LIMITLESS: A Less Than Zero Rockstar Romance: Book 2: Jace & Alex Read online

  Refusing to answer her, I kept my gaze on the two of them steady. “Congratulations, I’m really happy for you both, you know.”

  “Thanks, man.” Ty clapped me on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, it’s just that my family is holding dinner for me, I’ve gotta head out.” I hoped my family obligations would keep the questions at bay.

  “I’m going to go find Alex.” Zoey threw me a pointed look before searching for her best friend.

  “Dude.” Ty watched his fiancée walk away. “You need to have a little more faith in her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re together now.” Ty looked me in the eye. “Right?”

  “Umm . . .” I closed my eyes and sighed heavily.

  “You love her.” Ty cocked his head. “She loves you.”

  “It’s not enough, Ty,” I breathed. “There are things going on.”

  “Look, if that girl is your daughter, Alex will love her because she loves you.” Ty spoke softly, confidentially. “Wouldn’t you feel the same way if the situation were reversed?”

  “How—” I was shocked that Ty knew my secret. Which meant only one thing. Alex had clearly told Zoey who had, of course, told Ty. I hated unnecessary drama; Alex knew that. My wishes had been made very clear. No one, not the band, my family, and especially not Zoey was supposed to know anything until I knew for sure. Even though I’d been avoiding her, I still couldn’t believe Alex had betrayed my trust.

  A minute ago, it felt like my heart was breaking. Now, steam was coming out of my ears and my head felt like a pressure cooker ready to explode.

  “Jace, relax. Let us help. You’ve been there for us all these years. We—I want to be there for you.” Ty looked at me earnestly.

  “You can’t help me, Ty,” I said through clenched teeth. “Leave it alone, you’re not supposed to even know about this.”

  “Dude, relax. Alex only told Zoey, she had no one to talk to and she broke down completely. Zoey told me because, after everything we went through, we just don’t keep secrets from each other. Ever.” Ty gripped my shoulder firmly. “We are the only ones who know. It’s going to be okay. You don’t always have to be the strong one, I’m here for you.”

  “I’m so fucking sick of this.” I shrugged off his hand. “Just leave me alone.”

  “Jace,” Ty pleaded.

  “No! Mind your own business. You finally have your girl. Focus on her and let me live my own life. You know nothing about me and Alex and you know nothing about my situation. Why? Because I keep my fucking problems to my fucking self,” I hissed, not quite yelling but not exactly being quiet. “God, having a long break from all of you couldn’t come at a better time.”

  “Jace!” Alex was horror-stricken. She had apparently returned to the scene of the crime with Zoey in tow to hear me berate poor Ty.

  By then, the entire room of the people closest to me were staring at the spectacle I had created with similarly shocked expressions. Somehow, this unleashed a rage inside me, unlike anything I’d ever felt.

  I was exhausted. Exhausted from always being the voice of reason. Exhausted from always looking after the well-being of grown men. Exhausted by my secret relationship with Alex and trying to make it into something it wasn’t. Most of all, I was exhausted and terrified about the prospect of raising a baby. On my own.

  I couldn’t help lashing out at that moment because I was done. D.O.N.E. Ty could fuck himself. Alex could fuck herself. Everyone else could fuck themselves too. The only thing that mattered was finding out if Helena was really my daughter. If she was, then her well-being would become my sole focus going forward.

  The universe was telling me that it was time for me to move the fuck on from all of them. That’s why I didn’t give anyone in the room a second glance before storming out of Ty’s house and slamming the door behind me.

  Chapter 2

  ALEX

  Nearly Nine Years Ago

  “C’mon!” I pleaded with my best friend Zoey. “We’re going to be late.”

  “I can’t help it if I need extra time, you look amazing in a paper sack,” she whined.

  She drove me crazy sometimes with her going-out-on-the-town prep-time, but I kind of understood. She rarely ventured out with me, which made the nights we went to see music a bigger deal. She was adorable, and her dry sense of humor matched my own. Not to mention, she was the best friend a girl could ever have.

  “You look gorgeous, you always do.” I gave her the thumbs-up on her outfit and glanced at myself in the mirror.

