Stranger Things Have Happened.
A one-night stand with a famous rock star wasn't exactly what Andrea Evans had had in mind when she walked into a bar after losing her job. Then again, maybe Reed Vance was just who Andrea needed…
One.
x
"So what exactly is so important that I had to cancel my date?" Eric grumbled angrily to Andrea, who sat next to him, silently sipping at her drink.
"Seriously!" Jonathan huffed, "If this is a stupid break up story about the guy who you thought was 'the one' I will kill you so help me god-"
"Gentlemen, please." Andrea cut in smoothly, "I have more sense than that." She paused and took another sip from her half done drink, earning more frustrated growls from her brothers.
"Honestly," Eric continued, "Don't you have any friends to help you out with your problems? Why is it always us?"
Andrea smirked, clearly amused. "Boys," She drawled, "You know me better than that, don't you? I am incapable of befriending girls because they are intimidated by me – and it's not like their insecurity is my fault. And men… well all men are merely too attracted to me to even consider friendship."
"Always the modest one, Andrea…" Eric grumbled.
"Come on, cough it up already!" Jonathan complained.
Andrea grinned, drained her drink, and eyed the bartender.
"Scotch on the rocks." She demanded, and then turned to her brothers. "I lost my job." She declared, grabbing her drink and draining it as her brothers' faces fell.
"Hey boys," she added, "you mind paying my tab? I'm kind of broke."
Jonathan rolled his eyes, "How did you possibly lose your job?"
"I pissed off my boss." She stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I piss off my boss on a daily basis," Eric cut in, "I'm still in a job… What did you say?"
"Oh, nothing horrible." She downed another drink that had materialized out of nowhere, "I think he's just insecure."
"Andrea." Both her brothers were losing patience.
She threw her head back and laughed. Eric and Jonathan exchanged confused glances.
"I told him he had no balls."
And then they understood.
See, of all the people that knew Andrea – her brothers knew her best. And if you knew Andrea, you knew that she would never be able to get along with anyone…
x
"I'm going home, this is ridiculous." Jonathan muttered, eyeing Andrea warily. God only knew how much she had had to drink… It was inevitable that, by morning, she wouldn't remember a thing.
"Hey, wait," Eric protested, "I'm not paying her tab all by myself! It's got to be up there by now!"
Jonathan let out a long sigh, and retrieved his wallet, handing Eric a hundred dollars. "It has to cover taxi fare as well." He muttered, "Now all you have to do is help me get her car back to her place and we can get the hell out of here."
Eric laughed humorlessly, "The things we do for our sister…" He mused.
x
Andrea was only vaguely aware of her surroundings. There was loud music and a dancing crowd and an alcohol-induced haze that wouldn't seem to lift…
Jonathan appeared and frowned as he took in his sister's appearance. "Andrea," He sighed, clearly running out of patience, "This is for your tab and a taxi ride home." Andrea grinned widely and grabbed the fat pile of bills without second thought.
"Thank you, brother dear." She cooed, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Jonathan muttered under his breath and then disappeared, leaving Andrea alone once more.
Andrea giggled to no one in particular. She had to love her brothers, they were always looking out for her…
The rest of that night was particularly hard to remember. Andrea was certain there was drinking, dancing and flirting in no particular order – but what she didn't remember was how her drink tab was paid, how she got out of the club and how she still had a hundred dollars left in her pocket by the next morning…
x
She awoke with a start, and immediately frowned.
Talk about the bitchiest hangover ever… Andrea kept her eyes glued firmly shut, as to keep out the blindingly bright sunlight, and made to move off the bed.
…Only, there was a body in the way.
Andrea frowned as she opened her eyes. The body was clearly that of a man and Andrea's frown deepened as she took in their lack of clothes.
"Damn it, not again…" She hissed under her breath, maneuvering her way over the man and off the unfamiliar bed. She froze when she heard and amused chuckle.
"Not again?" Questioned the sleepy voice.
Andrea ignored the query as she collected her articles of clothing that were scattered across the floor. She didn't want to answer that question in fear of further embarrassment – and if there was one thing she hated, it was being embarrassed. Her pride was more important than anything, it seemed… As she knelt down to retrieve her bra, she felt a gaze burning holes into her back.
"What?" She snapped, turning around to meet strikingly blue eyes.
"Oh, nothing." The man chuckled, "I was just thinking about how I haven't picked up a total slut in a while…"
Andrea's face burned. "I'm not a total slut." She denied, "I'm loose, and most guys don't seem to have a problem with it – if I recall correctly you didn't either."
The truth was that she remembered nothing of the night before – for all she knew he had dragged her back here kicking and screaming… Although considering her track record that was very unlikely.
The man ran a hand through brown hair and smirked, "Keep denying it, babe."
Her hand itched to slap him.
"Who do you think you are?" She fumed, "I-"
"I think I'm Reed Vance." He declared smugly.
Andrea snorted, "Of all the rock stars to compare yourself to, you pick Reed Vance? He's only famous because he's rich and somewhat good looking – he has no musical talent whatsoever."
The man laughed, "You think I'm good looking?" He questioned, "Really, I'm flattered."
She frowned as he tossed a jacket in her direction. Catching it, she blanched. It was Reed Vance's famous jacket…
However, it didn't take her long to recover – she prided herself on rarely acting like a star struck little girl.
"I'm not taking back the comment about your musical talent if that's what you're expecting." She stated coolly, "And considering you're a famous rock star – I would have expected more talent in last night's performance."
