Chapter 60
60
CONOR
C onor was the first to enter the room, throwing himself onto one of the couches and examining a cut on his finger that had bothered him during the last song they did for sound check. He’d have to tape it to prepare for another enthusiastic South American crowd here in Buenos Aires—their latest stop on the Lollapalooza festival circuit. After a moment, he pulled a magazine out from under his feet. The photograph on the cover stopped him cold.
Then he got uncomfortably hot.
The magazine was the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. On the cover, Sophie was standing ankle-deep in clear turquoise waters, wearing nothing but white bikini bottoms with one forearm barely covering both of her breasts.
It was the sexiest she had ever looked, and his buried desire for her was quickly rising to the surface all over again. He had tried to place Sophie in the “friend-zone” for years now. Longing for his best friend’s wife was a hopeless endeavor. It went against the precision and control he required in the other aspects of his life. But the ache she caused in him had never really gone away, not since that moment in the studio at his house. Since then, he had bedded gorgeous women, even had fleeting relationships, but it was always Sophie that he wanted.
“Jesus,” Martin said, looking over his shoulder. “That’s one hot girl.”
The intrusion into his thoughts made Conor jump, but he tried to cover it by replying with a sly grin, “All grown up, aye?”
“Look there, is that her?—”
“Nah, they wouldn’t show nipples on the cover of this,” Conor told him, but the thought that it might be there was enough to make him study the photo all that much more closely.
“What’s this, then?” Shay asked, putting a hand on Martin’s shoulder as he trained his eyes to the magazine in Conor’s hands.
“Our supermodel,” Conor said.
“Fuck me,” Shay said.
“Say that again,” Martin whispered.
“What’s the craic, lads?” Gavin asked, the last to file in.
Conor simultaneously sat up and rolled the magazine up, grasping it with both hands. “Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Come on, give us a look,” Gavin said, snatching at the magazine.
“Get off,” Conor said and pulled away from him.
But Gavin was too quick. He grabbed the magazine and let it unfurl. Recognition filled his face over the fact that his three best friends had been ogling his wife as if she were some sort of men’s magazine centerfold.
“We were just having a laugh,” Shay said. “You know, saying she’s all grown up, is all.”
“Yeah, sure yous were. Bet you were off to have a wank while you’re at it,” Gavin said.
Conor stood up. “Relax, Gav. She’s a pretty girl, but she’s yours. No reason to let this bother you.”
But Conor saw that his entreaty was going nowhere. Gavin had always been possessive with Sophie, so Conor could see how this would bother him. But at the same time, it was just a photograph. She wasn’t giving her actual self to anyone else. He knew that all too well.
Sophie entered the room then, unaware of what she was walking into as she chatted with Randy, Conor’s guitar tech. What timing. Not just coming into the room now, but having just rejoined them on tour once more in time for a copy of this magazine to come out. He knew she’d been nervous for Gavin to see it. Now, he could see trouble was coming but was powerless to stop it.
“Sophie,” Gavin called, motioning curtly for her to join him.
“I’m being beckoned,” Sophie told Randy with a laugh and went to Gavin.
There were a dozen or so people in the room, and they all seemed aware of the tension in the air and kept their conversations low.
“Hey, baby,” Sophie said, smiling at Gavin.
“What the fuck is this?” he asked, holding up the magazine.
She took in the photo as well as Gavin’s attitude. Conor watched her inhale a deep, bracing breath.
“That’s me,” she said lightly. “Guess someone got an early copy?”
“You didn’t tell me you’re doing this kind of shit.”
The whole of the room was now an uncomfortable audience to their conversation. Conor shook his head and silently urged Gavin to get a grip before he went too far.
“Let’s go somewhere else to talk,” Sophie said.
“Why, are you suddenly shy about this?” He held up the magazine again so all could see the cover. “A little late for that.”
“No, I’m not shy about the photograph, Gavin,” she said. “But unlike you, I don’t want an audience right now.” She gestured to the people in the room but Gavin didn’t quit his intense stare at her. “This is why I didn’t tell you before,” she continued, “because I knew you’d have a bad reaction.”
“What do you expect, when this is the way I find out? I just walked in on my so-called friends having at it, because you’ve decided stripping down to nothing is part of your job.”
“Stop this right now,” Sophie told him urgently.
“It’s disgusting, this.”
Conor saw tears fill Sophie’s eyes at the rebuke. “Gavin, that’s enough,” he said sharply. He couldn’t stop himself.
“Stay the fuck out of it,” Gavin returned with a glare.
“I’m done,” Sophie said, turning to go.
“Yeah, you are.”
“You’re a fucking gobshite, Gavin,” Conor said as Sophie hurriedly left the room.
“Can you all get your own fucking lives?” Gavin shouted. He grabbed a bottle of beer from the nearby bar and took it to an adjacent room.