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Chapter 19 – Leila

I promised Jack that I would be at the barbeque today. I’ve made excuses the last few times the band went out after rehearsals and he called me out on it. He said he would drive to Hoboken to come get me if necessary. I just haven’t been in the right frame of mind to play the “we are friends” act outside the safety of the studio.

Plus, I’ve been worried about Evan. I would cancel any plans in a heartbeat
if Evan needed me. The problem is he doesn’t. It’s an excuse I conjured up in my head. He and the boys are down the shore at their first band competition. Lori and Alisa are with them and Nina has resumed my place. My former life has gone on without me. It’s a good thing, they need to move on, and so do I. But it still stings not being part of my old entourage any longer. This is a huge milestone for them, and I wish I could be there just to witness it. However, I’m no longer a member of Cliffhangers, and they don’t need me tagging along. 

Since there has been no dire emergency requiring my presence, I will be spending the day with Devil’s Lair. Today I will have to deal with Jack and my feeling
s for him without the distraction of work. It had to happen sometime, with the tour weeks away and the fact I will very soon be living on a bus with him twenty-four-seven. I guess there’s no time better than Independence Day. It’s pretty symbolic of my life right now.

I baked a bunch of my brownies
and bought a case of beer. It’s really hot outside and after spending way too much time on what I should wear I decide on shorts and a tank top. I don’t want to look like I tried too hard, but I don’t want to look like a slob either. Truth be told I did spend a little extra time on my hair and make-up.

I’m on my way
and thinking to myself, “well, here goes nothing”.

Schlepping the four flights of stairs with all my crap has me sweating my ass off already, and wilting my hair-do. These guys better have their air conditioning cranked up.

Hunter opens the door, smiling from ear to ear. “Hey Leila, missed you.” He says pulling me in to the cool apartment…thank God.

“I saw you yesterday. Yo
u are so much like my Evan.” I grin until I realize what I said. Hunter doesn’t seem to notice, and grabs the beer and brownies out of my arms.

“Wait. A
re these your homemade brownies?”

“Yes,
why?”

“Oh my God.
I had one bite of the left over’s you sent home with Jack. First of all, I love you. Second of all, he almost beat the crap out of me for taking just one bite and it’s left me craving them since.”

“Well it’s a good thing I made a double batch. I won’t tell him if you want to hide some.”

Hunter takes the platter of brownies into the kitchen, wraps a bunch of them in foil, and runs to his room, leaving me in hysterics.

Trey is on the couch watching TV. There is no sign of Scott or Jack. “Hey
, Trey.” I say walking past him.

“Hey.” He simply says. He is a man of few words. I don’t buy a thing Lori tells me about her and Trey talking for hours and hours. She must be delusional.

Hunter comes out of his room grinning like he has a mad secret. He leans in and whispers, “I owe you one.”

“You owe
me fifty bucks or I squeal like a pig.” Trey quips, never taking his eyes off the TV.

“Worth every penny.”

Giggling, I follow Hunter into the kitchen and ask, “Where are Jack and Scott?”

He turns to look at me and waits a second before he responds. “Um,
Jack and Scott are on the roof, no doubt arguing on how to start a barbeque.” I smirk at the image of a rock star trying to start a barbeque.

There are burge
rs and hot dogs on the counter as well as different salads, chips, and all the necessary trimmings. I nod at the spread laid out. “I’m impressed. You boys know how to throw a barbeque.”

Hunter smiles and says, “It’s a
ll Scott. He is a bit of a foodie. We could give a crap about…pesto pasta salad?” I laugh out loud as he points to the green concoction and is obviously repeating what Scott told him it was called.

Scott walks over holding a long spatula and says, “Fuck off. You never complain while you are shoveling my food into your face.” He
turns to me. “Please tell me you appreciate my pesto pasta salad, Leila.”

I smile back and say, “Hell yes. This one looks bett
er than mine. I may need the recipe.”

“See? She knows food too. J
ackass.” He says to Hunter.

Hunter simply says back, “She
’s a girl.”

“Quit y
apping like women over the menu. I’m fucking starving.” Trey pipes in from the couch.

“Then get your ass up and go explain
to Jack how to light a grill or we will be ordering in pizza.” Scott retorts, making me laugh again. “He is so fucking stubborn.” These guys need a woman to take control.

“I’ll go.” I say to Scott.

Hunter immediately says, “I’ll come with you.”

We both head for the roof, and as soon as we are on the stairwell Hunter stops and holds my arm. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to you alone, but I want you to know if you ever need to talk, I’m a good listener.”

The look on my face must have prompted him to explain. “You’ve been…quiet.”

“Has it been that obvious?”

“Not to them, but I noticed. I did ask Jack what was wrong. All he said was you had some personal stuff going on. I just wanted you to know I’m here if you need me.”

I’m touched by his concern. He truly is a nice guy. “Hu
nter I really appreciate that. It means a lot to me.”

“I mean ever word of it.”

He pulls me into a hug...a warm, friendly hug.  “Let’s go check on him before he burns the building down.”

Giggling at that visual, I follow him up to the roof.

The second we step outside the smoke assaults us. We can barely see Jack in the corner from the plume of smoke surrounding him. Incessant coughing clues us into his exact location. Hunter turns to me with his raised eyebrows and says, “I told you so.” 

Jack turns towards the sound of my giggling with tears streaming from his eyes.

Hunter and I walk up to the grill. “Where’s the flame?”

Jack looks annoyed,
hot, and sweaty and like he is going to slug Hunter. I bite down on my lip to stop from laughing. Once he looks at me, his face breaks out into a smile. “I’m working on it.”

