Harry (Southern Sands Book 2)

by A. M. Williams

  “Hey there Myrtle Beach! How y’all doin’ tonight?”

  The show passed in a blur. It went well, which was fantastic, because it translated into some sales of their merchandise, which was stocked at the front of the house.

  Sweaty from the lights, when Grayson and Bentley invited Harry to join them in the bar for the main event, he begged off, craving only to be able to take a shower and collapse into bed.

  Luckily, Myrtle Beach was big enough to have one of those ride-share apps in use, so he ordered a car to take him to the hotel. While he waited outside, he listened to the faint sound of music coming from inside. Most of it was drowned out by the sound of the highway that ran by the venue. Even though it was later in the evening, the roads were still busy. Numerous cars flashed by in the ten minutes Harry spent waiting out back.

  He spent the short ride to the hotel thinking about what he wanted to do when he got back to the hotel: shower, eat, and pass out. They consumed him to the point that he barely remembered getting out of the car and confirming the fare in the app.

  He dragged himself into the hotel and to the elevator, suddenly incredibly tired. The elevator dinged, signaling his floor and he tromped out, pulling his keycard out. Once in his room, he threw his things down and stripped, immediately stepping into the shower and turning it to the hottest setting he could stand.

  The spray pounded down on his shoulders, slowly waking him back up. Where just a few minutes before he was ready to skip dinner and go to bed, he now found himself rejuvenated and his mind racing.

  He thought back over the show and how well he thought it was received. The crowd was majorly into it, singing along and even shouting out a few requests. He counted that as a very good show indeed. It was so different from the looks and silence they were greeted with when they'd started. It seemed the band had hit their stride and things were coming together.

  As he dried off, his mind drifted to the last text exchange between Emily and him. They were still firmly in the friend stage, still getting to know each other, but he could see some potential there. He could only hope at this point that their connection would continue to grow.

  Unfortunately, thoughts of Emily and their potential also brought Bailey to the forefront of his mind. He still wasn’t sure he was ready to give up on her, which made him feel weak. She’d jerked him around for years, yet here he was, pining for her.

  He thought back to when he saw her last at Whiskey Dick’s and his treatment of her. Now that he was somewhat removed from the evening, he could see where she was attempting to reach out and apologize for how she'd reacted that fateful night.

  He sighed. Dwelling on something he couldn’t change wouldn’t do shit. He needed to focus on what he could influence. Right now, that was his dinner. There were several fast food places within walking distance and he planned to get dinner from one of them. Then he planned to concentrate on the last two weeks of their tour, refining the set list and making sure he was on point with his playing and singing.

  He’d worry about things that were in Gunner Falls when it came time to face them head-on.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Harry

  Two and a half weeks later found Harry back home getting ready for a date. He and Emily had firmed up plans to go to dinner together when he was on his last tour stop. As he looked through his clothes trying to find something that was still clean and not stale smelling, his nerves started to get the best of him.

  A cold sweat broken out along his brow and he became antsy, unable to sit still for any length of time. When they first got home, he tried to lie down and nap, craving the oblivion that sleep normally offered. Yet, as soon as he closed his eyes, he was plagued with thoughts of what the date would be like and if it was all too good to be true.

  Those thoughts hadn’t stopped since. A good thing that came from this was that he was all caught up at work and his office had never been cleaner. Neither had his room at the house. If their date wasn’t that day, he’d probably be cleaning the rest of the house in agitation.

  He huffed in frustration as he flicked through his clothes. In his cleaning spree, the laundry apparently hadn’t been included, so he was forced to work with what he had. Unfortunately, he discovered that wasn’t much.

  “Dude, what the fuck?” Jax said from behind him.

  Harry glanced over his shoulder to see Jax leaning against his door jamb, a bottle of beer loosely grasped in his fingers.

  He turned back to his clothes. “What’s up?”

  “I should be asking you that.” He heard footsteps, which stopped right behind him. “The house smells like lemons and cleanliness. And what’s with all the clothes?”

  Harry turned to look at the pile Jax was indicating. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Well, I started to go through my clothes to find a polo or somethin’ for tonight. In doin’ so, I realized I hadn’t done my laundry from the tour and that half my clothes were stale because the house had been shut up for so long.”

  Jax blinked slowly at him as he sipped from his bottle. “So, that’s why your room is destroyed? Didn’t you just clean it yesterday?”

  Harry nodded and started sifting through the stale pile. Maybe he could put the shirt on and find some cologne or something.

  “Dude, you’re such a girl.”

  Harry glared at Jax as he pulled his black polo from the pile. He gave it a good shake and sniff. It didn’t smell too bad. He could work with it. He whipped his t-shirt off and pulled the polo on, tucking the ends into the khakis he’d put on earlier.

  “Warn somebody when you’re going to strip next time.” Jax mockingly shuddered and Harry rolled his eyes.

  “Dude, please. How many times have I seen your junk?” Harry wrinkled his nose at the memories that surfaced with that statement. Too many times to count was the answer.

  Jax laughed. “Too true. I don’t think I’ve seen yours.”

  Harry nodded. “That’s right. Because I don’t want you seeing it.”

