Matt’s POV

I had no idea what had gotten into Gates in the past few hours but he was really starting to worry me. One minute he was all gung-ho about going out tonight and then next he was sulking with a bottle of Laphroaig. It was like watching a Ping-Pong match of his back and forth mood swings. It was the worst I’d seen him since Avery stopped talking to him. Did she have something to do with this? What the hell was going on with him? But every time anyone asked him what was wrong, he just put on his fake stage smile and said he was pre-gaming for tonight’s festivities. I didn’t buy that shit for a second but after the fourth time asking, I was done playing these games. I had more important tasks at hand—like find out where Maya was.

“Hey, JB have you seen Jess?” I asked, walking around our makeshift campsite. I knew it was almost time for her to head over to run the booth and I hoped that I hadn’t missed her.

You see, over the past week I had been continually asking Jess for more information regarding the girls. Maybe if she saw how serious I was about all this, she would realize that what ever happened between Maya and I was some big misunderstanding. Or if that failed, maybe she would just give in so that I would stop harassing her. I just wanted to hear her voice, though I didn’t know if it would actually help anything. God I fucking missed her. Didn’t she miss me?

“Yeah, she’s over by the picnic tables with Jimmy. They were crying over some song that was blaring over his phone,” Jason chuckled and I had to sigh. It wasn’t uncommon to find the Rev hiding in his bunk on long drives crying and listening to music. He felt things more deeply than other people and loved music to an extreme level. I guess he found the same thing in Jess, which was good because that gave him someone to bond with. He needed that, especially everything the guy had been through in his life.

“Thanks, JB,” I said, patting his shoulder before jogging toward the tables. When I rounded the corner of the bus, I found the pair of them in mid goodbye. She must have to head over to the booth.

“Shit,” I hissed, knowing that Jimmy would question my intentions. I ducked behind the bus and waited until he passed me playing invisible air drums and singing to himself. That also wasn’t anything new. Once he was out of sight, I dashed after Jess, easily catching up to the redhead. “Hey Jess, wait up!”

Jess sighed and threw her head back when I met her stride, instantly knowing what I wanted. “If you’ve come to ask me about—“

“Come on, Jess how many times to I have to ask you?” I begged, moving in front of her and stopping her movement. “I’m begging you Jess…please I just want to hear her voice….”

“Matt for the hundredth time, I cant do that. If she wanted to talk to you, she would call you herself or ask to speak to you,” Jess said exasperatedly. She was like talking to a brick wall because she wasn’t listening to my request. Yes, I wanted to talk to her but I needed to do it in person. For now I would be sated with hearing her voice. I just needed that hope to hold onto because right now I was starting to lose it.

“Look,” I sighed, running my hands over my face. “Have you ever had someone break up with you when you were still in love with them?” I asked, seeing a look of uncertainty come over her face. The look told me all that I needed to know. “Now imagine that break up when you know the other person still loves you too.” I swallowed thickly, trying to calm the emotion rising in me. Damn, this is exactly why I didn’t really talk about this with anyone—it hurt too much.

“I still love her, Jess and you and I both know that she isn’t over me…” I breathed, looking her straight in the eye. Jess’ blue eyes reminded me a lot of Avery’s and now I understood by Gates avoided looking at her. I would do the same thing if she reminded me over Maya. “And-And I know she doesn’t want to talk to me but I need to hear her voice. I promise I wont say anything…I just need to hear her. I need that hope that when I find her that I can win her back over, Jess…please?” I begged.

Jess stared at me with mouth agape, obviously shocked by my words. After a moment of silence she finally sighed. “Matt I—“ she started just as her phone started to ring. Jess looked down at the phone and then back at me with a nervous expression. Was it Maya? Could this be my lucky day?

“Is it Maya?” I said, voicing my inner thoughts. “Answer it!” She couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk to her just because I was standing her. “Please Jess….”

“Fine but you can’t say anything. Do you hear me? Not a word or else you’ll ruin everything,” Jess warned and I vigorously nodded my head, hoping she wouldn’t hang up. Jess sighed before she answered the phone and put it on speakerphone. “Hey Maya, what’s up?”

“Oh my god, Jess you wont freaking believe it!” Maya gushed, sounding happy and excited. My heart began to race at the sound of her voice and I had to bit down on my lip to keep quiet, which was a real challenge when all I wanted to do was tell her how much I missed her.

“Did you and Ave get the job?” Jess asked, watching me with weary look. Could she see how hard I was struggling to maintain my promise?

“Yes…well, we’ve got a trail run tonight and then the job is officially ours. We will be bar maids. Can you believe it?” she laughed and damn that was the most amazing sound I’d heard in weeks—no months.