  Clothes didn’t matter that much to me. I preferred not to think too hard about what I wore. It was easier to have a general uniform of V-neck fitted T-shirts, jeans and, as of my birthday last month, killer black Frye motorcycle boots. My blonde hair was lighter and not nearly as long as Zoey’s, but I’d just had it cut in a cool shaggy style that made it easy to just mess it up with my fingers and go.

  “Well, this is as good as it’s going to get.” Zoey shook out her long, thick blonde hair as I checked my phone.

  “Thank God, the Uber is here.” I gestured for her to wrap it up.

  I had been following Less Than Zero for months on social media, but never saw them in person because they mostly played bar shows. Finally, they had a show at the Mission, Seattle’s largest venue that happened to be all-ages. Seattle had caught on to the throw-back guitar-driven rock band, so the show would be packed due to their serious buzz. I was so excited; my adrenaline was on overdrive.

  “Are you staying over tonight, Alex?” Zoey’s dad called out as we bounded down the steps to catch our Uber.

  “No, Mr. Pearson. Mom and I have plans early tomorrow morning,” I replied.

  My mom and dad, Andrea and Allen, had finalized their divorce in my junior year, and I lived with my mom. My brother and sister, Ariana and Aaron, were a few years older than me and were off in college in other states. Mom and I had become close these past few months, especially when the mail-order pie business she started on a whim last year became a huge success. We were going to look at a couple of commercial kitchens in the morning to accommodate the demand for her pies.

  Tonight, however, was all about the rawk. After we made it past security, I dragged Zoey to the front of the stage so we could drool over the gorgeous guys of LTZ up close and personal. Sweet Jesus, they were even more delectable in person than in their YouTube videos. Losing myself in the music, I bumped hips with Zoey and she gleefully bumped me back. Gahd. There was nothing like hanging with my best friend watching a cool band.

  As Zoey and I held hands and gyrated to the beat, Tyson Rainier, the brooding, dark-haired lead singer stared at and sang directly to my petite friend. Internally squealing, after all this was a dream come true for both of us, I couldn’t believe that she wouldn’t even look at him. She could be such a shy, loner dork, but she was my BFF and I loved her.

  Luckily, I was not quite as reserved. My social skills were going to come in handy for our plans to lose our virginity to hot guys this summer. I couldn’t help but smile, my job had just gotten easier. It seemed like the lead singer of LTZ was a prime candidate for my bestie, which meant surely one of the other rockers would be perfect for me.

  Surveying the rock bounty onstage, it was time for me to pick from the remaining hotties. Lead guitarist Zane Rocks was a sexy option. His bouncy dark curls, handsome, boyish face and boundless energy made him seem like a hell of a lot of fun. Oh, and holy shit. Soooo talented. I became mesmerized by the blur of his fingers as he effortlessly worked the frets of his vintage Les Paul.

  Bass player Conner McLoughlin was as broody as the singer. I wasn’t a moody-boy fan, but his Herculean, muscled body was unbelievable, and his reddish-brown hair was gorgeous. Perhaps a ride on the ginger-train could be fun this summer.

  Turning my attention to the back of the stage, my eyes popped out Bugs-Bunny style when I focused on LTZ’s shirtless drummer Jace Deveraux. Of all the guys, he was the least-feat
ured band member in their social media feeds, and by God, it was a damn shame. His dirty-blond Viking hair was swinging around his phenomenally muscled tattooed arms and shoulders. He meticulously punctuated each song with amazing percussive beats. His eyes clenched shut and his mouth opened almost orgasmically while his hands blurred through a pounding rhythm to end the song. He was the one. I was overcome by instantaneous lust.

  Shaking his hair out after the song finished, Jace clasped his drumsticks in one hand and took a long sip of his beer. Gazing out at the audience through his kit, I could see him peering in my general direction.

  Look at me. I stared at him, willing him to notice. Just for a second, as he scanned the room, I could have sworn he caught my gaze. Then he became aware that his lead singer was focused on my friend. He smirked at Ty and nodded to Connor. Undeterred at his lack of eye contact, for the rest of the show I danced and swayed to the music, watching him intently while he was lost thrashing on his skins.

