by Lee Piper
Once tattoo artist, Frankie—one of the nicest guys around, thank you very much—finished and dressed my latest addition, I slowly spun in a full circle before Mae.
“Holy shit,” she murmured. “Now that’s a makeover.”
I smiled. “It’s not a makeover, Mae, it’s a revelation.”
My newfound positivity took a serious nosedive when I arrived back at the apartment. Grace wasn’t in any of the main living areas and wanting to assure myself she was still breathing, I headed to her bedroom.
The scene before me didn’t look good.
Now, to the casual observer, Grace looked perfectly normal. She was propped against the headboard of her dilapidated bed, reading a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel, but don’t forget I’d known her for most of my life so I knew in an instant she wasn’t okay.
Grace glanced up and her eyes widened. “Wow. Girl, you look sensational.”
Yeah, something was definitely wrong. That woman loved me just as much, if not more so than whiskey; however, she rarely complimented anyone—myself included. Grace was overcompensating, for what, I had no idea.
So, I patted my hair, pretending to play along in the hopes she would tell me what the heck was going on. “Really? You’re not just saying that?”
“Hell no.” She squinted and moved closer. I honestly thought she was about to admit defeat by declaring all but I was wrong. “Hang on, Riley Sears, is that a nose ring?”
I flushed, completely forgetting my altered appearance. “I’ve always wanted one.”
“Love it.”
My head whipped up. “You do?”
She smiled. “Yeah.”
What the hell? Two compliments in the space of as many minutes? I had officially entered an alternate universe, one where fairies and leprechauns frolicked hand in hand sprinkling magic dust about them like confetti.
Shit just got real, I need to sort it out.
However, before I could demand answers, Grace continued, “Not sure your mum will though.”
I stuck my chin out, refusing to give a rat’s ass about my mother’s opinion. “Fuck her.”
Grace appeared beyond impressed and clapping both hands, cried, “Bravo, it’s about time you took ownership of that sexy body.”
I couldn’t take it anymore, I wanted my best friend back. Softening my voice, I asked, “G, what’s wrong?” She turned away from me. “You’re doing that thing where you’re upset but trying to hide it. I don’t understand. For the last month and a half, you haven’t bothered hiding your emotions at all.”
Grace moved back to the bed and collapsed on it. Staring at her hands, she mumbled, “I broke it off with Levi.”
To say I was shocked was putting it mildly, and I suddenly felt the need to sit down myself. “What? Why?”
“It was never going to work. Had to admit it sooner or later.” I remained silent, and she continued, “Levi told me their recording wasn’t going well. They’re running behind schedule and still have more tracks to lay down. Which means…” She sighed. “I won’t be able to see him before he goes on tour.”
I remembered Dominic mentioning the boys were going to return home for a few days before jetting off to begin their tour along the east coast. My heart broke for her, the only thing keeping Grace from needing an AA meeting was the promise of Levi’s return and now he wasn’t going to make it … I shook my head.
She stood, pacing. “I mean, for a relationship to work you actually have to catch up at some point, right?” She faced me, hands on hips. “Six weeks has felt like a lifetime and now he’s leaving for another three months.” The girl was building up steam, she threw her hands in the air, exclaiming, “Christ, and after that he’s moving to goddamn Melbourne.” Pausing, Grace dropped her head, defeated. “I was kidding myself. We were never going to work. I just wish it didn’t hurt so much.”
Right. I needed to fix this.
Tapping newly manicured fingernails against my leg, I considered the best way forward. Now, the old Riley would probably organize a movie marathon night, interspersed with feeble attempts at force-feeding Grace some peppermint tea, but the new badass Riley—I smiled.
Just as I was about to execute phase one of my super awesome plan, my phone rang.
Grace rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Riley? They’re your ringtone now?”
Stupid Dominic. Never should have let him anywhere near my phone.
I hustled from the room before answering it.
