by S. L. Scott
I was in LA at the time, but I heard it was a nightmare to score any tickets to The Resistance’s tour, so I say, “Sold out in under a minute.”
“I can leave tickets if you want.”
Nick’s eyes land on mine. “I’m in, and I know Natalie would love it.”
My beer glass is almost empty, tempting me to order another. With this meeting out of the way, we can just fuck off for the rest of the afternoon until the concert. “Count me in.”
“Going solo?” Kaz asks. “I can help you with the extra ticket, Decker, but not the date.”
They’re laughing a little too hard. I can dish it, but I can also take it. Chuckling, I reply, “You guys are real assholes, you know that?” I can find a date just fine.
“We do,” Nick replies through a chuckle.
Still laughing, Kaz finally starts walking away. “Tickets will be at Will Call.” He points at me. “I’m giving you two, Decker. Don’t disappoint me.”
“Thanks.” I finish my beer, then look at my friend. “I don’t have a date.”
One tap on the screen of my phone lights it up. When I start scrolling my black book of contacts, Nick asks, “What about that flight attendant you were seeing a few months back? Wasn’t she out of LaGuardia?”
“Talon got engaged to a pilot two weeks ago.” I search New York but don’t see any names that intrigue me.
“Damn, she was ready to settle down. Fitting name as well.”
“Scarily fitting. I dodged those claws.” Jenny Marie rings a bell. Good time. Summer. Bonfire. Decent in bed. “There’s a girl out in Jersey I went on a few dates with when she came out to audition for a pilot. Broadway actress looking to make it big in Hollywood.”
I get the receipt and my credit card back and sign.
“Why’d you only go on a few dates?” he asks.
Setting the pen down, I close the book and slide it to the middle of the table. “She liked the access to my client list more than she liked me.”
“Man, you’re dropping some honesty like you might have gotten your feelings hurt.”
“Nah. You know what it’s like out there. Everyone has stars in their eyes until they’re burned and jaded and head back to their hometown.”
“That’s why I’m in New York.”
Watching a leggy blonde cross the restaurant has me thinking this city isn’t so bad. “I thought you moved here because Natalie wanted to live in the city?”
“That too.” He leans forward, resting his arms on the table. Lowering his voice, he says, “I know you might not want to hear this, but you could always ask Tatum.”
“That ship has sailed, like four times over.”
“What is it with you two? You’re oil and water. Over what? A one-night stand that didn’t pan out to be more?” He finishes his beer and sets the glass down to spin it between his fingers. “That’s not how I saw things going after how you two spent the night in Catalina, but you fucked up. One text could have changed it from one night—”
“Evening, all night, and sunrise, but who’s counting . . .”
“Apparently, you are.”
“Natalie, actually, since she was the one locked out of her room all night while you two got it on.”
“The operative part of that sentence is ‘the one.’ That’s the same one you married. So, you’re welcome.” Considering three years have passed since the wedding, I doubt Tatum has thought much about me since Catalina, much less from the reception. Even though I’ve thought of her more than once or twice over that time. Nick’s smile makes me chuckle. “Damn, dude, you still have it that bad for your wife?”
“I’ll never get over how lucky I am.” Standing, he adds, “Now that my brother’s life is sorted, according to my mom, she’s turning her attention on you, so be careful, or you just might find yourself in my shoes.”
“Smiling like a loon in the middle of a restaurant? No, thank you. Cookie Christiansen may believe she’s a matchmaker, but fixing her sons’ lives was easy compared to the mess I’ve made of my love life.” I stand and walk around to his side of the table. “Anyway, just because you found your one and only doesn’t mean I have to fall for the same shenanigans.” Although, after looking at my black book, I can’t help wondering. Do I want more than one night as well?
Leading us out of the restaurant, I look up at the skyscrapers blocking the sunshine. “Do you ever get used to this? I’ve been here a day, and I miss the wide blue sky and the ocean.”
