No way. Not him. Why would he want to give up his life of doing whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted whenever he wanted merely to be in a relationship with one person? Maybe before, the notion would have seemed absurd to Tommy, especially after everything he had gone through with Delilah. But the fact that it just wasn’t any woman he was thinking about made the idea more welcoming than before.
However, even if he entertained the idea to the point of actually consciously pursuing Holly as a girlfriend rather than a friend who happened to indulge in some benefits, it wasn’t like she would reciprocate. Any feelings she may have had for him no doubt went out the window the moment she had seen him with someone else.
The thing was, he never actually slept with the woman. Instead, he sent her away, suddenly changing his mind after seeing Holly’s eyes before she had disappeared into her bedroom.
“Oh well,” he said, casting his eyes back up at the ceiling. “It’s not like I love her or anything.” He paused here, suddenly worried. And in a softer voice whispered, “Right?”
Chapter 32
By the time the tour bus reached New York, there was a steady summer rain falling from the grey sky. In the past couple of days, Holly had taken Victor’s advice and began to finish her hours with everybody else but Tommy. In fact, Tommy and Holly really hadn’t spoken since that particular evening. Holly didn’t want to deal with the awkwardness while Tommy didn’t exactly know what he did wrong.. There were a couple of times when Tommy was standing just outside Holly’s bedroom door, ready to knock, when somebody—Mitch, Sean, even Drew—would come out, having just finished up a session. He would always pretend he was doing something else rather than see her, but his band mates weren’t stupid; Tommy was just glad they didn’t get in his face about it. However, to say he wasn’t jealous of the fact that she’d have a session with everybody but him would be a downright lie. Though, if he looked at it from her point of view, she could argue that she wasn’t necessarily doing anything wrong.
Scratching the back of his head, Tommy frowned. Maybe he was thinking too much about this.
It was Tanya he had to worry about, it would seem. Her dark eyes always seemed to narrow in his direction whenever he walked into the lounging room, almost as though she knew something he didn’t. But why would Tanya be upset with him? He didn’t even do anything to her. However, upon further deliberation, he realized that Tanya was fiercely loyal to her friend, so her anger with him was probably because he had hurt Holly.
So it was true.
Well, this wasn’t good, now was it?
--
“Holly, are you going to the concert tonight?” Tanya asked, walking into the hotel room that belonged to both her and her friend. They had arrived in New York a couple of hours ago, and Tanya could still feel the tension that bristled from Holly. Once they arrived at the hotel, Holly immediately grabbed her stuff and headed upstairs without so much a glance in Tommy’s direction. Tanya had bit her lip, but followed Holly up to the room, though she noted Tommy’s look of longing following her blonde friend.
God, why were guys such idiots? Tanya knew Tommy cared for Holly in some way; it was so obvious when she looked into his eyes. Why couldn’t he just tell her, say something—anything—to alleviate the tension? It would seem he was as stubborn as she was.
“Of course,” Holly said with an excited smile, throwing a glance over her shoulder so she looked at Tanya. Currently, Holly stood next to the living room window, simply watching the groups of people bustle through the streets of New York, despite the weather.
“Really?” Tanya asked, furrowing her brow. “Wow, Holl, to be honest, I was expecting you not to show up. I mean, after the whole situation with Tommy, and how little the two of you interacted these past couple of days, I figured you’d either choose to sightsee or stay in the hotel … or something.” She paused, placing her hands on her hips and cocking her head to the side. “Can I ask why you’re going? I mean, I’m happy and whatever; you shouldn’t let what happened with Tommy effect your decisions or anything … but why?”
Holly chuckled at her friend’s confusion, and turned so that she was facing Tanya, her back leaning against the cool glass behind her. “Brendan’s going to be there tonight,” she explained, excited sparkles erupting in her eyes. “Don’t you remember, Tanya?” When she realized she might have forgotten to tell Tanya about her encounter with Brendan a few months back, she took a couple of steps toward her friend with the intent to do so now. “Okay, remember the day we left; how the whole band showed up in their tour bus and Tommy actually came into my classroom, talked to my professor, and got me permission to accompany him on tour as his psychologist?”
Tanya’s sharp eyes locked into Holly’s and she nodded, releasing her hips and choosing to cross her arms over her chest. “Yeah,” a small smile touched her lips, “I remember. That was the first official day me and Mitch got together.”
“Right,” Holly said. What struck Tanya odd about Holly’s speech so far was that her friend seemed to be completely okay with the whole situation concerning Tommy, as though that night after Disneyworld didn’t even happen. Tanya struggled with trying to figure out if Holly was faking, or if she was actually happy. “Anyway, so while the students gathered around the band asking for autographs and pictures and whatever, Brendan pulled me aside and we got to talking. Apparently, his older sister loves The Futurists, and since he was coming for a visit during the summer, she got them tickets for tonight.” She paused, but only to catch her breath. “So yes, I’m going tonight. I really want to see Brendan. I mean, Tanya, who knows what can happen, right?”
