Chapter 14Ronan
14
Ronan
A fter a few more songs and a solid effort to focus on literally anything other than Eden, Ronan’s body finally calmed down. What really did the trick, though, was the memory of Eden’s phone call with Quentin—the way her face lit up at seeing his name on the screen and how she’d quietly slipped out of the trailer to take the call in private.
For some reason, it gnawed at him. He adored her smile, but when it was directed at the 'Sexiest Man Alive' according to a popular magazine from the following year, it didn't bring him joy. Quite the opposite, it chipped away at his stomach, leaving him queasy.
Eden's set came to a close, and she practically bounded off the stage, her performance still reverberating in the air. As she made her way past him, she brushed her hand against his forearm, sending a surge of warmth through his veins. It was a fleeting touch, innocent in its intention, yet it felt like a wildfire igniting beneath his skin, leaving him uneasy by the intensity of his reaction.
"What an amazing crowd!" Eden beamed as she wrapped Ingrid in a warm hug, her eyes still sparkling with the energy of the performance.
"Did you have a good time, princess ?" Beck interjected in a deep drawl, his eyes locked onto Ingrid. Finn and Reef erupted in a collective groan, a clear sign that trouble was brewing. Ingrid responded with a low growl, her eyes narrowing with a furious glint.
"Don't call me that," she snapped at Beck. "And for your information, little drummer boy, you missed a few notes back there."
Beck, undeterred, shot back with a playful grin. "Only because you were drilling holes into the side of my head with that thousand-yard stare of yours."
"You had something on your face the whole time you were on stage. So embarrassing," Ingrid's tone dripped with disdain.
"Wanna come lick it off? I'll let you.. just ask nicely." Beck asked with a smirk.
Rolling her eyes, Ingrid replied, "I'd rather take a body shot of paint thinner off Jabba the Hutt." Their exchange continued as Beck and Ingrid made their way to Eden's trailer, leaving Eden and Ronan to walk alone.
"Come back to the trailer. We'll check out the other line-ups in a bit," Eden suggested, flashing a smile before she started walking. "No filming, just fun!" She added over her shoulder. No filming seemed like a recipe for disaster, but he had to admit he enjoyed being around her. With a resigned sigh, he lowered his camera and followed her.
"Did you get some good footage?" Eden inquired nonchalantly, but Ronan couldn't help noticing a slight glint in her eyes. Did she know that her dance had almost caused him to keel over?
"Yes, I've seen you perform twice, and you were utterly astonishing both times. I refuse to believe that's just a coincidence," he said.
"Well, they do say lightning never strikes the same place twice, but you never know," Eden said, shrugging her shoulders with a smile.
"By the way," Ronan leaned in a little closer to Eden as they walked, "we never got to our secret of the day." He thought for a moment, then asked, "What’s one of your biggest fears?"
She sang her indecision with a playful lilt, "I don’t know, I don’t know..." Her voice trailed off as their steps brought them closer to her trailer. After a pause, she smiled faintly. "Sharks," she said, but her smile faded as her brows knit together, her thoughts turning deeper. "And rejection... the fear of dying alone. What about you?"
As they reached the trailer door, Ronan’s gaze grew distant, his expression introspective. He lingered in thought before finally speaking, his voice soft and thoughtful. "I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately," he admitted. "I think my biggest fear is waking up one day and realizing I never really lived my life."
"There's no time like the present, so let's start living now!" Eden said excitedly as she swung open the door to her trailer. Finn and Reef chimed in with cheers: "Yeah!" and "Let's do it!" Ronan couldn't help but chuckle as he stepped into the trailer, immediately sensing the palpable tension between Ingrid and Beck. Ingrid appeared rigid as a board, idly picking at her nails, while Beck sprawled nonchalantly on the couch.
"Tequila shots!" Finn yelled out, thrusting a hefty glass bottle of tequila into the air. Ronan's eyes widened as he took in the gallon-sized jug of clear liquor. Tequila had been absent from his life since his wild college days, which felt like a distant memory. In truth, apart from the occasional glass of whiskey shared with his Grandad, he had never been much of a drinker.
"So, who's doing the toast?" Reef said as he surveyed each person with a scrutinizing gaze.
"I will," Beck said as he stood up from the couch. As Finn poured the clear liquid into shot glasses, Reef efficiently distributed the small glasses to everyone except Beck. Beck cleared his throat and raised a water bottle, commanding the room's attention.
"Here's to leather, here's to lace, here's to the people who let us sit on their face." The group erupted in cheers, downing the liquid in one swift motion. Ronan drank the fiery liquid, grimacing at the familiar burn. It was as awful as he remembered.
