“More or less,” Nicole said. She sighed a bit, and I guessed she was thinking about the missing member of her band: the guitarist that was her boyfriend and had cheated on her. I’d kind of filled Kelly in on the story during our dive here, so I hoped she wouldn’t pry into the situation.
“You’ve got to be walking on clouds. I dunno much about music, but I’d guess it takes a lot of work and luck to get a record deal.”
“Yeah. I have to pinch myself every morning!” Nicole reached up with her right hand and squeezed her other arm with her fingers. “Ouch! Fucker!” We all laughed.
“So when do you start recording? Is that the next step?”
“Already done. Album comes out in a few weeks. Then the tour.”
“Awesome. How does that work?” Kelly put down the empty box of the pizza she had just devoured and took a long drink from a water bottle.
“They got us a bus, and we are going to be jumping between opening for some bigger bands and then headlining at a few smaller venues. Some of the stuff is a little flexible because they don’t quite know how well the album will sell or how it will do on the radio. If it takes off, we’ll headline more of our own stuff, but if it doesn’t, we’ll probably open more. Either way, we probably won’t be done for eighteen months.” Nicole’s eyes lit up while she spoke, and I could feel enthusiasm radiating from her like the heat off of a car engine.
“And then we’ll have our second album put together, and we can record as soon as we get back,” Andy said with a grin.
“Then tour again!” Nicole said with a mixture of more excitement and dread. I could understand some of what she was feeling. Music was a demanding mistress. It could quickly consume someone’s life and leave little room for anything else.
“Shit, it’s getting late. You guys want to hit a few more and then call it?” Trey asked. Crystal had just yawned, and I checked my phone. It was almost eleven.
We all agreed and picked up our instruments for a bit more music. Then it was suddenly midnight and the manager of the rehearsal place was knocking on the door to let us know that the place was closing in fifteen minutes.
“Ahhh. I could do this all night.” Roger took of his bass, wiped the strings off with a cloth, and put it in the case. It was a Fender four-string “jazz” model painted a pale blue and looked to have been loved for many years.
“I’ve got work tomorrow morning,” Nicole groaned, “But at least it’s my last day!”
“Where do you work?” I had put away my guitar and was packing up my pedal board. I saw Kelly and Crystal whispering to each other at the seats on the other side of the room. It looked like they had become fast friends.
“Paralegal. It was an alright gig, but it was boring, and the old-ass lawyers always made passes at me. Still, I didn’t want to leave them high and dry so I gave them notice.”
The manager opened up the door again and gave us the stink eye. We hurried to pack up the rest of our gear. Kelly grabbed my pedal board and then left the building.
“So we are thinking this weekend. Are you still free?” Roger asked. The six of us stood in the empty parking lot in a circle.
“Sure. Just let me know when.”
“Awesome.” We said our goodbyes and parted. Kelly and I put my gear in the trunk of my Subaru, and then we headed back to my house.
“They are going to ask you to join their band,” Kelly stated once I pulled onto the main road.
“Really? Why do you think so?”
“I got suspicious when you told me the story on the way here, but I chatted Crystal up while we sat there. Their old guitar player was a cocksucker, and he always created problems with Trey and Roger. The only reason he was in the band was because he was dating Nicole. Apparently he was a shitty guitar player.”
“Weird. I thought his parts were pretty good.”
“Crystal said that Roger and Nicole wrote the parts. They even taught him how to play them. Crystal said that the jerk off ‘didn’t know his ass from the C string’ or some letter of the alphabet like that. But not the G string. I would have remembered if she said G string.” She stuck her tongue out at me, and I laughed.
“You two seemed to hit it off.”
“Yeah, she is a sweetie. She is the singer of her own band. Trey and her met a few years ago at a show. She said she plays guitar too, and she told me you are ahhh maaa zzinnng!” Kelly elongated the words with a high-pitched sing song. “But I already knew that!” We both laughed.
