King of Hearts

by R H Tucker

  “Jade will be there, and we can rub elbows with all these other celebrities.”

  “Yeah, and see Derrik sucking face with that stupid girl,” I spit out. When she doesn’t respond, I glance over at her. “What?”

  “Are you mad at her, or are you mad at him? Because you can’t blame him, Z.”

  “Whose side are you on?”

  “Yours!” She laughs, giving my arm a hug. “But you told me what you said. What’d you expect him to do? He’s a guy!”

  I nod, feeling conflicted over her reason. Yes, he’s a guy, but he’s also Derrik. He doesn’t come off as squeaky clean as EJ, but he’s no Maddox. And he’s entitled to do whatever he wants, especially after what I did. I just didn’t think it’d come to this.

  “Enough!” Becca exclaims, getting to her feet. “Being in this box isn’t doing any good. Let’s go down—”

  “I told you, I am not going backstage.”

  “No, let’s get in the front row. Enjoy the show. JC still has a couple more songs.” She wiggles her eyebrows. “We can rock out to the Saturn Girls, and when the guys start, we can either come back up here or go to the bathroom and grab something to drink. Then return for the encore foam party.”

  I stare up at her, listening to the crowd cheer as JC continues to perform. She’s right. Sitting here in the private suite is nice, but you don’t get to feel the show—the vibe and electricity floating through the air as everyone goes crazy for the artist.

  “Lemme see your phone.” She sticks her hand out.

  I stare at her cautiously. “Why?”

  “Lemme see!”

  I continue to leer, but slowly hand her my phone. Opening it up, I lean over and see her scrolling through my contacts. I don’t know who she dials but can hear it ringing as she holds the phone up. Whoever she’s calling, she’s trying to FaceTime them.

  “Hey, what’s up?” I hear Landon. “Becca?”

  “Hey.” She waves at him. “I’m trying to get your girl to have fun on this last night here, and she’s all mopey.”

  “I am not!” I counter, taking the phone from her. I offer Landon a sheepish smile. “Hey.”

  Before he can respond, she sticks her head over my shoulder. “She is! She can’t stand that you’re not here anymore. It’s our last night, and I want you to tell your girlfriend to have fun without you.”

  He laughs. “Well, I don’t want her having too much fun.”

  “Landon, we both know that between the two of you, she’s not the—” She cuts herself off as I snap my head toward her. She cringes, then looks back at the phone. “Sorry. What I’m trying to say is you know you can trust her. By this time tomorrow, you’ll be able to have her all to yourself.”

  I expect him to roll his eyes at her almost-insult. Instead, he chuckles. “Zoey, she’s right. Have fun.”

  “I am having fun,” I reply. “But fine, I’ll try to have more. Miss you!”

  “Miss you, too.” He smiles, and I hit end. Glancing over at Becca, I watch as she offers a broad smile and wiggles her eyebrows. “What was that about?”

  “What?”

  “The other day, you said I was acting too girlfriendy. Now you call my boyfriend on me?”

  “It was the only way,” she replies through laughter. “Come on, let’s go listen to JC!”

  She drags me away, and we get closer to the stage just as JC starts his last song. Becca screams her head off so much it’s enough to force a laugh out of me. When the Saturn Girls get on stage, we sing along to their songs, and Becca starts taking more pictures. I record a couple of InstaPic Stories, sharing them to my timeline. No matter what’s happened during this trip, I’m glad I’m able to have fun with my best friend. I make a mental note to try and remember jumping up and down with Becca, laughing our faces off, and her believing she’ll somehow get on JC’s radar after the tour instead of all the drama with Derrik.

  When the Kings get on stage, we make our way back up to the private suite. After they get through half of their set, Becca and I keep exchanging looks. It’s a complete one-eighty from the first night on tour with them.

  “Hey, let’s go get something to eat,” she says, slapping my knee.

  “Really?”

  She nods. “But we’re still going to the after-party, right? I just know they probably won’t have any food there. And if they do, it’s gonna be some kind of appetizer or something.”

