So, we were already shorthanded.
Bummed because nothing since the moment Elisa had crawled out of my bed this morning had gone my way, I yawned again.
“Hole-ee shit,” Ten exploded, popping in front of me, right in my face, so I had to jerk to a stop to keep from running into him. “Rock star finally got himself laid, huh? It’s about fucking time, my man.” He pounded on my shoulder in congratulations, making me scowl because I hated how he always freaking knew when I’d been with a woman.
I started to move around his annoying ass until he said, “I didn’t think you’d ever figure out little drummer chick was your Incubus shirt girl. Or wait, did she finally grow a pair and just fess up?”
Pausing, I blinked at him, trying to make sense of what the hell he’d just said. Finally, I shook my head. “What?”
“What?” Ten said right back as if confused by my confusion.
“Jesus,” I muttered. “I swear, you only make sense like five percent of the time. Why are you talking about Incubus shirt girl? And who the hell is little drummer chick?”
Ten’s eyes flared. “Aww, shit. You didn’t bang your drummer last night, did you?” Then he actually looked affronted as he demanded, “Just who the hell did you fuck?”
“None of your damn business,” I growled. “Now explain yourself.”
“Oh, you know.” Ten shrugged and started to move away. “It’s nothing. Just ignore me.” But I gripped a handful of his shirt and dragged him back.
“I don’t think so, fucker. Explain.”
He sighed and scrubbed his face. “Jesus, I can’t believe she’s still too chicken shit to just tell you.”
“Ten,” I warned.
“Okay, fine,” he grumbled. “It’s not like it can be kept a secret forever. That drummer in your band—”
I blinked, really confused now. “Remy? What about him?”
“Not him,” Ten said. “Her.”
I squinted, not getting it. “Huh?”
“Christ on a crutch.” Heaving out a disgusted breath, Ten shook his head and gazed up at the ceiling. Then he told me, “Your gay pal Remy isn’t actually a gay guy at all. In fact, he’s not even a guy. He’s really a she, with tits and all that other equipment chicks come with.”
I immediately opened my mouth to call bullshit, but the words didn’t come. My mind spun, remembering all the times I’d thought Remy had possessed a feminine way about him, all the times he’d encouraged me to “talk,” and Jesus, the moment he’d confessed to me that he wore a mask.
Holy shit.
All these strange little pieces started to align into place until it suddenly made sense. But I still wasn’t ready to completely commit to the idea. Remy couldn’t be a girl. He just...couldn’t.
Frowning, I was still trying to make sense of Ten’s declaration when he up and dropped another bomb on me. “And not only is she a she, but she’s also Incubus shirt girl, who you wrote that song about.”
That one made me shake my head, instantly denying it. But then I had to ask, “If...if Remy’s really a girl, what the hell makes you think she’s Incubus shirt girl?”
“Because the night she sang karaoke, she sang it on stage with her friend, Jodi. And I knew Jodi then, so I asked her about her friend for you directly after their little duet that night, but all Jodi would tell me was that her friend’s name was Remy.”
I kept waving my head back and forth because really, I didn’t even want to consider this. But had the redhead on stage with my Incubus shirt girl really been Jodi, Remy’s roommate? I guess it could’ve been. I hadn’t paid much attention to the redhead. Hell, I couldn’t even clearly remember what the girl I’d written the song about had looked like.
“...so when Remy, your drummer, showed up here with Jodi on her arm, I put two and two together and bam, figured it all out myself. And it helped that she admitted that’s who she was when I asked her, so ha! Pretty cleverly awesome, aren’t I?”
Awesome? Awesome wasn’t exactly the word I would’ve used. “You’re pretty fucking dead is what you are,” I growled right before I wound back my arm and jacked him in the face.
“Fuck,” he yelled at contact, clutching his eye and swinging away from me. “What the hell, man?”
“What the hell right back at you,” I roared, advancing on him so I could grab the front of his shirt and hit him again. But suddenly too many people were there, Quinn dragging me backward away from the bastard I wanted to kill and Noel helping Ten remain upright.
“How could you not tell me any of this months ago when you first learned her name?” I demanded, struggling against Quinn so I could get back to Ten. “You knew how long I looked for her. You knew how much I would’ve given just to know her name.”
Ten only sneered as he wiped his face and shook his head. “Yeah, well...payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?”