“Ah,” Tanya said, suddenly realizing why Holly was happy. Now she knew that while her friend might believe she was okay with this, Tanya knew that deep down, Holly was still hurting from her encounter with Tommy and thought that Brendan might be a good distraction. Tanya also realized that if Holly kept her wits about her, she just might be able to use this situation to her advantage … if she would only admit that she still cared about Tommy. “Well, you know what you could do?”
Holly’s eyes shone with excitement, glad that Tanya was going to give her advice. “What?” she asked as a smile decorated her face.
“You want to get Brendan’s attention, right?” Tanya asked, though it was quite clear in Holly’s eyes what the answer was. “Right, well you should totally dress up for the occasion, Holl. Show off a sexy side of you Brendan’s never seen before! Not only will he notice you, but Tommy will, too.”
“Tommy?” Holly asked, blinking a couple of times. “Wait, how does this have anything to do with Tommy?”
“Get back at him,” Tanya explained as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Listen, Holly, you don’t have to say anything; I can see it in your eyes that though you don’t want to, you still care about Tommy.” She quickly placed her hand up to stop Holly’s impending interruption. “Don’t deny it, Holl. I know you too well. Just hear me out, okay?” Holly opened her eyes, giving Tanya a dry look in hopes that she would hurry up and continue on. “Dress up really hot and give all of your attention to Brendan. It’ll piss off Tommy and show him just how you were feeling when he brought that floozy back to the hotel. Plus, it’ll show you how he really feels about you.”
“Oh yeah?’ Holly asked, arching a brow doubtfully. “And how’s that?”
“Duh, Holly,” Tanya said, rolling her eyes but smiling warmly. “If Tommy gets jealous, it means that in some way, he cares about you, too, or else there’s no reason for him to be jealous.” She shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly, pausing so Holly could take what she said in. “Anyway, I’ve got a bunch of clothes for you to choose from. We have a few hours before we have to worry about getting ready, but are you down to try it out?”
Holly thought long and hard. Did she really want to make Tommy feel the way she had felt … was currently feeling? Did she want to know if Tommy cared about her in some way other than the desire to sleep with her? But w
hat if he didn’t? Would she be upset or relieved, maybe a mixture of both? And what about Brendan? What did she feel for Brendan anyways? She still had feelings for Tommy, but whenever she thought about Brendan, she smiled. Could she have feelings for them both? Was that even allowed? What if Brendan actually liked her, though, and it turned out Tommy did too? Who would she end up choosing? Would she decide to choose at all?
Tanya seemed to know what was going on in that mind Holly called her own, and she narrowed her eyes at her friend. “Try not to overanalyze, Holl,” she instructed. “Just make all of your thoughts disappear.”
“That’s impossible, Tanya,” Holly mumbled.
“Oh yeah?” Tanya asked. “And what about meditation, hmm? You have to clear your thoughts and focus on your breathing.”
“How is clearing my thoughts going to help?” the redhead asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.
“Just do it,” Tanya said, flatly. “Is it done? Are you sure? Okay, I’m going to say a sentence and you have to complete it without even thinking. Got it?” Holly nodded, closing her eyes, and Tanya thought for a moment of what she was going to say. “Okay,” she said finally, “I want to make Tommy feel …”
“Jealous.” The word came out of Holly’s mouth before she even realized what she had said. When it sunk in, her eyes snapped open.
Tanya, herself, was surprised Holly actually did what she had asked. “Okay then,” she agreed, nodding once. A determined glimmer made her eyes sparkle. “Jealousy it is.”
Chapter 33
“Well?” Tanya asked, raking her fingers through her hair as she gave Holly a studious look. “What do you think?”
Holly turned and regarded herself in the full-length mirror. Her eyes widened as she took herself in. She hadn’t looked like this in … well, ever, really. Holly never had the desire to dress this way, but at the same time, she felt … free. However, she knew that after tonight, she would stick to her hoodies and jeans, but on such a special occasion as this and with a reason for this style of dress, Holly knew this particular outfit would work. Initially, she felt slightly uncomfortable, but the more she looked at her reflection, the more she became comfortable with it, at least for tonight.
Holly’s hair was curled and down—despite it being already wavy—and the makeup she wore was slightly more dramatic, dark, but made her brown eyes pop. She wore a dark maroon shirt with a low-draped front and rhinestone accent on the back so pieces of her flesh showed through. For pants, she had on a black glitter-banded stretch flares and golden high heels. Holly pressed her newly-red lips together, unsure if she could actually go out like this. What would people think? That she was a slut? Because she wasn’t. She was totally the opposite of a slut, thank you very much.
“You’re not a slut, Holl,” Tanya said dryly, as though she could read Holly’s mind, which was quite easy for the brunette, actually. “You know, if you think you look like a slut, what do you think of me, since I’m always wearing outfits like these?”
“You can pull the look off, though, Tanya,” Holly replied, craning her neck over her shoulder so she could get a better look at her friend. “I can pull off the just-rolled-out-of-bed look. You can pull the sexy-siren look.”