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Nick gazes upward. When he looks back at me, he says, “The pros outweigh the cons. Andrew and I can take you to the shore sometime. There’s surfing. Admittedly, the Atlantic isn’t the same as the Pacific, but it works when you need to be with the sea.”
He nods toward the car waiting at the curb. When we start walking, he adds, “I’ll be honest, I felt out of place here for months. Maybe being with Natalie made it easier. She showed me how great this city can be. We can walk to so many places, restaurants, shops, the store. I don’t miss sitting in my car for two to three hours a day.” He stops and opens the door before clapping me on the shoulder. “So yeah, it’s not LA, but New York’s kind of won my heart over. Give it a chance, and you might find it’s not so bad.”
“I’m here. I’m giving it a chance.” I duck into the back, and he follows. For someone who apparently walks so much, it must be nice to have a car on call day and night. “As for Tatum, that’s a hard no. You saw how she reacted when she saw me. The woman hates me. With her, there are no second chances.”
“Maybe give it the night, and you two can become friends. Natalie would like that.”
His wife is cool enough for me to consider the option. “Look, I won’t say no to Natalie, but that means me taking a risk. Tatum is more than bark. She bites.”
“Keep your sexual escapades to yourself, dude.”
It’s a punch to the arm he can handle, especially since it doesn’t seem to faze him from teasing me the rest of the way home. The thing is, I liked Tatum. I fucked up by not calling her despite our agreement. Maybe we could have worked out like Nick and Natalie, given how their relationship started the same night.
Fuck. I run a hand over my head. What am I talking about?
No way am I ready to be married and settled down at twenty-nine. Life’s just getting interesting.
When the car arrives, we head up to the stoop. “I think I should have had another beer before doing this.”
Patting me on the back, he says, “You got this.”
Nick opens the door, and we’re greeted with laughter echoing from deeper inside the house. We walk toward the sound, and when Nick sees Natalie, he opens his arms. “There’s my beautiful wife.” She rushes to him as if they’ve been apart for more than a few hours.
I hang back in the doorway, feeling like an intruder to their intimate moment. I can’t help but glance toward Tatum, who’s sipping a glass of wine while perched on a barstool.
She angles my way but is quick to turn toward the backyard, blocking all of us from her view. While Nick and Natalie whisper to each other, I decide to throw my balls on the Tatum chopping block once more. I shove my hands in my pockets and join her at the large island. I make sure to keep space between us. Matters like Tatum have to be handled delicately.
“Hi,” I say, keeping my voice quiet between us.
Glancing my way, she then turns toward the half-eaten platter of snacks and grabs a cracker. “Hi,” she replies even quieter, eyes on the food before taking a bite.
When the room goes silent and tension fills the air, I find Nick and Natalie sneaking away. Fuck. No pressure or anything. “Soooo yeah, Nick and I scored some tickets tonight—”
“Oh my God, are you asking me out?” Panic rises in her voice, reaching her eyes as she stares wide-eyed at me.
My arms fly up in surrender. “Just as friends. I know you prefer keeping your distance from me, but I was hoping we could maybe move past, well, the past. Or maybe not as f
riends, but just not enemies.” I need to shut the fuck up. It’s incredible that I can date a Miss Universe, an Oscar-nominated actress, and the top real estate agent in LA—after me, of course—without so much as a second thought. But Tatum Devreux has me rambling like an insecure teen asking a girl out for the first time.
She angles my way, spinning her body to the side. The panic has disappeared, and I’m not sure how to read her. Is that calm settling the choppy waters of her deep brown eyes? A smile doesn’t follow to calm mine, and the tension still felt like a tight lasso around my chest. She sighs in resolve, but then says, “I think you’re right, Harrison.”
“I am?” It’s been so long since she’s said my first name that I’d almost forgotten how sweet it sounds coming from her lips. “About?”
“Being enemies. It’s not good for either of us or our friends. If you’re going to be in the city for a while, which it sounds like you plan to be, we’ll naturally be seeing more of each other.” She holds her hand out. “So I agree with you. We should wipe the slate clean and leave the past in the past.”