  She offers me a smile, and I give her a thankful nod. “Okay, let’s go.”

  Getting out of the arena, we note that our hotel is only a block over. I know the band has a car waiting for them, and we all were probably going to squeeze into it, but since it’s not that far, we head back to the hotel lobby. Neither of us knows of any place close by, so we decided to ask the concierge where a good place for food might be, and she lets us know of a local burger spot, but it’s fifteen miles away. Instead of texting Peter for a car service, we decide to call an Uber and make our way over to the spot.

  “This is delicious,” Becca exclaims with a mouthful of burger, taking her last bite. “Why don’t we have one of these in Cali?”

  “Because we have In-n-Out.”

  She thinks it over for a minute. “Yeah, but they don’t have bacon. Bacon!”

  We both start laughing. I finish off the last of our French fries and take another drink of my soda. Letting out a tired sigh, I rub my stomach. “I’ve got such a food baby.”

  “But it was totally worth it.”

  “True. Now I just want to head back and go to sleep.”

  “Oh no you don’t. You promised!”

  My shoulders slump, and I drop my head back. “Becca, come on. It’s just a stupid party.”

  “Z! The other bands are going to be there. You know I still want to try and make out with JC.”

  “Like that’ll happen.”

  “Don’t crush my dreams!” She starts laughing. “Seriously, it’ll be fun. Please? When is the next time you’ll be at a celebrity party? And I’ll shield you from Derrik all night. You won’t even see him.”

  I still don’t want to go. I also know Becca is completely joking about trying to make out with JC, but I don’t want to be the fun police either. Even if I’ll be uncomfortable and slightly on edge trying to avoid Derrik, I still want Becca to have a good time. “Fine.”

  Reaching across the table, she hugs me. “I love you,” she says with a giggle. “Do you think we should head over there?”

  “Might as well.” I shrug. “Let’s get this trip over with.”

  “I tell you what, once I’m done making out with JC, I’ll tell him you need a good make-out session yourself.”

  “Gross, Becca,” I shout, and she starts laughing.

  When we get to the party, it’s already crowded. Jade immediately finds us, and we start talking about the show … or at least try to talk. The music is loud no matter where you are in the enormous suite. The Saturn Girls and JC continuously walk by us, chatting with other celebrities. At least, I think they’re celebrities.

  They may be music or movie producers. I know those types are never far from the Kings. I think I heard whispers about a new up-and-coming director who’s supposed to be the next big thing on the scene. I’ve seen Maddox with his arm around two different girls. One I didn’t recognize, and the other I think was in a Chanel perfume commercial.

  Then, of course, I see Danica and Derrik. Becca has tried to shield me from seeing him, but they’re making out on a couch. EJ walks over, tapping his leg, but I can’t hear what he asks him. Derrik gets up, much to Danica’s dismay, and starts talking with someone else, maybe one of the movie producers. They take a couple of drinks, which are a couple more than what I’ve already seen him drink, and he laughs at something. He hasn’t looked in my direction all night. I see someone else offer him a shot of something and he nods, taking that drink, too.

  I roll my eyes at everything. Him, me, us. This is why I didn’t want to come here. However, when I walk into another
room, Becca is laughing at something JC says. She’s actually talking to him.

  “Oh my God,” I mouth to her.

  She tries to shake her head for me to go away, and I start laughing.

  “Sorry, sorry,” I mouth again and head to a different room.

  It’s still noisy, but not as bad as the main area where the speakers are. I’m standing by myself near a counter, when EJ walks over to me, handing me a bottle of water.

  “Do you drink, m’lady?” he jokes.

  I can’t help but laugh back. “Thanks. I’m surprised you haven’t found yourself someone to make out with.”

  Twisting open his own bottle of water, he chuckles, shaking his head. “Well, you know what they say, Nice Kings finish last.”

  I giggle at the joke and slap his shoulder. “EJ, I’d much rather you be a nice king than a drunk one.”

  “You saw that, huh?” he asks, and I nod. “Hey, sorry about everything, Zoey. This trip was supposed to be fun, you know?”

