Let's Stick Together

by Chandra Crawford

  She stood watching him process the new information, a look of profound sadness now on her pretty face. Fuck. He’d taken the light right out of her eyes. Right now, he felt like the biggest prick on the planet. No doubt, she would agree.

  “You know, Wade,” she began, sounding thoughtful and eerily calm, “it occurs to me that your interest is somewhat sudden as well. You’ve barely ever looked at me before I asked you out. Now you’re ready for seduction at the slightest touch. What gives? Am I just another groupie to you? Or perhaps I’m the one who’s a substitute for someone else?”

  He had not been expecting that from Eva-Marie, and didn’t know what to say. Not that it mattered, because she wasn’t listening anyway. Before he realized her intention, she was at the door, snatching up her things and moving through it quicker than a ghost, closing it quietly behind her. If she had slammed it, he could have held on to the hope that maybe they could talk after she calmed down. But the quiet click of his door shutting was as final as any goodbye he’d ever heard.

  All morning, Wade was distracted and forgetful. A couple of times, his mind went blank when he answered the phone. Only Chad and BJ yelling “Boost Turtle” in the background prompted him to recite their standard business greeting. They laughed their asses off when he reddened with embarrassment.

  Opting to leave the phones to Chad, Wade decided to work on one of the project cars instead. Keeping his hands busy under a hood was great when he had some heavy thinking to do. Today, however, even that was a bust. After spending an hour installing, removing, and reinstalling one part, only to realize he hadn’t done the custom modifications yet, he’d had all he could stand. Especially of his friends high fiving and calling out “Boost Turtle” every time he did something stupid, which was a lot. He was sick to death of those two words, at least for one day.

  Wiping his hands and tossing the shop towels aside, Wade headed upstairs to shower, so he could do what he’d really wanted to all day long- find Eva-Marie and apologize. The more time passed, the more he felt like a total heel. If he got a move on, he might be in time to beg her to have lunch with him. The special of the day was humble pie.

  Phoning her office from the car, he learned she’d taken the day off. Wade hoped she was okay. Maybe, like him, she just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to get much done. Her house and cell phones both sent him directly to voicemail. Now, he was worried. If she didn’t want to talk, that was fine. As long as everything else was all right.

  Driving to her house, Wade was relieved to see her car there. His relief was short-lived. Her door was answered by the housekeeper, who informed him that Ms. Robinson was unavailable. When pressed, she let him know that Eva-Marie was out of town, but only then because she recognized his name as one of the people who had access to her at home. It was a good sign that she hadn’t kicked him off her friends list. Yet. He thanked the lady and walked back to his car.

  She was gone. Some time in the hours since last night and lunchtime today, Eva-Marie had taken off. Was she that pissed at him, or was something else going on? He brooded about it all the way back to the shop, where he went upstairs and made a sandwich that he barely touched. A soda grew warm in the glass while Wade stared off into space. Did she hate him now? He could practically see the smoke coming from her heels when she left him last night. She couldn’t get away from him fast enough, and he couldn’t really blame her. He’d sounded like a jealous teenager, going on about his brother and her bra, while she was in the middle of making love to him. He was a fucking idiot, and it showed.

  Instead of just telling her how much he’d cared for her all along, he’d let Eva-Marie walk away from him feeling like a groupie. She was a princess, but he was no prince for sure. He should never have let her feel that way for a single second. If she never spoke to him again, he deserved that, and more.

  If he was lucky, she’d give him the chance to beg her forgiveness and explain what a fool he was, wasting all that time obsessing about something that never happened. The whole time, he’d thought her heart belonged to Scott. Twice, she’d told him they were friends, and he’d maintained his assumptions instead of listening to her. Was he so blinded by his own jealousy, he couldn’t see the truth right in front of his own eyes?

