Chapter 33 Night Out
Night Out
The conversations with Martin dragged into the early hours of the morning.
We stayed in Portland overnight. By the time we headed back home, around five in the evening, Dreamscape was officially being represented by Martin.
Of course, paperwork would need to be signed, and that wouldn’t happen until Dae’s lawyer mother went over the contract with a fine-tooth comb.
All the information washed over me through the night, none of it really holding any meaning.
I just knew that whatever was happening was a good thing.
Grey was ecstatic as we rode home the next day.
We’d barely slept the previous night, and the coffee I clung to like a lifeline wasn’t enough to keep my eyes from stinging with fatigue.
I was proud of him. I was happy for him.
But I was beyond exhausted. As the sun began to set and the engine hummed beneath us, I found my head drooping despite my best efforts to cling to consciousness.
I wasn’t sure if I fully dozed off, but I lolled between sleep and the waking world as we pulled up in front of Grey’s apartment.
“Ethan,” he said gently, pulling me back to the land of the living. “We should get inside.”
I nodded. “Can I stay at your place?” I wasn’t sure how late it was—I knew we’d left at five and it was a six-hour drive, but my sluggish brain couldn’t put the facts together. I just knew it was dark outside, and I didn’t want to walk home.
“Of course you can,” he replied.
I wasn’t sure how Grey managed to understand the slurred words that had tumbled from my lips, but I was thankful I didn’t have to repeat myself.
Grey half carried me up to his apartment before settling me in his bed.
He gave me a gentle kiss, and I had a brief thought of trying to turn the kiss into something more.
But I was too tired, and as I tried to convince my limbs to do anything more than lie there limply, Grey disappeared.
Before I could wonder where he’d gone, Grey had crawled into bed next to me.
I was asleep before his arm had finished wrapping around my chest.
The next thing I knew, I was waking to my Monday alarm.
I groaned. My head felt like it was strapped to my pillow.
Still, I forced my body into motion. Bleary-eyed, I pulled my shirt over my head and went to brush my teeth.
At some point over the past few weeks, I’d left a change of clothes and a toothbrush at Grey’s, and I thanked every god in the heavens that I had made that decision.
Grey, still asleep when I finished in the bathroom, was lucky enough to not have a class until nearly noon. He always looked so cute when he slept. Some of the edge he had about himself when he was awake was blunted when unconscious. I leaned down and kissed his cheek.
“Y’okay?” Grey slurred sleepily.
My heart melted into a puddle in my chest. It took every ounce of self-control—and fear of failing my semester—not to climb back into bed with him. God I loved him.
“I’m heading to class,” I said. “You can go back to sleep. I just wanted to say goodbye.”
Grey nodded. Judging from his movements, he had a fifty-fifty chance of forgetting this conversation the moment he closed his eyes again. “See you later.” He moved his lips, waiting for a kiss.
With a soft laugh, I leaned down and kissed him again. Then I left for class before I could convince myself it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I skipped it. It wasn’t long before I wished that I had.
Now that spring break was over, life was busier than I remembered it ever being.
Though midterms were over, I had several major term papers due, followed by weeks of back-to-back exams that somehow managed to cover a fuck ton of information, though it had only been a few days since the last one.
I often felt like I was seconds away from drowning at any given moment and couldn’t fathom how Grey managed it all.
He had all the stress of school, plus a newly installed dictator named Martin to answer to.
Martin demanded even more rehearsal and studio time on top of the performances that they had already booked.
No matter how good he’d thought they were when he’d signed with the band, they were nowhere close to the caliber that he wanted.
Most days, Grey would be busy from the time he woke up for class until he could escape from practice well past one in the morning.
Between our two intense schedules that never seemed to line up quite right, the days slipped by, and before I knew it, it had been over three weeks since I’d seen him.
It might as well have been years. And though we both texted as much as possible around the craziness that had become our lives, it really wasn’t enough.
I was beginning to wonder if the next time I saw my boyfriend would be at the end of the semester.
I tried my best to keep a clear head and not spiral like I had at the music festival. Still, during some of the lonelier nights in my room, I found myself contemplating if I was really ready for Grey to rocket to actual stardom if it meant so much of his time was taken up by the band.