“Congratulations! I’m happy for you!” Jess said with a smile as she started to walk toward the booth. I carefully kept up with her so that I could hear the rest of the conversation. “So what time do you have to be there?”

“Seven so we’ve got a couple of hours before to do some homework,” Maya continued. I heard a bed squeak and I knew she must be home, wherever that was now. The one thing I could gather from that is that she was in the same time zone as us. Why would Maya and Avery be in Europe though? I thought they were studying at UCLA which is why they couldn’t go on tour with us. Was that all a lie? “Though…it’s going to be a big night.”

I raised my brow at Jess and she just shrugged at me. “Why is that? You have friends coming to watch you work?” Wait, what did she mean by that? What kind of friends? Girl friends?

Maya laughed and I could just imagine her twisting her hair between her fingers. She always did that. Not to mention that light in her gorgeous brown eyes. Damn it, Sanders, hold of yourself together and listen to the conversation.

“You could say that,” she replied in a playful voice. “Let’s just say our newest distractions are coming and I plan on continuing that distraction after my shift.”

I suddenly felt like someone had shot me in the chest and I couldn’t find my breath. What the hell did she mean that her distraction was coming and she would continue it after her shift? Was she seeing someone? No! No fucking way would she move on from me, not when I knew that she was still in love with me. Fuck, how could she do this? I felt like I was going to be sick.

“What do you mean?” Jess asked, watching me nervously as I paced back and forth, pulling at my hair. I was really starting to lose it.

“Let’s just say Ave and I have some new friends and things are really starting to turn around for us. You know that cute moment I told you about earlier? Well, I’m pretty sure with a few drinks in the little gnome that it will happen again, and well—“ Maya paused and I knew that I wasn’t going to like what going to come out of her mouth next. Jess could sense it too because she was watching me with wide eyes, afraid that I was going to burst at any minute. And in all honesty, I was surprised that I hadn’t already. “My distraction is very good at keeping my mind off of things…Damn he and the guy Ave I hope will start seeing are just—“

That was it. I didn’t want to hear anymore. I couldn’t sit her and listen to how happy and satisfied she was with this new distraction as she called him. Damn it all made me feel sick to my stomach because I knew that she couldn’t really care for him. She still fucking loved me and I firmly believed that. But if she was moving on, was there really any point in me trying to find her? She obviously didn’t want to be found if she wouldn’t even tell her friends where she was. This was all so fucked up!

God I was so pissed off, hurt, and disgusted that I couldn’t even think straight. Fuck, I should have never asked to listen to the call. It totally backfired on me and now I was in a bad mood. You know what, fuck this, if Maya was going to go out and have fun, I was going to do the same fucking thing. Gates was right—it was time to take control of our lives again. I was tired of moping around and trying to fix something that she obviously didn’t want. Well, you know what? I could play that game too.

“Shads where the hell have you been?” Gates asked, his voice slurring a little bit as I appeared backstage a few hours later. I had taken a good long walk to think everything threw. Yeah a night out would do me a world of good and then I could reevaluate everything in the morning. “Are you okay?”

“Never better, man. You and I are going out to night and this fucking town will be at our feet. We will party like fucking kings,” I said, clapping his back as he held up his bottle in cheers.

“Fuck yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!” Gates cheer just as we got summoned to the stage. I was bound and determined to make this night fun, and fuck everything else. Fuck my broken heart and fuck Maya. Tonight was about my friends and I.

Ben’s POV

Ever since James left my house this morning, I couldn’t get his fucking words out of my head. How could that fucker withhold information from me? I told him about the little blonde one and now it was his turn to return the favor. I couldn’t believe this guy, even now as he drove me to the fucking bar with a smirk on his face. Who did Cassells think he was anyway? He was supposed to be my friend and here he was pulling the douchiest move of all. Just tell me what you fucking know!

“So did you have a nice morning?” James asked and boy did I want to whip that cocky smirk of his face. This bastard was riding a thin line right now and if he didn’t have information that I wanted, I would have surely beaten his ass already. But you know what? Two could play at that game.

I shot him a pointed look before I rolled my eyes. “You know exactly how my morning went because you ruined it,” I said, shaking my head. “You had to get the girls a fucking job interview.”

“Hey, I was just following threw with what they asked,” he chuckled. “And wait ‘til you see them behind the bar, hot damn.”

“So did you make a move on blondie yet?” I asked and now it was my turn to smirk. If only I could get distract her with James. Then I could have Maya all to myself without any annoying distractions at all hours of the day. I couldn’t stand how needy the girl was but apparently James liked that. He could have it.

