The Wrong One

Sian stepped out of the car and moved the seat forward so Lexi could get out, too. Turning, she was able to stare at the bar that McKenzie had brought them to. It was almost as big as a concert hall. After handing the bouncer her I.D. and getting her bracelet, she went inside and straight for the bar. Instantly, she regretted wearing the leather jacket. She knew she looked badass, which is the look she was going for, but she was hotter than Hades inside the building.
When she’d stepped out of the room forty-five minutes ago, both Lexi and McKenzie’s jaws had dropped to the floor. She looked down from her black heels to her skinny jeans, and loose fitting grey top. She couldn’t have left without her watch, and she felt the studded belt helped a little bit more. She’d found a heart-shaped ring that looked like it had barbed-wire going around it in McKenzie’s jewelry box and she borrowed it. She let her hair fall in a mess of waves down her back and applied the black and grey eye shadow to her eyes.

Making sure they both had drinks, Sian led them over to a high-topped table where they sat on the tall chairs and looked at the stage. Guys were setting up equipment for a band to play. She watched them for a few minutes as they connected wires together, amps, and taped things down to the stage.

“Oh, I forgot it was Friday; they always have a band play on Friday,” McKenzie said, looking at the stage.

Sian started to see a bunch of people come through the doors and she turned back to talk to her two friends. She got so lost in conversation, she didn’t realize the lights were going down and the people in front of the stage were cheering loudly. Sian propped her chin on her hand to watch as the band came out.

The death bat on the drum kit just happened to catch her eye a little too late.

The drink froze halfway to her mouth as she watched Matt, Brian, and Johnny enter the stage. Her eyes remained on the left side, waiting for Zacky to come out. When he did, it was like a lightning bolt had struck her entire body. She felt alive again, and she had to force the smile to stay off of her face. She was supposed to be angry with him.

She watched as he picked at the strings on his guitar. The crowd went wild for them. He kept his eyes on his guitar and every once in a while he would look at the members of his band. It was almost as if he was afraid to look out over the crowd. It was almost as if he knew she was going to be in attendance.

She quickly turned her head to Lexi and McKenzie. They were both staring at the band, but Lexi made the mistake of looking at her and quickly looking back. Sian caught the quick shift of her eyes and knew they had been up to something. She realized repacking her suitcase hadn’t been the only thing they’d done.

Turning back to the band, she saw Zacky had finally looked up at the audience. His eyes locked with hers and her breath caught in her throat. His blue-green eyes melted in her hazel ones and she felt her heart squeeze. He spent the next few songs with his eyes on her and not once did he look at his guitar or the other guys. Sian’s eyes looked at all of them and saw they were all staring at her with a smile and she looked back at Zacky. It was only when Matt had said his name three times did Zacky finally look towards him. The crowd laughed as Brian made a quip about him not being focused.

Sian swallowed audibly and finished off her drink before heading to the bar for another one. She looked at the stage to see Zacky’s eyes following her, and she ordered two more instead of one. She got back to her seat and adjusted herself. She didn’t look at the stage, just stared at her drink.

“Guys, I don’t think I can do this,” she hollered.

“What are you going to do?” McKenzie asked.

“I’m going to leave,” Sian said.

“Where the fuck are you going to go? Number one: you don’t know Laguna, fool. Two: you didn’t drive, Kenzie did, and three, she’s got the keys. Sit the fuck there and enjoy the damn concert.”

“Lexi, you can be a real bitch sometimes,” Sian said, but took a sip of her drink and sat still.

She looked at everything but the band, even when they’d finished their set and moved off the stage. Sian followed them with her eyes to see them head upstairs to a private area. She looked down at her drinks and realized they were gone. Just as she stood up to go get another, a waitress stood in front of her and set a shot down on the table.

“I didn’t order this,” Sian said.

“Compliments of the gentleman leaning against the balcony up there,” the waitress said and Sian followed her finger.

She’d expected Zacky to have sent it, but Matt was leaning against the rail, smiling down over his sunglasses.

“He also sent this,” the waitress said and held a napkin.

She looked down at the napkin and read “REMATCH” written on it. Sian lifted her eyes to see Matt holding his own shot up in the air. She lifted hers, set it down on the table and downed it. She looked back up to see he’d downed his as well and motioned for her to come upstairs. She shook her head no and smiled. He shrugged and turned back to the table with the rest of the guys.

A few minutes later, the same waitress came back holding another napkin. Sian smiled her thanks and took the napkin from her. This time, she knew it wasn’t from Matt. She recognized Zacky’s scrawl and even before she read what it was, she was pissed off. Then, she read what he’d written.

“YassP.”

Her eyes slowly lifted to the balcony where she knew the guys were. Not only did he have the indecency to send her a note on a napkin, he’d called her a pussy. She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up suddenly. She swung her jacket onto her body and grabbed her clutch from the table.
“Where the fuck are you going?” Lexi asked.

Sian just turned her head to look at them as she made her way through the crowd and to the steps. She felt McKenzie and Lexi grab onto her arms as she made her way to the steps that lead to the second level. There was a huge guy who stopped them until she heard Matt holler to let them by. She moved around the bouncer and up the last few steps. She didn’t look at any of the other guys as she approached the table. They all stopped in their laughing and looked at her, but she was focused on just one of them.