“Guess where you’re going tonight?”
“And hello to you too, Brea.” I grinned, not at all insulted by her lack of obligatory pleasantries.
“No time for that, I’m too excited.” She barely took a breath before launching into the reason for her call. “I was supposed to work a late shift at The Hole tonight but Corey offered to take over after nine o’clock since I did the same for him when he got sick a while back.” She stopped.
“Okay.”
“So, back to my earlier question. Guess where you’re going tonight?”
“The Hole?”
“Damn straight.”
I laughed, loving my friend’s enthusiasm; it was contagious. “This is perfect timing actually because I was just about to call you. Mind if Grace comes with us? She’s pretty bummed at the moment and I think getting her out of the apartment is a good idea.”
“This is easier than I thought,” Brea mumbled.
“Huh?”
“Oh, nothing. Sure thing, bring Grace but make sure you’re both here by nine.”
“Why?”
“I already told you, that’s when I get off work.”
“Oh, okay then.” I checked my watch, it had just gone past eight. “Shit. Gotta go, see you soon.”
“Ciao, bella.”
Shaking my head, I grinned. That girl was nuts.
Grace was once again pretending to read when I reentered her room. Figuring it would be more effective if I was honest about the situation, I bowled right on in, giving her little choice. “Well, you can either stay in your bedroom and wallow in self-pity or you can take charge of your life and go live it.”
Truer words had never been spoken.
“You’ve been reading motivational books again,” she countered.
I narrowed my eyes, ignoring her. “What’ll it be?”
“Self-pity.” I narrowed them further and Grace sighed. “We’re going to The Hole, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are.” I rummaged through a pile of clean laundry at the foot of her bed, refusing to give in to the compulsive need to tidy her room. In all honesty, it was a mess. After some searching, I found a short summer dress and threw it on her lap. “Now get dressed.”
As I strode toward the door, she murmured, “Love you, Riley.”
My insides flooded with a warmth I hadn’t felt since Dominic became a class A douche. Turning to her, I replied, “Love you too. Now hurry up, we’re leaving in twenty minutes.”
****
Grace scrunched up her nose as soon as we set foot inside The Hole. “God, this place stinks.”
I laughed, loving the fact she wasn’t pretending to be anything other than her honest, albeit socially inappropriate self. “You’ll forget about the smell after a few drinks.” Grabbing her hand, I led her through the large crowd milling around the raised stage which stood in the corner of the venue. A heavy, three-piece band were midway through their set and the short male vocalist was thrusting his hips, Elvis style, looking completely ridiculous. However, their sound wasn’t half-bad. The drums were brutal, the guitars ballsy, and if I shut my eyes, blocking out those obscene hip gyrations, their music was really enjoyable.
We pushed our way to where Brea stood behind the bar, pouring and serving drinks at a dizzying speed. Beside me, Grace sighed.
“Girls, so glad you made it. What can I get you?”
“Hey, Brea.” I smiled. “Can I have a beer? And G here,” I glanced over at my best friend who appeared beyond miserable, “needs a double whiskey,
neat.”
Brea took one look at Grace and poured her a triple instead, she then popped the cap off my beer and slid both drinks in front of us.
For the first time in six weeks, Grace’s smile actually reached her eyes as she said to Brea, “I owe you one.”
“Try to enjoy yourselves, okay?”
We both nodded.
“Will do.”
Brea refused to take our money and moved on to her next alcohol-starved customer. If I’d been more observant, I would have thought she was up to something. It was the mischievous wink she gave us before turning away that should have tipped me off. However, I had too much on my mind, namely trying to get Grace drunk-happy—it was a stretch, I grant you, but one I was willing to attempt despite the insurmountable odds stacked against me. Shaking my head, I checked the time on my watch; there were still ten minutes of Brea’s shift left, so I once again led Grace through the crowded bar in search of a booth.