  “EJ, you have nothing to be sorry over. And it has been fun.”

  “Right.” He lifts his brows.

  “Okay, it got awkward, but I’m serious. And hey, everything that’s happened with Derrik and me? That doesn’t do anything to change how I feel about the rest of you. You guys are still my friends.”

  “Even Maddox?”

  “He comes with the package, so I guess he has to be.” We both start laughing, and thinking of Becca, I want EJ to have fun, too. I know he gets self-conscious and annoyed at the whole nice thing. “Come on.”

  Grabbing his arm, I tug him back into the main room. “What are you doing?” he asks.

  “We’re getting you a girl tonight.”

  “Yeah, like I haven’t already tried.”

  “Stop that.” I start scanning the crowd. “We’ll just find a nice girl. Nice girl and nice guy. It’ll be a perfect fit.”

  I hear him laughing in the background as I continue to look around the room. Jade’s talking with someone, Maddox has a new girl around his arm yet again, and Danica is fake-laughing at something a guy says. He looks like he could be one of the aforementioned movie producers. Rolling my eyes at the sight, I continue to look around, and see Derrik on the large balcony outside.

  The commercial girl who was with Maddox is now with Derrik. He glances over his shoulder, and I see him eye Danica. Then he looks back at Commercial Girl, she wraps her arms around his neck, and they start kissing.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me?” I spit out, dropping EJ’s arm.

  He must see what I’m looking at and calls for me to stop, but I don’t. I’m already making a beeline toward Derrik, who’s pulled away just enough to say something to Commercial Girl.

  “Hey!” I shout at him, then quickly look around, but no one else is paying attention.

  Derrik sees me and rolls his eyes. “What do you want?”

  “What do I want?” I step closer and point at the girl. “Get lost, girl.”

  “Screw you,” she fires back.

  “If you don’t want me clawing your eyes out, effectively ending any chance you have to star in the next Dolce and Gabbana commercial, then leave. Now.”

  She scowls, and glances at Derrik. He doesn’t say anything. Letting out a scoff, she flings her dark brown hair over her shoulder and brushes past us, back into the room.

  “Derrik, what are you doing?”

  “Leave me alone. I was about to have some fun before you showed up.”

  “Fun? I can’t believe you. You’re not Maddox. This isn’t you.”

  He spins around, facing me, so we’re inches apart. “Really? Because it sure feels like me.”

  “Well, it’s not!” I shove a finger into his chest, not backing down. “Look, I have no idea why you all of a sudden decided to start going out with Danica, and it’s none of my business.”

  “You’re damn right it’s not.”

  “But I do know we’ve been friends for a long time.” He scoffs. “I know you hate me, and I can’t blame you. But I know you wouldn’t intentionally hurt someone either. Whatever this thing is with Danica, you can’t just cheat on her. That’s not you.”

  “Who says a guy can’t change, huh? Maybe it should be me.”

  “If you do whatever you think you want to do, you’ll regret it. Whether you’re in love with Danica or not. I know you will.”

  “What do you care?” he shouts. “Just leave me alone, Z. You’ve already made it perfectly clear who you want to be with.”

  “Just because we can’t be together, that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. I do! And this isn’t you. You’re not a belligerent drunken rock star, playing up to all the clichés. You’re better than that.”

  “Ha!” He throws his hands up in the air. “And that’s where you’re wrong. Right now, I’m exactly who I want to be. Who I should’ve been this entire time, seeing as how I’ve been pining after a girl who’s too scared to act on her true feelings. Oh! And you’re full of shit. We can’t be together? No, Zoey. We can, and you’re the reason we’re not. So why don’t you fly home already, back to Pretty Boy Landon, and let me bone Danica to get you out of my system? Then I’ll finally be done with you, she can get off my jock, and I’ll be free from both of you.”

  I almost want to cry. Almost. His words sting, but there is truth to them. So even if they hurt, I can’t cry. Because I’m not the only person he’s belittling. And she’s standing right behind him, listening to everything.