  Yeah, he’d fucked up royally. And Eva-Marie was nowhere to be found, so he couldn’t apologize. It was driving him mad. Taking a chance, he dialed her cellphone again, groaning when it went to voicemail. Defeated, Wade got up to clean his lunch mess and go back down to work. There was nothing he could do until she wanted to be bothered with him, if she ever did. Right now, he almost missed being on tour. At least then, he was too busy to think much. But who was he kidding? No matter what, practically every thought was still of Eva-Marie.

  ****

  Wade flopped down on the sofa with a beer in one hand and his phone in the other. Hard to believe that just twenty-four hours ago, Eva-Marie was with him on this very spot, kissing him and ready for more. Damn, he was an idiot. He couldn’t kick himself enough. Who flaked out when the woman of his dreams was in his arms? That shit was only supposed to happen on the movie of the week.

  Taking a deep pull on the beer for courage, he dialed Eva-Marie once again. Her phone rang twice, then he heard a mumbled, “’Lo?”

  Shocked speechless, he sat straight up, mouth opened in surprise, almost dropping the bottle.

  There were fumbling noises in his ear, then she spoke again.

  “Hello? Wade?”

  “Uh, hi. Hi, Eva-Marie,” he finally managed to stammer. “I wasn’t really expecting you to answer. Caught me off guard. I called earlier, a couple of times.”

  “Oh, well my cell has been off for most of the day. I’ve been in non-stop meetings until just a little while ago. I turned it on about fifteen minutes ago and saw a lot of missed calls and messages, but I’m too tired to deal with any of it tonight. I didn’t even look at them. Sorry. Was it something important? Is everyone okay?”

  Wade was already unsure of how to approach the subject of their encounter the night before. The situation was too awkward. Now it seemed she’d shut herself off from him emotionally. There was no warmth in her voice at all. No matter how much he deserved that from her, actually getting it was still more painful than he’d imagined.

  “Everyone is fine. I was calling to apologize for my behavior last night. The things I said, and how I made you feel. I never, ever meant to do that. I know you probably won’t believe it, but you’ve always been special to me. I should have told you that.”

  There was silence on the line for too long.

  “Eva-Marie?”

  “I’m here.”

  “If you’re busy, we can talk some other time.”

  “I’m in my pyjamas eating a salad,” she answered, giving a short, harsh laugh. “I’ve had a long day, and after last night, I haven’t been in the greatest mood. So, just give me a moment to process everything, okay?”

  “Whatever you want,” Wade agreed quickly.

  “You know, Wade, Scott let people think we were dating when we were younger. We both did. It took care of a lot of social situations that could have been really messy for Scott or me if we hadn’t been part of a couple. Being with each other saved us, in a way. I know that sounds silly.”

  “Nah, I get it,” Wade assured her. “I remember Scott’s girl trouble before you moved here. All the ridiculous things they would do to get close to him or spend time around him. It was crazy, even scary sometimes. Still is. All the girls want to be with the rock star. I imagine all the boys were the same way about the ambassador’s daughter from Down Under.”

  “I remember you getting some of that, too. And I’m sure it’s still going on, Mr. Bad Boy Rock Star,” Eva-Marie countered.

  “A little,” he conceded, “but nothing like it is for him. Besides,” he said with a laugh, “I think my fans are afraid of me. I’m always frowning at them.”

  “Yeah, I know what that’s like. But it got way out of hand for Scot
t and me,” Eva-Marie continued. “I mean, I expected a bit of interest. I’m sort of a foreigner, since I mostly grew up in Australia. And I’ve gotten to meet presidents and royalty because of my father’s job. Then someone decided I was secretly a princess one day, and all hell broke loose. It got to the point my dad threatened to remove me from the school, which I was really starting to love. Or he was sending in a bodyguard. You can imagine how much worse that would have been. I would have just died.”

  Wade chuckled at her teen speak, but he understood what she meant. A bodyguard would have basically confirmed the rumor in people’s minds, and the result would have been chaos.

  “Then Scott got the idea to be my fake boyfriend. He said I’d be doing him a favor, but it was the best solution for both of us. It worked, and eventually everything calmed down. But I had no idea you witnessed our little experiment with dating each other. I don’t blame you for thinking what you did. I do, however, blame you for not coming to me and talking about your concerns.”

