Crash Ride

by T Gephart

  The peace offering seemed to thaw the chill Hannah was throwing at me. “Aw, Troy. That is so sweet. Come in, everyone is waiting.” See what I mean? Mood swings.

  I followed her through the hallway and into the back end of the house. From the back, you’d never know she was in the family way, the only clue the small basketball-sized belly you got an eyeful of when she turned around. The baby was due just before we went out on the road, which was cool.

  Noah, James and Hannah’s first, had been on the road with us in the past, and I was almost certain Grace, Alex and Lexi’s little girl, was tour bound as well. Long gone were the days of wild parties and drinking till dawn. It was a different kind of backstage party these days, one that involved juice boxes and Nick Jr.

  Thinking of the tour gave me something to smile about, even if it was going to be dominated by kids. The sooner we got on the road, the sooner I could stop acting like a moody asshole. Put some distance between the Megs situation and me. Who knows, maybe find someone out there that would happily be my distraction. It certainly was worth a try.

  “Sweetheart, I’m just trying to get Noah off to bed.” James met us in the hallway; trying to wrangle Noah, who wasn’t convinced it should be bedtime. “Oh, hey man. You made it.” James tipped his chin hello given his hands were tied up with a defiant two-year-old.

  “No. No Bed.” Noah pushed against the arms of his dad, his face red from the effort. Poor little guy was giving it a shot but was no match for James’s strength.

  “Hey, buddy.” I tickled the back of Noah’s neck. “You giving your old man a hard time? That’s Uncle Troy’s job. You wouldn’t want me to lose my job would you?” Hoping it didn’t turn on the waterworks, I gave the kid my best puppy dog eyes.

  Noah looked over me, giving it some serious thought. “Nu-uh Uncle Troy.”

  “Okay, so why don’t you let your dad get you off to bed.” I planted a kiss on his forehead and rubbed his back. “And I promise I’ll make sure your dad gets a hard enough time for the both of us.”

  “Okay, Uncle Troy, night-night.” Noah waved his little hand then curled his arm around his old man’s neck. James mouthed me a silent thank-you as he carried Noah to his bedroom.

  Hannah’s hand went to her belly and gave it a little Buddha action. “You boys are so sweet with him. He’s been impossible lately. He refuses to do anything I say, and everything is no.” Thinking I dodged the waterworks bullet might have been premature as Hannah’s eyes started to water.

  “He’s just pushing your buttons. I would’ve thought that after all the practice you had with us, this would be a walk in the park.” I put my arm around her and gave her a hug. “Han, you are an amazing mom.”

  “Thanks.” Her fingertips mopped the tears that were pooling in the corner of her eyes and gave me a smile. “Hormones are a bitch.”

  “Preach, sister.” I shot her a grin. “Just the other day I was telling Dan about this fucking water retention I had going on. You should see the size of my feet.”

  She sucked in laugh. “You are an ass, but I still adore you.”

  “Back at ya, Han. Now let’s go celebrate my best friend being off the market.” We walked in to dining room, my box of goodness still in my hand.

  “Hey, Troy Harris.” Megs walked slowly toward me with a big ass smile on her face. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  Fuck.

  So there goes my quiet evening not thinking about the sexy blonde who can get my dick hard just by walking into the room. It felt like I’d been sucker punched as she moved toward me in slow motion. She looked fucking amazing too; the short green dress she was wearing was showing most of her tanned legs. Her long hair hung loose. She was stunning.

  “Hey, Megs.” I quickly recovered, thanking my mouth for getting with the program. “Yeah, big surprise. It’s good to see you.” Not a lie. It was really, really good to see her.

  “Do you need a hand with that?” she asked, her eyes dipping down to the box that I had completely forgotten I was carrying.

  Yeah, your hand around my cock would be nice, thank you very much.

  “Nah, I got it. You look… good.” Good didn’t even come close to covering it. Mouthwatering was more accurate.

  “Why thank you, Troy Harris.” She gave it a little Scarlett O’Hara, her voice taking a stroll below the Mason-Dixon line. “You look mighty fine yourself.”