“Her name is Avery and I’m working on it,” he said with a small smile. I rolled my eyes, not understand his rationale. Why be a gentleman when most women wanted a bad boy? Look at me and how that worked out! I was always surrounded by beautiful women and it wasn’t because I was kind or polite—it was because I took charge of what I wanted. “Why?”

I shrugged, my smirk growing. “Well, you need to step up your game or else she is going to move on with someone else or put you in the fucking friend zone. And everyone knows once you’re in the friend zone, there is no climbing back over that gate.” James looked at me out of the corner of his eye and I knew he was contemplating what I said. Let’s face it, I was right. I was always right.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” James scoffed as we pulled into the bar parking lot. I immediately spotted Maya’s car and Danny’s. “She’s really fragile right now and if I push too hard she will crumble.”

“Fuck that,” I laughed. “She just needs a good dose of vitamin D and all her problems will be solved. Besides, if you don’t up your game, Danny will and the last thing you want to do is lose your girl to Worsnop. Speaking of that motherfucker, looks like he and Cam are already here,” I smirked, seeing the look of panic rise in James features. We all knew Danny had a thing for Maya’s blonde friend and was doing everything in his power to win her over.

“Fuck,” James hissed, taking off his seatbelt and running his hands over his face. He looked flustered and I knew that he couldn’t stand the idea of Danny touching Avery. Oh, this was going to be good and I could surely get the information I wanted out of him now. My how the tables have suddenly turned! I was a fucking genius!

“Well I could be of some help in that situation if you tell me what you know about Maya and Shads,” I offered, looking at him out of the corner of my eye.

“Oh, yeah? And what are you going to do?” Whoa, there was no need to be hasty here, Cassells. I’m trying to help you...well, more help myself but he didn’t need to know that.

I threw my head back with a laugh. Oh, how was I going to help? That was rich. “I can take Danny out of the equation for the evening, well as far as Avery is concerned.”

“I’m listening,” James looked at me with a raised brow and I knew that I was going to get exactly what I wanted if I played my cards right.

“I can distract Worsnop so you can make your next move on blondie. Remember, you need to up your game…buy a few drinks and maybe even take her out for a night cap after her shift?” I wiggled my eyebrows at him, letting him know exactly what I was insinuating. There was no way he didn’t want a piece of that perfect little ass. Don’t get me wrong, I was still very much into Maya but I could also notice the flawless features of another. And Avery certainly didn’t lack in her ass or legs, that was for sure.

“Deal,” now that’s what I was fucking talking about.

“Now spill before I change my mind,” I said, getting out of the car and lighting up a cigarette. Ah, that nicotine rush was exactly what the doctor ordered.

“Well, this morning Avery let it slip that Maya actually broke off things with Shadows,” he started and I raised my brow at him. That couldn’t be right, not with how she was acting? Had he done something to hurt her? Just the thought alone instantly pissed me off and I had to take a deep breath. Where the hell did that come from? Since when did I care when a girl got screwed over, especially since I was the one doing the deed?

“Why?” and now I was asking questions? Fuck what was wrong with me? This was just about fun so there was no need for me to even care.

James raised a brow at me and I just raised my hands in the air. “I want to know, sue me!”

“I guess she broke it off to keep him from being miserable or some shit,” James shrugged, taking my cigarette and stealing a drag. “Ave seems to think that there’s still something between them.”

“Well if there is, he’s certainly going to be pissed when he realizes I’ve been banging the fuck out of her,” I chuckled, though part of me didn’t like the fact that he could show up anytime. “Looks like his loss and my gain.”

“Sounds like he’ll be back in the picture.” What the fuck did he just say? “Ave said this would only be temporary with them…he could come back any minute and fucking take her away.” Over my dead body would he show up and take her away! She was my new toy and I’d be damned if I was going to give her up before I was done.

“I highly doubt that, Cass,” I said, trying to keep my cool on the outside. I could tell he was trying to get a rise out of me, that’s just what he did. But I wasn’t going to let him get a rise out of me. “She screams my name at night and not his…and Avery will be screaming someone else’s if you don’t make your fucking move. Mark my words,” I said, trying to think of something to get the concentration off of me.

“She’s not ready for anything like that,” James sighed as he followed me into the bar. “I know what I’m doing, so do your fucking part and get Worsnop away from her before I knock him out,” oh, and now he was getting a little feisty! Wow, this girl was bringing out a side of my mate that I didn’t really see. Now that was really interesting.

Though when I looked towards the bar, I could see why he was concerned. Danny was standing there basically drooling over the poor girl and not letting her attend to other costumers. He had her arm in his hand as he whispered something in her ear and I couldn’t help but laugh at the look on her face. Or James’ face for that matter. God, this was fucking hilarious!