  “You’re right, I should have, especially if it was bothering me. I feel so silly now that I know nothing happened. I’m so sorry.”

  Eva-Marie took a deep breath.

  “There’s something else.”

  Uh-oh. No good conversation starts this way.

  “After the last twenty-four hours, I’m not sure I can take any bad news.” Wade attempted to both lighten the mood and put himself at her mercy. Please don’t decide to end things before they get started.

  “You were right about my interest in you seeming sudden and out-of-character. I’ve always been rather reserved around you, mostly because I believed you didn’t like me much. Now I’m coming to your house and your job, practically throwing myself at you. It does look a bit suspicious. After the way things turned out, I’m thinking I should just call this a fail and go back to the way things were.”

  No. Wade couldn’t lose her, not when he was so close to his dream come true. Not to mention, having her doubt the inner seductress she was finally setting free.

  “If I may, I’d like to weigh in on that.” It was possibly his last chance to turn things around between them. “I think it’s completely incorrect to label this a fail. It was going pretty well until I messed things up.”

  “Yeah, right.” She snorted, sounding disgusted. “My big seduction turned into a big fight. And unless I’m mistaken, you were not interested in being seduced.”

  “I was extremely interested,” Wade insisted. “There was, uh, outside interference.”

  Eva-Marie burst into laughter. Making her laugh was promising, he hoped. Maybe a second chance wasn’t off the table for good.

  “While we’re on that subject, when you get home, why don’t you throw away all your red bras.”

  “I am home. And do you know how much a good bra costs? Have you lost your mind?”

  Wait, what did she say?

  “You’re in Memphis, Eva-Marie?” Wade jumped up, searching around for his jeans and shoes. “I could come over there. We could get everything settled tonight.”

  “No.” She immediately shut him down. “It’s late, and I’m tired. Besides, I’m not ready to see you again yet. I’m still a little shell shocked from yesterday. That sort of thing doesn’t happen to a woman every day. Besides, the groupie thing. It’s a valid point. You need to think about it, Wade. Other than sleeping with me, what do you want?”

  She said a quick goodnight, and other than some muttering about how good she looked in red, it was the last thing he heard before the line went dead. Eva-Marie was gone, and he wasn’t sure she was coming back to him.

  For two days, radio silence. Wade forced himself not to call Eva-Marie, or give in to his incessant desire to see her. He was trying to respect her wishes and give her the space she needed, but it was killing him to do so. Their conversation played over and over in his mind, bothering him more each time. As happy as he was to find out nothing happened between her and Scott, her comment about still feeling like a groupie sliced him straight to the heart. He’d apologized, but it wasn’t enough. Regret over the hurt he’d caused her made him almost physically ill.

  Much of his time over the last forty-eight hours had been spent under the hood of his car, deep in thought, wondering how he could make amends with Eva-Marie. He wanted her to understand exactly how special she was to him. He would explain until he was blue in the face, then show her until he was too weak to move. Then do it all again, as many times as necessary until she believed he meant every word. It wasn’t simply wanting sex, like she thought. It was letting her know she’d been the only one for him since she was sixteen years old. She was the object of his lust, true. But also of his fantasies, and definitely of his love. His puppy love, high school crush had matured over time into the real thing.

  This was not the time to speak to Eva-Marie of love, though. Considering they’d done most of their talking so far with their hands and hormones, she probably wouldn’t trust a word he said anyway. She was so sure he only wanted to fuck her. Made him sound like a real dick, no pun intended. She knew him better than that, and if she didn’t, she should. Shouldn’t she?

  Frowning, his hands came to a standstill where they’d been polishing the last of the dirt and oily fingerprints from the car. Thinking about it from her perspective, maybe not. From where she stood, his interest did appear to be suspiciously quick. In addition, he hadn’t exactly jumped at the chance to go out with her.