“So what are you gonna do?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Are you going to go on tour with them?” She placed her left hand on my right shoulder. “Seems like an awesome opportunity.”
“They haven’t asked me yet.” I grinned and risked a look away from my driving to meet her eyes.
“They will ask you. I can tell. You weren’t paying attention while you were playing, but I saw the looks on Trey and Roger’s faces. They were impressed with you. And they like you!” She giggled again and squeezed my shoulder.
“I’m guessing the decision will probably come down to Nicole.”
“Yeah, that won’t be a surprise. You should really look in the mirror sometimes, my little sad panda Eric. You are a fucking stud. She was trying to keep me from seeing the drool coming out of her mouth. I am too attuned to the kitty cats though. I saw her giving you the googly eyes.” She laughed again, and it was filled with mirth.
“Kitty cats?” I laughed.
“I know the girls. I live in a sorority house. I can tell when a girl is into another girl’s man.”
“I didn’t realize I was your man,” I laughed.
“She thinks you are. Ahhhh.” She sighed, and her hands stopped stroking my shoulder. “You are the worse part of this whole Australia thing.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. There was silence for a few moments in the car.
“But it is a great opportunity,” I finally said.
“Yeah.” She echoed my earlier word. “I do feel like we have a good connection. After missing each other for the first few months. I mean, I don’t want to go all crazy girlfriend on you and say that I love you more than anything and you are my soul mate and I want to have all of your babies. But...” Her voice trailed off for half a second. “I really like spending time with you. You make me laugh. My brothers and parents like you. Oh, and you are really hot, and really great in bed. Sooo....”
“I really like spending time with you too, Kelly. I know you need to go, but I’ll miss you. I have thought about what could have been.” I made the turn onto my street and pulled into the parking structure. I saw Kelly’s giant red truck parked in front of my building.
“Ahh fuck. Here I am thinking I was going to get laid by a sexy rock star, and I kill the mood.” Kelly laughed again and then got out of the car before I could comment. I sat in my seat for a moment and debated what I should say next. I thought Kelly had transitioned our relationship to a “friend zone” since we hadn’t had sex during our camping trip and she had stood me up for our last dinner. But this was obviously a hint that she wanted to play around.
At least until she left for Australia.
“You didn’t even bring an overnight bag. Were you just planning on ditching me after you used my body?” I smirked at her when I got out of my car and popped the trunk.
“Would you want me to leave afterwards?” She grabbed my pedal board case and yanked it out of my trunk. When I didn’t reply immediately, our eyes met, and she bit her lower lip a bit.
“No. I’d want you to stay.” The words were true as soon as they left my mouth. I did like Kelly. She was beautiful, fun, smart, sassy, and, best of all, uncomplicated.
But she was leaving forever.
“Then I better go get my bag from my truck. Think you can handle this big bag of pedals all by yourself?”
“Sure.” I grabbed the case from her and then watched her pivot and jog through the parking garage and out to the sidewalk of the apartment. Her
tight jeans made her ass look amazing when she ran. I thought about how good it was going to feel to run my hands over her skin and lick her pussy.
“Got it!” She swung out of the passenger side of her raised red truck like a gymnast and then met me on the sidewalk. The walk through the gate and into my building was quick, and I was soon unlocking my door.
I felt the sudden dread when my key entered the hole. It was the same dread I felt every time I unlocked my door, because I didn’t know if Beth would be inside. I really needed to get my key back from her, but I guessed she had already made copies. I just really needed to get the locks changed. I hadn’t called Beth back, or Aimee, since I heard all their messages yesterday morning. I hoped that neither of them expected me to be coming to their house on Thanksgiving. Then I realized that I couldn’t remember if Aimee had even invited me to dinner, or if it had just been Beth.
“Key stuck?” Kelly asked.
“Sorry.” I didn’t see any lights on through my apartment window, so I figured that Beth hadn’t decided to let herself in and wait there all night. I pushed open the door, flipped on the light, and then closed the door after Kelly entered.