In a span of forty-five minutes, Ingrid had convinced Ronan to down three shots of tequila. Beck and Eden observed the scene with fascination, choosing to abstain from the shots. Finn and Reef took one for the team and drank double the number of shots in Eden and Beck's honor.
Like a dog with a bone, Ingrid grilled him on every facet of his life. If Ronan didn't know any better, he'd suspect Ingrid was attempting to loosen him up with alcohol for information. Eventually, Ingrid was appeased, or she ran out of questions. Either way, Ronan was relieved to be done with the questioning before Ingrid started waterboarding him. He had never been asked about his credit score outside of a car dealership, but Ingrid left no stone unturned and asked for the exact number. He answered every question while Ingrid watched him like a hawk. He felt sweat collect over his back at her unflinching stare. He had nothing to hide. His credit score was excellent.
"I'm offended you haven't interviewed us, Ro-man," Finn said, leaning back on the small leather couch, gesturing to Reef, Beck, and himself with the bottle of his beer. Ronan's eyebrows raised at the nickname. "Ro-man" was a first for him, but there was a first time for everything he supposed.
"Yeah, man, we've known Eden for years. We've seen it all. The bad haircuts…" Reef said, his arm buried deep in a chip bag beside Finn on the couch.
"I thought bangs suited my face," Eden muttered under her breath.
"You were sadly mistaken, my sweet angel," Ingrid said with genuine care, tapping the back of her hand as Eden smiled slightly.
"Praise God for Her creation of headbands. Otherwise, I would have spent my senior year in college looking like Mrs. Potatohead," Eden said with a laugh.
"We have an excess of material about Eden at our disposal. Like, remember her Improv days?" Beck said with a smile while Eden groaned in embarrassment. Ingrid's lips curled in a small, mischievous smile.
"Dark days. Eden was convinced she had a talent for Improv, but really, it was like watching one terrible game of charades on stage," Ingrid added, reminiscing with a touch of humor.
"That clown car improv scene will go down in history. She and like 12 people in black turtlenecks pretended to enter a clown car but ended up in a human pile-up in the center of the stage," Finn recounted, throwing his head back in laughter. Reef, beside Eden, elbowed her with a teasing smile. She rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the mischief in her own smile.
"We all make mistakes! I distinctly remember your slam poetry phase, Finn," Eden replied with a grin.
"More dark times. I thought I had a gift, but it turns out reading your grocery list isn't 'art.' I still think my alliteration of the produce aisle was top-notch," Finn stated with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
"More like illiterate...ation," Beck mumbled, and Finn spun his head at Beck in mock betrayal. Eden covered her laugh with a cough.
"Burn!" Reef exclaimed with laughter, pulling his hand out of the chip bag and giving Beck a high-five. After their hands slapped together, Beck looked at his hand with disgust and wiped off the chip grease on the back of his pants.
"Rude! Finn reads at least at a fifth-grade level. 'Captain Underpants' is his favorite book!" Ingrid defended, her voice carrying a mix of laughter and exasperation.
"Ingrid, albeit true. That isn't helping my case," Finn admitted, then turned to Beck with a defiant look. "And jealousy is a disease, bitch. Get well soon," Finn added with a huff.
"Thoughts and prayers for a swift recovery," Eden said with a bow to Beck as he looked at her with raised eyebrows. Finn shot a look at Ronan as if seeking solidarity against Beck.
"Let the haters be your motivators," Ronan replied diplomatically, a subtle hint of sarcasm underscoring his words.
"Words I live by. Are you stalking my Pinterest page by chance?" Finn asked Ronan, a playful grin on his face as Ronan returned the smile.
"Don't feel too bad for him," Eden said to Ronan. "He only performed his poetry 'piece' to impress this hot barista at the coffee shop."
"Oh, he was cute. And it almost worked..." Finn said dreamily.
"And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!" Ingrid chimed in. Eden burst into laughter while Beck smiled small at Ingrid.
"Scooby-Doo reference?" Ronan asked with a laugh.
"Finn looks like Shaggy, and Reef is literally Scooby-Doo," Beck remarked. Reef looked up with his hand in a bag of chips, munching happily. "I have no clue what you are talking about," Reef mumbled as he continued munching. Finn pushed his shoulder-length sandy blonde hair over his shoulder with a smirk.
"The part of the story Finn neglects to tell is that his other flame was also working that night at the same coffee shop, and he found Finn and the other barista necking in the hallway," Eden added, focusing solely on Ronan.
"I didn't realize she was also working that night. It was a bisexual nightmare. Lesson learned: never date two coworkers who work together," Finn said with a nonchalant shrug as he pulled a sip from his beer.
