19
I must have fallen asleep on the couch. Tyler is sitting to my left, scrolling through his phone while metal music plays throughout the space. When I look up, I’m terrified that I missed King.
"Relax. Pretty boy’s still in there," Tyler says.
"How long have I been asleep?" I ask him.
"About three hours."
"And how do you know he’s still in there?" I say, starting to get up.
When I look in the room, King is butt-naked, fast asleep on top of the covers.
The woman is also buck-naked, one of her plump thighs draped over his torso, leaving his cock and balls on full display to the light shining into the room.
Both of them are out cold, probably having fucked each other into a coma.
My jealousy burns, but I try to tell myself it’s because King isn’t himself.
He isn’t aware of what he’s doing. Not like it matters.
It’s not like we were dating. I’ve been trying to do the right thing, but I can’t help realizing that this whole thing started when he found me and Xander together in my apartment.
Clearly, he was jealous. Why else would that be the thing to make him fall off the wagon and give up?
Unless... unless he was in love with me.
Was he?
Did I really break his heart?
Or was it just the gradual wearing down of his resolve?
I sit back down beside Tyler. He looks over at me, looking pissed or annoyed.
I can’t really tell.
"How long have you known that guy?" Tyler asks.
"A while."
"Where is he from?"
I say nothing.
"He's from New York, right?"
"I wouldn't say he's from New York now."
"No, but he used to live in New York, right?" Ty asks, and my heart beats faster. "Yeah... you staying quiet tells me you don't want me to know who he is. Probably because he's trying to hide his identity, or you're trying to hide yours. Took me a while."
I close my eyes.
"He has one of those faces," Ty continues.
"And he has a tattoo... and unless this guy is his twin, and got the same tattoos he had—minus the ones on the front…
I don't know, bro... he looks a lot like Buck.
But it can't be him, because I know that guy's in jail.
Dude was my idol. I had a lot of idols, I know, but I respected him.
He was the best drummer I've ever seen. It sucks what happened to him. "
I stay quiet. What am I supposed to say?
"And then he had to serve a decade in jail," Tyler says, smoking another joint.
"So imagine my surprise... that he's here...
fucking some slut right next to us. And not in jail?
And imagine my surprise that out of all the people...
he apparently was fucking you. Damn. That hypergamy is really a bitch. "
"I don't know what you're talking about, Ty."
"You don't know what I'm talking about? Really? You didn't know the guy you were sleeping with was the infamous drummer of Black Marroh? The one who killed that woman and her kid?"
Me wanting to defend him is only going to make it look worse. If I ask Ty not to tell anyone, he’ll just use it against me.
"I think you're seeing things that are not there," I state.
"Erica, don't insult me," he says, looking away and blowing smoke rings. "I'm not going to say shit, don't worry. I don't want him to kill me, too."
"He's not going to kill anybody! What happened was an accident. That was a long time ago and he's not that... well, he wasn't that person anymore."
Tyler smiles tightly and looks at me. "He isn't?" He looks past me toward the bedroom door and then back to me to make a point. "You don't know, do you?"
"I've read stuff."
"No, but you really don't know," Tyler says, his voice getting serious. "Women go missing around him. You do realize that, right?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Hahaha. I'm going to leave you alone, Erica," Tyler says, starting to get up. "I thought that maybe... I don't know, I was feeling a little nostalgic, like we could work it out. But..." He looks at the bedroom door where King is still sleeping. "I'm good. I wish you well. Watch your back."
What the fuck is he talking about? Tyler makes a motion with his hand, and the rest of his bandmates start to get up and follow him out.
Now I’m really curious. Outside of the pregnant woman, and yes, a few of the crazy things he used to do, I can't fathom why Tyler would say that women go missing around King.
Maybe Tyler was just saying that to scare me.
???