“I’m going to use your bathroom.” Kelly walked down the hallway, past my kitchen, and then opened the door to my room. She tossed her bag in the direction of my bed and made the sharp right into my bathroom.
I followed her into my room. My heart began to beat faster, and my stomach flip flopped like it did the last time Kelly and I were about to become lovers. I really liked her and wished she was staying. She would be leaving after Christmas, so we would probably be able to see each other a few times more before she went to the land down under, unless the volleyball team went a lot further. Then she’d probably be playing till the first or second week of December.
I didn’t bother turning on the light in my room; the light from the hallway would give us enough to see by while we pleasured each other. But I did want to put away my guitar, so I opened my closet, slid in the case, and then put my pedal board next to it.
“Eric?” A voice asked from a foot behind me. I almost screamed with shock, but I was somehow able to keep my cry of surprise trapped in my lungs. I spun around from the closet and saw a dark head of hair lying under the covers of my bed.
Beth.
The girl was in my bed, and it looked like she had fallen asleep there. My head spun, and my heart decided it could stop beating for half a dozen seconds. We stared at each other in the pale light coming from the hallway, and a blizzard of emotions tore through me.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I felt the question leave my teeth like a hiss. There was an air vent system in my bathroom, but I guessed Kelly could hear if I spoke loud enough. She’d be out in a minute or two, ask who the hell this girl in my bed was, and then probably punch me in the face when she found out Beth was sixteen. Oh. My. Fucking. God.
“You never called me back so I-”
“Shhhhh” I hissed at her. “You have to leave,” I choked out the words and reached my hands out to grab the covers on my bed.
“I’m naked!” she gasped and hugged the covers closer around her chest. I pulled my hands away as if I had just gotten burned. I leapt backwards and collided with the half-opened closet door.
“Are you okay?” Beth asked with a tilt of her head. My eyes were getting used to the darkness of the room, and her facial expression made me think she was actually concerned.
“You have to leave! Damn it, Beth!” I whispered, and my mind scrambled frantically. My breath came out in shuddering gasps, and my head started to get light. This was bad. So bad. Fuck me.
“Why? We need to talk.” She moved as if to actually slide out of the sheets, but I remembered she was naked, and I waved my hands at her to get her to stop moving.
“Stop!” I whispered.
“But you wanted me to leave.” She smiled coyly, and I knew she was trying to drive me crazy.
Then the toilet flushed in my bathroom.
“Oh, you have a friend here. Tell them to leave.” Beth laid her head down on my pillows and turned on her side so that the flat of her back faced me from under my sheets. I was happy that I had washed them a day ago, and then I got mad at myself for thinking about Beth’s comfort in my bed.
I heard the sink turn on over the sound of the fan. Kelly would be out of the room in less than fifteen seconds. Fucking hell, what was I going to do?
Then an idea penetrated into my mind like a bullet. It made me sick to think about it, but I couldn’t think of any other plan besides introducing Kelly to Beth, then running out the door, jumping in my car, and driving to Mexico.
There was a spare blanket in my closet. It was a dark-brown fleece and would conceal the lump of Beth in the dark room. I quickly grabbed the thing and leaned over Beth’s head.
“Don’t make a fucking sound. If my friend finds out you are here, she might never speak with me again, and then I won’t ever speak with you.” I didn’t wait for the beautiful girl to answer me. I just flung out an edge of the blanket and laid it over her head and the rest of the bed.
The door to the bathroom opened, letting a crack of light into my room, and I yanked my phone from the pocket of my jeans. The crack of light spread wider across my room, and I was worried that Kelly would be able to see Beth in my bed if she looked in that direction. Then the tall blonde flipped off the switch, and the room returned to the near darkness of the single hallway light.
“Now, where were we?” Kelly took a step out of my bathroom and toward my dark bed.
