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.The guy sitting in front of Marty and Elayne with the knit beanie.The guy standing by the front door—”“How do you do it, Liv? You’ve got this whole place mapped out.”“What? I simply take note as I pass by each one.Like that guy over their, the Man Bomb standing talking to the girl with pink hair.”I turn my head.Oh no! It’s Kellan and Switchblade! If I say anything to Liv, she will berate me into talking to him until I do, or if I resist, wheel me over strapped to a hand truck and move my mouth for me like I’m a talking puppet.I sip my drink, trying to cover my nerves.Olivia eyes me suspiciously, “Do you know him?”I maintain a poker face.Liv’s eyes light up, “Your poker face means yes!”Shit.“You know that Man Bomb! Is that the guy you work with?”I roll my eyes.“Let’s go talk to him!” She yanks me through the crowd by the wrist before I can resist, nearly giving me whiplash.I shake my head, smiling.Liv is bordering on being a frienemy tonight.Not really.She’s too much fun for that.“What’s his name?” Liv barks, stopping far enough away that Kellan hasn’t seen us yet.“Bill,” I lie.“His name isn’t Bill,” she admonishes.“A guy that hot is not named Bill!”I sigh and roll my eyes, “Aiden.”She scrutinizes my face and says reluctantly, “Okay, I believe you.That better be his name,” she threatens.“It is!” I lie.She deserves it.Liv runs up to Kellan, screaming, “Aiden! So good to see you!” She throws her arms around Kellan’s neck.He looks surprised.But he also looks like he’s used to this sort of behavior from strange women.I’m close enough I can hear what they say next, but Kellan can’t see me where I stand behind a couple of tall guys watching Marty and Elayne play.“Hey,” Kellan says casually, rolling with Liv’s bizarre behavior.“Do I know you?”“Of course you do, Aiden!” Liv squeals.“Don’t you remember?”Kellan cocks a grin, “Refresh my memory.”“Vegas? New Year’s Eve 2013?”“Oh yeah,” Kellan says.I can’t believe him! Does he just assume he hooked up with her even if he doesn’t remember?Switchblade snickers at Kellan, “Does this always happen to you?”“Yeah,” he chuckles.“Usually.”Oh my gawd.He’s so full of himself.Switchblade laughs and asks Liv, “What’s your name, honey?”Liv grins, “My name is Lisa.” She slaps Kellan coquettishly on the chest, “You remember that, don’t you, Aiden? You said you were going to have it tattooed on your wrist.Did you?” Liv’s arms shoot out like a chameleon’s sticky tongue and she grabs his left hand aggressively.She turns his arm wrist up.“It must be the other one.” She drops it and grabs his right arm.“It’s not here! You promised, Aiden! You said you would!” She whines and stamps her foot.And I think her eyes swivel in two different directions at once, just like a chameleon.Liv is doing an amazing job of mimicking a psycho crazy ex-hookup.But it’s only partially an act in her case.I think her plan is to scare off Switchblade.So far, it isn’t working.Switchblade seems amused by it all.Wow, she must be a really understanding girlfriend.No wonder Kellan likes her so much.“Aiden,” Liv laughs throatily, “Since you didn’t get a tattoo like you promised, let’s go get one right now!” She pulls at his arm.Switchblade asks, “Why does she keep calling you Aiden?”Kellan shrugs.He doesn’t care.Male slut!I decide it’s time to call off the attack dogs.In Liv’s case, it’s more of a purse dog thing, but still dangerous because of the rabies.I walk out of the crowd.“Victory?” Kellan says, amused.“Hey, Kellan,” I sigh.“Hey, Victory,” Switchblade smiles genuinely.She really is nice.The consummate catch.“Kellan?” Liv asks.“Who’s Kellan?”“Me,” he nods.Liv frowns at me, “I thought you said his name was Aiden!”“I did,” I grin and sip my drink.“Traitor!” she shouts.“You could be beheaded for that in some countries!”I giggle.Liv recovers, “It doesn’t matter.Let’s take Aiden to that tattoo parlor,” she says archly.Kellan chuckles, “Do I look like I need more ink?”He doesn’t.“Yes!” Liv barks like a high-pitched purse dog, “Let’s go!” She pulls his arm.Switchblade laughs at all of this.Is she not his girlfriend? I can’t really tell.But she’s way up in his personal space like she is, standing one inch away from him the whole time.Maybe that’s cuz the bar is crowded? I don’t know.Switchblade asks me, ‘Does your friend have rabies?”She read my mind.Liv growls, “Yes! So watch out! I bite!”“I bite too,” Switchblade chuckles.What does that mean? Maybe she likes to fight.With her punk rock look, I can picture it.“Let’s go, Liv,” I pull on her arm.I don’t want her getting snapped in half by Switchblade.Switchblade says to Liv, “I thought you said your name was Lisa?”“I did! And his name is Aiden, and we need to go!” She pulls on Kellan’s arm and grunts ineffectually.Kellan laughs, “Easy, Lisa, or Liv, or Loca, or whatever your name is.You’re going to break the merchandise.”Liv scowl-smiles, “You look like you could break a bull in half, I’m not worried about hurting you.Let’s go.” Liv yanks like she’s pulling on a building.“Relax,” Kellan says casually, “I don’t want you to pull a muscle.”Liv relents, “Fine.” She drops her hands to her sides.“I tried.”“Tried what? “ Kellan asks.Liv opens her mouth to speak but I slap my hand over it.Time for damage control.“We should go,” I giggle nervously and pull Liv into the crowd.Liv twinkles her nose and waves goodbye, “We’ll always have New Year’s Eve 2013, Aiden!”Liv is definitely loca.Chapter 88VICTORYI drop Liv off at her apartment and put her to bed.We left her car parked in Los Feliz because she was way too loaded to drive by the end of the night.I wanted to stay and chat with Kellan and Switchblade and tell them about my botched audition with Wild Child, but Liv had an attack plan and she wasn’t veering from it.I wonder if Danny Daggers put the moves on Switchblade too?I’ll have to ask her some other time.When Liv is dozing sleepily in her bed, I drive back to Johnny and Karen’s apartment to crash.I unlock the door and set my Fender case on the floor.I listen for the telltale moans and gasps of sexual pleasure.Silence.Thank the goddesses.For once, Johnny and Karen aren’t having noisy sex in their bedroom.The bedroom door is open, which means they’re out for the evening [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]