I was about to protest that no one else was dancing, when I noticed that a few couples had walked out to the front of the stage and actually were. Jensen pulled me into his arms as “Is There Anybody Out There” began to stream out of the instruments and across the park.
Jensen’s hand slid down to my lower back and he pulled me close. I wrapped my arms around him and settled in the nape of his neck. The music changed to “Hey You” and Jensen pulled me closer. I knew he’d always loved Pink Floyd, I never knew I’d be dancing to it. Well, moving around in slow circles. Jensen nuzzled my cheek and I pulled back a bit. Our eyes met and I searched his.
“We should go,” he said.
We went out for ice cream and then Jensen took me to the secondhand store. I perused the aisles as Jensen looked through old vinyl records. I stopped as a Guinness print caught my eye. The matting was a lime green and the frame was black, the picture inside was all in Gaelic. I had to have it.
“See something you like?” Jensen asked.
“God, this is perfect! The frame alone costs more than the whole print!”
“I found a couple Pink Floyd albums I can’t live without along with some Grateful Dead.”
“Wish you were here” I mused.
Jensen glanced over at me and I turned to lift the print off the wall. We walked to the counter and I went to grab my wallet from my purse.
“No. Let me get this for you, okay?” Jensen stated.
I nodded and walked ahead of Jensen while he paid. I stood outside and waited for him to come out. The sun was out and a cool breeze moved around me. I lifted my face to the sun and sighed. I loved it out here. The smell, the feel of it. Everything.
“Hey, you.”
I turned to see Jensen smiling at me. It hit and I laughed.
“More Pink Floyd.”
“Always.”
“I think we could have a whole conversation just using their lyrics.”
“Probably. Are you hungry? I could use a burger.”
“What is with you and food?”
“I’m a growing boy.” Jensen waggled his brows.
I rolled my eyes and then motioned to my new Guinness print. “Hey, thank you for buying that for me.”
“No problem.” Jensen smiled again and damn if those dimples didn’t make an appearance.
The more time I spent with him, the more I realized how much trouble I was in. I couldn’t let him get too close to me because he was still the only guy that could rip me apart.
“Serena?”
“Yes?” I snapped out of my thoughts.
“Burger or Tacos?”
“You pick.”
“Burgers it is.”
By the time Jensen dropped me off at home, it was almost nine at night. We sat around the park for a few hours just laughing about the old days. Jensen walked me to the door and I pulled my keys out. I turned to face him, only to find him inches away.
“Good night, Serena Devane.” Jensen palmed my cheek.
“Good night, Jensen Pratt.”
I held my breath and Jensen seemed to contemplate kissing me. I didn’t know if I wanted him to or not.
“Well, bye.” Jensen walked back down the stairs towards his car.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside, locking the door behind me. I leaned up against the wood and exhaled deeply. Maybe it was a good thing Jensen didn’t kiss me. I knew what that did to me.
And that would be bad.
Chapter 7
Saturday, I caught up with Aarin at The Hive and I met the rest of the band. Mikey and Doug were just like Aarin. They were extremely funny and sarcastic—just like me. We got along perfectly. I listened to them tell their stories of touring and the shit they’d gotten themselves into. It was everything I needed for the book. Now if I could just come up with characters. Nothing was coming to me and I hated that. It was like I had writer’s block. I shivered at the thought. Writer’s block would be a nightmare.
Why couldn’t I just come up with a female lead character? Had I been writing men for so long I couldn’t think of a female heroine? Ugh. Fuck this shit.
“Serena? What’s wrong?” Aarin asked.
“I can’t think of a female lead. It’s going to drive me insane!”
“Why not use yourself?” Mikey cut in.
“You’d make a kick ass female lead,” Doug agreed.
“Me? Oh hell no.” I shook my head.
“Why? You’ve got hutzpah!” Aarin laughed.
“That sounds like an illness.” I cocked a brow.
“Do you know what the book will be about?” Mikey quizzed.
“I haven’t even gotten that far yet. I’m taking drum lessons though, to get all that speak down.”
“Speak, huh? Is Jensen Pratt teaching you?” Aarin asked.
“How did you know?” I asked in astonishment.
“He’s one of the best teachers out here and he’s always booked. You’re lucky you got in at all,” Doug pointed out.
“Well, he’s my ex-boyfriend.”
The three of them looked at me wide-eyed and I leaned back a bit.
“What?”
“Jensen Pratt is your ex?” Aarin said slowly.
“Well, yes.”
“There’s your story!” Mikey almost shouted.
“No. I mean…no. Just no.” I pointed at them.
“Yes, just yes!” Aarin bounced in his seat. “It’s perfect!”
“I don’t think I can write about the two of us. You guys don’t understand how painful that was for me.”
“Writing about it is therapeutic. Look at it as cleansing it from your body.”
“Aarin is vegan, he cleanses a lot.” Mikey winked.
“Thanks for letting me know.”
“Just think about it, Serena.” Aarin leaned forward and smiled. “I think this story is one to be told.”
Write about Jensen and me? That was like ripping a scab off that wasn’t ready yet. It hurt and it was painful. And now I had to see him every other day. I didn’t know if this could get any worse.