We found one relatively close to the stage which was a definite win considering how packed the place was. I guessed, most people preferred to stand rather than sit while the band was playing. Lord only knew if it was Mondez, I’d be up there in a flash—a dull ache formed in my stomach.
Grace and I sat in silence. She stared at her whiskey, looking so despondent I felt like the most horrible creature with two legs and a pulse. It was obvious she wanted to be anywhere else but here.
And that’s when the guilt kicked in.
You see, I’d been lying to my best friend. I hadn’t been honest with her for a very long time. She knew nothing about Dominic, she knew nothing about Robin; heck, she didn’t even know my heart, like hers, was broken. And yes, I kept all of this hidden under the guise of it never being the right moment or me trying to protect her, but that wasn’t the real reason at all. The fact of the matter was, I was scared. Scared of admitting my own stupidity, scared of losing her good opinion, scared of seeing the truth in her eyes. Because Grace would tell me, she would have no hesitation in declaring me a deluded fool for falling in love with a man like Dominic while stringing along a nice guy like Robin.
Deep in thought, I picked the label off my beer bottle, haphazardly scattering its shredded remains in front of me. For once, I couldn’t give two shits about the mess. Yeah, total badass.
It was time to come clean—figuratively speaking—both with myself and Grace. Squaring my shoulders, I turned to her. “G, I need to tell you something.”
Grace looked like she was internally preparing herself for Armageddon as she unclasped her hands from the whiskey glass and placed both palms flat on the table. “Sounds serious.”
I opened my mouth to continue but was drowned out by a new solo vocalist on stage. We must have been so caught up in our own thoughts, we didn’t even notice the first band finish and the second artist setting up. However, when the first chord reverberated through the amps, Grace froze. All the color drained from her face and her mouth dropped open in shock.
“Levi?” Grace stumbled from the booth and toward the stage as though being pulled by an imaginary chain. I spun in my seat. Sure enough, there he was, perched on a stool playing his acoustic guitar, singing a song about retribution.
My gaze flicked to the bar and landed on Brea. She grinned at me, shrugging her shoulders and doing a terrible job of feigning ignorance. My gaze shifted back to Levi and the ache in my stomach grew tenfold.
Damn, he looked like Dominic.
In black combat boots, ripped jeans and a faded green t-shirt, Levi looked so strikingly similar to the man who tore my heart out before throwing it in a blender, that if I’d had any more alcohol, I would have sworn it was him. But it wasn’t. Even sitting down, he was slightly taller, his stature that bit leaner. I wrapped my arms around myself while trying to accept the emotions of hurt, betrayal and loss.
Impossible.
“I need to get out of here.” Standing, I made my way to the toilets, before bending over the sink and dry heaving for a solid five minutes. Finally, I managed to sweet-talk my recently ingested beer into not making a repeat performance, so splashed some cold water on my face, before tidying my hair and makeup.
Levi was back. Once I recovered from my obvious shock, I was absolutely thrilled at his romantic gesture. Don’t get me wrong, Grace would hate it, it wasn’t her style of declaration at all, but at least afterward they would get the chance to yell at each other before having crazy make-up sex. It would be nice to see her smile again.
After returning to the bar and grabbing another drink off a very smug-looking Brea—finishing work at nine o’clock my ass, she just wanted us here in time to see Levi perform—I headed outside to the beer garden. Grace and Levi would need some alone time and I did too, especially since I was about to end things with Robin.
I stepped through a doorway and out into the cool evening air, breathing deeply. The beer garden itself was situated at the rear of the building, it wasn’t large, about half the size of a tennis court. It was surrounded on three sides by high brick walls with random objects such as sombreros and bikes hanging sporadically from them. There was a fully grown palm tree in the center of the courtyard with multiple strips of fairy lights connecting the deep green fronds to the corner of each connecting wall. Old wooden tables and rickety chairs or benches were scattered about the place and all of them, bar one, were occupied with people enjoying themselves.
