Bet Your Life I'd Do It Again
Chapter 2
Knowing her friends would not be awake just yet, Amber changed from her pajamas into a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra. Even though she’d only gotten six hours of sleep and was nursing quite the hangover, she felt the need to rejuvenate her body with some exercise.
It was rare that she slept more than six or seven hours at night. She spent so much of her time working on cases and writing briefs. Her body had acclimated itself to only needing about five hours of sleep a night.
After tossing her light brown hair into a messy ponytail, she quietly left her room and went to wait for the elevator. Standing there toying with her iPod, she failed to notice she had company standing behind her until an arm reached past her to press the down arrow. Turning her gaze to see who had joined her, she smiled briefly at the tall man before glancing back at her iPod.
“You here alone?” a masculine voice with a slight lisp asked. Amber’s green eyes found his blue ones before she smirked at him.
“No,” she replied slipping her iPod into the arm band she wore while working out.
“Ah,” the man said crossing his long, tattoo-covered arms over the sleeveless t-shirt he was wearing.
“Are you?” she asked as the elevator doors opened. The two of them stepped inside before Amber reached over and pressed the button for the lobby.
“Nope, I’m here with my friends,” he answered.
“You know, you look really familiar,” Amber stated after a moment of silence.
“Really?” he asked with a smirk.
“Yeah, I’m thinking you look like—” she stopped before shaking her head.
“What?” he asked with a smile.
“Nothing. It’s ridiculous,” she answered with a smile of her own.
“Oh come on, let me hear it,” he probed.
“Fine. I was going to say you look like The Rev from Avenged Sevenfold,” she said. His smile faltered somewhat before his eyes widened.
“You know who Avenged Sevenfold is?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Amber replied with a laugh. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“Well, yeah, I mean you look like you come from money what with your Coach iPod case and your fancy workout clothes,” he said.
“So because I have money that means I can’t listen to good music?” Amber inquired.
“No! I just—I mean you don’t look like our typical fans,” he said.
“Ah, so you are The Rev?” she asked.
“Man! How’d you do that?” he questioned in shock as the elevator doors opened.
“I’m a lawyer, I’m good at getting people to talk,” she said as they stepped off the elevator.
“Damn! Well, it’s nice to meet you, I’m The Rev, but you can call me Jimmy,” he said sticking out one of his large hands. Amber smiled at him before placing her much smaller hand in his.
“I’m Amber,” she said with a smile.
“Nice to meet you,” Jimmy said. “Well, I’ll let you head off to wherever you’re going. I’m going to grab some breakfast before my band members wake up. See you soon!”
Amber laughed as he jogged off towards the breakfast room of the lobby. As she stepped outside and inhaled the salty ocean breeze, a smile played on her face. Just wait until she told Andie and Rhian about running into Jimmy Sullivan. This only confirmed her suspicions that the two men they’d encountered last night were none other than M. Shadows and Synyster Gates.
Oh boy! she thought. This could be the perfect ending to their vacation.
********************************
“My head feels like it’s going to implode,” Andie murmured from her spot at the table where they were eating brunch. Amber and Rhian both chuckled at their friend who had never been able to handle her alcohol very well. Rhian quietly slid two small tablets across the table.
“Take these,” she instructed as Andie picked up her glass of water.
“So, ladies, I have some interesting news,” Amber said before taking a bite of her blueberry muffin.
“What would that be?” Rhian asked with a smile knowing that the look on Amber’s face promised something great.
“Well, I ran into someone this morning at the elevator when I went to run,” she said.
“And?” Andie asked.
“And…he just so happened to be Jimmy Sullivan,” Amber answered. It took both Rhian and Andie a moment to process her words. Identical looks of shock crossed their faces.
“I knew those guys from last night looked familiar!” Andie declared.
“Oh god,” Rhian groaned from her seat.
“We so pissed off M. Shadows and Synyster Gates,” Andie said.
“Oh god,” Rhian groaned again causing both Amber and Andie to look at her with quizzical expressions on their faces.
“What’s wrong?” Amber asked placing her hand on Rhian’s arm.
“I invited Synyster Gates to come back to my room and he turned me down,” she said.
“Oh, hun,” Andie said. “He was just pissed that we woke him up and he locked himself out of his room.”
“Exactly,” Amber replied. “It was nothing against you.”
Before another word could be spoken, Andie’s eyes widened seconds before two large hands landed on Amber’s shoulders. Jumping slightly, she turned to see Jimmy standing behind her with two other men she recognized as Johnny Christ and Zacky Vengeance.
“Good morning, ladies,” Jimmy greeted flashing Rhian and Andie a smile.
