Chapter Eleven
RYAN
We’re heading up the stairs of a swanky LA nightclub. Danger and I have been here before, and now that we’re better known, they let us into VIP a hell of a lot easier, especially with Oliver’s influence on the door.
We were going to ask Nate and Matt to make a real guys’ night of it, but Danger said he just wanted to spend some downtime with me, and I was cool with that.
Plus, Nate can be an asshole, and even though I live with and am in a band with Danger, it’s still good to hang out with him on our own occasionally—no girlfriends, no bandmates, just us, best friends against the world and all that.
“Wanna shoot some eight ball?” Danger asks as we hit the top of the stairs of the VIP area, which thankfully isn’t overly crowded.
I nod, and we head over to the offset, which is set out just for the pool tables, where I grab a cue and rub the tip with the blue chalk. “So, how’s life with Lunar?” I ask.
Danger smirks and sets up the balls in the triangle. “Awesome. I’m so glad she came to the States with us. Thinking back to when I thought I’d leave her back in Australia when we came home…” he shakes his head, “… I can’t even comprehend how my life would be right now without her.”
I nod. “I know. Even I love the shit out of her, and I don’t get the benefits of banging her.” Danger throws the chalk at me, and I laugh. “But seriously, you screw her over, and I’ll be more than a little pissed at you.”
Danger nods, heading for the top of the table, and bends down, lining his cue up with the white ball.
“Dude, if I fuck this up, I give you permission to royally beat the shit out of me.” He thrusts the cue into the white ball, and it slams forward, scattering the balls across the table and sinking two smalls.
“I’m gonna hold you to that,” I say as he takes another turn but misses, and I walk around the table to take my shot.
“So, we all know that Lunar and Tillie are besties, and Lunar told me she saw a date scene set up on the fire escape. She said she tried talking to Tillie about it, but she shut her down. You know what I think?” I groan, knowing he’s going to tell me anyway.
“I think you made a move on Tillie, but something’s gone weird. Did she reject you?”
I smack the ball too hard, and it hits the green ball, smashes into the edge of the table, and flies over the edge, hitting the floor. I clench my eyes shut as Danger watches closely.
“Okay, there’s a story here. Talk to me, Ry, man to man.”
I stand up, open my eyes, and sigh. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Do you like her?” he asks with a raised brow.
“Yeah.”
“Does she like you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then that’s all there is, Ry. Don’t overthink it.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t think about your past. I know you haven’t had a relationship since…
” He trails off for a second, then starts talking again.
“You’ve technically only ever been in one.
I get it. But, dude, it’s time. Tillie’s great, and she is great for you.
You just gotta get out of your own damn head. ”
It’s like a lightbulb flickers to life inside me, illuminating everything I’ve been blind to until now.
I realize, with a clarity that leaves no room for doubt—I want Tillie in my life, not just in passing moments but in every sense.
The thought of her slipping away stirs something fierce in me, and I know I have to fix this.
I need her to know how much she means to me, to be a part of my world—if she’ll have me.
“I know she means a lot to me, but I think I’ve fucked it up already. ”
“What? How?”
“I—”
I’m interrupted by an abundance of women laughing and cheering as Danger, and I turn to the entrance of the VIP lounge to see an entourage filing in through the door.
I roll my eyes when America’s leading rapper, Debt Money, moves in with a girl on each arm.
Surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women and a crowd of oversized men, the VIP room has gone from relaxed and calm to buzzing and overcrowded in an instant.
I look to Danger and curl up my lip in annoyance.
The women in his entourage are definitely groupies, and I’ve been there, done that, bought and worn the fucking T-shirt.
I don’t have the time or need for that shit anymore.
Plus, Tillie is the only woman on my mind.
I turn, shaking my head, and take another turn at the pool table, wanting to continue with my game.
Suddenly, a hand slaps my ass, and I jolt, missing the ball completely.
Danger chuckles and then coughs, choking on his laugh as another woman runs her hand up his chest. I stand as the ass-slapper does the same to me.
“Can we play with you?” the girl asks Danger as he pulls her off him.
I gently pull the blonde away from me, too.
“Not tonight, ladies. It’s boys’ night. Sorry.”
The girls both grunt in annoyance, then stand back, glaring at us with their arms crossed over their expensive fake tits.
“Don’t you know who we’re here with?”
“Yeah, but that means jack shit to us, darling. We prefer rock over rap,” Danger replies, and I laugh, fist-bumping him.