"Sage advice from the romance expert," Beck said with a laugh, a teasing smile on his lips. "You haven't dated seriously. Well... ever."
"I will hold my retort because I am nothing if not a gentleman. But please know I am silently destroying you in my mind's eye," Finn added, wiggling his fingers theatrically in front of Beck's eyes as if casting a spell.
"Mr. Abstinence talks a big game," Reef teased, a grin spreading on his face. His eyes were locked directly on Beck, who coincidentally took a sip of his water. When the words registered, Beck choked on his water, and Eden slapped his back as he continued to cough.
"At what point do you become a virgin again? Asking for a friend," Finn added with a mischievous glint in his eyes. So much for being a gentleman, Finn.
Ingrid looked like she wanted to melt into the floor as she stared at the wall at the opposite end of the trailer.
"Finn! Put a sock in it!" Eden hissed at Finn as Beck shook his head in annoyance.
"I would say… one year? Or maybe four years," Reef stated with resolution. Beck's jaw tightened, and his gaze turned icy. Didn't Ingrid say that Beck and her broke up four years ago? The air in the trailer tensed. "Then you become a born-again virgin. Thoughts?" Reef directed the question at Beck with a deadpan expression.
Eden, facepalming, whispered, "Idiots. The lot of them."
"Enough! We are going to miss the set," Ingrid declared abruptly, her cheeks flushed, as she shot up from her seat and headed to the trailer's door with the speed of a bat out of hell. Eden nodded in agreement.
"Hold on!" Eden called after Ingrid, a mischievous grin spreading as she dug into a bag and pulled out a pile of obnoxious wigs. She quickly pulled on a dark navy bob with bangs. "See? I can totally pull off bangs!"
She shot a look at Ronan, who nodded with way too much enthusiasm. Honestly, he was convinced she could make anything work. Toss her in a garbage bag and call it fashion—she’d still look unreal. Then again, he wasn’t exactly an unbiased source.
Ingrid grabbed a long, pale pink wig and slipped it on, though her effort was more half-hearted than anything else.
"Let's go!" Eden declared, her blue wig swinging. Ronan, momentarily drawn to his camera on the couch. "Leave the camera, Murphy!" Eden called out as they all piled out of her trailer. Ronan felt a slight fuzziness around the edges, courtesy of the tequila shots, as they walked into the festival's backstage area. The air was filled with a cacophony of sounds – snippets of song rehearsals, laughter, and the distant roar of the crowd. The ground beneath their feet seemed to vibrate in rhythm with the music that echoed from the main stage.
"Time to initiate our innocent journalist into the art of letting go,” Ingrid said, her lips curled into a wicked grin. Eden, donning a mischievous smile, looped her arm through Ronan's.
"He'll be a fun one to break," Eden mused, her fingers teasingly grazing Ronan's hair as he cast a wide-eyed glance, wondering what he had gotten himself into.
"Don't look so scared, man. Fear only makes them stronger," Beck whispered reassuringly to Ronan, a seasoned grin playing on his lips as the two girls erupted into wicked, conspiratorial laughter. It was clear that this was going to be a long night.
Navigating through the pulsating crowd, they arrived at a stage throbbing with loud electronic music reverberating through the night. They stood about a football field's length away from the stage, and the sound should have been distant, yet the bass was so loud that Ronan felt it resonating all the way down to the soles of his feet. Eden and Ingrid were caught in the throes of electronic music, their bodies pulsating to the beats under the starry sky and a display of neon lights.
"You like her, don't you?" Beck's voice cut through the music, pulling Ronan's attention. Ronan turned his head towards him, and a shot of apprehension ran through him. Was he that obvious?
"Look," Beck began, his voice sincere. “Don't take it the wrong way, but I can see it in the way you look at her." Ronan hesitated, his eyes reflexively gravitating back to Eden, who continued to sway to the music.
"Just a word of advice," Beck continued, his tone taking on a more serious note. As Ronan redirected his gaze to Beck, he noticed Beck's eyes had shifted to Ingrid. "When you start falling for someone like her, there's no turning back. She'll be in your bloodstream until your dying days, a part of you until your very last breath." Beck's words held a weight of experience, his tone almost reverent as he spoke. His unwavering eyes remained locked on Ingrid, and as if she sensed his gaze, Ingrid's eyes turned toward Beck's. Her once-beaming smile gradually faded.
