The Devil's Tattoo by Nicole R. Taylor

dirty thoughts and
Chris grinned at me.
    "I know how you feel," he grimaced.
    "Am I that obvious?"
    "No," he shook his head. "He is."
    "He could care less about me."
    "Zoe, he almost thumped Frank. You know, the big bear who
wouldn't hurt anyone?"
    "I'm still pissed at him," I said sullenly.
    "Give him the chance to apologise at least."
    "I'll take that into consideration."
    "Zoe, if you feel the same way..."
    "One, he flirts and feels up everyone but me. I'm not
jealous, I feel worthless to him. And two, take your own advice."
    "I will when you take yours."
    I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing he was dead right. 
    Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I still couldn't help
but feel disappointed. How could Will like me like that when he was too
busy flirting with everyone else but me? He'd been a class-a jerk of epic
proportions and to date there had been no exception. Someone who
cared wouldn't do that. Even his attempted apology had seemed half-hearted
which made me believe he never gave them out to begin with.
    Will Strickland was an a-hole. No matter how I felt, he was not
interested in me the way I wanted him to be. Not one iota.

 

 
     
    CHAPTER
TWELVE

 
    Will

 
 
 
    I sat in mine and Pete's hotel room, staring at the wall. The gig had finished ages ago and Pete hadn't come back
yet. I couldn't believe I'd snapped like that. My lack of restraint had
made me make a complete ass out of myself.
    Seeing her dancing with Frank that way… it broke something inside
of me. Another guys hands on her sent me into a rage. I had no place acting
like that. Shit, she'd made it clear that she hated me something fierce. And
that cut. I mean , I didn't even realise how much it had pissed her off the way I'd been acting around those other
girls.
    When she'd ripped through me like that… that had been the most
animated I'd ever seen her off stage.
    I was doing an epic job of pushing her in the wrong direction. I
could say it was all because of this crazy attraction I had for her. Or I could
say it was because I was strung out. But, they were only excuses. The truth? I
was an asshole.
    I'd apologised to Frank after Zoe left,
but I still felt like a complete wanker. He didn't seem that fazed by it and
had laughed the whole incident off. Somehow, I think he was having a laugh at
my expense.
    In the servo yesterday, I'd just froze . I
mean, I knew what I wanted to say, but it didn't come out. I knew I had it bad,
but that was a whole new level. I just kept digging this big hole and now it
looked like I would never get out of it. I was acting like a freak.
    I jumped as the door opened and Pete wandered in, letting it slam
closed behind him.
    "What did I tell you all those weeks ago about doing stupid
shit?" he asked, sitting on the other bed.
    "Bloody hell, Pete. I know. I know," I groaned.
    "Yesterday at the servo…" Pete began. "We didn't
ask her, but she said something to me and Louie after you tanked."
    "What did she say?" I sat up, suddenly interested.
    "She said that making her jealous is only going to piss her
off. If you ain't worked that out yet, then you're
dumber than dog shit, man."
    "Shit," I slumped back on the bed.
    "Will, look, you've just gotta drop
the shit and talk to her. That's the only way you're gunna fix this."
    "I know."
    "Sticks told me what happened before."
    "Fuck," I groaned. "Does everyone know how much of
a wanker I am?"
    "Yeah," Pete laughed.
    "Not funny. I feel like shit."
    Pete suddenly got serious. "Just talk to her. Be you. You're
a good guy. In time she'll see it and if she doesn't then you can look back at
this later and laugh."
    I covered my face with my hands. "If she doesn't like me,
then I think I'll just die of embarrassment."
    "Dude," he kicked me in the shin. "You sound like a
girl."
    "Pete… She's just… Everything's upside down."
    "Man," he laughed. "Pussy whipped is the definition
of this tour."
    I'd known Pete for something like twenty years, since we were both
six,