The girls both smirk and run off. I shake my head, looking at Danger, who rolls his eyes, taking his turn and potting another ball.
“That was fun,” I murmur.
“Yeah, not! Let’s not tell Lunar about that. She’ll hunt them down and gut them.”
I laugh, knowing that that’s probably true, when I turn to see Debt Money sauntering over toward us with a goon on either side of him.
“Harmony and Melody said you disrespected them and my music, dog.”
I’m dismayed at not only the girls’ names but the hoodlum way Debt Money talks, so I attempt to hide my smirk.
“Um, no disrespect… dog, but me and my bro here, are trying to play some pool. We’re not getting in the way of anyone,” Danger says.
“Yeah, but you’re in my VIP lounge, dog. So you will bow down to my demands or get the fuck out.”
“Excuse me?” Danger snaps, throwing the pool cue on the table. I step up, putting my hand on his chest as he rushes toward Debt Money, who flashes his gold-toothed grill at us while his two goons step forward.
“I think I told you to get the fuck out.”
“Fuck you!” Danger snaps, and Debt Money smirks.
“I don’t think pasty white boy is my thang.”
“Good, then get out of our faces and let us play our game. You go back to Harmony and Melody, and everything will be peachy,” I say.
He looks at me and tilts his head. “Did this bitch say peachy?”
“I think he did,” one of his goons says.
“Well, this bitch ain’t going nowhere, dog. You got the 411 there, homeboy?” I say, not knowing why I’m talking like a prepubescent teen.
Debt Money raises his eyebrow and growls like a dog, literally baring his teeth. “You dare mock me, son? Well, I’m gon’ show you bitches who the mac daddy is right now! Beau, Jangles… sick ’em.”
I smirk at his goons’ names, but it quickly falls as I see Jangles’ fist flying right for my face.
I don’t have time to duck before his fist—the size of a dinner plate—smashes right into my nose.
A sharp pain radiates right through my face as I groan out loud, hunching over while another blow lands in my stomach, forcing my knees to give out, and I collapse to the floor.
I hear muffled moans coming from Danger, too, and I squint, opening my eyes to look at him.
He’s on the floor, his face covered in blood.
“Oh, you showed them, Debt Money. You’re my big teddy bear, Daddy,” Harmony or Melody—I don’t know which one she is—jumps up into his arms as he rumbles with laughter above us while the other girl records it all on her cell.
“And that’s called getting your ass whooped by the man,” Debt Money says as he leans in, kissing the girl.
“Now, get out,” Jangles says, grabbing my shirt and hoisting me off the floor.
I wipe my nose, and blood smears across my arm, then runs down my chest. I guess Debt Money has no idea who we are, that we’re in the same industry, and I have no doubt we’re going to make it bigger than him.
And when we do, we’ll be the ones throwing him on his ass.
Danger staggers over to me, and we turn, heading for the exit as they laugh at our backs.
“You okay, bro?” I ask.
He slaps my back. “Yeah, nothing but a sore jaw and a cut to my lip. How’s your nose?”
I crinkle it, and it aches, but it’s not agony. “Not broken, I don’t think.”
“Fucking rappers thinking they own the joint,” Danger sneers.
“They’re not all like Debt Money. But he is an exception, a total asshole.”
“You’re telling me.”
“Let’s go home. I’m sure Lunar’s gonna flip when she sees us,” I say.
“Shit! She’s gonna kill me for getting in a fight.”
I laugh. “A fight? I don’t think that qualifies. We’d have to have thrown a punch for it to qualify as a real fight. No, we had our asses handed to us,” I say, spitting out a line of blood, and Danger sighs as people stare at our bloodied faces while we walk to the car.
“Yeah, we kinda did, hey? Dammit! We were pussies!”
“No, we were smart. We know when we’re outnumbered.” I suppress a laugh.
He nods, opening the car door. “True.”
I slide into the driver’s side and start the car to head home.
Thankfully, Danger isn’t very talkative on the drive, giving me a chance to reflect on our conversation before Debt Money showed up.
While I know Danger is right, I need to move on.
A part of me feels like it’s a betrayal to Katie, somehow.
And how am I supposed to explain all of it to Tillie in a way she might understand?
Pulling up to the house, the silence continues, and I know Danger is bracing for Lunar.
When we walk through the front door, Lunar is on her cell.
I prepare myself for when she turns around, and as she does, her eyes open wide, and she stands up tall and lets out a small, ear-piercing scream, making Danger and me both jump slightly.