  What’s mighty is this hard-on I’m packing, let’s talk about that.

  Shit. I was a fucking pervert. Thank God she couldn’t read minds.

  “Whatcha got there?” Dan moseyed over, all kinds of interested in the box. The dude had perfect timing, pulling my ass from the fire. “Fuck, yeah! This is why you are my best man.” The dozen frosted cupcakes inside the reason he was grinning like an idiot.

  “I don’t get it?” Alex shook his head, walking over to join the party. “What’s so special about cupcakes?”

  “Hi, Troy.” Ashlyn waved, rolling her eyes before playfully nudging Dan’s shoulder. “Alex, don’t even get him started.”

  “Heathens, the lot of you.” Dan waved them off dismissively taking the box into the kitchen.

  The exchange in front of me did little to change my view. The one that had my eyes glued to the knockout blonde in front of me. Megs stayed and watched it played out; her interest in it seemed on par with mine. Non-existent.

  “Here.” Jase handed me a long neck, ignoring Dan and the staring competition I obviously had going on with Megs.

  “Thanks.” Nod. Swallow. Just what I needed to put these flames out.

  “Megs, want a beer?” He offered her the other.

  Don’t take it. Not sure I’d be good with sitting on the sidelines watching you swallow.

  Her eyes dropped to the frosty bottle before they came back to me. “Thanks, but I’m fine.”

  Yes, you are.

  Pin. Drop.

  Neither of us able to tear our eyes from each other but our mouths staying clamped shut.

  Well, that wasn’t awkward. Not one little bit.

  “Okay then. Good times, guys.” Jase slapped me on the shoulder. The asshole decided to bail. “Going over to chat to Alex, can’t get a word in edgewise over here.” He walked. Didn’t even look back.

  “I might go see if I can help Hannah or Ashlyn.” Megs followed Jason’s lead and hightailed it to the other side of the room.

  Awesome. This was going well.

  “Hey, Troy.” Lexi gave me her usual warm smile, her eyes a little more tired than I was used to seeing.

  “Lexi.” I welcomed the distraction and noticed we were one Power Station rug rat short. “You leave the little lady home alone? Hope you gave her enough vodka and cigarettes to get her through.”

  “Ha, very funny. Grace is having a sleep over with Alex’s mom.” She gave me a smug smile that meant trouble. “So… you and Megs.”

  “Don’t start.” My sideways glance was also a warning. “There’s nothing there. We’re just friends.”

  “Oh, really?” She clearly wasn’t letting it go. “Huh, because I could have sworn that when you walked in and saw her your eyes almost bulged out of your head. Followed by your tongue hitting the floor. That’s the way I always react when I see my friends.” The sarcasm on the word friend wasn’t missed.

  While shit might have slid past Dan and Ash, Lexi didn’t miss a thing. The clearing of my throat didn’t help either. “I thought the matchmaker bullshit was Hannah’s deal; don’t tell me having a baby has made you soft.” I deflected hoping she would let it go, the situation not needing the heat or the attention it was getting.

  “Not soft, just more invested in what’s important.”

  Megs was on the other side of the room, laughing with Hannah and Ashlyn. No less beautiful than the last time I’d looked. “Yeah, well regardless of any of it. It ain’t happening. That’s a whole lot of fucking complication no one needs.”

  “I’m not really the person you should be talking to about avoi
ding a complicated relationship.” She glanced to where Stone was deep in conversation with James and Jason. “I think Alex and I covered about every aspect. Long distance, crazy exes, miscommunication, misunderstandings and more baggage than the Parisian flagship store of Louis Vuitton.” She laughed. “But when the right person comes along, complications… they just make it more worthwhile.”

  “Thanks, Lex.” I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. “Hey, if this gig with us doesn’t work out, you know can always go write cards for Hallmark.”

  “Whatever, Troy.” She smiled, her arms wrapping around me. “You guys would fall apart without me.”

  “True.” It’s not like I could disagree.

  Hannah waved her oven-mitted hand and called everyone to attention. “Okay everyone, grab a seat. It’s time to eat.”