“Good morning,” they echoed.
“So, we were about to hit the beach and wondered if you beautiful ladies would like to join us,” Jimmy said. Amber, Andie, and Rhian all looked at each other before Rhian spoke up.
“Sure, we’d love that,” she said.
****************************************
Two hours later the six of them thoroughly loved the game of football they had going on. It was girls against guys and the girls had possession of the ball. Rhian was quarterback while Andie and Amber were in position to run. After hiking the ball, Rhian watched as her friends took off towards their invisible goal line. Seeing that Zacky was close behind Andie, Rhian made a split decision to throw the ball to Amber who was being pursued by Johnny. With a squeal of triumph, Amber caught the ball before sprinting to the goal line just as Zacky tackled Andie from behind. Rhian could not suppress the giggle that tore from her throat as she watched her friend lay limply under the man.
“Andie! You okay?” Amber asked as she laughed along with Rhian.
“Yeah,” came her muffled reply before Zacky rolled off her. Being the gentleman, he helped her up.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked with concern.
“What the hell do you think, Vengeance? Your chubby self practically crushed her,” came a reply from behind them. Rhian and Amber both groaned as they recognized the voice.
“Hey, don’t be mean,” Andie said as she stepped closer to Zacky who wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“It’s okay,” he said trying to calm her down.
“No, it’s not. Just because we interrupted your precious sleep last night doesn’t mean you get to be an ass to your friend,” Andie scolded the tall, muscular man who came to stand beside Rhian.
“Well excuse me,” he said with a chuckle.
“Matt, stop being a jerk. They didn’t mean to wake you guys up last night,” Jimmy said as he and Amber came to stand beside Rhian.
“Are you kidding me? They were so fucking loud they could have woken the dead,” Matt said.
“Amen,” another voice added seconds before the other man joined their group. Rhian couldn’t help herself as she let her eyes rove over his taught muscles and tattooed skin.
“We’re sorry for how we acted last night. We don’t normally get that intoxicated and we went a little overboard,” Amber said apologetically as she checked out the sculpted abs and bulging biceps belonging to Matt. Both Andie and Rhian snapped their gazes away from the men they were checking out to look at their best friend. Amber rarely ever apologized to people she did not know or like. It just wasn’t in her nature to admit that she’d done something wrong to a complete stranger.
“I guess it’s okay as long as it doesn’t happen again,” Matt said shooting a smile at Amber, who damn near melted at the sight of his dimples. A shocked Brian turned to look at his friend. When he saw the way Matt was smiling at Amber, Brian let out a snort before elbowing Matt in the ribs. The larger man shot his friend a scowl before turning to the rest of the group.
“Mind if I join your game?” he asked. Everyone answered with a yes before looking at Brian.
“We need the teams to be even, dude,” Johnny said.
“Fine, whatever,” Brian replied before shuffling over to join the girls’ team. “I’m quarterback.”
“We’re on defense right now,” Rhian said quietly as she and the other two women assumed the positions. Brian rolled his eyes before going to stand between her and Andie.
*************************************
“We kicked your ass!” Amber said triumphantly as the eight of them headed towards the hotel.
“The only reason ya’ll won was because Shadows and Vengeance were completely distracted by Amber and Andie running around in those damn bikinis,” Jimmy complained.
“Whatever man,” Zacky said before shooting an embarrassed grin at Andie who blushed.
“So what are you ladies up to tonight?” Matt asked as he slung an arm around Amber’s shoulders as they entered the hotel.
“Not sure yet,” Rhian replied as they stopped to wait on the elevator.
“It’s our last night,” Amber added sadly.
“Damn,” Brian muttered before glancing at Rhian. “Maybe we could all get some dinner.”
“That sounds good to me,” Andie said before smiling at Zacky.
“Me too,” Rhian replied as Brian smirked at her.
“What time?” Amber asked as they piled onto the elevator.
“Well it’s four now, so how about seven?” Matt asked from his place behind Amber.
“Sounds good,” Amber replied before patting the muscled arm that was wrapped around her neck.
“We’ll see you beautiful ladies in just a little while,” Zacky said as the eight of them stepped off the elevator. Each of the guys went to their own rooms while the three women piled into Rhian’s room.
“Oh my god! We’re going to dinner with five of the hottest guys in the world!” Amber said excitedly.
“Zacky is just the most gorgeous guy,” Andie sighed as she dropped down onto Rhian’s bed.
“So is Brian,” Rhian agreed as she sat in the oversized chair next to the bed.
“Matt is freaking delicious,” Amber said before the three of them burst out laughing.