I take her hand, the memories of holding it that night in Catalina coming back like it was yesterday. “Deal.” I pull back, not willing to let the heat of our connection trap me back in the night I can’t seem to forget.
She stands, and a smile finally graces her full pink lips. “Great. Now about those tickets . . .”
3
Harrison
Tatum said yes to tonight before knowing if we had tickets to a movie, a concert, a baseball game, or even the subway. My point being, she said yes before knowing anything about the offer.
She said yes to me.
I could let that feed my ego, but that’s not what she intended. I’ll take the good, though, and hope we can actually reach a peaceful existence for our best friends. Or even better, become friends.
She makes it hard, literally, to think of her platonically when seeing her in a short skirt like she is now. I’m reminded I was once given full access to what’s underneath it. There was a time I had to peel her off me, not because I wanted her to stop, but I didn’t want us to get arrested for public indecency. She’s got a wild side that she has me missing.
Bumping into me, she says, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
She takes a sip of her drink and smiles. There’s a shyness to it that doesn’t quite fit the vibrant woman I know her to be. “For asking me to come with you guys. You could have brought anyone.”
When I think about scrolling through my contacts earlier, I now know why I couldn’t find anyone I wanted to call. I’m a fucking glutton for punishment. “I’m glad you came.”
A smirk tilts her grin up on one side. A little nudge to my ribs with her elbow is enough for me to realize the double meaning of what I said. Tatum’s still giggling when she replies, “Me too.”
The lights go down. Natalie and Tatum loop their arms around each other’s and raise their free arms into the air, screaming in excitement for the band. I catch Nick’s eyes over their heads, and we fist bump. He nods toward Tatum and waggles his eyebrows. Ass. I give him a shrug because I’m the dumbass who keeps trying to get back on her good side.
When the lights flash on, the band members own their spots on the stage, Johnny Outlaw front and center, Dex on the drums, Derrick on the left, and Kaz in front of us. Twenty-thousand fans scream at the same time, and Dex kicks in on the drums.
Spending the next hour rocking out to the music, I’d finished my drink by the second song. Not wanting to miss any of the show, I stayed to watch.
We’re only an hour in when Tatum turns to me and tilts her head to look at my hand. “Empty?”
“Yeah.”
“Want to come with me? I’ll buy your next.”
Fuck yeah, I do. Screw the band. Tatum is much more interesting. I follow her to the nearest door, and a bouncer swings it open for us.
The VIP section has its perks, and proximity to a private bar and facilities are two of them. She orders as I step around some guy trying to weasel in next to her and come between them. Tatum doesn’t even notice how guys look at her, how they go out of their way to be near her, to hit on her, to touch her. Fuckers. All of them.
Blocking that guy, I lean on the counter and hold out a bill to the bartender.
“I’m supposed to be buying your drink.” She tries to snatch the money but misses when I raise my hand. “Put it away, Decker. Your money’s no good here.”
The bartender sets the drinks in front of us and laughs. “The drinks are free,” he says, “but I don’t mind that as a tip.”
Tatum catches me off guard when she snags the bill from my hand. She tucks it in the bartender’s tip jar, and then tells him, “Thank you.”
Leaving him with a huge smile and shock widening his eyes, he trips over his words. “Wow. Thanks.”
I don’t mind paying the guy the money, but she’s sneaky. She tugs me by the sleeve away from the bar. We’re quickly replaced when we walk away. “I thought my money wasn’t any good?”
Laughing, she winks. “It wasn’t good for the drinks, but you just made his day with that tip. So maybe your money’s not so bad after all.”
I chuckle. “Guess not.”
Although the band is well into the set when we enter through the doors, Tatum doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get back. Standing off to the side out of the walkway, she sways to the music while sipping her drink. I stay behind her so I don’t block anyone trying to get by. Watching the band from this angle isn’t the best, but I’m okay with it. I’m near her and like the view of her dancing, even if it is from behind.