  The rowdy group that we were moved to the table. Asses found their seats with no real thought given to the seating plan. Conversations not interrupted during the process.

  Rather than pussy out, I pulled out a chair and gave her a nod. “Megs.”

  It could have gone either way, but I was glad when she took me up on my offer and sat down. Keeping my hand from running down her bare arm while she took her seat had been fucking difficult. Although the bigger challenge was not looking down the front of her dress, which was doing a wonderful job and showcasing her perky… not fucking helping.

  Megs shuffled back in toward the table, rewarding me with a big smile. “Thanks, such a gentleman.”

  “For pulling out your chair?” I took my seat beside her; surprised she’d had been so easy to impress. I know the whole pulling-out-the-chair thing was a bit cliché, but when the mood took me, I could play nice.

  “Nope.” Her eyebrow rose as she leaned in to whisper. “For not looking down my dress.”

  Uh-hum, had it suddenly gotten warmer in here? “Oh, I looked; I’m just good at not being caught,” I lied, and apparently I was a comedian because my response had made her laugh. Like a real laugh— not some half-assed chuckle. It was a nice sound too and I really liked the way it made me feel. I was going to need to hear more of it.

  A bunch of separate conversations zigzagged over the mountain of food that sat in front of us. Alex and James were talking shop. Hannah, Ash and Lexi were talking babies, and Dan and Jason were in a fierce car debate about whether American muscle was more superior to European design. No one paid us any attention.

  “Have you been good?” I leaned over and picked up a plate of some kind of chicken and offered it to Megs.

  She smiled and helped herself to some food before answering. “Yeah, I’ve been buried in work but I’ve been okay. How about you?”

  This felt good. We were having a normal conversation, and look we weren’t fucking each other senseless up against a wall. Who knew?

  “I’ve been doing band stuff. Same old, same old.” I grabbed a spoonful of potato salad and slapped it onto my plate. “I’m glad you came tonight.”

  Megs scrunched her nose up at the potato salad, opting for the garden salad instead. “I’m glad too. I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to.”

  I froze. She didn’t want to? Not sure I wanted to know the answer, but I had to ask anyway. “Why? Because of me?”

  “Yeah,” She shrugged. “We said we wouldn’t let it get awkward and it got awkward. I wanted to call you; I just thought it would be easier if I didn’t.”

  Yeah, not happy with that. Last thing I wanted was for her not to wanna be around me. How was that a good thing? Nope, that was not okay. The only way the stupid hell of not being with her would make any sense was if I could still be sure she was okay. Wow. When did that happen?

  “We both probably could have handled it a little better; I mean, I didn’t call you either. But, Megs, you want to call me, call me. We said we’d stay friends and we can’t do that if we are avoiding each other.”

  “You’re so wise, Troy Harris.”

  “Well playing drums only takes up so many hours in the day, everyone needs a hobby.”

  She laughed again, this time the light hit her eyes and made them sparkle. If I hadn’t already been sitting down, I would have needed to. She was so freaking beautiful and when she laughed she did things to me I just didn’t understand.

  So this was our deal now, laughing and talking but no fucking. Yep. This was going to blow.

  That first post-sex encounter hadn’t been so bad. After the initial, hey-let’s-pretend-I-don’t-know-what-you-look-like-naked, we were actually in a good place. Not to say that I didn’t wish things could be different and that we could see each other naked again—with everything else that comes with that— but friendship is where we seemed poised to stay. So I kept telling myself.

  Because I couldn’t leave well enough alone— really, I’m a hazard to myself— I suggested we should probably date other people. The conversation went something like this: “So, Troy Harris, seeing as you aren’t dating me, and there’s no hope of that happening, you should let some other lucky lady have the privilege. It will help me move on and this is, after all, all about me.”

  Okay so maybe the conversation didn’t go exactly like that, but it was mentioned we should see other people—by me, the idiot — and Troy, who seemed to have no problem with it, readily agreed. I’m not even sure how it was interjected into the conversation. Clearly I suck when it comes to making my mouth not say stupid stuff, so it really wasn’t surprising.