“What a way to end our vacation,” Andie said dreamily.
“Tell me about it,” Rhian and Amber said in unison.
It was rare that she slept more than six or seven hours at night. She spent so much of her time working on cases and writing briefs. Her body had acclimated itself to only needing about five hours of sleep a night.
After tossing her light brown hair into a messy ponytail, she quietly left her room and went to wait for the elevator. Standing there toying with her iPod, she failed to notice she had company standing behind her until an arm reached past her to press the down arrow. Turning her gaze to see who had joined her, she smiled briefly at the tall man before glancing back at her iPod.
“You here alone?” a masculine voice with a slight lisp asked. Amber’s green eyes found his blue ones before she smirked at him.
“No,” she replied slipping her iPod into the arm band she wore while working out.
“Ah,” the man said crossing his long, tattoo-covered arms over the sleeveless t-shirt he was wearing.
“Are you?” she asked as the elevator doors opened. The two of them stepped inside before Amber reached over and pressed the button for the lobby.
“Nope, I’m here with my friends,” he answered.
“You know, you look really familiar,” Amber stated after a moment of silence.
“Really?” he asked with a smirk.
“Yeah, I’m thinking you look like—” she stopped before shaking her head.
“What?” he asked with a smile.
“Nothing. It’s ridiculous,” she answered with a smile of her own.
“Oh come on, let me hear it,” he probed.
“Fine. I was going to say you look like The Rev from Avenged Sevenfold,” she said. His smile faltered somewhat before his eyes widened.
“You know who Avenged Sevenfold is?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Amber replied with a laugh. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“Well, yeah, I mean you look like you come from money what with your Coach iPod case and your fancy workout clothes,” he said.
“So because I have money that means I can’t listen to good music?” Amber inquired.
“No! I just—I mean you don’t look like our typical fans,” he said.
“Ah, so you are The Rev?” she asked.
“Man! How’d you do that?” he questioned in shock as the elevator doors opened.
“I’m a lawyer, I’m good at getting people to talk,” she said as they stepped off the elevator.
“Damn! Well, it’s nice to meet you, I’m The Rev, but you can call me Jimmy,” he said sticking out one of his large hands. Amber smiled at him before placing her much smaller hand in his.
“I’m Amber,” she said with a smile.
“Nice to meet you,” Jimmy said. “Well, I’ll let you head off to wherever you’re going. I’m going to grab some breakfast before my band members wake up. See you soon!”
Amber laughed as he jogged off towards the breakfast room of the lobby. As she stepped outside and inhaled the salty ocean breeze, a smile played on her face. Just wait until she told Andie and Rhian about running into Jimmy Sullivan. This only confirmed her suspicions that the two men they’d encountered last night were none other than M. Shadows and Synyster Gates.
Oh boy! she thought. This could be the perfect ending to their vacation.
********************************
“My head feels like it’s going to implode,” Andie murmured from her spot at the table where they were eating brunch. Amber and Rhian both chuckled at their friend who had never been able to handle her alcohol very well. Rhian quietly slid two small tablets across the table.
“Take these,” she instructed as Andie picked up her glass of water.
“So, ladies, I have some interesting news,” Amber said before taking a bite of her blueberry muffin.
“What would that be?” Rhian asked with a smile knowing that the look on Amber’s face promised something great.
“Well, I ran into someone this morning at the elevator when I went to run,” she said.
“And?” Andie asked.
“And…he just so happened to be Jimmy Sullivan,” Amber answered. It took both Rhian and Andie a moment to process her words. Identical looks of shock crossed their faces.
“I knew those guys from last night looked familiar!” Andie declared.
“Oh god,” Rhian groaned from her seat.
“We so pissed off M. Shadows and Synyster Gates,” Andie said.
“Oh god,” Rhian groaned again causing both Amber and Andie to look at her with quizzical expressions on their faces.
“What’s wrong?” Amber asked placing her hand on Rhian’s arm.
“I invited Synyster Gates to come back to my room and he turned me down,” she said.
“Oh, hun,” Andie said. “He was just pissed that we woke him up and he locked himself out of his room.”
“Exactly,” Amber replied. “It was nothing against you.”
Before another word could be spoken, Andie’s eyes widened seconds before two large hands landed on Amber’s shoulders. Jumping slightly, she turned to see Jimmy standing behind her with two other men she recognized as Johnny Christ and Zacky Vengeance.
“Good morning, ladies,” Jimmy greeted flashing Rhian and Andie a smile.
“Good morning,” they echoed.