~*~
It got worse.
My tub wouldn’t drain, I had a leaky faucet, and for some reason, my microwave decided it didn’t want to work. The repairman came out and fixed the hole in my bathroom ceiling, but I was still fighting with the leaky faucet that kept me up all night with its dripping. I headed out back to the electric panel and stared at all the switches. None of them said microwave.
Fuck.
I flipped them all off and on and hoped like hell my microwave would start. I could cook, but these days it was microwaved meals. I didn’t have time to cook an actual meal for myself. I went back in the house and was relieved to see the microwave blinking. My phone rang and I grabbed it.
“Hello?”
“Ah, so you’re talking to me,” Ann said.
“That depends. Did you set me up?”
“With what?”
“Jensen, Ann.”
“Darling, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I asked around and was told he was the best.”
“He’s my ex, Ann. You have no idea how painful it is to see him now. We broke up after dating for almost 2 years in high school.”
“Oh my God, this is perfect! You need to write the book about the two of you! They’ll make it into a movie and Phil Collins can do the sound track! Have you ever heard that song ‘Separate Lives’ by him? That would so work for this!”
“I think they used that in a movie already,” I deadpanned.
“Have you started the book yet?”
“No. I can’t come up with a single plot line.”
“You have one. You just don’t want to use it.”
“Ugh! Jesus. I’ll think about it. I’ll have to run it by him anyway.”
“Just change his name.”
“You’re the legal eagle here.”
“I’ll take care of it. Other than that, how’s life in Flagstaff?”
“It’s good. I’ve me
t some people and gotten some notes.”
“Okay. Keep me in the loop, and Serena?”
“Yes?”
“Get laid please.”
I hung up with a growl. What was with everyone and my damn sex life? Or lack of one? I had toys for fuck’s sake. They didn’t talk and they didn’t take the remote. I smiled at the thought and grabbed a microwaveable dinner.
~*~
I was right on time for my first lesson and I found his studio the first time. I was so proud of myself right now. Jensen walked out the front door and my hands immediately began to sweat. I needed to get my shit together for fuck’s sake. I was a grown woman who—
“Hey, you,” Jensen winked.
Fuck. There went my knees.
“You okay?” Jensen asked.
“I’m good,” I nodded, following him into the studio.
He opened a door in the back and I walked into a room with two drum sets side by side. Jensen handed me a folder and I opened it, eyeing its contents. Jensen took a seat and handed me ear protection.
“Okay, so let me break this down for you,” Jensen began.
I swore I was trying to pay attention, I really was, but listening to his voice and the way he talked with his hands, I didn’t know how much I was actually going to learn. I was so damned nervous around him and that was not like me. I had to get over whatever this was because I had a job to do and bills to pay.
“It’s boom, chick, tap, chick.”
“Huh?” I lifted my eyes to his.
“Boom,” Jensen stepped on the bass pedal and I quickly put my ear protection on.
“Chick, tap, chick.”
Jensen started playing faster and I was just trying to keep up with his hand movements. I always loved watching him play. While we dated, he would always practice when I came over, and I loved it.
“Got it?” Jensen asked.
“I think so,” I yelled.
“I can hear you even with these on.” Jensen tapped his ear protection.
“Okay!”
Jensen chuckled and removed his ear protection. “I’ll have homework for you next time.”
I pouted and Jensen laughed.
“Okay, play what I just taught you.”
I eyed the drum set and began. My damn left hand wanted to do what my right hand was supposed to be doing. After a few minutes of having to start over, I sighed in frustration and dropped my hands.
“What’s wrong?” Jensen asked.
“I’m uncoordinated! I’m lucky if I can chew gum and walk at the same time!”
“You can do this, Serena. You really can.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. I concentrated on nothing but the boom, chick, tap, chick going on in my head and began to play again. I blocked everything out; Jensen’s warm body sitting next to mine, my left hand’s urgency to take over, and just played. After a few minutes, I stopped. I opened my eyes to see Jensen grinning.
“See? You did it. Now we’ll go over something harder.”
“Ugh.”
~*~
I walked out of the room a half-hour later and ran right into Wyatt, Jensen’s guitarist. He smiled at us standing there and handed me over a stack of papers.
“Here’s our schedule. We don’t start until next Monday, so go over all the notes. How did it go?” Wyatt asked me.
“Well, considering my hands have minds of their own? It went okay.”
“She did great. Fast learner, this one.” Jensen jerked a thumb to me. He turned his attention to Wyatt. “You ready to practice?”
“Yeah, the other guys are on their way.” Wyatt grinned at me. “Want to sit in?”
“Nah, I think I’ve had enough for today.”
“He is a pain in the ass.” Wyatt elbowed Jensen.
“Yeah, yeah.” I smiled at Jensen and began walking towards the front door.
“Oh, Serena?” Jensen called after me.
“Yes?”
“Don’t forget, next week I’ll have homework.”
“You’re evil.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Yep.”