  At least we’d finished the evening on a positive note, promising to stop avoiding each other and work our way to a decent friendship. More than sleeping with him again, it’s what I desperately wanted. Just to be able to call and see him again without it being weird would be a start. Okay so not weird was a tall order, maybe less weird than it had been was what I should be aiming for.

  Troy and I became somewhat of phone-buddies—yeah I know it sounds like some obscure anime themed App— but we often called each other and had lame-ass conversations. Ridiculous even, but I looked forward to them. Completely nonsexual and everything. At first it was a challenge trying to not picture him naked but we eased into a friendship that was actually kind of nice.

  The person to make the first call had been me, when on Monday I dialed his number.

  “Megs.” Troy answered the phone almost immediately.

  “So, I was thinking.” I didn’t even bother with formalities like hello.

  Troy laughed. “Sounds good to me, I usually like it when you get thinking.” I didn’t need to ask where his mind had wandered.

  “Awesome, so can I sign you up to be on the next season of The Bachelor?” Genuinely curious as to what he would say.

  “No, you can’t.” He shot me down, not even entertaining the idea.

  “You are no fun, Troy Harris.” I pouted, despite him not being able to see it. I’m sure he heard it though. I had a very pouty voice.

  Troy laughed. “Goodbye, Megs.”

  The next volley came from Troy on Tuesday.

  “Hey, Troy Harris.” I smiled as I placed the phone to my ear. Did I mention how much I really liked seeing his name on my caller ID?

  “Hey, Megs, I heard one of the Jonas brother’s is single. I have no idea which one it is, but they all pretty much look alike. You want me to set you up?”

  “Please. Like I’d date a Jonas brother.” I exaggerated my displeasure.

  He chuckled. “Right, you like your men a little more rock and roll, got it. Ummm let me check TMZ and see who’s available. I’ll call you back.”

  My follow up had happened on Wednesday and the conversation had turned from dating to something else entirely.

  “Hey, Troy Harris.” His name left my lips as soon as he’d pick up the receiver.

  “Hey, Megs, I hope this is important. The Vampire Dairies reruns are on and that Nina whatever-her-name is hot.”

  “Oh, I love Vampire Diaries. Damon Salvatore is so misunderstood. This is important. Does your cock ring set off metal detectors at a
irports? I mean, do you need like pull your pants down and let them wand you?”

  “Er, no. Why?”

  “Oh, I was bored and thought we could take a drive out to La Guardia and mess with some TSA people. Back to square one I guess. Bye.”

  By Thursday I was not only expecting his call but also anxiously waiting for it. My pulse racing a little every time my phone went off.

  “Megs.” I heard the smile in his voice. “I hope you found another satisfactory way to amuse yourself yesterday.”

  “Oh I sure did. I bought a huge dildo online instead, and I’m going to pack it in my carry on for my next trip.” It took everything I had to suppress my laugh.

  “That’s awesome; remind me never to fly with you. Anyway, I got a new Tat today and while I was there I picked up a gift certificate for you. Figured we could get a return to label inked on your ass, you know in case you fall down again.”

  “Aw, you shouldn’t have. You are so sweet.”

  “My pleasure, Megs. There was also a discount on Ace bandages at Walgreens. I know I shouldn’t spoil you, but I couldn’t help myself.”

  “Goodbye, Troy Harris.”

  “Bye, Megs.”

  Friday had me buzzing with anticipation over his call.

  “Hey, Megs.”

  I loved hearing him say my name. “Hey, Troy Harris.”

  “I used your address to do some internet shopping. I know I should have asked first, but we’re so cool with each other, I figured you’d say yes. I really hate it when people see my name and address and then before you know it…boom a stalker.”

  “Sure, no problem at all. What did you buy?”

  “Chinese throwing stars and a sword. Hopefully it doesn’t get flagged by the FBI; you don’t have an existing record do you?”

  I couldn’t even respond I was laughing so hard. Those calls had been the highlight of my day. It wasn’t just phone calls; there were voice messages as well. At the end of my workday, there would always be a missed call and message from Troy. I’d put my headphones on and would listen on my cab ride home from work. It almost became a sort of therapy for me, a way to unwind.