“I’m fine.”
“Layla. You’re defending Barry Manilow with a vengeance. I wouldn’t exactly say you’re ‘fine’.”
I resisted the urge to belt into “I Write the Songs” and instead let Trip lead me out of the party.
On the way through the living room, I saw Shelly, still sitting on the sofa surrounded by her entourage. I broke from Trip’s grasp and walked right over to her, pointedly interrupting whatever lame conversation she was in the middle of.
“Hey, Shelly,” I said, loudly enough to cause her to flinch. She looked surprised to see me there and I could practically see her feathers ruffle. I put a genuine smile on my face and said, “It was good to see you again. Thanks for letting me crash your party.”
Shelly looked genuinely flummoxed by my friendliness, and was only able to stammer out, “Oh. Okay. Goodnight.”
Then I addressed the rest of the group. “Bye, girls! Have a good night.”
I could see the shock on their faces and realized my niceties had sent them into a tailspin even moreso than had I knocked their leader down a peg. Trip didn’t seem to notice as he put a hand under my arm and ushered me out the door.
Once in his truck, I started to get the spins. Jeez, what the heck did the Ferrantes put in that wine?
Trip barreled down the road and I thought I was going to toss my cookies. But we managed to make it back to my house without incident.
He escorted me out of the truck, but I broke free from his grasp in order to make my ritualistic lunge for a leaf off my tree. I guessed drunkenness wasn’t even going to help cure my OCD. On the third try, I still hadn’t managed to nab one and almost lost my footing upon my landing. Trip laughed as he balanced me back on my feet, then jumped up and grabbed one for me, handing it over and saying, “You have problems.”
Tell me about it.
He walked me to the house, then asked, “You gonna be okay?”
I laughed and answered, “Yeah. I’m sure I’ll be just fine.” I leaned against my front door, looking up at his cobalt eyes, watching him watch me with amusement, and just launched in. “Hey-so, I gotta ask you... What was this tonight? Why the sudden urge to play nice?”
He dropped his head and answered, “Oh, I don’t know, Lay.”
He plucked the leaf from my hand, turning it over in his own, inspecting it with rapt attention. He massaged the back of his neck with his free hand, saying, “You know what? That’s not true. I know exactly why.”
He let out a deep breath, raised his head and said, “I was lying when I said my being on stage tonight was no big deal.” His eyes got this faraway look in them, like he was talking to someone floating over my left shoulder. “Lay, I never felt anything like that before. I can’t explain it. It was... amazing.” He ran a hand through his golden hair, then placed the leaf back in my hand, sandwiching it between his palms. “When I saw you backstage and realized you’d seen it, I was so... grateful. Grateful that you’d come there to share that with me. I knew I missed you, but I’d been so stubborn about it for so long... I don’t know. It... I guess it felt more real having you be a part of it. You know?”
Actually, I did know. But Jesus, it felt awesome to hear him say something like that to me.
“I have a confession to make,” I said, warily meeting his eyes, watching as he waited with baited breath for me to say something, anything that would validate him spilling his guts. “I didn’t know you were in the play until the curtains opened.”
Trip looked crestfallen, so I quickly added, “No, no. I’m so glad I was there, too! It was... It was just such a... such an unexpected surprise.”
I met his eyes just then, the months of anguish and separation just falling away. He put a hand at my neck, leaned in and whispered, “Surprises are good,” before giving me a sweet, soft kiss on the corner of my mouth.
Needless to say, my insides turned to mush and my heart threatened to escape from my ribcage, even just from that small contact of his lips against my skin. But even still, I headed inside disappointed. I’d thought there was the slightest chance he was going to actually kiss me, but I guessed my drunken state and Dorito breath weren’t really the biggest aphrodisiacs.
I leaned against the closed door and took a huge breath, trying to get some air back into my lungs. I grabbed a glass of water on my way up to my room, where there were five messages from Lisa on my machine.
Chapter 24
IMPROMPTU
I don’t think the sun could have been shining any brighter that next morning. At least my throbbing head didn’t think so. What a lightweight! Three stinking glasses of wine and I was actually suffering a bit of a hangover.
So, when my phone started ringing, I grabbed it off the hook quickly before my ears could explode.
“Hello?” My voice didn’t even sound like my own.