“Hey man, what’s going on?” The bigger of the two asked me. He had an umbrella, but it didn’t seem to be doing a whole hell of a lot of good; he was still drenched.
“I have a problem,” I said. “This chick, one of the singers…Brooke…”
“The hot blonde one with the big tata’s?” the smaller of the two asked.
“Yeah, that one,” I said. “She’s parked her ass naked on my bus and she’s refusing to leave. She even threatened to cry rape if I hauled her out myself.”
“Seriously dude?” the big guy asked. “What’s her problem? Is she drunk?”
“Nah, I think she’s just crazy,” I said.
“Um, I’m not being nosy but just in case she says something stupid, did you have sex with her?”
“No, I didn’t touch the bitch. If anything, she violated me.” The two guys snickered at that and I said, “Glad I could fucking amuse you tonight as I stand in the fucking rain. Are you going to get her off my bus or not?”
“Yeah man, sorry.” They followed me over to the bus and as much as I was hoping she’d left on her own, she was still sitting there, big as life and naked as the day she was born. When she saw security come in with me she reached down for her robe that was still lying on the floor at her feet. I stepped on it. She jumped up and said,
“What the fuck, Tristan? Get off my robe!”
“Get off my bus!” I said.
“Um, miss…we’re going to have to ask you to leave,” the smaller guy said to her tits.
“He did things to me!” she said.
“Then why didn’t you put on your clothes and run while he was gone?” the bigger guy said.
“Fuck you!” she screamed at him. Then she pushed me in the chest and screamed, “Get the fuck off my robe!” The bigger guy grabbed her arm and I stepped back. She turned to wail on him with the other arm, but the smaller guy grabbed it. I bent and picked up her robe and tried to put it across her back but she was twisting and turning and fighting them like a banshee. “You’re going to be sorry, Tristan! I swear! You’re going to be sorry.”
I stood and watched them carry her out. The chick obviously has mental issues. Fuck! Now Elly was all pissed off at me. She was never going to believe I didn’t fuck that crazy bitch. These were the kinds of things I never wanted to deal with, which was why I’ve never had a fucking girlfriend. Fuck!
Chapter Three
Elly
I stayed up late, swapping bad relationship stories with the girls that night. As stereotypical as it sounds, trashing men made me feel a lot better. Hearing that Tammy, and even sweet little Hannah, had the same kinds of problems that I did made me feel like less of a loser magnet. Maybe they were just all losers; who knew?
It was after one in the morning before I finally passed out for the night, so when my alarm went off at seven a.m. I was in a world of hurt. The first thing I did was look outside. The sun was shining brightly. Too brightly! I shut the blinds again right away and considered pulling the covers back over my head, but I didn’t. I looked over and saw that my bunkmate Lori was already up and out…or maybe she’d stayed out all night? She wasn’t there when I went to bed and I didn’t hear her come in. Anyways, she was a big girl and I didn’t care if she wanted to stay out all night. Maybe she met a guy who wasn’t a loser; I had my own problems to deal with. I pulled myself up out of the bunk and headed in to see if the shower was free. I could hear the other girls talking and smell the coffee brewing. By the time I got out of the shower, I felt almost human.
After I was dressed, we all went over to the cafeteria on the lot for breakfast. I didn’t see Tristan or Brooke there; I wondered if they were sleeping in after having marathon sex all night. I tried to tell myself that thinking like that wasn’t helping anyone. It actually made me sick to my stomach to think about it. I did my best to enjoy breakfast and then we headed out to the amphitheater to set up for the show that would be the replacement for the one we’d cancelled the night before. That day and the next were supposed to be days off for us, but the rain stole one. I really wanted to see a little bit of Colorado. I hoped that we didn’t get tomorrow taken away somehow, too.
As I was having that thought, I looked up and saw Jake. He was standing about six feet away and looking right at me. When I looked up, he smiled. I didn’t smile back; I just turned my head quickly and pretended that I didn’t see him. I could definitely see how he sucked the young girls in. He was so damned good-looking, like a GQ model. As I did my best to ignore him, I couldn’t help but wonder what I was doing to my career. I decided that it didn’t matter though; I wasn’t sleeping with the old pervert or anyone else in order to keep my job.
The morning passed in a rush of setting up the stage and checking sound. I thanked God that I didn’t draw getting the singers in order. I wasn’t ready yet to face either Tristan or Brooke. We went back to the bus around two to get ready for the night. It was quite an adventure to share one small bathroom with five other women. I spent half an hour on Facebook and twenty minutes on the phone with Susie before it was finally my turn.
“So how is it going with the new roommate?” I asked her.
“He’s a boy and he smells,” she complained. I laughed and said,
“Yes, but does he pay his part of the rent?”
“Yeah, he does that much at least,” she said.
“Better than Tristan,” I said, spitefully.
“Are you two still angry with each other over all that?”
I considered telling her what he’d done recently, but I felt like I’d talked it to death the night before. It could wait until I had more time to catch up with her. “I’m still angry with him, yes. He’s just a big, lying jerk.”
“Well, I hope you’re not letting it ruin your trip.”