“Yo Worsnop, get your arse over here!” I yelled across the bar and motioned toward our usual table. When he flipped me off, I made my way over to the bar and grabbed him by the back of the shit and pulled him backwards.

“What the fuck, man?” he raged as Avery quickly moved away. “You just fucking cock blocked me and there she goes running back to fucking Cassells!”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance, but for now go sit your ass down. You own me a round of shots and if I’m not mistaken, I am the reigning champion of the pissing game.” And with a little convincing, Danny headed over to the table where Cam was causally reclining back with a bottle of whisky.

Once I was certain that I had performed my Danny duty, I moved down the bar to Maya. Damn she looked fucking hot. She was wearing a tight pair of black pants and a shirt that left no imagination to her cleavage. Swallowing thickly, I adjusted my jeans and stepped up to the bar. “It should be illegal to look that good and serve drinks,” I called over the bar, only for her to look up at me with a slight blush.

“So you guys decided to show up after all?” she said with a smirk, leaning against the bar in such a way that her tits were nearly waving hello. I bit my knuckle to suppress a groan as my dick instantly hardened in my pants.

I chuckled and leaned forward, my face only a few inches from hers. God she even smelled fucking appetizing. I didn’t know if I could wait until she got off shift to have her again and damn, I had plans for her. I wanted to bend that hot ass over the side of the bar and mercilessly fuck her until she screamed my name.

“Did you not see prince charming come forward and save the fucking day?” I chuckled, motioning down the bar at James and Avery. She was blushing about something so did that mean that Cassells took my advice? Eh, give him a few drinks.

“No but he has been great for her,” Maya said with a small smile as she watched them talk. “Just like you have been for me,” she said and bit her bottom lip. Now if that wasn’t one of the sexiest things I had ever seen, I didn’t know what was. It only made me want her more. “If only I could get her to forget about Gates and just go for James…” Was that the truth? Damn, if she was Cassells then she would be out of our hair and I could have Maya to myself without distraction.

“Oh, you just worry about us and our fun and I’ll take care of that,” I assured her, taking a sip of the whiskey that Maya just set in front of me. How great was it that she already knew what my drink of choice was? This girl was really something.

“What do you mean?” she asked and I just smirked. The most brilliant idea had just come to me and I knew Avery wouldn’t be able to say no to my mate. No, she’d run right into his arms and forget about that half-wit Gates.

“Just trust me, babe,” and with that I leaned forward and kissed her lips. Now all I had to do was get James to grow a pair and this plan would be in motion. “Hey Cass let’s go, the drinks are waiting!” I called, dragging him back to the table with the tray of drink. Oh, I was so fucking brilliant that I surprised myself sometime.

Avery’s POV

“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about, beautiful,” Danny said, gripping my arm over the counter. He had been standing here for the past fifteen minutes and I had done everything in my power to get rid of him. The guy just didn’t take no for an answer, which really made me feel uncomfortable. I could feel him undressing me with his eyes right now and that thought alone made my skin crawl.

“I really need to help some other customers,” I said, trying to signal Maya for help. I didn’t want to be rude but I also didn’t know what it would take to get him off of me.

“Oh, Maya can handle them,” he continued, walking his fingers up my arm. I felt my heart start to race with panic as my skin crawled. “How about you and I sneak away for a few minutes and I rock your world…oh, I could fill you up so well…” I he groaned and couldn’t hide the disgusted look on my face. Only to my horror he was getting closer to my ear. “And I could make you forget everything that ever bothered you…just you and me Avery.”

“I-I’m not—“

“Yo Worsnop, get your arse over here!” Oh, thank god someone was getting him away from me. And a few seconds later, Ben was pulling him away and pushing him to the other side of the room.

As soon as Ben took control of Danny, I booked it to the other end of the bar, my skin crawling. Didn’t he take the hint that I wasn’t interested in him? Hell, I was really only interested in one person, not that it mattered. Damn it, why did my thoughts always go back to Brian? It was always the same and I couldn’t get away from it. That’s what was slowly killing me inside—not being able to have him because he didn’t want me.

“Hey, how’s it going?” James’ voice sounded from behind me and I couldn’t help but smile. Of course he would show up. He was always looking out for me. What was this guy, like my guardian angel? Though I had to admit that it was nice to have someone looking out for me. It was comforting to know that he cared too.

I turned around and set a beer in front of James with a small smile. “Better now,” I admitted.

“And I thought you didn’t want me to come,” he chuckled, taking a sip.