See? Glutton.
When she peeks back, she appears to be relaxed around me. Usually, her shoulders are tense and her mouth is tight-lipped. Not tonight. Maybe we really are moving forward with a fresh start. “I heard you got your real estate license for the state.”
It’s not a question, but I hear the lilt. I like that I’m on her mind. “I did.”
“And you’re staying with Nick and Natalie for the next two months.”
Again, not a question, but I’ll take the lead-in. “You sure are hearing a lot about me.” I give her a wink. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be here, actually. I have to fly back to LA every week. We’ll see how the commute goes.”
“I got the impression you were moving here.” Her tongue dips out and swings the straw closer, and she peers up at me while drinking.
She’s so hard to read. Her interest in where I live belies the cool casualness. “Don’t worry. I won’t be here forever. I didn’t even plan to stay at Nick’s place, but he offered when he heard I was planning to live in a hotel while here. Natalie insisted, and you know how hard it is to turn her down.”
“I do. When she sets her mind to something, she usually gets what she wants.” She glances back at the band and then at me again. “You don’t have to worry about me ruining your visit. I’ll respect your time with your friend.”
“It’s okay. You don’t ruin anything.”
Turning all the way around to face me, she lowers her gaze to her drink, and she fidgets with the straw. “Things are changing.” Something behind grabs both of our attention. A guy is arguing with the bouncer, so I shift us away and closer to the audience. Her guard is down, her shoulders at ease, and with an arena behind her, she looks smaller to me, more vulnerable even. I angle to keep her safe from any scuffle that might break out, careful not to make her uncomfortable.
“I’m sure it will be good for you and Nick to hang out again,” she says.
“LA’s not the same without him, and it’s been a couple of months since I’ve seen him. It’s been good so far. I’m sure he’ll get sick of me invading his house soon enough.” I chuckle.
She takes another sip and then laughs lightly, momentarily appearing lost in her thoughts of her own. “I’m sure that won’t happen. On the bright side, maybe you’ll find that New York’s not so bad.” The smile on her face is genuine
with no ill will attached.
“I’m sure it’s not. Are you ready to go back?” I’m not in a hurry, but I don’t want to circle around what happened in Catalina. It’s been too good with her to ruin the night.
Nodding, she pushes off the wall and starts working her way back to Natalie’s side, who’s quick to wrap an arm over Tatum’s shoulders. They dance and sing, competing with the lead vocals. Kaz points at us after a solo riff, giving me a nod of approval. I suppose it’s because of my date. I’ll take it from the guy who laughed that I couldn’t find one.
Tatum’s more than a stand-in to prove him wrong, but she’s making me look good nonetheless. Nick disappears for drinks, bringing a bottle of water for Natalie and another round for the rest of us. It’s probably best if one of us stays sober, and I’m glad it’s Natalie and not me because I’m enjoying this glass of whiskey and Coke.
With a free weekend, I drink up since I have nothing to lose but the night ahead. Between the main set and the encore, a large security guy invites us to the bar where they’re hosting the after-party. We’re given the address and then continue enjoying the rest of the concert.
Nudging me, Tatum lifts high toward my ear. “They’re probably going to bail. What do you think? Still want to go?”
For a brief second, I question if she’s asking me out. “Me?” Guess I did that out loud. I might want to slow down on the alcohol.
She doesn’t hold back her laughter as the band leaves the stage. Dex remains on the drums, closing out the show like the badass he is. I sold him a beach retreat with a killer setup for his drum kit last year. Tatum swings her long hair over her shoulder and bumps into me. “What do you think?” she yells so I can hear. I look around because I think the entire arena heard.
I lean down, not wanting to yell, and say, “I’ll go with you.”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s not like you’re doing me a favor, but thanks.” Still laughing, she nudges me with her elbow.
The show ends, and the crowd is quick to stream from the arena. Sticking together, the four of us make it a few blocks before stopping to talk, though the girls have been talking a mile a minute the whole time.
