Six
Alessandra
“Fish is here,” Georgina whisper-shouts to me, squeezing my forearm. She juts her chin across Reed’s expansive living room, past the packed crowd toward the front door, and my heart physically palpitates at the sight of him. Fish just walked into the massive party with his friends—the Goats and their dates, Keane and Maddy, Aloha and Zander. And, hot damn, he looks yummy. Even hotter than he did at the pool earlier today, now that he’s dressed for a night out. Once again, Fish has that thing about him I can’t resist—boy-next-door charm mixed with a touch of rock star swagger.
Just inside the front door, Fish and his group are greeted by another group. I don’t recognize the people hugging and high-fiving Fish’s group, but they all look like musician types to me—which is a logical deduction in this crowd, given that this is Reed Rivers’ party, and he’s throwing it to celebrate a special issue of Rock ’n’ Roll magazine.
I peel my eyes off Fish as he continues interacting enthusiastically with his friends and pivot toward Georgina next to me. “Hey, Georgie. I know you’re going to need to mingle for work soon. And, please, don’t worry about me tonight. I’ll be happy as can be, people-watching in a corner. But will you please not leave me until Fish has seen us together? He’s got so many friends at this party, and I know he’s going to be hanging out with them for a long while before he even thinks of coming over here, so I don’t want him feeling obligated to—”
“Hey, Alessandra!”
My heart stops. It can’t be. I turn around and, yep, it’s Fish standing before me!
At the sight of his wide, beaming smile and the faint scent of his delicious cologne, I physically wobble into Georgina, who quickly puts her arm around my shoulders and gives me an excited squeeze.
“Hey there!” I chirp, far more loudly than intended. “You look beautiful!” I cringe at my word choice. “You smell beautiful.” Crap. Stop talking, Alessandra.
But Fish’s smile has only widened and brightened at my dorky words. He leans in and pointedly inhales, before saying, “You look and smell beautiful, too.”
I wobble again as he pulls back and looks me up and down pointedly.
“I love that dress,” he says. “It looks amazing on you.”
I’m wearing a simple dress. Nothing particularly amazing, I don’t think. But I’ve got no doubt he’s being sincere. “Thank you,” I choke out. “You look amazing in those . . . jeans.”
Georgina stifles a chuckle. “So, hey, kids . . .”
“Oh, hey, Georgina,” Fish says quickly. “You look beautiful tonight, too.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry to say hi and run, but tonight is a work thing for me, so . . .”
“Oh, no, yeah, feel free,” Fish stammers, just as I babble basically the exact same thing.
Georgina smiles at Fish. “If I don’t talk to you again tonight, let me say now I can’t wait to interview you and the other Goats in Seattle. Kat’s helping me nail down a date.”
“Awesome. We’re looking forward to it.”
“Me, too.” Georgina turns her hazel gaze on me. “I’ve got my phone in my pocket. Just text me if you need me for any reason.”
Fish surprises me by sliding his arm around my shoulders, mimicking Georgina’s hold on me a moment ago. “Don’t worry,” he says. “I’ll make sure our girl is well taken care of the entire night.”
Our girl?
Well taken care of?
Entire night?
Every damned thing about that sentence has made me feel giddy.
Georgina bites back a massive smile. “Awesome. Have fun, you two. See ya around.” With that, she winks at me and disappears into the party.
Fish releases my shoulders and opens his mouth like he’s going to speak, but a voice calling his name prompts him to turn his head.
It’s a guy I recognize vaguely. I think he’s a member of the rock band Danger Doctor Jones? Whoever he is, he hugs Fish enthusiastically.
“I thought you guys were on tour!” the guy says.
“We got back six weeks ago. You?”
“About to head out.”
Fish motions to me. “This is my date, Alessandra. Alessandra, this is my buddy, Cash.”
I’m his date? “Hi,” I manage to say.
Cash says hello to me and quickly returns to Fish. The two guys chat for a moment about this and that. Until, finally, Cash looks at me and says, “Well, I’ll let you two kids get back to your date.”
“Bye, brother,” Fish says.
And off the dude goes, into the packed crowd.
“He seems nice,” I say.
“He’s a good guy. Damned fine guitarist. He plays with Danger Doctor Jones.”
“I thought so.”
“Let’s get out of this main area,” Fish says. “It’s too crowded for me. You want a drink?”
“I hope you know you don’t have to hang out with me all night, like you said to Georgina. I know you have lots of friends here. I’m sure you’re excited to hang out with them, especially since you just got back from touring.”