“No, I’m having fun, except for having to wait on the bathroom. Even you didn’t take as long in there as these girls do.”
“At least you’re sharing your bathroom with girls. Why is it that a boy can’t hit the toilet right in the center every time?”
I loved Susie; she had me in an even better mood by the time I hung up. I called my Mom next and after she asked me if I was eating and sleeping okay, she said, “And how is Tristan? Is he thrilled to be the star attraction?”
“Yeah, there’s nothing Tristan loves more than that,” I told her.
“You sound like you’re upset with him. Did something happen?”
With a sigh I said, “I’m just not so sure it’s going to work out for us, Mom.”
“Oh honey, I’m sorry. You two are so cute together.”
“I have to go now, Mom. I love you. Kiss Daddy for me.”
I hung up after she sent her love back, wishing that I hadn’t called her at all. It wasn’t her fault, but I was thinking about him again and wishing we really had been cute together.
It was finally my turn in the bathroom. I dressed warm because in spite of the beautiful, sunny day, Colorado was still no California in the fall. Finally dressed and feeling better about myself in my new jeans and Roxy sweater, I pulled on my black leather boots and headed out with Tammy to get the ball rolling. The show was set to begin at five and would go until about eight. All the way over to the theatre, Tammy chatted, but I didn’t really hear what she was saying. I was trying to convince myself to stop thinking about Tristan. I hated to admit it, but I’d half expected him to call me and tell me that he really didn’t sleep with Brooke. When he didn’t call, I started trying to tell myself that maybe he really hadn’t slept with her and I’d accused him unjustly. I really was an idiot.
Just as I was about to check my headset before the show began, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at it, still hoping it would be Tristan with a totally believable explanation. It was a text and it wasn’t from Tristan.
Hey, I’m here at the show too!
I stared at the number for a while. It looked familiar to me but I couldn’t remember who it belonged to. Whoever it was k
new I was at the show, unless it was just a random coincidence. I started to ignore it, but then I got another right after that.
Maybe we could hang out after the show? I’ve missed you. It’ll be fun to catch up.
Finally I had to answer.
Who is this?
The response came quickly.
Cole.
Shit! How did he know that I was there? I hadn’t talked to him in at least a year. The last time was right before I went to rehab. He was drinking heavily back then and I told him it wouldn’t be good for me to be around him. The truth really was that once you crossed that line between friendship and sex, there was no going back. He didn’t seem to care much back then. All of a sudden he misses me?
How did you know I was here?
Facebook!
I decided it was time to turn off location services. That’s another thing, if he missed me so much, why the hell hadn’t he ever messaged me on Facebook? I decided to politely decline.
I have to stay and clean up after. I don’t think I’ll have time.
Tomorrow?
Shit! I guessed it wouldn’t hurt to just hang out for a while, although it was probably going to be as uncomfortable as hell.
Yeah, we have a day off tomorrow so I have some things to do in the morning. Maybe we can get a cup of coffee or something.
He sent back a smiley face.
I’ll text you tomorrow. Can’t wait.
Shit! Cole and I were good for one thing…helping each other deal with the tragic loss of a man we both cared about. No, that wasn’t really true. We had been good friends once, a long time ago. After my boyfriend, who was also a good friend of his, died, all we did was help each other get high and drunk and then we had wild sex so we didn’t have to think about it. I guessed a cup of coffee wasn’t going to kill anyone. We’d be back on the road right afterwards and Cole and I could go our separate ways for another year…or more. I put him out of my head for that night and concentrated on my work. If anything did come up later down the line with Jake, I wanted to have the fact that I did a great job to fall back on.
I watched as each of the singers did their thing. Brooke was fifth on stage and she seemed a little off that night. She looked gorgeous, as usual. I should have given her a black eye at least. It would have been nice to see her up there with a ton of concealer, trying to cover it up. I shook off that nasty thought and moved onto my next when Tristan came out. As usual, he was amazing. It was country night and he did a song called Burnin’ it Down by Jason Aldean. I stood there trying not to let it get to me as he sang about lying naked in bed and making his woman feel like an angel as he sang to her. Argh! Stupid bastard was probably thinking about Brooke while singing it.
When the show was over, he must have went straight back to his bus. I went in to clean up the equipment in the green room and Brooke and Ethan were there, but no sign of Tristan. I got a glare from Brooke, but the fact that Ethan was there kept her mouth in check, I think. It kept my mouth in check too. I had plenty that I’d liked to have said to the skank, but not in front of mixed company. I kept to myself, and by the time I finished wrapping cords and unplugging systems, they were gone.
The girls and I worked until after ten cleaning up and packing up. When we finished, we all went out for something to eat. Afterwards, since we had a night off, most of them went out to a club. Hannah and I begged off and went back to the bus. We talked for a while, mostly about the show and everyone that had anything to do with it. Hannah was really well-informed about everyone. I guess it was because she was one of those people that felt safe to talk to. I told her about my plans the next day and that I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing Cole.
“Why not?” she asked.
