Cross Me Off Your List by Nikki Godwin Read Free Book Online

to Chloe. “How the hell can I enjoy myself when I’m on
lockdown all the time? All I can do is go to night clubs and drink
because God forbid I actually dance with someone.”
    “Someone might snap a picture,” Chloe says, a
bit of sarcasm in her voice. “Believe me, I know. Lockdown never
ended for some of us.”
    Benji takes another swig of beer. “You should
go dance with Tank,” he tells her. “You could be tomorrow morning’s
headline. Branson Sister Cheats on Boyfriend with Bodyguard in
Plain Sight. It’s ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as these
idiots not letting me into the VIP section.”
    Benji orders Big Tony to get another round
because he’s going to need more beer to survive tonight. Noah tells
me that Benji doesn’t normally drink, but vacations aren’t much of
a vacation for his band mate.
    “It’s like a prison sentence,” Noah says.
“We’re finally allowed to have some fun and take a break from
interviews, touring, and everything in between, but for him, it’s
always a charade. He’s Benji from SAS nonstop. There is no normalcy
for him. Then we just make it worse by bringing him to the States
where he’s not even old enough to buy alcohol.”
    I sort of want to punch someone in the face,
but I’m not sure who. Part of me wants to hit Benji for not
grabbing his balls and manning up. If the other guys can do
whatever the hell they want, so can he. Why doesn’t he just say
something? But then I want to punch their manager for even setting
these stupid guidelines. I know teenage girls all over the world
love them and daydream about marrying them, but I’m certain that
girls dream of marrying Jules, Milo, Noah, and Tate just as much as
they do Benji.
    “You should tell your management team to
shove it,” I say to Benji when we reach the table. I’m livid that
he has to live like this. I don’t care how famous he is. “People
are going to talk no matter what you do. I mean, look at Chloe. She
walks the line just the way everyone expects her to, and if you
Google her name, all you see are cheating rumors.”
    Maybe I shouldn’t have said that in front of
her. I swap my stare from Benji to Chloe. “Sorry,” I say. “That
came out all wrong.”
    “No, it’s okay,” Chloe assures me. “I stopped
Googling myself once the rumor mill decided I was the Saturn slut.
You know, working on album art for a band and sleeping with their
guitarist are basically one and the same.”
    Hmmm. Maybe she does have a backbone after
all. I imagined her to be a pushover, the kind of girl who does
whatever it takes to please everyone else. I still think at one
time, she was that way. Maybe all this Saturn insanity has gone too
far for her.
    I start to settle in when I notice the DJ
heading out and a new one settling in. He rushes up the stairs into
the coveted VIP section, cap turned sideways and an unshaven face.
Normally, thugged out rugged boys aren’t my type, but a year and a
half ago, he was clean shaven and a little more punk rock – sort of
like Noah.
    And a year and a half ago, I may have spent a
drunken night skinny dipping with him. Then we may have moved the
action from the water to his bedroom in that ancient apartment
building. And that night may have reoccurred a few times, with
slight changes here and there.
    Luckily, we ended it on good terms. We
weren’t ever really a thing anyway. I don’t even know if I’d have
called us friends with benefits, but we were friends, and there
were benefits, so maybe. I’m about to find out if we’re still
friends and if I can possibly help my new friends benefit from
it.
    “Hey, I’ll be right back,” I tell Noah.
    I don’t give him a chance to question me. I
dash toward the VIP area, but I know I won’t be getting in without
my name on that list. It’s the same guy from earlier who refused
Benji, so I don’t have a shot in hell.
    I follow the railing on the bottom level,
trying to keep up with him, until he stops at the DJ booth. I