by Cara Nelson
Trinity was wearing a pair of J Brand jeans that were skin-tight on her already very slender, stick-straight frame, along with a flowing tank top with a few leopard print accents. Her stilettos were absolutely killer, too—leopard-print and strappy.
“Killer outfit,” I said.
“My payment for a shoot last week. It’s not money, but it is a hell of a great outfit,” Trinity said, laughing.
I turned to Jessie, who looked more like a sweet Bohemian girl walking on the beach. She had on a printed and flowing knee-length Michael Kors skirt with a plum-colored sleeveless top and some chunky necklaces.
“And you look amazing, Jessie,” I said, taking in her sincere smile and sparkling green eyes.
“Let the party begin!” Trinity said.
“I like the way she talks,” Hunter shouted out, adding a “woo!”
Trinity waved someone over. A waiter, who’d been standing in the corner, came over with a tray of champagne. Trinity took a glass and handed it to me, and then grabbed one for herself. We toasted and I fumbled with a few heartfelt words. I was so overwhelmed.
The music flowed freely, and the drinks, even more freely. I was so excited to talk with Jessie and Trinity, who I found out would be staying with me—excellent! Much of what I wanted to talk about would have to wait for a more private time, though, because while Gauge kept space between us, I knew he could hear what I was saying. I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit that a healthy dose of liquid courage was starting to take over, though.
“What you doing back here?” I asked Gauge. I took a sip of champagne, hooked on its crispness and loving how it made me feel.
“Just giving you some time to talk with your friends. You haven’t seen them for awhile.”
“You were pretty sneaky, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you know what I mean,” I said, laughing. “I’m just glad you didn’t take me up here to push me off the roof from that review.”
“No need to dwell on that. I’ve chosen to forget it,” Gauge said. He folded his arms, and there was no smile on his face.
“You know, now that I know you better, you still seem friendly when you’re making sure you don’t smile. It’s familiar. Who would have thought that I was more suspicious of a happy you? This you, not so much.”I took a step back and felt my body sway just a bit. “It’s getting breezy up here.”
“No, not really,” Gauge said.
“The building must have a slight sway to it then. Do they get earthquakes here?”
“I suppose they can, but I don’t think it’s the building.”
My body started to shake as I tried to hold back my laughter, but I couldn’t any longer. “I’m definitely enjoying my champagne then, I guess.”
“I guess. Excuse me; I’ll be back in a bit.”
I watched Gauge walk off. The second he was out of the small, private party area, Trinity and Jessie were by me, each on one side.
“Let’s sit down and chat. There are some things I’m very curious about,” Trinity said.
“Me too,” I replied. “You seem to be the only person I’ve met so far that can compete with Hunter sentence for sentence.”
“You know me, love a good challenge,” Trinity said.
“Come on, let’s sit down and get you a bit of food,” Jessie offered, starting to walk with me over to the couch.
“Am I getting that bad?” I whispered.
“No,” Jessie said. I could tell she just didn’t want me to panic. Trinity and I definitely weren’t as sweet as she was. We would have said, “You’re gone.”
After I was sitting down, Mama Bear Jessie hustled off to get me a plate of food and a bottle of water. “You’ll thank me for it later.”
“So, what’s going on with you and Gauge? You two have some sort of strange chemistry happening,” Trinity said, leaning in.
“He’s nice. We’re just friends,” I said.
“Even I can see that’s not the way it is,” Jessie said. “It’s okay to like him, isn’t it?”
“Did you two…” Trinity was curious.
I cut her off, not wanting her colorful description of what I’d thought might happen that night. “No, I thought we might, but we didn’t.”
“So, you’re close,” Jessie said. “Nothing wrong with taking time. I bet he has women hitting on him all the time. He’s a rock star, after all.”
“Oddly enough, not so much. He keeps his distance. Hunter is the one who really is out there, the ‘come and get it’ guy. Gauge is kind of introverted, not really into that scene. He’s no angel, mind you, but he doesn’t really go about his status the way Hunter does.”
“How about Simon?” Jessie asked.
“He’s more serious like Gauge, but outgoing, too. He’s all about the business aspect of things, maximizing his advantages by working hard.” I looked at Jessie and remembered the day with the interview. “Oh, I asked for the picture, but I didn’t get it yet. Something else came up that day.”
“No worries. I asked him earlier, and he said he’d bring one by the room later.”
“Nice,” I said, taking a bite of the small shrimp appetizer on my plate.
I looked to the two women who knew me better than anyone in the world. It was still hard to believe this was really happening. “It’s just so great you two are here. I can’t believe it. You’re the best.”
Tears sprung to my eyes again. Jessie leaned in and wiped one that had gotten loose and was sliding down my cheek. “No place we would rather be,” she said to me.
“No way,” Trinity added crisply.
“Talk tomorrow. Party now,” Hunter said, running up and extending his hand out to Trinity. “I’m looking at you, and I’m thinking body shots.”
“Only if I can do one off you,” Trinity said, jumping up and laughing. She turned and mouthed, “Later.”