“We need to talk,” she said.

Jimmy stood up to let Zacky out and he walked with her a little way away from the rest of the group.

“This is fucking disrespectful,” she started off, throwing the napkin at him.

“I’m sorry, Sian.”

“You really seem like it,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Sian, I am. You haven’t let me tell you how sorry I am. I came back to the hotel and you were gone. I knew that you were going home, so I followed you to the airport. I hollered your name, but you were already walking into the tunnel to board the plane. I followed you, Sian…I followed you.”

“You hurt me is what you fucking did!”

“You hurt me, too, Sian! You kept that from me!”

“I apologized for that. I told you my reasoning behind all of that, Zacky.”

“I know, I’m just trying to explain why I said all those shitty things to you,” he said and ran a hand through his hair. “To truly live, you gotta fucking deal with shit that you never saw coming and it’s how you deal with that, that fucking defines you as a human. I didn’t handle shit well at all and now I feel like a fucking asshole.”

“You should.”

“Sian, I didn’t mean what I said about your scar. I said it in the heat of the moment, and I regretted it instantly. That’s why I had to leave, because I could bear the thought of you being so upset with me. When I left, I walked around for what felt like forever. When I sat down at the bar in this random pub, someone sat next to me. I really thought it was you, but it was Samantha.”

“You talked to Samantha?” Sian asked, confused.

“Yeah, I did and I think you should talk to her. She would clear up a lot of things for you, but she and I aren’t together. She and I both realized it would be for the best. I’m not in love with her anymore, and she hasn’t been with me for a while now.”

“So…What does this mean?”

“This means I’m sorry, and I want to make it up to you.”

Sian shifted her weight to her other foot as she chewed on her lip. She looked at him and saw how stressed he looked. There were dark circles under his eyes, and it wasn’t from the makeup. He looked a bit skinnier and his eyes were a bit bloodshot.

“We’ll see how tonight goes,” she said and turned away to walk back to the table.

She sat down in between Jimmy and Johnny while Zacky sat at the other side of the booth. She tried to keep her gaze off of him, and was relieved when Matt spoke to her.

“You ready for this, Sian?” Matt asked as he looked across the table at her.

“You better hold onto your panties, asswipe,” she said as she lifted the first shot.

She threw shot after shot back to keep up with Matt. At one point, she was even ahead of him by two shots, but he quickly caught up as she watched Jimmy and Johnny move to the dance floor with McKenzie and Lexi. Zacky took that opportunity to move and sit beside her.

She tried to ignore him as much as she could, but she found it impossible to do. She should be furious with him, but she wasn’t. He should hate her, but here he was, sitting beside her at a bar, with his arm around her. She sighed and took another shot.

“We’re not gonna have a repeat of last time this happened, right?” Zacky asked in Sian’s ear.

“I hope not; I think I’ve got my stomach under control,” she said and she felt his hand slip under her shirt to rub her back.

She didn’t say anything but she wasn’t sure how she felt about this. She knew he’d forgiven her, and she’d sort of forgiven him, but things still felt awkward between them. He was still Samantha’s fiancé to her, but she couldn’t mistake the tingle she felt all over her body at his touch.

Another hour later, Sian felt the alcohol take its toll on her body. She missed the look Zacky shared with McKenzie, but she didn’t miss him whisper that they should leave. She stood up, stabilized herself, and took Zacky’s hand as they all walked out of the building. She watched as Matt and Brian said goodbye and head to one of the black SUVs, while Johnny and Jimmy headed to McKenzie’s convertible.

“What the fuck,” Sian hollered, confused.

“You’re coming with me,” Zacky said, pulling her hand toward his SUV.

“Oh, alright then,” she said and watched her feet as she stumbled to the SUV.

Zacky followed McKenzie to her house and parked in the driveway before coming around to help Sian out of the car. They all said goodnight to each other as Sian watched Jimmy go with Lexi to her room, and Johnny with McKenzie to hers. Surprised, her eyes crossed and she shrugged before making her way to her room. She shoved the clothes off the bed and pulled the covers back before she started peeling out of her own clothes.

She stumbled once, and when Zacky’s hands caught her, she remembered he was there. She turned around in his arms, her jacket and shoes off and her jeans halfway unbuttoned. He was smiling softly at her and she laughed at herself. Looking back at his eyes, she saw nothing but lust there, and she couldn’t help leaning up and locking her lips to his. He couldn’t help himself as he moved her back to the bed and laid down on top of her.

A few minutes later, they came up for air, and Zack cleared his throat.

“Sian, I have to tell you something.”

“What?” she asked, leaning back on her elbows.

“I wasn’t as drunk as you think I was that night in Paris,” he said, meeting her eyes. “I meant what I said.”

“Wait…What?”

“I meant what I told you in Paris. I’m in love with you, Sian. I’ve known it since we got to Italy, I think. It was your differences from Samantha that attracted me… I knew it from the start that I was going to fall for you I think. I couldn’t seem to—”

Sian cut him off by pulling his head down to hers and kissing him hard on his mouth.

All of her questions had been answered with his statement. Any question of him wanting to be with Samantha or not feeling the same was completely diminished when he repeated his statement. She’d thought he’d been drunk in Paris and had completely forgotten about it. It was then she decided to take a leap.

She pulled away long enough to whisper, “I love you, too.”