"Just don't hurt her, or there will be a group maiming." Beck's voice took on a low, almost ominous tone, his eyes narrowing as he held Ronan's gaze for a heartbeat longer. Then, Beck lightly tapped Ronan on the shoulder before making his way toward Ingrid. Beck's tendency to gravitate toward Ingrid was almost masochistic. It was like the pair couldn't stay away from each other. Ronan was becoming familiar with the feeling.
Through the pulsing crowd, he caught sight of Eden’s navy-blue hair bouncing as she made her way toward him. She was still wearing those ridiculously high platform boots, giving her a few extra inches on her petite frame. She glanced over her shoulder, motioning for him to follow. He fell into step behind her.
As she stood before him, the stage erupted with fireworks that burst loudly behind her, the sky exploding with a rainbow of colors. The abrupt explosions from the fireworks startled Ronan for a moment, causing him to flinch, but he inhaled deeply, regaining his composure. The resounding cracks from the fireworks echoed through the air, sending anxiety to pulse in his veins.
As she stood in front of him, he allowed his hands to brush her waist, unable to deny his hands the feel of her firm skin. He felt the apprehension leave his body as he focused on the feeling of Eden under his hands. She felt amazing and he was tempted to pull her closer. He blamed the tequila. Patrón was never a good idea.
Ronan stood there, his breath slowly steadying as Eden teetered on her tiptoes, her eyes straining to see the stage. She pivoted towards him, her gaze locked onto his beneath the swirling, multicolored lights.
"I'm coming up," Eden announced, leaving him blinking in confusion. Before he could ask what she meant, she threw her arms around his shoulders in a quick, tight hug and hitched herself up, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her chunky boots pressed lightly against his back, and the mix of surprise and something warmer—something he couldn’t quite name—hit him square in the chest as she clung to him.
To keep his balance, he instinctively grabbed her thighs, her skin soft and warm under his hands. It grounded him, even as the bass pulsed through the air and fireworks cracked overhead.
In that moment, as everything around them seemed to blur, he reconsidered his earlier skepticism. Patrón was actually a great idea—the best one anyone had ever had.
"Sorry, you're tall, so I'm using you to see the stage," her voice whispered in his ear, her warm breath sending a shiver down his spine. Then she turned her head, her chest brushing against his as she craned to see the stage over the crowd's heads.
"At your service," he responded with a playful grin. He had never been more grateful for his height as the warmth from her body doused his abdomen and chest, making his heart quicken. A small voice in his head clamored with warning bells, but he quickly silenced those alarms.
"So this is what it's like in the stratosphere. You can see the tops of everyone's heads. Do you ever judge people's cowlicks?"
"Every chance I get. Right now, yours is a solid six out of ten," he teased, wrapping one arm under her thighs and using his hand to give her wig a playful tug. The wig slid slightly off-kilter and was now pulled too far to the right side of her head.
"Watch the wig, Murphy." She shot back with a grin, then pulled it off her head, revealing her glossy brown hair as it cascaded gracefully down her back. Ronan watched, fascinated, as she plunked the wig onto his head.
"Wow, it suits you." She said as she fluffed the wig on his head.
"Hmmm, you think? Do I look like Lord Farquaad? Please say no,” he joked, the blue bangs hanging over his eyes. Eden responded with a hearty laugh, throwing her head back, and the melodious sound echoed around him. Ronan couldn't help but want to join in her infectious laughter, his lips twitching.
"I knew you looked familiar." Her grin was contagious as she held back further laughter. Ronan couldn't help but burst into a grin as well. Her face suddenly shifted, turning serious.
"You're really beautiful when you smile," Eden's voice was gentle, her gaze unwavering on his face. His stomach clenched at her words, his palms growing slightly clammy against her skin. Her words hung in the air. "It brightens your whole face." Her gaze held his as his heart quickened. He felt a lump form in his throat as he found himself momentarily lost in the depths of her gaze.
"Guys, the set is finished." Ingrid's voice chimed from his left, pulling Ronan's attention away from Eden. He looked, and everyone was shuffling towards the exits; the music had stopped entirely, but he hadn't even noticed. Completely absorbed by the beautiful woman in his arms.
"Oh, I guess I don't need to see the stage anymore," Eden said with a sheepish smile. His hands lingered on her legs as she gently detached herself from his grip.
Ronan stood there for a few seconds, still processing her compliment. That might have been the best compliment he had ever received. Who was he kidding? It was the best compliment he had received. Did she genuinely believe what she had said? Or was it just the tequila talking? Eden had only had one shot of tequila, though. A slight flare of hope lit in his heart. His emotions danced on a precipice, balanced between hope and uncertainty. Hope, he knew, could be a risky thing amid so many unknowns. He pushed aside the doubts and followed Eden, eager to see where she would take him next.