the elevator.

  “What do you feel like eating?” I ask Nettie.

  “Something deep fried,” she chimes.

  I laugh. “I think we are going to get on just fine you and me.”

  Walking through the city has me aware of everything that’s going on around us, the people taking photos and the locals doing their shopping. We point, taking pictures of symbolic icons around the place. Nettie is a good time, I’m glad I’ll have someone to share all this with and not be alone. After we’ve loaded our arms with shopping bags, and stuffed our face with an intricate array of foods, we head back to the hotel.

  In the elevator, I turn to face her. “Thanks for today. I needed to get my head out of the funk it was in. And those photos are going straight up on Facebook.”

  She smiles back at me. “What’s your Facebook name? I’ll add you, then you can tag me in them.” I give her my last name and we head into our room.

  Crashing down onto my bed, I lift my phone up and upload all our photos into the album named ‘White Tiger on Tour’ then lock my phone again, tucking it away. I turn to face Nettie, who’s lying on her bed.

  She smiles. “I heard what Belinda said, something about the air being intense when you and Twisted Transistor are in the room.”

  I turn my head away from her and swallow, glancing up to the ceiling. “How long have you been working for Alyx?” I ask.

  She props up on her elbows. “A few months. Any conversation between us has been her screaming at me that her make-up either looks like shit or looks just okay.”

  I nod my head. “Well, since I’m going to need to fill in my best friends about what’s going on, I may as well let you know so I don’t need to go down a dark alley to make the phone call.” Placing my arms behind the back of my head, I swallow past my nerves and begin counting the dots on the ceiling…

  One… “Ryder and I…we had this…”

  Two… “…fling for two weeks a couple years ago.”

  And the fucking three… “Then he left me and that’s that. I didn’t know Alyx was going on tour with him and the rest of TT so it came as a shock. He hasn’t said a word to me, only Ryker has.” I glance to her. “I know what you’re thinking…” she has a shocked look on her face, “…you’re thinking I’m an idiot for expecting a goodbye or anything. But the man I knew for two weeks, wasn’t the man he is when he’s out there…” I point outside referring to who he is with the world.

  “Shit,” she whispers. “I don’t know what to say. That’s really awkward. I think if I were you, I’d run home.”

  I laugh. “Yeah, well, I’m not a runner. I’m a dealer. I’ve had to deal with a lot worse.”

  She nods her head. “Well, I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me.”

  I look at her. “Please don’t tell anyone. I really don’t want people knowing.”

  She shakes her head, pointing out her pinky finger. “I pinky swear.”

  I smile. “Thank you. Now, I need to call my two best friends and let them know what’s happening.” I begin dialing Meadow’s number first…

  Forty-five minutes later, I’ve filled both Meadow and Melissa in, and they were both speechless. Meadow said she hadn’t spoken to Tommy for a few months, so she had no idea that they were going on tour.

  “You need to get changed,” Nettie says, running around the room like a headless chicken.

  I p
rop up onto my elbows. “Why?”

  She stops what she’s doing and looks to me. “I forgot that we’re all supposed to be having dinner tonight to kick off the tour.”

  I shake my head. “I’ll pass. Thanks.”

  She stops her rushing, sitting down next to me. “You need to come. Alyx will go nutty if you don’t. It’s a ritual, she’s always done to send good Juju for the concerts.”

  I roll my eyes. “I’m a Christian, I don’t believe in Juju.”

  She looks to me, her eyes showing disbelief. “I know damn well you’re no Christian. Get up.” She drags me up by my hands and I anchor my feet down.

  “I really don’t want to.”

  “You have to come, Phoebe. It will just look too obvious if you don’t. Put a hot dress on and do this beautiful hair. Let’s go.” She slaps my ass and I jump to it. As much as I really don’t want to go, she has a point.

  Swinging open the wardrobe, I pull out the red dress I brought with me. It’s tight and hugs me in all the right places perfectly. Judging by Nettie’s attire, I’d say this dress will suit the evening. I squeeze into the strapless dress and point to the back, signaling Nettie to zip me up before slipping into some nude pumps. I heat up my hair straightener and while I wait for it to heat, I get to it on my make-up.

  Nettie comes over, taking the foundation from me. “All right, I’m going to teach you this thing called contouring,” she says, not missing the excitement in her eyes. I don’t share that same enthusiasm for fashion. She looks down at my make-up and her mouth drops open, showing a scowl. “BB Cream? That’s all the foundation you have?”

  I shrug. “I don’t wear make-up, at all. BB Cream is perfect for my everyday style.”

  She throws it into my bag mumbling something about how I have a lot to learn before she walks over to her side of the room where she wheels over a huge silver hard suitcase, kneeling down beside me and popping it open.

  “Holy fuck!” I laugh. The entire suitcase has compartments for every single make-up item you could ever think of.