  After the show, I basically forced Zoey to be the star of my Instagram story about how badass LTZ was. Based on the success I’d mustered up for mom’s pie business on social media, my plan after I graduated was to fund a gap year of travel by boosting up my own Instagram following and getting paid for posts. College held no interest to me, much to the chagrin of my dad who wouldn’t STFU about it. My goals weren’t overly ambitious, I just wanted to earn enough money to be self-sufficient and do what I wanted, when I wanted, for at least a year.

  Tapping into LTZ’s impressive following with a fun post and a few strategic hashtags would hopefully get me a few more followers. Plus, maybe one or two of the guys in the band would think we were hot.

  “I think he looked right at you,” I shouted at Zoey, hoping to convince her we should go back toward the stage and find Tyson. Knowing she was smitten with Mr. Broody singer, I wanted to start planting the seeds to lay the groundwork for my master plan to talk to Jace.

  But to my surprise, McBroodypants himself shocked us both when he approached Zoey and hit on her. Badly. Not wanting to be a third wheel, I stepped away and covertly tried to listen in as they talked, hoping she wouldn’t blow it. Strike that, hoping he wouldn’t blow it. My sweet little bookworm certainly wasn’t the most confident talking to hot guys. Ty had laughably little game either as evidenced by him forgetting to even get her number before he stalked off back to his band.

  Not wanting to crush her spirit and hoping to reinstate my plan to go meet the fine-as-fuck drummer, I encouraged her, “OMG are you serious! He is the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen in real life. Although—No. The drummer is a delicious piece of eye candy, more my type.”

  “Alex, I just royally fucked that up,” Zoey interrupted glumly, oblivious to my comment. “I’m such a tool, I basically put the hottest guy that ever talked to me on blast. I missed my chance.”

  “Shut the fuck up. Did you see the way he looked at you?” I reassured my little dove. “He’ll be back, trust me. Let’s just chill and hang out for a bit more. Just look nonchalant, cool. As your dad would say, ‘Be Fonzie.’”

  I managed to talk her into staying for about ten minutes as we both scoped out the loading area from our vantage point. My attention was laser-focused on hottie McSticks who was breaking down his drum kit methodically while the bass player unstacked and loaded the amps next to him. Zane the guitar god sat on the edge of the stage animatedly talking to half a dozen women of various sizes and shapes as they were enraptured by every word. There was no sign of Ty, and as Zoey’s curfew loomed, I could tell her heart wasn’t into being at the grungy club for one more second.

  Just as Zoey ducked out to catch her Uber, the scrumptious but sullen singer emerged from the makeshift dressing room and barreled through the club in my direction.

  “Hey, do you know where Zoey went?” He frantically looked around; his blue eyes wide as saucers.

  “Um—” I was confused and a little starstruck.

  “Aren’t you her friend?” He stuck out his hand. “Ty.”

  “Alex.” I took his hand. “Yes, Zoey’s my best friend.”

  “Do you know where she is?” He continued to look around wildly.

  “Um . . .” I gestured toward the side door. “She grabbed an Uber; she has a curfew.”

  “Fuck,” he yelled and then immediately looked at me with horror. “God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

  “No worries, dude. She literally just left, maybe you can catch her.” I pointed again to the side door.

  “Thanks!” He didn’t give me a second glance before dashing outside.

  “Rainier! Wait!” a gravelly, sexy voice called out from behind me.

  My head whipped around just as Jace, the super-sexy shirtless wonder drummer, skidded to a halt next to me.

  “Fuck!” He sighed crossing his arms across his cut torso.

  Knowing this was my opportunity, I opened my mouth to confidently captivate the object of my affection. Unfortunately, instead, I stood mute, staring at him, slack-jawed. I really couldn’t be blamed, though, considering that his cargo shorts hung dangerously low on the “v” of his hips, revealing a happy trail. His bulging biceps sported the most amazingly intricate and colorful tattoos, and his eyes. Lord, his eyes. This man’s eyes were the most striking, hypnotizing light-green orbs rimmed with dark lashes. And they were trained right on me.

  “Hey, did you happen to see where the singer of my band went?” He looked around the room but directed the question to me.

  “Um . . .” Mute times two. So much for being Fonzie.

  “Never mind.” Jace sighed and turned away. “Sorry to bother you.”

