Chapter 15 #2
“Jesus,” I mumble. Even I can hear the suggestion in her voice. What fucking game is she playing right now? I recoil from her, putting more distance between us. I need to call Paige and explain this entire night to her.
“Trevor?” My name doesn’t come from either of the people in front of me. I turn around to see who else has joined this shit show, only for the frown affixed to my face to turn into a real smile.
“Nick Pylot! My man! How are you doing, brother?”
He comes in for a back-slapping, hand-shaking embrace and backs up to take me in. “You’re looking great, Trevor! How’s Paige? How’s the little one?”
I laugh at his exuberance. I’ve always liked Nick. He was a couple of grades below me in school, right between Bethany and me in age. The moment he left our little town, he started to make a name for himself.
“They’re fantastic. Paige took on a new little one in her nannying business, and she is also juggling her old one. She’s incredible with kids. Everyone wants Paige.” I ignore the double meaning in my last statement.
“Hell yeah. She’s a good one.” His eyes dart past me, and I see the moment he recognizes the woman standing directly behind me, latched to my arm again.
“Oh, Krista. Hey.” Nick’s warm exuberance has cooled visibly with the addition of her.
Isn’t he supposed to be the one who invited her tonight?
A few curious people around us are giving Nick double takes and beginning to whisper, but Krista ignores them.
Her bright smile fills her face with her usual charm as she holds her hand out in expectation.
The hesitancy of Nick’s response is clear to anyone watching, yet Krista doesn’t even flinch, moving her hand smoothly to my arm instead.
I tense at the continued contact. I’ll tell her to stop later.
It’s rude if I do so now. Too much attention.
“Hey, Nick. You remember the small people like us in all of your stardom, eh?” Her face turns to mine, deliberately pairing the two of us.
“Yep, sure do. Are you two here, uh, together?” He swings his finger between the two of us.
“Yes! Isn’t it so sweet of Trev to take me here tonight?
He was worried about my safety, the big softy.
” A low, intimate laugh fills the space, and I’m hit with another wave of apprehension.
I look up into the wary gray eyes of Nick.
The lights of the stage behind him suddenly brighten when the rest of the lights lower, preventing me from getting a clear read of his expression.
“Right. Well, enjoy the surprise concert … you two.” Then he’s turning his back to us and heading to the stage.
I take a look at Krista and know this is a moment where I need to change the trajectory of my choices, or there will be no coming back from it.
She is acting like this is expected, normal behavior, and it’s not cute or friendly. It’s targeted.
I shake loose from her hold and take off after Nick, practically knocking Krista down in my haste. The difference is, this time, I don’t stop to catch her.
“Nick! Hey! Wait up a sec!” He pauses, his form outlined by the lasers flashing on the stage—a clear indication that the concert is supposed to begin.
“Yeah, Trevor? What do you want?” His voice lacks the friendliness of before, and I flinch.
“It’s not what it looks like. I’m here because of a lot of reasons that I regret.
I just need Krista”—I gesture behind me, only to glance back and see that she’s been pulled into a group of women who look close to her age—“to find her friends. Tell me I’m not a terrible person for leaving her here. ”
“You’re not a terrible person for leaving her here.
” His manner loses some of the ice from before when he looks me over anew.
He seems to make a decision and leans in close enough for me to smell the alcohol on his breath.
“Do you wanna hang backstage with the rest of the crew? Hide from the big, bad baddie?” Humor now laces his tone, relaxing my shoulders in a way that highlights how tense they were before.
“Can I borrow your phone?”
“Borrow Kyle’s. He’s the manager. You’re welcome to anything back here.” He turns away just to spin back around. “Hey, Trevor.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let that woman near anything that’s important to you. She wrecks things. It’s what she does.” Then he’s gone, jogging onto the stage and snagging the guitar leaning against the wall waiting for him—for this moment.
I elbow my way to where I last saw Krista and see her already kissing some random in the crowd. Shaking my head, I tug at her hand, hating that I have to resort to this, but I can’t just abandon her completely. She turns away from him and widens her eyes at me.
“Trevor! I thought I saw you go backstage.” I look at the guy she’s with, but he’s turned toward the stage, and the light makes it impossible to see.
“Yeah. I’m going to go make a phone call. I can’t give you a ride tonight, but the car is unlocked if you left anything in there. I have the keys.” I practically have to shout in her ear as the crowd surges around us.
“Sure. Of course.” She pushes me toward the stage. “You go have fun backstage. I’ll see you at work on Monday.”
“Alright, alright, I’m going.” The urgency she’s using, pushing me away, is a strange one-eighty from only minutes ago, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The opening chords of Savage Sixty8’s “Cake Eater” reverberate around the room.
A smooth mix of bass and drums thumps around the room, and the already crazy bar goes absolutely batshit.
Nick’s low, raspy voice fills the room as he begins to sing.
“Lying here, in my post-orgasmic bliss.”
A cacophony of shrill screams fills the air, every single woman losing her shit for his rock star sex appeal.
“I wonder what could be better than this.”
The drums come back in, and as the bar surges forward, I get the heck out of here.
I head backstage and look for someone to tell them I’m heading home, when a man’s voice calls out over the deafening cheering and music behind me.
“Hey, man. You Nick’s friend?” A man dressed in a familiar, quality suit stands there, his expression bored.
“Uh, yeah. That’s me.” I hold my hand out for an introduction. “My name’s Trevor,” I shout back, expecting his handshake as another riff comes from the musicians on stage.
A cell phone lands in the palm of my hand. “Make it quick. I have shit to do.” I blink at the phone in my hand, already open to the keypad, and make quick work of dialing Paige’s number. It rings once before it goes to voicemail.
“Hey, baby. It’s me. I’m wanting to talk to you about tonight and this week.
I miss you. Call me back on this number.
I’ll be home soon.” I hang up and stare at the phone.
When the man tries to take it, I pull it back.
“Wait a second.” I dial again, and the same thing happens.
I try one more time, and still nothing. She’s ignoring me.
When I hand over the phone to who I’m guessing is Kyle, I startle when the smooth feel of glass replaces it in my hand. I nearly drop the bottle he places there. Lifting it up, I read the label. “Whiskey?” Expensive whiskey.
“It’s on the house. Have a good Independence Day.” Before he can walk away, I grab him by the arm.
“If you get a phone call or text message from a random number, you let me know.”
“Sure, sure. See ya around.”
I stare at the bottle of whiskey and check the time on my watch.
The fireworks are definitely over, and Paige wouldn’t answer the phone.
If she wasn’t mad at me before, she’ll be furious now.
Turning back to the stage, I’m amazed by the energy of the band and the crowd.
On one hand, I have a bottle of delicious alcohol and a backstage pass to one of the most popular bands in America.
On the other hand, there is going back to the real world and dealing with all of the real-world consequences.
I’ve never had nights like this. It’s always been work, school, and family.
“Lying here in my post-orgasmic haze,
Yet all I’m thinking about is those better days.
I shoulda known, nothing good comes from being a cake eater,
Just a delicious way to say I’m a fucking cheater.”
A cart by the exit catches my eye. Cans of Coke and red Solo cups. Perfect.
The concert was incredible, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
My mind kept drifting back to Paige—the way I left her at the house, how incredible she looked in her little summer dress.
All of those people were there, and I left.
Why is it my job to take care of Krista?
Would it have been so bad if I just left it alone and let Bobby take her?
Bethany is a big girl. I could have just told her and washed my hands of the whole situation.
Besides, it’s not like they can’t fuck around any other time and any other day.
A brief vision of her face only hours ago makes the pit in my stomach grow. I don’t even know what the right thing is anymore.