On The Rocks

At the same time, John says, “This is none of your business, Sasha… stay out of it.”


Her head flips back and forth between us and she chooses to address me instead, her voice venomous. “I’ll tell you what my problem is… I tried to get you to leave the tour for me, and you wouldn’t even consider it. But you’ll do it for her? Gotta tell you, Hunter… it fucking stings a little.”

I stare at her incredulously. “You mean your opinion on this comes down to jealousy? You want me to leave this all behind and go back on tour, just so you don’t remain the one woman I wouldn’t give it up for? You want to lump Gabby in with you? Well, I’m sorry, Sasha… but Gabby is different from you. My feelings for her are different.”

Sasha reels backward, and she looks like I just slapped her in the face. Instant regret washes over me, because while I’m angry with her, I don’t want to hurt her. I know I’ve done that enough.

“But… but… you’ve not been with her that long. You and I were together for almost two years. Why would you risk your career for such an unknown?”

Reaching across the table, I grab Sasha’s hand. “I’ve known her most of my life, Sash. Far longer than I’ve known you. But that doesn’t have anything to do with it. It’s just a feeling I have… that this is the right thing for me at this moment in my life.”

She stares at me for a moment, disbelief coating her face. Then she pulls her hand away and stands up from the table. “Excuse me… I’m going to go to the ladies’ room.”

As she walks away, I turn my head to John. “That went well.”

“Sorry, dude… that was bound to come out. Sasha’s been carrying some bitter feelings obviously.”

“You know I don’t want to hurt her, right?”

“I know, man,” he says as he stands up. “I’m going to go hover like a big brother and catch her as she comes out… talk to her a bit.”

“Sure,” I say, my thoughts already leaving Sasha and John behind, wondering what Gabby’s up to.

As John walks away, I pull out my phone and dial my girl. She answers on the fourth ring, just as I was about to hang up.

“H-e-e-e-e-y babe,” she drawls.

Oh, yeah… she’s tanked.

“My Gabs is drunk tonight, huh?” I laugh into the phone.

“Just a little… more like really, really buzzed.”

“Having a good time?”

“Would be better if you were here,” she breathes into the phone. “I miss you.”

My heart constricts pleasurably just from the longing in her voice. “I miss you too, baby.”

“So… you were going to talk to me this morning about why Brody came over… but you never did. And now that I have a good buzz going on, I wanted to ask you about it.”

Chuckling, I tell her, “It wasn’t much. He just wanted to let me know that he’d watch Last Call for me if I wanted to go back on tour.”

“I have a confession to make,” she whispers into the phone and, for a split second, I think she might be getting ready to talk dirty to me. Which I’m totally up for, by the way.

Instead, she says, “I overheard your conversation with Brody.”

“You did?” I tease her. “Skulking in the hallway?”

“Yeah… something like that.”

My brain scrambles around to remember exactly everything Brody said, and it suddenly hits me why Gabby brought this up. “Don’t give what Brody said another thought.”

“I’m not thinking about what he said. I’m thinking about what you said. I’m not more important than your shot at this.”

“Gabby,” I say… my voice soft and reassuring. “My decision’s made. I’m staying here because it’s what I want. I want that more than I want the money and fame.”

She’s silent on the other end, and I can envision her chewing on her lip as she considers what I said. Her voice is hesitant when she says, “I’m afraid you’ll come to regret it, and then hate me for that.”