“I never said that,” I argued, moving around to make some more drinks for customers. I was surprised how easy and natural I was at this job. It was almost like I had trained for this my whole life, which was rather odd. I guess I had the Avenged guys to thank for making so many drinks for them over the past few months. Shit, I missed them…all of them. “I just thought you’d like a break from Debbie downer.”

“Debbie downer?” James said with a frown as he looked around the bar. “I don’t see her here. I only see a beautiful woman in front of me and let me just say that a smile really suits you.”

I bit my lip with a blush as set a line of drinks down on the counter. “Thanks,” I mumbled, pushing my hair behind my ears.

“And I mean what I said, Ave,” James continued and my mind instantly flashed back to the kiss he had given me early. “You deserve the world and to be happy.”

“I-I—“ I stared, only to be interrupted by Ben calling James away. “It looks like you’ve got to go.” I sighed, feeling relieved that I didn’t need to say anything.

“Yeah, but I’ll be back. I’m driving you home tonight after all,” he said and I raised my brow at him.

“You are, are you? Says who?” I teased, leaning forward on the bar. He was really cute when he was trying to be macho. Actually, if I was being honest, he was a really great guy who could make some girl really happy. Though I didn’t think that girl could be me. I was still too hung up on the man I considered to be my other half…though he didn’t seem to feel that way. Should I move on? God I didn’t know what to do.

“Well, Ben and Maya have plans,” he said and I wrinkled my nose. I still didn’t like the thought of them together when I knew she still loved Matt. What happened when they were done with tour and we went home? There was no way we weren’t going to run into them and that they wouldn’t get back together. I knew them both too well at this point. “So I’m going to drive you home. Maybe we could have a night cap or something?”

“How about I think about it?” I sighed, leaning my head on my hand as a smiled lightly at him. “The night cap part that is,” I added with a wink before Ben dragged him away.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully at the bar. We had a steady crowd but nothing that was unmanageable. And I had to admit, I really enjoyed the job because it was fast paced and kept my mind occupied. It was honestly the most relaxed and at ease I had been about everything since I got here. Was it because my mind was occupied or because I had someone else to distract me?

Every time I looked up from my work, Maya or James caught my eye, checking on me. And to my surprise, I found myself looking over at the Asking table on multiple occasions, wondering what they were talking about and why they kept glancing in my direction. Had they heard something about me? Or was James just telling them what a mess I was? Either way, it was a good distraction from the pair of mesmerizing brown eyes that frequently flashed in my memory.

“All right, an that is a night!” Maya called as she finished counting out the register. I was busy whipping down the tables and Ben, James, and David were the only people that still lingered at the bar. The three of them looked pretty well smashed, which told me that I would be driving both James and I home.

“And I would like to welcome you girls to family,” David slurred. “You gals gave me the highest profits I’ve had in months in just one night. I’d be a fool not to hire you! Can you come back in tomorrow for schedules and to be put on the pay docket?”

“Of course, we’ll be in at noon?” I said with a smile as Ben and James stumbled their way over to us. “Thank you so much, David. We really appreciate this!”

“No thank you, girls. I look forward to what the next few weeks bring,” he said with a wink before escorting us all to the door. “Now go have some fun and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“And he’s right you know,” James said, wrapping his arms around my waist once we were outside. I couldn’t help but laugh and try and help him back to his feet. “It’s time to have some fun and I’m talking about you, beautiful,” James said and I just nodded. He was drunk and he didn’t know what he was saying.

“Maya are you—?” I asked, turning around to look for her but she was already pulling out of the parking lot, leaving James and I alone. Shit, why did she run out of there so quickly? Well, I had one guess but I didn’t want to think about it. “Hand over you keys cowboy,” I sighed, letting James lean against the side of his car as I searched his pockets. “There is no way you are driving like this.”

Suddenly James took my face in his hands and stared down at me with a smile on his face. “Have I ever told you how fucking beautiful you are, Ave?” he breathed and I felt my breath catch in my chest. What was he doing?

“No-No…I-I don’t think so…” I stammered, feeling shocked that he was speaking so boldly to me right now.

“Well you are and you deserve the best…that smile suits you and I want to see it everyday,” I could feel his calloused thumbs tracing circles over my cheeks as my heart began to race. “I want to be the one to make you smile…to make you happy…” and the next thing I knew, James lips were pressed against mine, caging me into the side of the car.

Notes

And so the roller coster ride continues...poor Matt hearing the wrong conversation. And James very boldly took a step towards Avery, but how will she respond? When will our beloved couples meet up again? Remember the theme from he last story? You always meet twice? *wags eyebrows*

Comments please!