“So, we were about to hit the beach and wondered if you beautiful ladies would like to join us,” Jimmy said. Amber, Andie, and Rhian all looked at each other before Rhian spoke up.
“Sure, we’d love that,” she said.
****************************************
Two hours later the six of them thoroughly loved the game of football they had going on. It was girls against guys and the girls had possession of the ball. Rhian was quarterback while Andie and Amber were in position to run. After hiking the ball, Rhian watched as her friends took off towards their invisible goal line. Seeing that Zacky was close behind Andie, Rhian made a split decision to throw the ball to Amber who was being pursued by Johnny. With a squeal of triumph, Amber caught the ball before sprinting to the goal line just as Zacky tackled Andie from behind. Rhian could not suppress the giggle that tore from her throat as she watched her friend lay limply under the man.
“Andie! You okay?” Amber asked as she laughed along with Rhian.
“Yeah,” came her muffled reply before Zacky rolled off her. Being the gentleman, he helped her up.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked with concern.
“What the hell do you think, Vengeance? Your chubby self practically crushed her,” came a reply from behind them. Rhian and Amber both groaned as they recognized the voice.
“Hey, don’t be mean,” Andie said as she stepped closer to Zacky who wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“It’s okay,” he said trying to calm her down.
“No, it’s not. Just because we interrupted your precious sleep last night doesn’t mean you get to be an ass to your friend,” Andie scolded the tall, muscular man who came to stand beside Rhian.
“Well excuse me,” he said with a chuckle.
“Matt, stop being a jerk. They didn’t mean to wake you guys up last night,” Jimmy said as he and Amber came to stand beside Rhian.
“Are you kidding me? They were so fucking loud they could have woken the dead,” Matt said.
“Amen,” another voice added seconds before the other man joined their group. Rhian couldn’t help herself as she let her eyes rove over his taught muscles and tattooed skin.
“We’re sorry for how we acted last night. We don’t normally get that intoxicated and we went a little overboard,” Amber said apologetically as she checked out the sculpted abs and bulging biceps belonging to Matt. Both Andie and Rhian snapped their gazes away from the men they were checking out to look at their best friend. Amber rarely ever apologized to people she did not know or like. It just wasn’t in her nature to admit that she’d done something wrong to a complete stranger.
“I guess it’s okay as long as it doesn’t happen again,” Matt said shooting a smile at Amber, who damn near melted at the sight of his dimples. A shocked Brian turned to look at his friend. When he saw the way Matt was smiling at Amber, Brian let out a snort before elbowing Matt in the ribs. The larger man shot his friend a scowl before turning to the rest of the group.
“Mind if I join your game?” he asked. Everyone answered with a yes before looking at Brian.
“We need the teams to be even, dude,” Johnny said.
“Fine, whatever,” Brian replied before shuffling over to join the girls’ team. “I’m quarterback.”
“We’re on defense right now,” Rhian said quietly as she and the other two women assumed the positions. Brian rolled his eyes before going to stand between her and Andie.
*************************************
“We kicked your ass!” Amber said triumphantly as the eight of them headed towards the hotel.
“The only reason ya’ll won was because Shadows and Vengeance were completely distracted by Amber and Andie running around in those damn bikinis,” Jimmy complained.
“Whatever man,” Zacky said before shooting an embarrassed grin at Andie who blushed.
“So what are you ladies up to tonight?” Matt asked as he slung an arm around Amber’s shoulders as they entered the hotel.
“Not sure yet,” Rhian replied as they stopped to wait on the elevator.
“It’s our last night,” Amber added sadly.
“Damn,” Brian muttered before glancing at Rhian. “Maybe we could all get some dinner.”
“That sounds good to me,” Andie said before smiling at Zacky.
“Me too,” Rhian replied as Brian smirked at her.
“What time?” Amber asked as they piled onto the elevator.
“Well it’s four now, so how about seven?” Matt asked from his place behind Amber.
“Sounds good,” Amber replied before patting the muscled arm that was wrapped around her neck.
“We’ll see you beautiful ladies in just a little while,” Zacky said as the eight of them stepped off the elevator. Each of the guys went to their own rooms while the three women piled into Rhian’s room.
“Oh my god! We’re going to dinner with five of the hottest guys in the world!” Amber said excitedly.
“Zacky is just the most gorgeous guy,” Andie sighed as she dropped down onto Rhian’s bed.
“So is Brian,” Rhian agreed as she sat in the oversized chair next to the bed.
“Matt is freaking delicious,” Amber said before the three of them burst out laughing.
“What a way to end our vacation,” Andie said dreamily.
“Tell me about it,” Rhian and Amber said in unison.