Hunter was all over the reciprocating body shots, and the two went over to the table. Trinity laid down on it first, her flat, rock-hard stomach holding the shot glass perfectly still. Hunter put his mouth over the shot of Patron, lifted his head, glass in teeth, and swallowed it.
Trinity jumped up, raising her hands in the air, and hopped off the table in a swift, completely graceful motion. I wondered how she did that. She’d been drinking as much as me, and I couldn’t imagine pulling that off.
And the party marched on, until a three-layer chocolate birthday cake with sparklers rolled in, the candles’ flames like little falling stars in the chilly, night sky. Everyone sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me and the party carried on. I yawned in exhaustion but smiled in elation. What a special evening it had been.
“Why don’t we go tuck you into bed,” Gauge said. He came up to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. It was only then that I realized how chilly my skin felt against his warm arm.
I smiled and went to hug Trinity and Jessie. “I’ll see you later. You have your keys, right?”
“See you later, sweetie. Sweet dreams,” Jessie said.
“Definitely,” Trinity said, winking at me.
As Gauge and I made our way back down to my hotel room, I said, “That was so fun. Mind if we hang out just a bit longer?”
“Sure,” Gauge said.
Even as Gauge was taking me to his room to hang out, I was yawning and exhausted. All I longed for was just a minute alone with him, though, and no interruptions. I knew that my friends could take care of themselves, anyway.
“Let’s kick back on your bed,” I said boldly as soon as we were in Gauge’s room.
I didn’t give him a chance to answer, just strolled over and plunked down on the left side of his bed. I finally looked at him, and he wore a saucy half-smile.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” Gauge asked. He sat down at the edge of the bed, not far but not near.
“Don’t worry,” I said casually, flicking my hand in the air. “I’m not going to try anything and I don’t expect anything. You’re safe.”
He didn’t answer.
“But out of curiosity, why did you start something with me and then stop it?”
“I didn’t want you to have any expectations from me the next day.”
I sat up a bit and looked at him, assessing what he might mean by ‘expectations.’ “So, you think I’d expect us to be together if we slept together one night? That’s not how all women operate, you know.”
“Yeah, I definitely know that,” he said. He was staring me down. A poetic thought came to mind: his eyes were definitely windows to his soul. Those were words I’d never write—not in a million years—but I was feeling them at that moment.
“Is it because of how she screwed you over?”
“I was mad at her for a long time for it. Honestly, it wasn’t her fault. It’s not easy to have a good relationship with someone who’s always on the road, not to mention in the spotlight. It takes a special kind of woman and a whole lot of security.”
“Does that mean you’re never going to give anyone a chance again?” I asked. Although my head was spinning, I loved this honesty from Gauge. He was sharing something real, and I was glad to be there.
“I don’t think like that.” He paused and didn’t continue on, cutting the conclusion off.
“Okay, how do you think?” I finally asked.
“I have always known what I want. When I’ve veered from what was in my gut, things didn’t work out. I’m smarter now, and I know how to control the field.”
“That sounds a bit manipulative, Gauge.”
He looked at me with that raised eyebrow, and I hoped he didn’t take offense from it. After all, the word manipulative was hardly a compliment. “Some see it that way, but I’m the one in control of my life, no one else. Unlike most people, I am not afraid to live by the creed I’ve made for myself. I don’t care if others think it’s wrong.”
“It helps build the legend of you, you know,” I said softly. Then I yawned.
“Not everyone sees it like you do.”
“Not everyone gets to see you like I have. Maybe that’s why,” I said.
This was the first time I’d ever been so close with Gauge. I wasn’t focused on the physical energy of his presence as much as the emotional intensity of our talk. I wanted to hear more, and since he seemed to be a bit more open, I wanted to keep asking questions and take advantage of it as much as I could. We talked and talked until I drifted off to sleep.
When I woke up, I was lying nestled in his arm on the bed. We were under the covers, and I slowly lifted the covers to look under. I was still in my clothes, but my shoes were off. From the fabric I felt on my leg, I knew that Gauge was still in his jeans, too. The only thing I didn’t know is what we had talked about last night. I’d blanked it out, but somehow, I knew it was a good conversation. My instincts hadn’t failed me.
I rolled over, trying to get up without waking Gauge up and looked at the clock. It was 7 a.m. As I stood up and stretched out my stiff body, I saw him open his eyes, just barely, and look at me.
“Good morning,” he mumbled, more asleep than awake.
“Hey, thanks for letting me crash. I’m going to get going,” I said. My head was pounding. “Thanks for letting me crash here.”
“No problem.” Gauge rolled over and got dressed, and then rolled on out of his room.
As I made the short walk to my room I felt so excited, despite a world class hangover. Happy birthday to me!
Chapter Twelve:
The Morning After
I walked into the room and saw Jessie and Trinity sprawled out in the plush bed, sound asleep. Just because I was awake didn’t mean everyone else was. I snuck over to the dresser drawer, pulled out some clean clothes for the day, and went to take a shower and an aspirin. We were supposed to go and have a fun day in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I had to revamp to 100%.
A long, hot shower felt great. When I finally opened the bathroom door, followed by a huge puff of steam, I saw Trinity and Jessie propped up in the bed, eagerly waiting for me to be done in the bathroom.
