“I’m okay,”
“It’s the conditions. Everyone is choking. It’s too hot. This isn’t a reflection on you,” he said as he sat down next to me, propped a knee up, his muscled forearm hanging over it. “Let JJ cover it.”
“Okay,” I agreed far too easily.
Twenty minutes later, I felt like myself as Nate patiently waited next to me. “Thank you.”
He turned to look at me. “You’re welcome.”
“You can go back to your date.”
“Nah,” he said with a Cheshire grin, “I don’t like her.”
“That’s so wrong,” I said as I watched his eyes roll over my bared legs. I had on mid-thigh black shorts that looked non-existent when I sat.
“I was set up, and I don’t fucking appreciate being set up,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Oh, well, that’s a different story,” I agreed. “And why would you need to be set up? You’re a handsome motherfucker.”
He pressed his lips together and shook his head.
A few more minutes passed, and I had to use the facilities because of the gallon of water I drank. Nate stood waiting for me outside the port-o-potty, and when he saw me coming toward him, his expression changed. His eyes got soft, a subtle smile gracing his lips. “So, instead of wasting this night, let’s go watch some bands together?”
“Okay.”
“You good?” he asked, covering me with concerned eyes.
“Yeah,” I said after a deep breath. By the grace of God, the breeze had started to blow in a different direction, drying the sweat and cooling me down. I sighed in relief and then remembered Reid was there, somewhere in the sea of fans with his arms around another woman.
And I had sent him a six thousand dollar set of drums.
I hope his dick falls off.
Nate borrowed, well, stole two chairs from the middle of the dirt field and pulled them to the side, away from the horde. I stared at him. “From here?”
“Yeah,” he said as he motioned for me to join him. I took the chair next to him and he gave me a grin. “Best seat in the house.”
We sat side-by-side, talking for hours as some of the biggest bands in rock graced the stage.
And I missed every single one of them without an ounce of regret. But every so often, my eyes would wander into the crowd. My heart reminding me it was still on a loop.
Back to Black
Amy Winehouse
In the leather seat of Nate’s Tahoe, I sat back, enjoying the silence, the break from the noise. I wanted nothing but a shower and my bed. Nate slowed to a stop in front of the sidewalk that led to my door. I turned my head his way and smiled. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you. You got me off the hook.”
“That bad?”
“She thought Buckcherry was a lip balm.”
We shared a laugh as I gripped the door handle.
“Well, in that case, I guess we’re even. See you at work.”
“Yeah,” he said as he lingered, his eyes tracing my face, “’night.”
“’Night.”
Nate drove away. If I had just taken him up on one of his invitations, I wondered if things would have been different. If Reid would be just some guy I met in passing.
I was halfway toward the door when I saw the cherry of a cigarette land at my feet. I turned to see Reid leaning against his truck, his jaw set, brows raised, eyes filled with accusation.
He got in his truck and started it as I took a step toward him. Before I could even close the space, he squealed tires and drove away.
I stared after him, my head pounding, my insides playing ping-pong.
Ben opened the front door and looked toward Reid’s speeding truck.
“What the hell? Was that Reid?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Thanks for the heads up, asshole,” I said, pushing past him to see Lexi sitting on the couch. Her greeting smile dimmed as she heard me address Ben. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing, Ben just decided to keep it from me that Reid was back in Austin and banging some blonde.”
Lexi looked over at Ben, who shook his head. “He’s not back in Austin. He’s on his way home. He came for the festival. I didn’t think he’d show up here.”
“Well, he did. Do you know who she was?”
He shrugged. “No idea.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I scrubbed my face. “You should have told me.”
“Why in the hell am I suddenly responsible for what he does? Or reporting his whereabouts?”
Lexi stood. “Stella, lay off.”
“No problem,” I said with bite directed at Ben. “You two lovebirds have a great fucking night.”
“That’s not fair,” Lexi said as she followed me to my bedroom, where I grabbed some boy shorts and a T-shirt from a drawer. She leaned against the doorjamb. “What did he say?”
“Nothing. He saw Nate drop me off and sped off. But seriously, he’s going to play jealous? I haven’t heard a word from him since he left, he shows up to Austin, and I bust him with some chick. And, Lexi, it was the craziest shit ever. I was in the middle of the crowd—thousands of people—and I just so happened to look up.”
“Are you serious?”
“One single step forward without looking up and I would have missed him.”
“That’s insane.”
“No, what’s insane is something inside told me to look up. I just felt him there. Felt him close.”
“I’m sorry,” Lexi said quietly.
I slammed my drawer and walked past her. “Like I’m the one who should have to explain myself.”
“You shouldn’t. You don’t.”
“Why did he come here?”
“Because maybe he just needed to see you were okay,” she offered.
“I’m not now,” I said, walking into our bathroom. I caught Lexi’s face in the mirror. “I’m sorry. God, Lexi, ever since you moved here, I’ve been a total mess.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said in a low voice. “I’m breaking every rule in my own book.”
“I fucking hate this!” I said, turning on the shower. “I hate how much I want him to turn around, even knowing he had his hands all over someone else. I’m not that girl, Lexi. I’m not.”
“You love him and it’s okay to be a little crazy because of it.”
“Is it?” I asked hoarsely. “Why was he here?”
“I don’t know. I wish I could tell you, Stella. Men are complete idiots.”
“I heard that,” Ben barked from the couch.
“Good,” she hollered back over her shoulder with a shrug. “Take your shower. Come get me if you want to talk.”
Under the scalding water, I did my best to try to figure out where Reid’s head was and realized when it came to him, I may never get any answers.
I cried until the water turned cold, and then I walked into the living room and sat next to Ben, who held Lexi’s head in his lap.
I nudged him with my arm. “I’m sorry.”
Ben wrapped an arm around my shoulder as Lexi smiled up at me.
“I’m going to split his fucking lip the next time I see him, babe, I promise.”
I swallowed the tears that threatened. “Make it hurt.”
A few nights later, I was using insomnia to my advantage, typing out a new article for Speak. My phone vibrated next to me on my bed where I was propped with a pillow on my lap. I didn’t recognize the number. It lit up only once. I looked up the area code and saw it was a Nacogdoches number.
I closed my laptop and dialed it back with my heart in my throat. He picked up on the first ring.
“Hello?” I croaked with tears pooling in my eyes.
Silence.
“Reid?”
More silence. “Reid.” It wasn’t a question, it was a demand. I needed to know he was just as ruined by our goodbye as I was. I needed to know the girl in front of him at that concert meant nothing.
That he hadn’t forgotten me. Every beat of my heart was a please, please, please.
“Stella,” his voice was heavy, slurred. He was drunk. A state I’d never seen him in.
“I’m here. Are you okay?”
“You won them, didn’t you?”
I didn’t answer as he exhaled his cigarette. It sounded like there was a party going on in the distance.
“Of fucking course you did,” he said with a sarcastic chuckle, his voice full of bitterness. “You just can’t stop trying to save me, can you, Grenade?”