  “Little Dick Syndrome?” Jax asked, holding his fingers a few inches apart.

  Harry pushed him. “Asshole. No.”

  Jax shrugged. “If you say so…though I’m going to assume that’s what it is since I’ve never seen it.”

  Harry wrinkled his nose. “What? You want me to show you? Want to compare?”

  Jax looked thoughtful and Harry thought he was seriously considering it. Jax broke into laughter, bending to clutch his stomach. “Dude, you should have seen your face. You legit though I wanted to see your twig and berries?”

  Harry’s face heated. “Not cool, man. So not cool.”

  Jax continued to chortle as he straightened. “Man, I really wish I’d been recordin’ right then. Priceless.”

  “Get the fuck out if you’re not gonna help.”

  “What do you need help with? You’re dressed and your hair looks like normal. What’s left?” Jax shrugged and took a swig from his bottle.

  Harry ran a hand through his hair, realizing Jax was right. He blew out a breath. “Jesus, I’m nervous.”

  He pushed his pile of clothing to the side and plopped on the edge of his bed.

  “Why?” Jax asked taking another long pull from his beer.

  Harry shrugged. “I’m not sure I can really put it into words.”

  “Try. You’re a musician and all that. Words are kinda your thing.”

  Harry glared at Jax. “I’ll remember you saying that to me when you need a pep talk.”

  Jax didn’t react, just continued to stare at him while he calmly sipped his beer. He thought over why he was nervous. “I think it’s because I’m worried it’s too good to be true.” Now that he’d admitted it, he had to say that he felt better overall about going on the date, though the fear was still lurking.

  Jax shrugged. “Man, that’s the terrors of dating. You can’t guarantee that everything is going to be golden from the get-go. That’s why it’s a guessing game.”

  Harry nodded,
seeing the truth in Jax’s words, but they didn’t help his nerves.

  “Dude, just be yourself and go with the flow.” Jax broke into his thoughts.

  “Those are your words of wisdom?” Harry looked at Jax incredulously.

  Jax just shrugged. “What else do you want me to say? You won’t admit what’s really bothering you.”

  Harry looked down, knowing what Jax accused him of was true. He sighed. “I can’t help but think of Bailey.”

  He risked a glance at Jax and saw that he was calmly watching him. “Go on.”

  He picked at non-existent lint on his pants as he thought of what to say. “I don’t know, man. I just…it doesn’t feel right.”

  “It doesn’t feel right? What does that even mean?”

  Harry shrugged.

  “Pfft…I think you know, you just don’t want to admit it. If that’s the case, you’ll have to figure it out yourself.” When he looked up at his best friend, he looked more serious than he’d ever seen him. Jax continued. “I know you’re worried and freaked out about this entire experience. Even if it tanks, it’ll have done you some good because you’ve put yourself out there. Now, man up and go get some pussy.”

  What started out so nice quickly deteriorated and Harry shook his head as Jax sauntered from the room. Trust his best friend to have the singular best advice he’d gotten, but also the worst.

  Turns out, Harry shouldn’t have been nervous at all. Dinner with Emily went well. The easy talking from their phone conversations translated into easy talking face to face. They did have to meet a little earlier as Emily already had plans for later in the evening, but he found he didn’t mind that.

  “I seriously can’t believe that a chick rushed the stage while you were on,” Emily said, her mouth hanging open at the end of Harry’s story about a girl in Columbia trying to get on the stage while they were playing. Looking back, it was funny. In the moment? It was a bit more terrifying because the band had no clue what she was going to do once up there with them.

  Harry shrugged as they walked out of the Common Ground. “What can I say? We just have it goin’ on.” He waggled his brows and Emily burst into laughter.

  “You are so stupid sometimes.”

  “And yet you’re still walking with me.” He gave her a goofy smile.

  She lifted a shoulder and dropped it. “Yeah. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment.”

  “There are worse things.”

  His mind flashed briefly to Bailey, but he pushed her away. He was on a date with a girl that was really nice and he shouldn’t be thinking about another woman.

  “So you’re sure you can’t join me for a drink or something?” he implored.

  She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I had to reschedule a piano lesson from earlier this week and tonight was the only time she could meet me again.”

  Harry nodded, though his shoulders slumped. He understood, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Now that he was on the date, his nerves from earlier were gone, and he didn’t want to the evening to end. He wanted to continue to talk to Emily, to really get to know her.

  They stopped walking beside Emily’s car. “So, I’ll talk to you later then?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll text you?”

  He nodded. “I look forward to it.”

  He leaned down and brushed a light kiss against her cheek before opening the car door for her. Once she was in, he shut it and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he watched her back out and pull away.

  As he walked to his own car, he turned introspective. He could claim that was one of the best dates he’d ever been on, but there was also something missing. He wasn’t sure what it was, but maybe it was because he was putting too much pressure on himself to make this be it. To make this be right since his last love didn’t work out so well in the long run.

  His thoughts were in turmoil the entire ride home. When he stepped into the house, he saw Jax sprawled in the recliner in the living room, watching baseball. Harry walked in and dropped onto the couch.

  Jax glanced over briefly before turning his attention back to the screen. “How was your date?”