“I’m not sure whether or not I should take that as a compliment,” Tanya mumbled. “Ah, who cares? C’mon, Holly.” Tanya grabbed Holly’s wrist and all but dragged her to the door. “We’re going to be late! And we don’t want to be late, do we? Not tonight, anyway …”
--
As Holly was expecting, the New York nightclub was substantially crowded, but since Tanya was quite skillful when it came to situations like these, the two women managed to weasel their way up to the front. Holly tried to make sure to keep an eye out for Brendan, but as of yet, she couldn’t see him through the thick crowd. After an hour, Mitch came up on stage by himself. Holly and Tanya gave each other an odd look; they never started a show with only one man coming out, even if it was to introduce the band itself.
“Hey, everyone,” Mitch began, grabbing the microphone off the stand. The crowd cheered in response, “I wanted to take this time to thank you all for coming. This is our last show, and obviously, it’s going to be the best one yet because of you guys.” The crowd cheered again, with Holly and Tanya adding to the sound. From the corner of her eye, Holly could see the pure happiness radiating from Tanya’s smile as she watched Mitch speak. It was obvious how much she cared about him, how proud she was of him. “I know this is sort of out of the ordinary—me, being alone here upstage.” He paused as a sheepish smile took hold of his features, and he glanced down at the floor of the stage before peering on out. “I’m not sure if you know this or not, but the night we started the tour, I fell in love …”
Tanya glanced over at Holly with a quirked brow, wondering if the redhead had any idea what Mitch was doing, but Holly seemed just as dumbfounded as Tanya did. She turned her brown eyes back up at Mitch, who seemed to be searching for her through the crowd.
“Tanya, where are you?” he asked, before the young woman he had been looking for raised her hand as high as it would go, and started waving it in hopes to catch his attention. “Ah, there you are.” He smiled as he walked over to the part of stage so he could look at Tanya more clearly. “Listen, babe, I’ve never actually done this before, and some may think that we’re moving way too fast, but …” Another sheepish smile touched his features as he reached up and scratched the back of his head. “I can’t stop thinking about you. I want to wake up next to you for the rest of my life. Um …” He reached inside his leather jacket pocket as he knelt down on one knee, and opened the box, producing a ring. The crowd literally went wild, and both Tanya and Holly froze. “Will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man on the planet by agreeing to marry me?”
Oddly enough, the audience quieted substantially, so much so that one could hear a pin drop. “Of course!” Tanya called, before heading over to the side of the stage with the intent of rushing onto it. Security already knew her, and they moved to the side so Tanya could all but dash up on stage and crash into him so that he nearly fell over. “Yes,” she said more quietly, nodding as tears touched her eyes. “Yes!”
The audience started cheering, and neither Mitch nor Tanya could keep delirious smiles off of their faces as Mitch slid the ring onto her finger. When he finished, he picked Tanya up bridal-style and carried her off the stage as he kissed her passionately on the lips.
Holly couldn’t believe anything that had happened, and even though she knew that knowing someone for nearly three months in no way constituted them with the knowledge to keep a marriage together, oddly enough, she was ecstatic, enthused, and absolutely delighted at her friend’s happiness. And if anyone could make a marriage work with only three months of relationship under her belt, it would definitely be Tanya.
--
“There he is!” Holly exclaimed, pointing at a familiar figure standing with a woman who had similar features. Currently, both women were backstage after the concert, and all Holly had been doing for the past fifteen minutes was trying to find Brendan while simultaneously attempting to avoid Tommy.
“There he is,” Tanya murmured, her eyes solely focused on her newly-acquired fiancé.
Holly rolled her eyes when she realized she wasn’t going to get much out of her, and decided to leave Tanya’s side in hopes to go over and speak to Brendan. When she was in his line of sight, his blue eyes lit up and that boyish smile Holly had fallen for a while ago touched his features in such simplistic beauty. And yet, as Holly forced her lips to smile back, she noticed that her heart didn’t do the usual thump-skip-thump it normally did upon seeing Brendan. Sure, he looked the same, and Holly knew the older woman next to him was his sister, but the spark that usually flared whenever she saw him had … fizzled. A small frown touched Holly’s lips as she placed one hand on her hip. But why?
---
“Ah,” a familiar drawl said from besides the woman. “So this must
be that guy from that school you used to go to.” Holly turned, giving Tommy a dry look, as though nothing had changed between them. However, upon looking into those pale eyes of his, Holly sorely misinterpreted her heart, because when she recognized that sparkle, her heart skipped as it normally would when Brendan was in her sight. “Didn’t you have a thing for this guy? I mean, so he’s tall. And he has blue eyes. And—“
Before Tommy could finish, Brendan and his sister reached them. Immediately, Brendan pulled Holly into a tight hug, causing a growl to lodge itself in Tommy’s throat and him to look away, scoffing as he did so. What right did this guy have to hug his woman?
Wait, Holly wasn’t—
Oh, just stop denying it, Tommy, a voice inside said, frustrated that Tommy was still playing himself as a fool. You’ve known that something was different about her from the moment you laid eyes on her, which was why you invited her along to go on tour with you. And in these past three months, you’ve grown to like her, to respect her, to lo—
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