“After he drops you off, can he take me to get my car?” I ask. Vince doesn’t respond, instead he just stares out the window at the city passing by. “Great. Perfect. Thanks for the response. Good to know fame went to your head and made you an asshole.”
He chuckles sarcastically but finally glances my way. “I’ll arrange for you to get your car in the morning. You’re not driving home.”
“Well, I sure as shit aren’t staying with you.”
“I’m not staying. The buses already have a three-hour head start on me. I’ve got to catch up with them. The show must go on.” He clears his throat. “I’ll get you up to your room, and then Brian here will get me where I need to be.”
It’s my turn to look out the window and let the silence eat at my thoughts. He bailed on his band, on his schedule, on his after-party, for me. I never expected that—hell, I was telling the truth when I said I didn’t know what to expect. Guilt eats at me. Screwing up his schedule wasn’t my intention.
Is that why he’s irritable with me? Is he regretting his decision? Is that why our kiss—oh shit. Does he have a girlfriend? Did he screw up, kiss me out of nostalgia, and then when I kissed him back it made him step back?
I slide a glance his way. How weird is it to have his taste still on my tongue and feel the sensation of his guitar-roughened fingertips on my skin, and yet he suddenly seems a million miles away.
I don’t know Vincent Jennings anymore.
I should have left well enough alone. Being able to see him again, see that he was happy, and to tell him I was proud of him should have been enough for me. It should have been that unattainable closure I was looking for.
Wanting Vince has always been the easy part. It was everything else that was the trouble.
I guess some things never change.
“Thank you,” I whisper, fighting the warring emotions within me. Accepting that that little piece of me that held on to her high school sweetheart never should have. “I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to see me. And to find a hotel room for me.”
He nods, eyes holding mine briefly before looking back out the window again. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course, I’d make time for you.”
Then why do you seem so angry at me? I want to scream.
“We’re here,” Brian announces as we pull into what looks like a generic looking building.
“Service entrance,” Vince explains as he opens the door and ushers me out. “That way you don’t have paparazzi waiting for you in the morning. If someone sees us coming in the front, they’ll be parked everywhere thinking I’m still in your bed. They’re rabid. You definitely don’t want that kind of attention.”
Or is it that you don’t want to be seen with me? An empty restaurant. The back door to a hotel.
He definitely has a girlfriend.
How much does it suck that my chest hurts at the thought? It’s not like I haven’t seen his many exploits splashed across gossip magazines and the Internet before, but having him so close, kissing him one more time, makes it all the more real.
It’s not like I can lay claim to a man who was my high school sweetheart.
“You’re right. I don’t. Thank you,” I say for what feels like the tenth time as the back door opens when we near it. A petite woman with a name tag that denotes she’s the manager greets Vince with a smile and hands him a key card. Clearly, they’ve done this before.
They exchange quick pleasantries and within seconds we’re in the service elevator heading to the tenth floor, the awkwardness between us only growing more intense by the second.
I’ve never been more relieved to hear an elevator ding in my life. The door opens to a short hallway with a lone door at the far end. I follow Vince off the car and as much as I hate acknowledging it, I’m going to be relieved when he leaves and I can be alone with my thoughts.
But rather than opening the door with the key card, Vince crosses his arms and leans against the wall opposite me, eyes locked on mine. “It was good to see you, Shug. Really good. You were a small slice of normal in this crazy world I now live in.”
“Same here. I mean, not the crazy world part but—”
“What is it you’re doing here? Why are you here? Is it for money? For—”
“What?” His questions catch me off guard and light a match to my temper.
“I know all about your parents. Their divorce. Your dad losing his job and selling the house. You being at a junior college. You put it out there on social media for all to see, and yet you sat there tonight and blatantly lied to me. So I’ll ask the question again, are you here for money?”
“Fuck you,” I grit out, an acrid ball of mortification burning in my throat. I stare at him—mouth lax, eyes wide—in utter disbelief.
“Everyone wants something from me these days. Money. Fame. A hand up. A handout.” His nonchalant shrug only fuels my anger. “What’ll it be, Shug?”
“You actually think that’s what I’m here for?” I take a few steps away from him and laugh because it’s all I can think to do.
“One of us isn’t telling the truth, and it sure as fuck isn’t me. That’s usually how it all starts.” The way he can sling the insults so casually at me makes them sting all the more. The way he stares at me even more so.
“There’s a huge difference between lying and omitting, Jennings.” I cross my arms over my chest and stand my ground. “Just because I didn’t tell you the whole sob story, doesn’t mean I want anything from you. You were my best friend. The boy I thought I’d have forever. But I can see now what a childish fantasy that was. I don’t need or want anything from you. I sure as fuck don’t want a single dime from you.” I jab my finger in his chest.
“Hmph.” His smirk is as irritating as the sound.
This was such a stupid mistake.
“I just wanted to know if you were happy, Vince. That’s all I needed to know.” And now that I know he’s become a self-entitled asshole, I’m ready to get the hell away from him.
“Everybody wants something from me, Bristol. I’ve got people coming out of the woodwork left and right. Family I’ve never met asking for money. A woman I don’t know claiming to be my mom.” He throws his hands up. “Christ, I even have women I’ve never met claiming they’re having my kids to get in on the handout action. So don’t give me your bullshit that you don’t want anything from me. Everybody fucking does.”
“I don’t,” I scream, not caring that we’re in a hotel anymore and that people will be able to hear us. “I didn’t want a goddamn thing from you other than to just see you. Curiosity satisfied. Thoroughly disappointed.”
I pluck the key card from his hand and stalk to the door, but his hand is on my arm yanking me back against him. We’re chest to chest. “Everybody wants something from you when you’ve made it.”
“Well, I’ve never wanted anything from you other than you.” I try to yank my arm free of his grip but he just squeezes tighter, much like the vise tightening on my heart. “Let. Go.”
The puffs of his labored pants hit my lips. The smell of his mint gum mixed with the leather scent of his cologne fills my nose.
Before I can even process my anger, the situation, his harsh words and accusations, Vince claims my mouth in a kiss laden with violent desire. It’s everything I thought I wanted but am now fighting against.
I try to shake my head from side to side, try to fight the contact, but he just holds the side of my face as his scruff scrapes and his lips overwhelm.
He pulls back, eyes the clearest I’ve ever seen them. “I’ve wanted you since I was sixteen years old. Every goddamn minute of every fucking day. I’ve been bargaining with myself all night why this can’t happen.” He drags his teeth over my collarbone. My body bucks in traitorous reflex. “But fuck, Shug, you’re a hard one to quit.”
His words shock me. My body burns with an ache so sweet and a head so fucked up that I will myself to believe my words when I speak them. “I don’t want anything from you.”