  Harry shrugged. “It was good.”

  “If it was good, why do you sound so fucking sad?”

  Harry wasn’t sure what to say. What was there to say? “I don’t know.”

  Jax looked back at Harry and squinted. “Well, that certainly clears things up.”

  Harry threw his hands in the air. “I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. The date itself was fine.”

  Jax looked back at the screen as he replied. “That’s awesome—Come on ump! That’s a terrible call!—Still doesn’t explain why you’re moping.”

  Was he moping?

  Harry sighed. “Do you…” He paused. He felt wimpy even thinking about this or admitting it, especially to his macho best friend. Unfortunately, Jax was now focused on him and not the game as he waited for Harry to finish his thought. He cleared his throat. “Do you think I’m cheating on Bailey?”

  Jax’s brows rose and his mouth dropped open. “That’s your issue here?”

  Harry nodded and Jax snorted. “Dude, you’re so straight-laced that there’s no way you’re cheating on her. Do you like her? Obviously, otherwise you wouldn’t have hung around for so long. But you’re not together. How can you cheat on someone when you’re not together?”

  Harry nodded, seeing the logic in Jax’s words. But why did he still feel guilt over seeing Emily? He needed to figure this out because it would tear him up otherwise. He sat on the couch watching the baseball game for a little while longer, chuckling at Jax’s exclamations about bad calls, before calling it a night.

  Once alone in his room, he thought hard about why he felt the way he did. The only thing he could figure out was that it was because of the history between him and Bailey. There were so any shared experiences there and he always assumed they’d end up together.

  He needed to get over it though. They weren’t together. They most likely wouldn’t ever be together. The quicker he fully realized that and admitted it to himself, the quicker he could move on.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Bailey

  “Girl, you have got to get yourself together.” Karlie’s loud voice broke through Bailey’s veil of unconsciousness, jolting her awake.

  She screwed her eyes shut at Karlie’s voice. She loved her best friend, but she did not want to deal with her right now. She wanted to stay buried under the covers nursing the mammoth hangover she could tell she had.

  “Bailey!”

  “Ugh…what?” Bailey grumbled, burrowing further into her blankets.

  “Why are you still in bed?” Karlie’s voice was right next to her, which meant Karlie had let herself into the apartment.

  Her sluggish mind worked overtime to figure out what state she’d left her apartment in the night before. She was reasonably certain she’d cleaned everything up before collapsing into her bed.

  “Why are you even here?” Bailey asked from her blanket cocoon, still refusing to come out and face Karlie.

  “You forgot?” Karlie’s voice dropped and sounded sad.

  Bailey scrunched her face as she tried to recall if she and Karlie had anything planned for today. “No?”

  Karlie laughed without humor. “Then tell me why I’m here.”

  Bailey furiously wracked her brain trying to remember. “We’re going to the beach?”

  “Are you sure? You don’t sound sure,” Karlie taunted.

  Bailey was about to respond, but the scent of coffee reached her nose and she sniffed. It smelled like her favorite roast from Common Ground. She slowly drew the covers down and squinted at Karlie, who was bathed in the bright light filtering through Bailey’s now open curtains.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. We’re going to the beach.”

  “Then you win a prize!” Karlie brandished the coffee Bailey smelled.

  Bailey grabbed for it, sipping it greedily.

  “You stil
l haven’t answered why you’re in bed still.” Karlie perched on the edge of Bailey’s bed and sipped her own cup of coffee.

  “I stayed up later than planned watching SportsCenter and I think I maybe had a bit too much wine.” Close enough to the truth that she wasn’t lying, so she didn’t have to worry about keeping her story straight.

  Karlie laughed and shook her head. “I should've known that was the culprit.” She stood. “Come on, get up and get dressed. The beach is calling!”

  With that, Karlie left Bailey alone. She took another fortifying sip of her coffee before forcing herself out of bed. She did a quick morning routine, popping a few headache pills, before throwing her bathing suit and cover up on and packing her beach bag.

  As she stepped out of her room with her bag and coffee, she asked, “Do we need my beach chairs?”

  Karlie looked up from the magazine she was flipping through. Bailey caught a glimpse of the title. “Car and Driver?” She cocked a brow. “Not your normal speed, is it?”

  Karlie rolled her eyes and placed it on the coffee table. “You don’t have anything else and I just went for the first thing I could find since you were taking too long.”

  Bailey chuckled. “So chairs?”

  “I packed mine.”

  “Let’s go then.” Bailey slid her sunglasses on and braced herself for the sunlight. She only winced a bit once they were outside, which meant her pain pills must be working and she would feel mostly normal.

  They tromped down the stairs and got into Karlie’s car. She turned the keys in the ignition, cranked the music up, and soon they were on their way, singing along to Karlie’s Spotify playlist.

  Neither of them seemed to feel the need to talk and that suited Bailey just fine. She just listened to the music and let the beat wash over her as she sipped her coffee.

  “I know we normally hit up Surf City, but I was thinking we could do Wrightsville today? Then we can maybe stop at Mayfaire for dinner?” Karlie stated after turning the volume down so she could talk without yelling.