~*~
I drove back down to Tucson the next day. I hadn’t seen my sister in over a year, and I didn’t have time to see her the first time I was in town. I drove down Valencia, cursing the construction and traffic as I passed A Mountain. My sister just had to live as far from everyone else as possible. I couldn’t really say too much, I’d just moved four hours away.
I pulled into the driveway and smiled at the older Mustang parked there. It had been my father’s until he got a new car, and now my niece drove it. I jumped out of my Jeep and was accosted by my youngest niece.
“Hey Tatie!” she all but squealed.
“Hey, Sydney. How’s life in college?”
“It sucks, but I’m hanging in there.”
“Yeah? You got a boyfriend?” I waggled my brows.
“Maybe,” she said, slyly.
“Make sure he wraps that wiener in a bun.” I pointed at her.
“Who’s eating wieners?”
I turned to find my sister, Marisol, with her hands on her hips. A wide smile on her face.
“No one,” I answered automatically.
“It’s good to see you, Serena. Come inside.”
I followed my sister in the house and sat down on a stool around the kitchen island. Marisol was cooking and I sniffed the air.
“Is that tofu?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“You know that’s not really food, right?”
“Just because I don’t eat steak—”
“You don’t eat anything with a face,” I pointed out, picking up a carrot. “Do you wonder if they ever scream when you pull them from the ground?”
“No.” Marisol placed the carrot on the counter and then grabbed the potato I had just picked up. I grinned and she sighed.
“What?” I asked.
“Mom missed you. I did too, you know.”
“I know.”
“Why move to Flagstaff then? It’s four hours away.”
“To avoid this?” I smiled.
“Look, don’t get mad—”
“That’s pretty much telling me I’m going to get mad.”
“Well, Remy invited a guy he met—”
“Oh no,” I frowned. As much as I loved Remy, my brother-in-law’s track record at hooking me up was in the shitter.
“Look, he met him at the grocery store. The guy just got divorced six months ago and is trying to get back on the horse.” My sister stopped, knife poised in the air. “So to speak.”
“Now I’m a horse?” I stood up and threw a piece of lettuce at her.
“He knows what you do and doesn’t care. He saw you on Facebook.”
“Peachy,” I groaned.
My other niece bounced into the kitchen and looked from me to my sister. A large grin covered her face and she leaned over the counter, watching me.
“Mom told you about the fireman?” she asked.
My head snapped up at that. Okay, so yeah, I had a weakness for firemen, well, and cops, and military guys. It didn’t have anything to do with their uniforms, either. Well, mostly. It was their work hours that I loved. As a writer, I spent countless hours locked away in an office. Dating any of those professions made it so much easier.
“No, she didn’t tell me he was a fireman.” I said slowly.
My sister waggled her brows and pointed at me with the knife.
“I knew you’d like that part.”
I grabbed my niece around her waist and planted a kiss on her cheek.
“So, Katie. What’s up? How’s high school?”
“I’m in band and we’re getting ready to go to Europe.”
“Must be nice.” I peered at my sister. “And your mom is letting you go?”
“Oh, she made sure I’ll be loJacked,” Katie grinned.
“But of course!” I said in my ridiculous French accent. “We cannot have our Katie lured away by the boys of France!”
“Pfft. I’m going for the cheese and bread.”
“That’s my girl!” my sister laughed.
Thankfully, my blind date got called into work so I didn’t have to play nice. I wasn’t ready to date anyway. Even if it was a fireman. Especially now that Jensen was back in my orbit. I helped Marisol clean up and we relaxed by the pool, sipping margaritas. We didn’t always get along, I was the younger, pain-in-the-ass sister, and borrowed all her shit. Then lost it.
“Serena, tell me what’s going on,” Marisol ordered, breaking the silence.
“Well, I’m writing a male/female book and doing all my research in Flagstaff.”
“Something is different. You’re not your morose self.”
“That’s so sweet,” I said, all sugary.
“You know what I mean.”
“Let’s just say I got a blast from the past.”
“Jensen?” Marisol glanced my way.
I sucked in a breath.
“Yeah, I know all about him. I was there when mom and dad bailed you out of jail. Not that you would remember that as fucked up as you were.”
I sighed and dragged my hands down my face.
“That was a long time ago, and I think I’ve more than made up for my behavior.”
“You didn’t see mom, Serena. I did. She cried all the time during that period of your life. Never knowing where you were, if you were alive or not.”
“Well, I’ve changed,” I grumbled stubbornly.
“Have you? Because if this goes south, I don’t think she can handle you in melt-down again.”
“There is more to life than men, Marisol.”
“So, did you get a kiki mechanique?”
I laughed and snorted margarita up my nose. I went into a coughing fit and Marisol slapped my back. I should have known she and my mother talked.
“It’s good to have you home, Serena.”
“It’s good to be back,” I choked out.
~*~
I planned to leave in the morning, but I had a stop to make first. I remembered where Jensen lived when we were in high school and I knew where his mother would be. I passed the gates of the cemetery and went inside. The woman behind the desk gave me the plot number and then I followed her in a golf cart. She left me to myself and I walked up to Jensen’s mother’s resting place. There was a slight breeze and birds chirped all around me. I sat down and stared at the clear blue sky above me.
A Beat in Time Page 5