Hunter shakes his head and says, “We’d like to eat before Labor Day. I brought a professional.” He turns towards me. “Leila, please start our grill.”

Jack waves towards the grill and says, “Have at it.” 

“Such pressure.” I grab the lighter fluid and matches from Jack’s hand. “You’ve over saturated the briquettes. Do you have newspaper?”

They look at me like I’m speaking a foreign language, then turn to look at each other, neither of them moving. Finally Hunter huffs, “I’ll get it.” He stalks toward the door.

“What’s a briquette?”
Jack asks. I shake my head and openly laugh at him. “They have no faith in me.” He adds.

“Gee, I wonder why?”

“You can start it and we can always tell them I did.”

“You want to take the credit for lighting this grill?”

His head bobs up and down.

“You know they won’t believe you.”

“They’ll believe you.” He counters with a seductive wink that causes my insides to flutter.  “I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Hmm…sounds very tempting.”  With that Hunter comes back with newspaper, hot dogs and hamburgers.  “Oh well…opportunity over.” I shrug
and pretend to be disappointed…with
pretend
being the key word here.

“My loss.”
Jack pins me with his gaze, causing my insides to ignite. Who needs lighter fluid with Jack Lair nearby?

They both watch in awe as I effectively light the grill.  “Did you boys pay attention?”

Hunter shakes his head. “I don’t do grill prep. I do beer prep.”

“Did you
, Jack?”

“Nope. We’ll just have you over every time we grill.”

“Good plan.” I smirk. “Just give me a day’s notice so I can drop everything to accommodate you.”

“Sounds like the
perfect
plan.”

Oh god
.

“Go away, I have work to do.” This man is killing me.

Somehow it becomes my barbeque as I take over the meal. During my grilling duties, I delegate Hunter to get all the drinks, Jack to get the plates and utensils, Scott to get the sides and trimmings, and Trey to drag over the large table in the corner.

All the burgers and hotdogs are cooked in no time. As I’m flipping my last burger onto the platter, Jack comes up behind me and
touts, “Now you are just showing off.”

I shrug.
“Maybe.” Adding the burgers and hot dogs to the table, it finally looks like a barbeque.

Trey, Scott, and Hunter all start applauding when they see everything laid out and ready to eat. As I take a b
ow, Jack takes one as well and I shove him away. “You’re riding my coattails.”

He bends and whispers, “You do have adorable coattails.” As he walks towards the food, he leaves me dazed and confused and squirming.

He’s just flirting. He isn’t coming on to me. It’s just the way he is. I need to stop flattering myself and stop taking every comment he makes so literal.

By the time I take
some food, the only seat left available is on the couch next to Jack. I put as much distance between us as the couch allows. No one speaks, except for the moaning coming from their filled to the brim mouths.

“Scott, everything is so good.  This pesto pasta salad is to die for. Patti is a lucky girl.”

He blushes and looks thoroughly embarrassed. “Thanks.” He ignores the way the guys start snickering at him. “These idiots take me for granted.”

We fall into a comfortable conversation about how much we got done in the studio, and
the approaching tour. I’m starting to feel more like one of the guys, and I’m glad I came.

At one point Jack excuses himself and leaves the roof. He returns quickly with a chilled bottle of white wine. 

“I hope it didn’t cost more than six bucks.” I point out. “Otherwise it will be awful.”

“Nope, five-ninety-five
. It’s even a screw top.” He pours a cup full and brings it over to me on the couch.

“It’s delicious,
especially in a red Solo cup. Good job.”  Jack sits next to me so our thighs are practically touching. I catch Hunter watching us but he quickly glances away when he notices and resumes eating his food.

Once we are done eating Jack
orders, “Trey, clean up.” 

Trey gives him
a fuck off look. Jack looks at me smiling wide, causing the clenching to commence, and the wine’s not helping in the least.

  We make our way back down to the
apartment after we all clean up and it feels so good to be in the air conditioning. Trey, Scott and Hunter immediately plop themselves on the couch and start watching a ball game on TV. Jack pulls up two chairs for him and me.

So this is what a
Devil’s Lair does on their free time. It’s comical actually. If all those screaming fans could see them now. The only thing that would make this scene funnier is if Trey was to stuff his hand into his waistband and Scott was to belch.

“What’s so funny?” Jack says watching me grinning.

“You guys are such party animals.” This draws their attention to me.

Uh oh
.

Jack takes the first jab.
“Are we too boring for you Miss Marino? What would you like to do, play strip poker?”

“Um, no. Ba
seball is fine.” I motion towards the TV. “Resume watching baseball.”

Suddenly Trey lets out a laugh. As we all look at him, Jack starts laughing too.

“Oh no. Keep your fucking trap shut.” Hunter threatens. Scott immediately starts to blush profusely.

Jack and Trey
persist until I can’t stand it any longer. “What? Was it something I said?”

Jack shakes his head and looks at his roommate
.

“Don’t.”
Hunter warns.

“Oh,
come on Hunt, it wasn’t that bad.”

Trey chokes on his beer.

Hunter stands up and walks into the kitchen, mumbling under his breath. Jack takes this as a sign to enlighten me on what has them cracking up. He tries to speak but cannot stop laughing.

“You are killing me…” I
point out as I patiently wait for him to tell this story.

He wipes his eyes and continues
, “Ok…ok. We were on tour with MACE. We were in Detroit?” He glances at Trey for confirmation. I’ve never seen Trey smile this much, nonetheless laugh.