“Get your little ass over here,” Trinity said, smacking her hand down on the comforter.
“Good morning. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“Yes, but who cares. We’re excited to see you,” Jessie said.
“And hear all about it,” Trinity added, wrapping her arms around her bent legs.
“The party was amazing,” I said. “Thanks so much. I still can’t believe it.” I smiled brightly, ignoring how that hurt my head
“Don’t be coy with us,” Trinity said. “Tell us.”
“Everything,” Jessie added. “What happened after you left the party?”
“Go figure, I partied too hard and don’t really remember. I know we didn’t have sex.”
“You just talked?” Trinity asked. There was doubt in her voice.
Jessie smacked her arm. “There’s nothing wrong with that, Trinity.” She turned back to me and encouraged me to continue.
“I honestly don’t remember everything, and I could kick myself for it, but I feel good about it, really content,” I offered.
“You two have some crazy chemistry. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Trinity said.
“I hope you two weren’t worried about me,” I offered. “I should have let you know that I wasn’t going back to the room.”
“It’s okay. Gauge left us a message saying you were crashing there,” Jessie said. I knew from the way she was smiling that he’d earned bonus points with her. That type of thing was on her ‘stand-up guy’ list.
“He did?” I asked. I’ll admit, that touched me, too. It was thoughtful.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t suppose he gave any hints as to what we talked about? I have some fuzzy recollections, but I’m not sure if they were in my dreams or really happened. You know that feeling.”
Jessie said “no” at the same time Trinity said “yes.”
We all laughed, and my amazing friends got up and started to get ready. We were going to go have a fun day. Tonight, before they took the late flight out of here and back to Minneapolis, they were going to be backstage with me at the ProVokaTiv concert.
It turned out that we all had a lack of energy, and we spent our afternoon lying on the beach and enjoying the sparkling shades of blue of the Mediterranean Sea. The water was amazing. I loved how I could look down to my feet and see the soft, white sand and the color of my toenails through the clear water. So beautiful!
“So, what did you guys think of everyone from the band and the crew?” I asked when we were walking through the water. I turned my head and had to take my hair out of my face. The wind was sending it flying everywhere and unlike Trinity and Jessie, my hair wasn’t long enough to put up in a tie.
“They seemed very nice. I can tell they like you a lot, too,” Jessie said.
“Hunter’s pretty cool,” Trinity said.
“I don’t remember all of last night, but I definitely remember that you two were cut from the same party mold,” I said.
“He’s wild. You know how I love wild.” I laughed at Trinity’s animated expression. “Is he always that way?”
“For the most part,” I said.
Jessie wasn’t saying anything. I looked over at her. She was running her fingers through the water, showing off her Marilyn Monroe-curves under a crocheted black bikini. “So Jessie. What did you think of meeting Simon in person?”
“He’s different than I thought he’d be,” she said.
“Is that good?” I asked.
“It’s…” She paused as she tried to find the word she wanted to say. “It’s nice,” she concluded.
“Oh, come on, Jess,” Trinity said, splashing her with a healthy dose of water. “Don’t be so sweet. You thought he was damn good looking, admit it.”
“I already knew he was good looking,” Jessie said. “It was nice to see that he didn’t seem like a stereotypical rock star.”
“Like Hunte
r?” Trinity said. Trinity got a serious look on her face, and I knew she was yanking Jessie’s chain. Jessie went to significant lengths to say everything in a kind way and never offend anyone accidentally or on purpose.
“Well, you have to admit that he fits the type better,” Jessie said. “I meant the way he talks and the type of conversation we could have, not that we talked that much. I actually found that Boomer guy to be pretty interesting.”
“You don’t think you talked ‘that much’?” Trinity asked.
“No, not really.”
I patted Jessie’s back. “You may not have thought you talked a lot, but even I noticed how Simon always ended up navigating back to you to throw in a sentence or two before moving on. He was just subtle about it.”
“Like two ships in the night,” Trinity said in a syrupy voice.
Jessie and I stared at her, then burst out into wild laughter. “That was the grossest thing you’ve ever said,” I said.
“And you’ve said some pretty gross things,” Jessie added.
“Are you guys ready for the concert tonight?”
“Can’t wait. I can’t believe I’ve never seen them in concert before,” Trinity said.
“If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen twenty,” I said.
“Is that how many concerts you’ve sat through this summer?” Jessie asked.
“It is,” I said. “Twenty-one after tonight.”
“Are they all the same?”
“What the fans see is basically the same, but different things happen behind the scenes at everyone. It depends on the city, culture, venue, things like that.”
“Any sex parties?” Trinity asked.
“Not that I’ve stumbled upon, thank God,” I said. I changed the subject with relief. “It’s too bad that you guys have to go after the concert. I’m feeling spoiled, and I’ll miss you more than ever,” I said.
“Oh, it’s hard not seeing you, too, Brynn.”
“Kind of crazy to think that we’re all headed off in different directions now,” I said. It also meant that we would never be back in the Minneapolis again, unless it was for a reunion.