  Distracted by the sound of a car driving up to the garage, Wade stood to see who was coming by after closing time. A few seconds later, Scott strolled in, looking every inch the rock star, even though they hadn’t been on stage in weeks. His grin was huge.

  “What the hell do you want, you long-haired freak?” Wade was always happy to see his brother.

  Scott came over to him and slung his arm across Wade’s shoulders.

  “I heard there was a dusty grease monkey around here. I came to see for myself.” Wade was pulled into Scott’s embrace, which resembled a headlock more than a hug, with Scott’s hearty laughter ringing in his ears.

  “Just coming by to see how things are going with you.” Disentangling himself, Scott grabbed one of the rolling stools and plopped down on it.

  “I’m good,” Wade responded, leaning against the car. “But you’re going to ruin your designer duds down here in all this dirt. You want to go up to the house?”

  “Nah.” Scott used the stool to spin around a few times, then zoomed back and forth down the narrow passage between the cars before coming to a stop by his brother. He was giggling like an overgrown child.

  Watching him, Wade chuckled and shook his head. Scott was crazy. So quiet and well-behaved, until people really got to know him. Then he was a total clown. He was still spinning on that stool like a nut. This was the rock star, idolized by millions. Hysterical.

  “So, what’s up with you and my girl?” Scott asked casually. “I know you and Eva-Marie are seeing each other. Come on, spill. You know I’m curious.”

  Crossing his arms defensively, Wade glared at Scott as he pushed the stool from side to side with his feet. He had some nerve asking for details about the two of them. They’d never shared intimate details about women before, and considering Scott’s past with Eva-Marie, he felt weird about being asked.

  Gazing off into space, Scott kept talking. “She was always so damn sexy. Still is. Did I tell you I kissed her once?”

  Wade was instantly on his feet, wild eyed, fists clenched. He hovered over Scott, wanting more than anything to deck him right then. Though they’d barely fought as children, and never as adults, the comment about Eva-Marie went to far as far as he was concerned.

  “Dude,” he growled menacingly, “don’t make me fuck up that pretty face of yours.”

  Scott stared at him, looking startled, and more than a little scared. He quickly rolled the stool out of Wade’s reach.

  “Hey, man, what’s your damned problem?”

  “Don’t ever speak abou
t her like that again, or I promise you I’ll break your fucking jaw. Understand?” Wade glowered at Scott, making it clear he meant every word.

  Scott was quiet, a tiny smirk eventually appearing on his face.

  “Yeah, I understand, bro. Better thank you think.”

  Wade watched his brother spin on his seat again, dragging his hand through his hair. It was his telltale signal that he was upset or irritated. When their eyes met again, he thought Scott looked a little run down. As his fury dissipated, he wondered what was on Scott’s mind. Was something bothering him? Taking a chance, he tried to find out.

  “Out with it,” he told his little brother.

  “You know Eva-Marie was never actually my girlfriend, right? In fact, back in high school, my mind was on someone else. The only girl I’ve never been able to get out of my head. She was something else- the smartest person I’d ever met, pretty, and sweet.” Scott looked almost forlorn talking about this girl, whoever she was.

  “I was shitty to her, Wade. A real asshole. I felt bad about it then, and even worse now.”

  Wade crossed his arms again and frowned at his younger brother. Scott had never been a mean kid. Not to anyone. He’d been shy and standoffish, so there must have been a reason for his rough treatment of the girl. Whatever it was, it was eating at him now. Poor guy. He felt bad for him.

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  “Try to apologize to her, if she’ll let me.” Scott sighed heavily.

  “Good luck with that.” Wade meant it, knowing exactly how it felt to be in that position.

  “Anyway,” Scott continued, “back to Eva-Marie. She’s an amazing girl. Well, woman. But I always suspected she had a thing for you, even back in school.”

  Wade couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Apparently unaware of his shock, Scott kept rambling on.

  “She’s always asking about you. I give her hell for it all the time. I love her, man, but it’s more like I’d love a sister, if you get my drift.”