“I’ve got bad news.” I walked away from the side of my bed and met her in front of the door that led to my hallway. “My friend Jack just called.” I pointed at the lit screen of my phone. “He was on the way to LAX for a red eye to New York. He is meeting his parents there for Thanksgiving. Anyways, he got into a car accident on the way there.”
“Oh shit. Is he okay?” She walked with me out into the hallway, where there was more light, and I could see the concern in her eyes. It made my heart ache.
“Yeah. I think. He’s really shook up. He asked if I could pick him up at the hospital and take him to the airport.” My stomach churned with the lie.
“Okay. I’ll come with you.”
“No, that’s okay.” I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. We had walked almost to the kitchen, but I was still worried that Beth would jump out of my room and go running naked through my hallway. “He doesn’t know you, so he might feel a bit awkward talking about the accident.”
“Ahhh. That makes sense,” she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Damn. We keep missing each other. Then again... How long do you think he can wait?” Her mouth turned upwards into a charming grin, and then she bit her lower lip.
“He sounded pretty upset.” She puffed a jet of air out of her mouth, and it blew her blonde hair across her forehead.
“Fuck. Okay, let me go get my bag.” She spun around and walked back toward my room.
“Oh! I’ll get it!” I reached out to grab her, but I was two steps behind, and she threw the light switch on in my room. I heard it click, I saw the lights turn on, and I expected Kelly to shout with surprise.
“Got it.” The bed was empty, and made, with the fleece blanket folded neatly on the foot of my sheets. I saw no sign of Beth anywhere in the room. I gulped hard and felt my heart slide back down my throat and slam into my chest. Had I imagined Beth in my bed? No, I recalled getting the blanket out of my closet. Where had she gone?
“Will you walk me to my truck at least?”
“Yes, of course.” I hastily walked Kelly to my door. The air outside my apartment was cold, at least cold for California during the autumn, and the chill made me realize that my back was slick with sweat.
“What kind of car was he driving?” She seemed genuinely concerned, but of course she would be. Kelly cared about other people and didn’t just view them as objects for her to manipulate.
Unlike Beth and Aimee.
&
nbsp; “A BMW I think.”
“Ahh shit. Hopefully it was the other guy’s fault.”
“I hope so too.” I shouldn’t be doing this. I should be kicking Beth out of my apartment so Kelly could stay. How could I have done that though? It would have required telling the blonde woman way more information about the sixteen year old than I wanted to tell.
“So....” Kelly started when we reached her giant red truck. “You sure you don’t want to come over for Thanksgiving? We are in Simi Valley. It is like a twenty-minute drive. My parents and brothers would like to see you again.”
“I don’t know, Kelly.” I said. “It just feels like I am imposing.”
“You aren’t! We want you to be there.” She crossed her arms and shivered a tiny bit.
“Kelly... I...” I thought about Beth back in my apartment, probably hiding in a closet or something, and her invitation to spend Thanksgiving with her, Aimee, and their parents. That sounded like a terrible idea when compared to hanging out with Kelly and her family for the day.
“Hey, I get it.” She put her arm on my shoulder. “It’s kind of overwhelming with them all there. And I’m leaving in like six weeks, and...” Our eyes met across the yellow glow of the gross San Fernando Valley streetlight.
“I’ll let you know, okay?” I said. I wanted to tell her I would go, but I also wanted to tell her I missed my parents too much. I also wanted to fuck her, or get her out of here so that she wouldn’t find out about Beth. The mix of emotions, along with the arousal, was making my head spin, my dick hurt, and my stomach queasy.
“Okay. Byeeeee!” She gave me a quick kiss on the mouth and then popped open the door to her truck. I got a quick appraisal of her tight ass when she climbed into the driver’s seat, and I walked back to the curb. The monster fired up with a throaty growl, and I heard the transmission click before she drove away.
Then I ran back to my apartment.
The lights in the living room were off, and I flipped them back on before I walked back through the hallway to my room. I saw Beth’s form under the covers of my bed, and I let out a deep breath.
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