29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Silas
“ T he beer tent was short a case this morning,”
Steve straightens a kinked cable, then rips a piece of tape off with his teeth. We’re both crouched down, taping wires and cables to the stage. Sometimes they get a little ripped up and stuff after a show, and if it’s a two-day festival or longer, we just check them all and re-tape any cables that need it.
“It went missing after closing,” he says. And my breathing stutters. He must know it’s me, otherwise why would he be telling me this?
I keep taping.
“Oh, yeah?”
“You know anything about that?”
I raise my head and meet his eyes. “You accusing me of stealing from the beer tent?”
“Never said that… Jus’ givin’ you an opportunity to come forward if there’s somethin’ you wanted to say to me, kid. That’s all.”
After almost a month, he still only calls me ‘kid’. It’s possible he doesn’t actually know my name.
I shake my head, still keeping eye contact.
“I didn’t steal beer.”
I am definitely going to hell. Not like that’s some kind of plot twist or anything, but still, I do feel bad. Last night was a totally unique situation, though. I wasn’t thinking straight. I was desperate. And it was a total one-off thing .
I went through all these points this morning with Jax. She let me sleep in until ten, even after I walked out on her last night and came back an hour later drunk off my ass. After I’d told her three weeks ago I wasn’t gonna get stumble-drunk anymore.
I seriously don’t deserve her.
Steve nods.
“Alright, then,” he says. Whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. Because seriously—it could mean he legitimately believes me, or it could mean he’s even more convinced now that I’m lying.
Nothing I can do about it, though. Except make sure I don’t screw up again.
We go back to taping in silence.