10. Felicity
“Oooh, your boyfriend beat us here,” Nina bumped her shoulder into mine as we walked into Frankie’s Tavern, the latest dive bar where Tyler was performing.
Meeting Cameron at the bar for Tyler’s gig was a perfect way to soft-launch our public couplehood after our accidental date at the coffee shop a few days prior. The photos and videos the girls had posted had set the #RingingintheRomance tag on fire, and interest in us was gaining even more traction. That said, I couldn’t imagine a rundown bar being a hang-out spot for romance fangirls. I’d dressed with care just in case anyone noticed us—but I also had back-up plans for other places where we could be “caught” together if there ended up not being any content from tonight.
Nina and I wound our way through the crowd to the table, and I tried to ignore the butterflies in my chest as we got closer, because Cameron was bringing the smolder tonight. He’d opted to skip his usual uniform of a suit and tie and was in a simple black t-shirt and jeans, although the way the shirt fit him was anything but “simple.” I was treated to biceps and forearms that made me wonder if he spent all his free time at the gym.
His eyes lit up when he spotted us, and he jumped to his feet. For a second, his excitement at seeing me almost felt real.
“Hey. Hi, uh, sweetheart,” he said in a strained voice, glancing around to see if anyone was watching.
I laughed softly. The man needed to learn how to lean into pretending to like me. Clearly, it was a stretch for him.
“Hey, babe,” I said, going up on my tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
It was the second time I’d been in close contact with Cameron, a no-big-deal peck that was the equivalent of what I’d give my grandfather, yet it still rocked me to my core. He had this aura around him, a warmth almost, that made me want to nuzzle closer to him. And the way he smelled? Incredible. I’d gotten hints of it when we were trapped in the elevator together, but going in for the kiss gave me a full hit of his spicy scent. And unlike those guys who bathed in cologne, he wore just enough to make you want to lean in closer. I wished I could park my nose against his neck and breathe him in for a couple of hours.
Purely for research, of course.
“You just missed Tyler,” he said as we sat down.
“Did he seem nervous?” Nina asked. “He texted me and said he was feeling a little shaky about tonight.”
The two had been texting nonstop since meeting, which made me equal parts happy and worried. I wanted to trust Cameron that Tyler was a good guy, but “good friend” didn’t always equal “good boyfriend.” Frankly, it was hard for me to imagine how he could be a good boyfriend for Nina given his lifestyle. How could a guy who plays gigs in the middle of the night be right for a bookworm who liked staying in?
Cameron shook his head. “No, he wasn’t nervous. He’s in a good headspace right now. He’s all wrapped up trying to perfect a new song, that’s why he’s not out here hanging with us.”
Nina perked up even more. “New song? Does it have to do with dragons?”
“Uh, he didn’t say,” Cameron laughed. “Maybe?”
Nina squeezed my arm and leaned closer to me. “He told me about the song! It’s about the book we’re reading together.”
Okay, that was totally sweet. A rock guy writing an ode to a dragon-filled fantasy novel? Maybe Tyler and Nina were a better match than I’d thought.
I glanced around the room to see if anyone had clocked me and Cameron and was disappointed to discover we were apparently the least interesting people in the room. I wanted an excuse to pull my chair a little closer to Cameron’s, maybe hold his hand. I might’ve felt resistant to it when we were outlining our fake relationship, but now that it was a go, I was ready to sell it. Plus, I needed to model the right sort of social media behavior for him, since it didn’t seem like it was easy for him. Loving glances, big smiles, stolen kisses…the sort of stuff that would make people want to follow our story.
And maybe, just maybe, we’d both learn to enjoy it a little.
“Fuck,” Cameron muttered as he stared across the room. “My brother’s here.”
A splash of ice water hit me. We were doing family stuff already? How much did his brother know? How was I supposed to act around him? We hadn’t talked about involving loved ones during the contract negotiation at the coffee shop. Obviously, I’d told Nina the truth—but I had no idea what kind of relationship Cameron had with his brother. Was he someone we could trust with a secret?
“You don’t like your brother?” I asked in a quiet voice.
“I love my brother,” Cameron shot back with a glower I hoped wasn’t meant for me. “It’s his girlfriend I can do without. I didn’t invite her.”
Nina and I watched the good-looking, dark-haired guy stride toward us. I craned my neck to try to spot the awful girlfriend in question.
“He’s in a sling? What the hell did he do to himself?” Cameron muttered angrily.
The pair slid into the empty chairs at our table, and I got a good look at them. His brother had the same strong jawline and piercing eyes as Cameron, but he seemed more easygoing and quick to smile. His girlfriend was a gorgeous blonde who looked vaguely familiar to me, but then again, stunning women with perfect blowouts were fairly common in my social media world.
“Hey. What did you do to yourself now?” Cameron asked, nodding toward his brother’s arm.
“Oh, this?” he laughed and lifted it slightly. “Megan wanted us to buy roller skates, and it turns out my balance is absolutely shitty. Fractured my wrist.” He glanced toward Nina and me since Cameron didn’t introduce us. “Hi, I’m Aiden, and this is my girlfriend, Megan. You must be Felicity. Cam’s told me absolutely nothing about you.”