She heard Reed sharply intake air and laughed as she sauntered away.
x
Immediately, Andrea regretted storming out of Reed's bedroom so quickly. Not only did she have no idea where she was going, but she was also half dressed and severely handicapped by an ugly hangover. She pulled the jacket that had been catapulted in her direction tighter around her… She hadn't found her shirt before storming out.
As she wandered throughout the house, she snickered at the situation she had managed to land herself in. Just yesterday, she had insulted her boss's endowment and lost her job – and now she had insulted the all-famous Reed Vance's skills in bed.
Maybe she wasn't a slut, but she was most definitely an icy bitch.
Andrea's grin grew in size as she found the hundred dollars given to her by her brothers still untouched in her pocket. Sure, this Reed guy was obviously an ass-hole, but he had paid her tab and brought her to… well, wherever this was…
She snorted as she realized she had managed to insult a rock star most girls would throw themselves at without second thought. But, as mentioned earlier, Andrea was rarely star struck.
"Lost, are we?" A voice that was growing infuriatingly familiar drawled from across the hallway.
Andrea hugged the jacket tighter around her lean frame as she met Reed's blindingly blue eyes.
"Oh, and babe," He smirked when she frowned at his nickname, "No point in hugging that jacket so tight, it's nothing I haven't seen before."
Andrea let out a dry chuckle.
The man before her wasn't fully dressed, but he had bothered to throw on a pair of boxers. Andrea frowned as she noted he did have a nice body. Not that she would ever give that pompous jerk the satisfaction of knowing that… However, between his ripped upper body, bright blue eyes, and ruffled brown hair, Andrea couldn't help but congratulate herself on at least picking a good looking guy while inebriated.
Besides, it wasn't like she knew he would turn into an egotistical jerk…
"Well, now that you're done mentally grading my looks, I suppose you'll be needing this."
Andrea felt a blush creep up the back of her neck as he handed her the bra she had undoubtedly dropped in her haste to leave his room.
"Good job, big boy," She deadpanned, "Any idea what happened to my top?"
Reed grinned devilishly, heightening Andrea's sense of foreboding…
"Oh, I'd hardly call that little number a top." He replied, "It certainly didn't leave much to the imagination…" Andrea shot him a glare, to which he snickered and returned with a sneer.
"Well?" She prompted.
The devil's wicked, maniacal grin returned. "I ripped that to pieces while removing it from you." He recalled. She let out a growl, prompting him to add, "… With my teeth."
Andrea's eyes widened with rage, and in a huff, she took off in the opposite direction, thick red hair bouncing behind her.
She could hear Reed's amused laughter as she sped down another hallway, finally finding the entrance and getting the hell out of the rock star's obnoxiously large house.
x
Seeing as the only article of clothing Andrea's upper half was covered with was an awful-looking leather jacket, she opted to call Eric, once again relying on her brother for help.
When Eric pulled up twenty minutes later and opened the door of the car wordlessly, Andrea burst into laughter. At this, Eric could only send her a confused glance, as if she was confirming his suspicions of being absolutely crazy.
"And what, may I ask, is so funny?" Eric questioned as he started the car.
"My brother comes to pick me up in the middle of the fanciest part of Beverly Hills – I'm half dressed… and he doesn't ask questions. I really must be something else." Andrea chuckled, relaxing into her seat.
"Andrea, that took you way too long to figure that out." Eric muttered, "So what happened this time?"
Andrea laughed, "Give me about twenty four hours to figure out if this all really happened, and then I'll get back to you."
Eric nodded silently. "So are you going to look for a new job?" He asked as they drove towards her apartment.
"Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to." Andrea grumbled.
"Well, it was a pretty good firm," Eric counseled, "Maybe another firm with a less … insecure … boss will hire you?"
"Thanks for the support, Eric, but that will never happen – not in my wildest dreams." Andrea sighed, "I'll probably have to settle for secretary at some crappy office, 'cause that's all I'm getting with my current résumé."
The car came to a stop in front of Andrea's apartment. Eric offered a small comforting smile and watched his sister walk inside.
She slammed the door shut behind her and sank to the floor. Her head was still pounding with the dull ache of a hangover. She frowned as she tore the leather jacket away and tossed it aside.
That Reed Vance sure wasn't the incredibly chill rock star everyone made him out to be. In fact, he was frustrating beyond belief and they had only briefly spoken. Reed had done well in one aspect in that he had confirmed her suspicions about rich rock stars… they were egotistical and not worth her time of day.
While some would spread the news of having slept with Reed Vance with pride, Andrea could only be repulsed at the thought of telling anyone something so incredibly embarrassing. Besides, the entire story was so utterly unbelievable that Andrea wasn't sure it had happened at all.
Then again, a jacket worth cumbersome amounts of money designed solely for Mr. Vance lay forgotten on the ground of her apartment. Come to think of it, Andrea was surprised the devil had even let her leave while still wearing the jacket that his career was practically based on.
According to the MTV biography of Reed Vance, (which Andrea had had the displeasure of watching) the very same jacket that Andrea was in possession of at that very moment was what Reed himself had referred to as his good luck charm and the key to his success.
And now, Andrea was all too tempted to burn the damn thing.
For a moment, she considered changing clothes and shamefacedly bringing the jacket back to the jerk. But then, a far better idea popped into her head.
Turning on her computer, Andrea opened the Internet and went straight to eBay. Considering she was broke and Reed Vance was obnoxious, she was killing two birds with one stone by selling this jacket online… She would successfully earn more money than she deserved while conning the arrogant prick and causing him a great deal of trouble.
Maybe this story wasn't so embarrassing after all…
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