  “Wait! I think he went to talk to my friend, Zoey.” My voice came out in a weird, breathy tone as I pointed with my thumb to the door.

  “Huh.” Jace smiled at me. “Really? You have no idea how weird that is.”

  “Crap. Is he a serial killer?” I mimicked a shocked face.

  His outer-worldly green eyes crinkled as he laughed deeply. “Jesus, no. About the furthest you could get from a serial killer, more like a serially clumsy puppy.”

  I giggled at his surprising sense of humor. “That’s funny. He just followed her out that door, but she had called an Uber, so I don’t know if he caught her.”

  “Only one way to find out.” He started toward the door. “I’m Jason by the way, but everyone calls me Jace.”

  “Alexandria.” I followed him to the door. “Everyone calls me Alex.”

  “Nice to meet you, did you like the show?” His deadly, killer smile was complete with two dimples on each side of his full lips.

  “It was amazing, it’s the first time we saw you guys live.” I gushed in full fan-girl groupie mode. “But I watch your YouTube channel all the time, and your Instagram feed is off the chain!”

  “Cool. That’s awesome to hear.” Jace opened the side door and I peeked over his shoulder. There was no sign of either Ty or Zoey.

  “I guess she went home. She still has a curfew.” I mentally thwacked myself at revealing how young we were. Again. I was so not cool.

  “How old is she?” Jace turned back to me.

  “Um . . . why?” I wrinkled my nose.

  “How old are you?” He cocked his head.

  “Eighteen,” I answered honestly, even though it had only been two months since my birthday.

  “Huh. Okay. Goddamn it. That fucker.” Jace scrubbed his strong hands through his long hair. “Where the hell did he go?”

  “Should I text her?” I tried to look out from under my bangs in the flirty way I practiced in the mirror.

  “Hmmm.” He considered for a minute. “Nah, odds are he just went home if he didn’t find your friend. He’s a slippery mofo. He knew that I was going to film him for our Instagram.”

  “Do you do LTZ’s social media?” I was surprised.

  “Guilty.” Jace rubbed his decorated arms absently.

  “Jay-ceeeee.” A curvy redhead with smudged, smoky eyeshadow
and glossy pink lips teetered over in a zebra-striped tank dress and black stiletto booties. “When are we leaving?”

  “Jesus, Cassie.” Jace looked pained. “I thought I told you to go home.”

  “I was waiting for you,” Smudgy pouted.

  “All right, fine. We’ll drop you off at home.” Jace walked away before turning around. “Well, thanks for coming to the show, Alex. I’ve gotta head out.”

  “Sure,” I called out, but he already had forgotten about me as he walked away toward the rest of the band by the stage.

  Holy shit. I just missed my shot and let him walk off with some skank. I stood staring, frozen in place while the band gathered and loaded the final items of their gear out the back exit. I raised my hand to wave goodbye but none of them, including Jace, looked back before the steel door shut behind them with a loud bang.

  A few hours later when I was snuggled under the covers in bed obsessively playing and replaying some of the videos of the show that were uploaded to LTZ’s YouTube channel, my phone buzzed.

  Zoey: Ru up?

  Alex: Y WTF happened?

  Zoey: Squee!!!!

  Alex: Did u hook up?

  Zoey: He jumped into my Uber, came all the way home w/me and met the rents.

  Alex: Shut up!

  Zoey: We made out omg so good . . . dying

  Alex: So cool, will u see him again?

  Zoey: yes def

  Alex: The drummer was looking for him.

  Zoey: Oooooooohhhhhhh realllllyyy?

  Alex: He’s not interested, but lord he’s killer sexy.

  Zoey: I don’t believe he’s not interested.

  Alex: believe – gotta go gotta be up in a few hours for mom

  Zoey: Ok, ping me tomorrow.

  Alex: (emoji hearts)

  Zoey: (emoji hearts)

  Damn! I felt super happy for my bestie, but also a little blue for myself. Oh well, the summer wasn’t even here yet and there were plenty of dudes to hook up with. Plus, if Zoey’s hookup with broodypants became a thing, I’d have plenty of opportunities to be around the band. Jace-the-drummer wasn’t going to know what hit him.