I laughed, not sure how to take it. “Hi. You’re right—I’m Felicity. This is my friend Nina.”
Everyone made pleasant small talk but Cameron, who seemed busier than usual on his phone.
“Aiden, we need to chat,” he said after a few minutes of silent treatment. “Let’s go.” He stood up and walked away before his brother could answer.
“The king hath summoned,” Aiden said wryly. “If you’ll excuse me, ladies.”
The moment we were alone, Megan put her hand to her chest and let out a weary sigh. “Wow, he hates me.”
Nina and I leaned closer to her, eager to get the scoop.
“Why? If you don’t mind my asking,” I said gently.
She glanced between us. “I can sum it up like this—I’m Megan Bartholomew.”
“Holy shit,” I said, before I could help myself. “Of the Barth Co. Bartholomews?”
“Who?” Nina asked, confused.
“Megan’s family and Cameron’s family are basically the Montagues and the Capulets. Diamond rivals,” I told her. “Long-standing blood feud.”
Megan gave me a halfhearted smile. “I wouldn’t go that far. Let’s just say things are touchy between our families and have been for years. But I don’t even work for the company, and neither does Aiden, so it’s not like we have a direct stake in the game, you know? Not that it matters to Cameron. He looks at me like I’m a mail order bride asking for money to help my ‘sick mother.’” She made air quotes. “I bet he’s going to blame me for Aiden’s arm.”
“I’m sorry,” Nina said, frowning sympathetically at Megan. “That really sucks.”
“It does, but I get it. There’s the family stuff, plus Cameron also has a crappy history in the romance department.”
“Oh?” I asked, trying not to look as desperate for intel about him as I was. “What happened?”
Megan glanced toward where the guys had disappeared. “I don’t know all of the story, but Aiden told me things ended badly with his ex. Like, catastrophically bad. Cameron got his heart destroyed, which is probably also part of the reason why he hates me. I bet he thinks his brother is going to end up with a broken heart, just like his. But Aiden and I are in love. Real love, like, forever love. Cameron will see it, eventually.” She frowned and played with the glass of water in front of her. “At least I hope so.”
I chewed my lip as I considered this new insight into my bosshole fake boyfriend. A broken heart? It barely seemed like he had one, but now the way he had been acting toward me made a little more sense.
Cameron hated love. Awesome.
Nina craned her neck to look over our heads, then clapped her hands together. “There he is! Tyler’s just walked on stage. I’m so excited.”
“Looks like love is in the air tonight,” Megan mused as she watched Nina. She leaned toward me, probably to ask about me and Cameron, right as Tyler greeted the crowd. The accompanying mic screech made everyone grab their ears.
“Oof,” Nina said. “Not a great start to the set.”
Cameron stormed back to his seat with an angry Aiden trailing behind him, and I think we all felt lucky that we could focus on the music instead of the tension in the air while Tyler played his solo set. Tyler was in his element alone on the stage with just his guitar. He played songs everyone sang along to, as well as one that mentioned a “winged beast and a timeless love.” I glanced at Nina to find her mesmerized by him. Watching him seduce the room left me even more worried for her.
As expected, Aiden and Megan said their goodbyes shortly after Tyler finished up. Cameron relaxed a little once they were gone, and even more so once Tyler joined us at the table.
“Well?” Tyler asked as we applauded him. “How was it?”
A waitress interrupted us before we could go into a full-fledged gush, and Tyler ordered celebratory tequila shots for the table, as well as a whiskey for himself.
“You were incredible,” Nina said, staring at Tyler like she still couldn’t believe he was in her orbit. “And I loved the new song. You mentioned Astarot the dragon!”
He smiled broadly at her. “It wasn’t the easiest word to rhyme, but ‘caught’ did the trick.”
“Do we all agree that Tyler needs to do more solo gigs from now on?” Cameron asked, looking around the table at us. “He’s always good, but he’s great when he’s on his own.”
“Hold on, hold on,” a voice rang out from nearby. “Are you trying to steal jobs from Ty’s bandmates?”
A skinny, scruffy-looking guy with tired eyes in a tank top pulled a chair up to our table and sat down.
“What?” Tyler exclaimed, staring at him with wide eyes. “Jerry Jones is in the house! C’mere, brother.”
He jumped up and pulled him into a back-slapping hug. I glanced over at Cameron to find him frowning at the stranger. I didn’t blame him—there was something about the guy that came off as a little sinister.
“Jerry is a legendary guitarist,” Tyler explained as they sat down. “We played together during my West Coast tour a million years ago.”
“Yeah, been way too long,” Jerry nodded at Tyler. “And speaking of those good times, I know of someone who’s very interested in hanging with you again. Mr. Brown is in town tonight.”
Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Is he here?”
“Sure is. C’mon, let’s go have a chat with him.”
Tyler’s eyes landed on Nina for a beat, and it seemed like he was wrestling with the decision to go see his other friend. I didn’t blame him, since the two of them were hitting it off.
“Hey, uh, Imma go say howdy to an old buddy, but I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere,” he pointed finger guns at us as he backed away.