By some miracle, on a Saturday night three weeks and five days from the last time I’d seen him—but who’s counting?
—both our schedules cleared up for five seconds, and we managed to make plans for dinner and a movie before staying the night at his place.
It was the most excited I’d felt in weeks, so of course, I was in the middle of getting dressed when my phone went off.
I knew what would happen before I even glanced at the screen.
Hey, I’m really sorry to do this, but I’m going to have to cancel our plans for tonight. Martin wants us to go over some radio station contracts.
Even though I’d expected it, my heart plummeted to the floor. I glared at his text for a full three minutes, trying to come up with an understanding response that didn’t begin with the words “What the actual fuck?”
Grey seemed to sense my frustration through the phone because three dots appeared at the bottom of our conversation, telling me he was typing before I’d come up with anything halfway kind to say.
I’m super frustrated. I was looking forward to tonight.
They want these contracts signed by tomorrow.
I grimaced. Maybe we could salvage something from the situation—as long as I could fight down my urge to throw the whole night away and crawl back into bed to watch bad TV.
It’s okay, I forced myself to type. I don’t mind seeing you after. We could meet at your place?
And we’d better have the best goddamn sex of my life to make up for me being so fucking understanding right now.
The more I sat with it, the more pissed off I got.
My heart leaped from my chest to my stomach to my hands and back again.
I’d been understanding. For weeks. I’d understood this was what happened for a band in the middle of leveling up.
But cancelling on me last minute for some fucking paperwork?
I threw my phone at the wall in frustration.
Well, I started to throw it at the wall then realized mid-throw how stupid that would be of me.
I didn’t really want to deal with having a broken phone and unconfirmed plans with my boyfriend—so I corrected just enough to send the device bouncing onto my bed.
The screen lit up with a new message. Steeling myself, I forced myself to read what Grey had sent me.
I’ll keep you posted. I’m sorry.
It was all I could do not to scream. I settled for collapsing onto the floor and staring at the ceiling. Part of me knew I should respond to Grey, but at that moment, I couldn’t be bothered. He would figure out that I’d read the message. Or maybe he was so busy, he wouldn’t notice I didn’t respond.
I wondered if we had alcohol in the apartment. Suddenly, even getting up to check for that felt like a chore. I decided to just close my eyes. Maybe I could sleep until Grey was free. It should only take a few years. Maybe he could pencil me in sometime during spring 2032.
“Let me guess, he canceled?”
I opened one eye a fraction of an inch. Kellan stood in my open doorway. He was dressed in his typical going-out wardrobe—a collared shirt with tight jeans that even I had to admit made his ass look good.
“Going somewhere?” I asked rather than answer the hurtful question.
“We all are.” Josh walked into view, also dressed in his clubbing attire. “Unless you have other plans?” He gave me a doubtful look, one eyebrow raised in challenge.
I glanced at my phone on the off chance that I’d somehow missed Grey telling me JK! I can totally do date night now!
I hadn’t missed shit. It was all I could do not to let out a pained groan.
Still, I refused to go that easy. “I’m busy tonight.
” It wasn’t convincing even to my own ears.
Plus, I had just realized I was currently wearing an undershirt and no pants as I lay on the floor in a miserable puddle.
I was pretty sure my friends could easily deduce that I didn’t exactly have an exciting night ahead of me.
“Right,” Josh said. “Is this the kind of ‘busy’ that would require professional intervention?”
“What he means is you look terrible,” Kellan chimed in helpfully.
“I gathered that much, thanks,” I said. “I don’t feel like socializing right now.”
“It’s cute that you think you had a choice in coming with us,” Kellan said. “Tits up, Ethan. We’re going to karaoke.”
This time, the groan escaped my lips.
“Nope, none of that.” Josh turned on his heel and left my doorway. Rustling came from the kitchen, and when he returned, he held a bottle of tequila and three shot glasses, which he promptly set down on my dresser and began to pour.
Kellan grabbed two glasses and stood over me, holding one out for me to take.
I shook my head. “I’d rather lie here and rot, if it’s all the same to you.”
“This is medicinal,” Kellan said. “I believe it’s the doctor-prescribed cure for sadness.”