I didn’t talk about my boyfriend that had overdosed to anyone other than family or Susie. I’d never even really told Tristan all about him. I finally just said, “We both lost a good friend and because of that, while we were grieving, we crossed that line friends aren’t supposed to cross. Things got weird and uncomfortable. I haven’t seen him since.” I didn’t tell her that we didn’t only have sex once; it was several times. It was also drug and alcohol fueled. Those were details that Hannah didn’t really need to know.
“You know, sometimes you can get that friendship back, and sometimes things and people are in the past because that is where they belong. You won’t know, though, until you see him again.”
“True,” I said. “And it’s only for tomorrow. I doubt he’ll be expecting much.”
Chapter Four
Tristan
I thought I did another great job that night, but I was restless as hell after the show. I went back to the bus after turning down about five offers to go out and party; what the hell do people think being clean and sober means? I didn’t feel like going out, anyways. What I wanted to do was go and talk to Elly. I wanted to make her listen to me and make her believe that I didn’t fuck that skank Brooke. I knew that she wasn’t going to listen at that point, and I didn’t want to just go over there to her bus and fight with her, so I didn’t do that either. I thought about calling her, but I didn’t want to fight on the phone. Fuck! I finally settled on doing the one thing that I actually needed to do, and that was writing another song for the record. I had a few of them finished. If I disciplined myself, I could have the twelve that the fuckers wanted so that I could get my money when we finish the tour. Then I was going to tell Jake and his little, fat minion Tony to go fuck themselves.
I took out my guitar and notebook. I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I strummed a few notes on the guitar and wrote them down, and then I scratched them off again. I started strumming the guitar again, and as I did, I tried to put words to it. I surprised myself when I started singing about Elly and me. I guess what was in my head just came out and before I knew it, I was writing a song about losing someone. It had a good beat to it so it wasn’t overly depressing, but it talked about having feelings for someone that you hadn’t intended to care so much about and the chorus said,
Why did you leave me standing speechless in the rain?
Come back to me baby, let’s get this thing right,
Come back to me baby, I want to hold you tonight.
I worked on it until the sound was just right and then I put it away with the other ones and lay there staring at the ceiling again, wondering what I’d do on our day off the next day. If Elly wasn’t pissed off at me, we could hang out: or better yet, spend the day in bed.
Chapter Five
Elly
I woke up with the same knot in my stomach that I’d gone to bed with the night before. Something was telling me that hanging out with Cole was not going to be my best idea ever. The whole time I was in a shower I told thought about cancelling on him. What I really wanted to do was explore on my own, or hang out with some of the girls. They were going to the fair that was being held in the town we were in. I hadn’t been to a fair in a really long time. By the time I was dressed, I’d decided to at least see if Cole wanted to hang out at the fair. I got his text around ten.
Hey! Are we still hanging out today?
Sure, as long as you want to go to the fair.
That’s cool. Want me to pick you up?
Sure.
I told him where to go and then I grabbed my bag and walked out to the front of the lot. He said he was staying at a hotel nearby and would be there in less than ten minutes. After about fifteen minutes, I saw a red Camaro drive up. I thought surely that couldn’t be him; who rents a Camaro anyways? It was Cole, and it was also obvious that he thought he was as cool as ever. That was one reason we’d become such good friends back in high school: I’d seen right through his cool guy façade and told him he was full of shit. For some reason, he’d appreciated that.
He stopped the car alongside me and the passenger side window slid down. He grinned at me. I’d almost forgotten how good looking he was. He was the polar opposite of Tristan. He had blonde hair and he always kept it cut short
and perfectly styled. His parents were well off, so he always dressed in designer clothes. He was buff, too; even when he was drinking heavily, he never missed a day at the gym. He had been the football star at our high school. Back then, he didn’t put anything in his body that wasn’t healthy. He had green eyes and these really deep dimples on either side of his mouth that he knew how to use when the moment called for it.
“Hey good-looking; need a lift?” he said.
“Hey, Cole,” I said, opening the door. “As smooth as ever with the ladies, I see.”
I slid in and he said, “It’s true; I’m a lady killer,” he said, with another grin. He was really a dork, but a dork with good self-esteem. “Wow, Elly. You’re looking even finer than I remember you, and that’s no line.”
I smiled to be polite and said, “Thanks.” I’m sure he was waiting for a return compliment; he was a little vain like that. I let the moment pass and then I said, “What are you doing in Colorado?”
“I have a friend whose family owns a cabin up at Vail. He turned twenty five and had a big party. I was on vacation from work this week so I came up. I went to the party and then I came down here to stay in town. I saw your post on Facebook and decided the concert might be fun. My boys and I went and then they headed back to L. A. this morning. I stuck around…to see you.”
“Wow, um, thanks. Since I hadn’t heard from you in a year, I didn’t even know we were that close any more.”
He laughed and said, “I guess we grew apart during all the shit that happened. I could tell that you needed your space. Those were bad times, for all of us. I took your lead a few months later and went to rehab myself. I’ve been clean and sober for nine months now.”
“Good for you,” I told him, sincerely. Maybe there was hope for us to re-kindle our friendship after all.
Dirty SEAL (A Navy SEAL Romance) (The Maxwell Family) Page 59