“Do you know who he’s talking about?” Nina asked Cameron as she watched Tyler disappear into the crowd.
He shrugged. “Tyler’s world is huge; he knows everyone. Probably some old blues guitarist.”
Cameron was a little distracted, like he was still grappling with the conversation with his brother. Sure, his default attitude was usually pretty grumpy, but even being with Tyler wasn’t helping to lighten him up.
“You okay?” I asked softly.
His mouth went tight. “Yeah. My brother just…” he shook his head. “He doesn’t get it. He’s so blinded by love, and he has no idea that it’s going to bite him in the ass.”
“Maybe it won’t?” I offered. I briefly considered doing some cheerleading for Megan but opted to keep my mouth shut. Cameron and I seemed to be on an even keel, and I didn’t want to risk pissing him off. I didn’t think anyone was photographing us at the moment, but I couldn’t be sure.
Tyler and Jerry strolled back to the table, laughing with each other. I wondered if the shot he took combined with the whiskey he threw back were hitting him, because he wobbled as he sat down with us.
“Hey!” Nina said brightly. “How was your friend?”
Tyler tilted his head back and gave her a slow smile. “Really good. Really, really good.”
Jerry burst into laughter and covered his mouth with his hand. “You’ve missed our friend Mr. Brown, huh?”
“Guess I did, bro,” Tyler laughed along with him.
I could’ve sworn I saw Cameron flinch at him calling Jerry “bro.”
“We used to have so much fun together,” Jerry said. “Oh, man, do you remember that time you, me, and Roxanne went into that liquor store and had to steal that bottle of tequila because we all forgot our money? And the dude caught us?”
Tyler was now hunched over the table, propping his head on his hand. He opened his mouth in a silent laugh. “Yeah, and the only reason he didn’t call the police was because he recognized me. One autograph and a backstage pass later and we were golden.”
“Hey,” Jerry wagged a finger at him. “You can’t take all the credit. Roxanne showed him her tits.”
“Right,” Tyler said. His smile drooped a bit. “She was always game for anything.”
“Roxanne was a solid chick,” Jerry said. “Fucking hot too, if you don’t mind me sayin’, bro.”
Nina squirmed in her seat and started glancing around the bar, like she would rather be anywhere but at the table.
Tyler swished his hand through the air and knocked an empty glass off the table. “Whoops.”
A waitress scurried over to clean it up, and Tyler grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. “Hey, can you bring me another drink? I’m the talent.” He gestured to the stage.
Tyler was definitely drunk—or worse. Nina sat hunched in her chair with her purse clenched in her lap, like she was debating taking off. I decided to be her lifeline, because what had started off as a decent night was now super awkward.
“Guys, we’re going to go. Nina told me she has an early start tomorrow.”
She gave me a grateful smile. Tyler didn’t even notice. He and Jerry were huddled close, reminiscing.
“That’s fine. Let me walk you out,” Cameron said as he stood up.
The bar was suddenly too noisy and crowded, and I was happy we were leaving. The vibes had been off all night.
“I’ll order a car,” Nina said, hurrying ahead of me with her phone already in her hand.
She burst out the door and I followed, trailed by Cameron. It felt like he was ready to take off with us. We ducked away from the crowd of smokers just outside the entrance.
“Weird night. Thanks for coming, I guess?” Cameron said.
“It was interesting,” I offered, because we both knew it wasn’t exactly fun given the brother drama and the Tyler weirdness at the end.
Cameron had his arms clenched across his chest, and his face looked tight, like the night’s ups and downs had been too much for him.
I moved a few steps closer, giving his arm a quick squeeze. “Hey, you okay?”
He let out a sigh and nodded. “Yeah, it’s just a lot right now. I feel like I’m babysitting both of them in different ways, you know? Normally, I’d take you two home, but I don’t want to leave Ty here with that asshole. I don’t trust him.”
“I get it. I don’t either.”
“The way he’s acting tonight?” Cameron said darkly. “That’s the old Tyler. He got like this for a stretch after his second album tanked. He went to a pretty dark place. But lately…I mean, he still has bad days, but I thought we were done with this stuff. It hurts to see him backsliding.”
Cameron’s expression was so beaten down that I didn’t even stop to think before circling my arms around him and pulling him into a tight hug. His body tensed for an instant, then gave in, and he wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on top of my head.
“Thanks,” he said softly. “I didn’t know how much I needed that.”
I was glad to hear he was getting something out of it, because I was enjoying the hell out of it, and I’d hate to think it was one-sided. We held onto each other for a few seconds, and I relished the sensation of being close to him. I hadn’t been hugged by a man in way too long. Even if we were only tolerating one another, it sure felt nice in the moment.
“Car’s here,” Nina yelled to us.
We pulled apart reluctantly.
“Take care, okay? Of Tyler, and yourself,” I said to him.
He gave me a quick nod in return. “Thanks. I will.”
I felt like I needed to lighten the mood. “See you tomorrow…sweetheart.”
He chuckled. “Right, honey.”
We lingered a few seconds longer, the air between us sparking to life, until the driver honked. I ran off, wondering how someone who had seemed so truly awful could shift into someone pretty okay in the blink of an eye.