Page 61 of Dirty Like Dylan
“I didn’t think you were.”
She looked at me again, and her eyebrows drew together. “Ashley thought I was, when he first met me.”
I laughed. “Yeah. Well, Ash thinks that about any girl who gets anywhere near me until she proves otherwise.”
“He has a hard time trusting people,” she said, getting to her feet. “I get that. I can relate.”
“Yeah? You have trouble with that?”
“Trusting people? Yes.” She unscrewed the plate that fastened the camera to the tripod and carried the camera over, setting it on the low table between us. I liked the way she handled it, like it was precious to her, even though it was scuffed all to hell. “People in general…” she said. “Men.” She glanced at me. “Maybe rock stars especially, if I’m being honest.”
“Why?”
She sat down on the lounge chair across from me with a small sigh. She didn’t lounge, though. She just sat there with her knees pressed together, looking at me. She was wearing jeans today and an oversized sweater, her wavy hair loose around her face. I noticed she kept her eyes carefully locked on my face, even though I was half-naked. She was really trying to keep this whole thing professional.
It was kinda cute.
“Let’s just say you aren’t the first I’ve ever met,” she said.
“First what?” Ashley strolled out the door from the kitchen, plates in hand and a grocery bag full of supplies in the other. He had what looked like marinated steaks on the plates, with veggies on skewers. He never shared the menu with me ahead of time, and I never asked; I’d eat whatever he cooked.
“Nothing,” Amber said, turning away a bit, pretending to be absorbed in the view.
“Rock stars,” I said. “Amber was just about to tell me about the other rock stars she’s met.”
Ash raised an eyebrow as he fired up the barbecue, and I watched her squirm. Didn’t intend to out her like this, but no point keeping secrets.
Of course, I already knew about one rock star she’d met. I’d had Jude do a little intel for me. Nothing too deep, just the basics.
I hadn’t shared that intel with Ash yet, though. Wanted to ask her about it first.
“There’ve been a few,” Amber admitted, brushing it off. “You know, I’ve worked with Liv before. Been to a few parties.”
“That all?” I asked.
She looked at me. She held my gaze, and I could see that she was wondering…
I already know, I tried to tell her with my eyes.
But maybe she didn’t want me to know.
Ash was watching her, too, even as he laid the food on the grill… and eventually she cracked under the pressure.
“Okay. I might’ve, you know… had a relationship with a rock star,” she admitted. “In the past. It was brief. Who cares, right?”
But Ash cared. “Who?” He looked at me with a question in his eyes. Someone we know?
“It’s not important,” she said with a shrug, still trying to brush it off.
“If it was Zane—”
“It wasn’t Zane,” she said, cutting Ash off. “It wasn’t anyone in your band,” she assured me, then glanced at him, “or yours.”
“Who was it?” he pressed.
Amber sighed, and I kinda felt sorry for her. “Johnny O’Reilly,” she mumbled, so quietly I almost couldn’t hear her.
Ash heard it. “Johnny O?! Fuck, no.”