I moved to the only free bench in the very back corner and perched myself on the edge of it. After taking my phone out of my pocket, I stared at the black screen for a few moments before unlocking it and quickly dialing Robin’s number. I needed to get this over with, for both our sakes.
It rang a few times and despite my resolve, a dark part of me was disappointed when he answered. “Hey, Riley.”
“Robin, ah, hi.”
“What’s up?”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I replied, “Look, I… I haven’t been entirely honest with you, and it’s cruel of me since you’ve been nothing but a gentleman but I, I don’t think… I mean, I think it’s best if we—”
His long sigh interrupted my horrendous breakup attempt, for which I was eternally grateful. “It’s okay, I know where this conversation is heading. You don’t have to say anything.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Yeah, me too.” He was quiet for a while. “I don’t think I can be friends with you, Riley.” I bit back the tears that threatened. “Seeing you… It’ll hurt too much. I don’t mean to be a dick about it but—”
“I understand.” Sniffing, I continued, “Robin, you’re a truly amazing guy and one day I hope—”
“Don’t, please don’t. You’re only making it worse.” He cleared his throat. “I’d better go. Bye, Riley.”
“Bye.”
After putting the phone away, I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, hating how I would need to tidy my makeup for a third time unless I wanted to be mistaken for a character from The Walking Dead.
Vanity would have to wait. I needed a moment.
Glancing up at the night sky, I looked past the lights and counted the stars above until my tears dried. It took longer than expected, but once I was all cried out, it felt like a twelve-ton weight had lifted and I could finally breathe again.
I’d done it. As painful as it was, I made the important decision to walk alone rather than by the side of a man I did not have feelings for. Strangely, it felt both cathartic and alarming, I guess it would take time.
“Is this seat taken?”
Turning, I met the laughing gaze of dark-haired man. He was cute, in a preppy kind of way, with tan leather shoes, slim-fit navy pants and a white polo shirt. His black-rimmed glasses completed the look which, don’t get me wrong was damn fine, but I could only stare at him, confused. There was a serious lack of ripped clothing, tattoos and piercings.
Maybe he’s lost?
“Sure, take a seat.” I went to shift over, only realized there was nowhere else to go unless I wanted
to fall flat on my ass, so remained still.
“Thanks.” He sat, his thigh inadvertently pressing against my leg. Holding out a hand, he said, “I’m Sebastian.”
Of course you are.
However, I took it because, despite the close proximity with this complete stranger, I immediately felt at ease. “Riley, nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” His face was open and kind, just what I needed after my horrendous phone conversation with Robin. “So, do you come here often?” Sebastian winked, nudging me with his shoulder and I laughed, immediately relaxing into friendly banter about the unlikely success rate of his chosen pickup line.
Suddenly, the skin on the back of my neck prickled. I stilled.
He was watching me, I could feel it. My body sensed him long before my head did and started tingling. Everywhere.
Oh, holy mother.
Just the thought of him made my heart pound. Traitorous thing. It merrily rammed against my ribcage as soon as I pictured his tall, muscular body and disheveled russet hair. My fingers itched to reach out and delve through the soft strands as I remembered what it felt like to tug on them as he groaned into my open mouth—but I shifted in my seat and sat on them instead. I wasn’t going down that road again, hell no. I was done.
Done.
A low chuckle cut through the muted sounds of heavy rock music emanating from inside, its gravelly sound resonating with my downstairs department, causing a deep blush to stain my cheeks.
Clearly, I wasn’t fooling anyone.
What in the name of sweet baby Jesus was he even doing here?
I tried so hard to focus on what Sebastian was saying. Thankfully, he held up his end of the conversation despite my unexpected inability to formulate any words. We’d been sitting together for a while without a single awkward pause so I nodded, smiled, and even laughed when required. To be fair, it was a pretty decent pickup attempt. Well, until he showed up.
Blue eyes burned my skin.