  27

  Derrik

  My head’s buzzing. I’m not dizzy, but something’s off. I can still hear the music around me, yet it sounds like people have quieted down. I don’t care if they’re listening to me yell at Zoey. I’m so over this entire thing between us. But she’s not staring at me. I know I was probably a little harsher than I needed to be, but it’s all been building up, and the alcohol has already loosened me up. But again, she’s not staring at me. Her shocked expression stays in place, and she slowly lifts her hand to her mouth, staring over my shoulder.

  Turning around, I find Danica standing behind me. My first thought is wondering how much she heard, but I don’t get a chance to finish that thought. Her hand comes up, unleashing a vicious slap across my cheek, sobering me up immediately.

  She scowls at me, but I see tears slowly leak out. “You asshole.” It’s a whisper, so I’m not sure who around us hears it, but I hear the words clearly.

  Spinning on her heels, she pushes through the crowd, and now I see everyone standing around. JC and the Saturn Girls watching me, whispering to one another. Jade, glaring at me like a supremely pissed-off sister. Maddox cringes in a way that tells me even he, in the drunken daze he’s in, wouldn’t have done what I just did. And EJ shakes his head in disappointment.

  Turning back around, I see Zoey glaring at me. She lets out a long sigh, then hurries past me herself. Becca rushes to her side, and they leave the room. I hear the chatter around me returning to normal volume. I have two choices: I can either stay here on the patio suite and find a secluded dark spot, hiding from everyone for the rest of the night, or retreat back to my room. I choose the latter, and hurry past everyone, trying to block out all the whispers floating in the air.

  The weight of the venom I spewed and the reaction from both girls begin to crush down on me. Entering the room, I head directly toward our deck, slide the door open, and grip the rail. I gaze out over the city, trying to take deep breaths, but nothing’s helping. Zoey’s expression of disgust and Danica’s vile glare combined with heartbroken tears are burned into my eyes. My hands grip the rail tighter, and I kick the bottom of it, letting out a guttural scream.

  Turning around, I slide down against it, dropping my head into my hands. The door to the room beeps, and I glance up to see EJ walking in. Returning my head to my hands, I wait for him to come out to meet me. I know that’s what he’s going to do, and I know exactly what he’s going to say.

  He drops down next to me, keeping silent. Staring
at the space between my feet, his silence is painful. “Just say it,” I spit out. He stays quiet, so I glance over at him. His expression is one of confusion and pity, and it makes me feel worse. “Just say it, EJ. Tell me you told me so.”

  “Derrik, come on.” Reaching over, he puts a hand on my shoulder, but I shrug it off.

  “You told me! Why didn’t I just listen to you? Damn it!” I scream out into the open night again. “I hate that I love her and can’t get over it. I didn’t mean to do that to Danica, either.”

  “I know.”

  Keeping my head against the rail, I stare up at the sky. I hear the echo of cars around us and see the moon making the few clouds in the starry night sky glow. Then I let out another long breath, feeling the embarrassment take over. “Why can’t I get over her, man?”

  A soft chuckle forces me to look over at him. His face softening, he shrugs, then points to himself. “King of Nice, remember?” It earns a chuckle out of me, too. “You gonna be okay?”

  “No.” He stares back at me, unsure if I’m serious or not. I wish I knew. “I’ll be fine.”

  I keep my hoodie up and sunglasses on as we stroll through the airport. I’d like to say it’s so I can try to hide from any fans who might be around. I’d even like to use the excuse that I have a hangover, and I’m trying to shield my senses from everything around me. But I can’t use either of those excuses. I still wish I could hide from everyone.

  Maddox bobs his head up and down, listening to his earbuds, and Jade and EJ are talking about something with Peter, but I haven’t been paying attention. I’ve been looking for Becca and Zoey. Everyone’s flying back down to L.A., and our driver will take the bus back. After how I acted, and everything I said last night, I knew this flight home was going to be beyond awkward with Zoey. We’ve all got first-class tickets, and I actually got Zoey and my seats booked together. Switching will be easy enough, but we’ll all be close together, so it’ll be tense, to say the least. Neither of them has shown up yet, though.